New PS3 to launch September, price drops to $299 / EUR 299
Update: Sony unveils new hardware and anticipated price cut at Gamescom in Germany; UK price will be £249
Sony has finally shown off the new model PlayStation 3 Slim at Gamescom today, with the hardware due in retail in the first week of September.
The system will sell for EUR 299 / USD 299, and current models on the market will also adopt the new price as of tomorrow, August 19. Sony has also confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that the UK price for the console will now be GBP 249.
The new console ships with a 120GB hard drive and is 32 per cent smaller, 36 per cent lighter and consumes 34 per cent less power than the original PlayStation 3, according to Sony's Kaz Hirai.
During a press conference this evening in Germany, Sony also revealed that the PlayStation 3 has now sold over 23.7 million units globally, with over 10 million of those sales in Europe.
Worldwide sales of the PSP have reached 52.9 million, said the company, 17 million of which are across the SCEE regions.
As well as new hardware, Sony also unveiled a new PSP initiative called Minis, detailed a digital reader for the handheld, and confirmed film partners for a new movies-on-demand service over PSN.