Cheaper PS3 all but confirmed
Rumours of a cheaper 40GB PS3 first surfaced in early September after an insider source claimed it was coming. Later in the month, Sky News revealed the alleged manufacturer of the new model.
In late September, an FCC filing by Sony revealed that the company was possibly readying the new PS3 model.
It didn’t stop there.
On Monday it was reported that the rumoured US$399 PS3 would hit stores before Thanksgiving holiday. Additionally, a promotional flyer leaked on the same day adding further proof that a new PS3 was on its way.
Assuming that wasn’t enough to steal the thunder from an expected announced, sister site GamePro France says Sony will announce something big on October 12, to which the company’s European division denied. On Tuesday, Engadget reported that the rumoured machine has been marked with an “In Stock Date” of Oct. 28 at Best Buy.
Sony’s official statement amid all the talk: “We don’t comment on rumours or speculation.”
Gran Turismo soon available for PSP
Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi says a PSP version of the game is already in the works to be released after Gran Turismo 5 on PS3.
“We are working on the PSP version, and we will get around to it eventually,” Yamauchi told GamePro in an interview published on Wednesday. The famed driving producer expects to complete the PSP game once Gran Turismo 5 has shipped for PS3 in 2008.
Gran Turismo, an exclusive PlayStation property, is currently the tenth most successfully franchise of all time with 47 million games sold.
PSP selling well in Japan
Sony on Thursday said it sold a record number of PlayStation Portables in Japan after releasing the redesigned and cheaper “Slim” version.
According to the company, 550,000 PSP-2000s were sold in the first two weeks of availability; faster that the original PSP sold during its launch month in December 2004.
The new PSP is is 33 per cent lighter and 19 percent thinner than its predecessor. In Japan it is sold for 5 percent less than the original model.
The PSP has sold a reported 25 million units worldwide compared with 50 million Nintendo DS units.
– Compiled by ITBusiness.ca. Entries written by GamePro staff
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