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[bitblt]

Well it looks like predictions about a PS3 price drop are correct, as well as the rumors about a new PS3 slim model. Effective immediately in the US the PS3 will now retail for $299.  That's half the price of the original PS3 that debuted in 2006. So what are the main differences between PS3 slim and the original PS3?

Apparently not a whole lot. The PS3 slim still plays PS3 games and Blu-rays in 1080p via HDMI, still has free access to PSN content, still has a wireless network capability built in, and still provides support for various multimedia and devices with 2 USB ports.

Here are the main differences between the $299 PS3 slim and the original $599 60GB PS3 . . .

1) 30% smaller than other PS3 models (smaller than XBox 360)
2) has a 120GB harddrive (twice the size of the original)
3) has normal eject and power buttons (no longer touch activated)
4) has a matte finish rather than a glossy finish (no more fingerprints)
5) does not have a flash memory card reader built in (but can use a USB flash drive/reader instead)
6) only has 2 USB ports (RockBand will require a cheap 4-Port USB add-on)
7) does not have the PS3 emotion engine (plays PS1/PS2 games via emulation only)

Jack Tretton PS3 120 GB announcement
http://www.viddler.com/explore/sceablog/videos/513/

PS3 Slim unboxed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrOS_0Ulv7M&feature=player_embedded

PS3 Slim specs
Product Code: CECH-2000 (Charcoal Black)
CPU: Cell Broadband Engine
GPU: RSX
Audio output: 7.1CH LPCM, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC.
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
Hard Drive: 120GB Serial ATA
Inputs / Outputs:
Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0): 2 Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0): 2
Network: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 1, IEEE 802.11 b / g, Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Controller: Wireless controller (Bluetooth)
AV output HDMI OUT Connection: 1
AV output AV MULTI OUT connector: 1
AV output Digital out (optical) Connection: 1
BD / DVD / CD drive (read only) Maximum read rate: BD × 2 (BD-ROM), DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM), CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
Power Consumption: Approx 250W
Dimensions: approx 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length)
Weight: approx 3.2kg

[754boy]

Not interested. Hoping to grab another PS3 Phat during a fire sale lol.

[bitblt]

Not interested. Hoping to grab another PS3 Phat during a fire sale lol.

They will probably mark down the older PS3 Phat models for the same $299 price.


In other news . . .

PS3 Slim takes over Amazons Most Wanted list
The online retailer shows on their "Most Popular Items in Video Games" list that the PS3 Slim has leaped all the way to the top of the list as the #1 in demand just mere hours after its announcement.

[scootdog]

Mmm.  Good price and nice hard drive.  Too bad they roped me in with the MGS 4 80 gig bundle.  I would like to save $200 and have an extra 40 gigs, but the PS3 gen I have seems to be the most loaded compared to other gens.

[leehom]

Day one. This is going to be my third PS3.

I have a 60 gig (retiring after I purchase the slim) and a metal gear solid 80 gig which my brother is using.

[DeVS]

I love my Phat backwards compatible PS3.

[jmr]

if there in the UK at xmas i may get one as the wii just does not have any top titles for me just kiddie games for my son

[socket]

I love my Phat backwards compatible PS3.

[kkan]

Apparently they are bringing Backwards Compat back via software for all versions of PS3 !?

Saying that though they have said that a few times now and nothing happened

on a brighter note the slims apparently come with Firmware 3.0

so we (PHAT PS3 owners) will no doubt get it at the same time or around then

[dai_uk]

I'm right in thinking only the first batch of Phat UK PS3's supported backwards compatability arent I ?

Must admit even though $299 will = £299 in typical console fashion it's pretty tempting as a Sony Blu Ray would be £150 here anyway.

I read the slim won't support linux, but am suspecting it to be more likely that Firmware 3.0 won't, I'd buy one tomorrow if they got XBMC ported to PS3 Linux but apparantly it's unlikely due to no Graphics Driver Acceleration :-(

[bitblt]

I have some bad news for people hoping for PS2 backward compatibility to make a comeback on PS3 slim. PS2 backward compatibility will not be supported on any future PS3 models, according to John Koller director of hardware for SCEA.

Koller No more backwards compatibility for PS3

"It's not coming back, so let me put that on the table," said Koller when asked about backwards compatibility. He also added that despite what people may think, backwards compatibility isn't really that big of a draw for the PS3.

"It's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing," he claimed. "We've got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They're buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies."

So if you want PS2 backward compatibility you need to get one of the original 60 or 20 gig PS3 models, and upgrade the harddrive if needed. Of course all PS3 models will continue to support PS One games via emulation.

[kkan]

the original ps3's the first 20gb ones the 60gb ones had HARDWARE emotion engines along with a few other bits that made it pretty much a PS2 inside the PS3 architecture that gave it backward compatibility
with the 80gb and 120gb Phat versions performing most of these tasks by emulation

there has been a lot of talk of making this emulation available for ALL models for a long time

Sony to reintroduce PS2 emulation on PS3?

A patent filed by Sony in December 2008 suggests that backwards compatibility may return to the PlayStation 3 after having been culled from most models of the PS3 console.

According to the new patent discovered by Siliconera though, Sony may be looking to reintroduce PlayStation 2 emulation on the PlayStation 3.


Even better, though early PlayStation 3s achieved emulation on the hardware side via a PS2 chip, the new method is a pure software solution and should enable PS2 emulation on all existing PS3s if Sony chooses to enable it.

The bad news is that, even though the patent was filed months ago, Sony still hasn't announced or confirmed any interest in opening PS2 emulation for the PS3 and, as Kotaku points out, the patent doesn't mean that you'll be able to play PS2 games off a disc. It may instead indicate that Sony is going to start selling PlayStation 2 games on PSN, rather than letting gamers play the games they already have.

So theoretically it should/could be possible through software emulation they have the patent for it ..just haven't done anything with it atm

I discovered that with SINGSTAR PS2 disks so long as they are original disks ... can be read in a non backward compatible PS3 (I have the 40gb) When using/playing the PS3 version of Singstar ...you can disk swap/change to a retail PS2 version and load and play the tracks off the disk as you would any PS3 version when swapped 

It won't boot these directly but can read the information off the disk and use the tracks from them

My guess is they COULD do it if they wanted to but choose not to as they are still selling PS2's new

[DeVS]

I doubt they bring PS2 emulation to the new PS3's until they stop selling PS2 units. I think Sony figured they were shooting themselves in the foot by making the PS3 backwards compatible while the PS2 was outselling the PS3.