PS3 Slim Hardware Confirmed

[patsu]

Sure, just like the $300 Elite will appeal to movie fans who aren't price sensitive. But the $200 Arcade will still appeal to those who aren't price sensitive as well because if one takes more than 60 seconds to think about it, then they realize they can get everything they need for ~$240 with an Arcade and watch all the movies they want. The Arcade appeals *both* to price sensitive and non price sensitive people because there really isn't a whole lot of functional difference between it and the Elite after the hdd is cheaply added. Which is why I disagree when people dismiss it as a competitor.

Doesn't work that way. If so, they'd figure out that if they add all the PS3 components, it is the best value of the 3. The fact that they chose to go Arcade route even though Elite and PS3 have better value overall means that:
* They are only willing to (or can only afford to) spend US$199 max at one go, and/or
* They don't appreciate Blu-ray or better HD

I definitely don't agree, just like I don't agree when people say the Wii is not a target by Sony. Everyone is a target. They have tried to combat the Arcade with the 'value proposition' because that's about all they can do, but I don't believe for a minute that they ignore the Arcade model as a target or threat.

Sony don't have to ignore Arcade. They simply need to focus on something else. Same against Wii. Wii's customer base consists of Nintendo fans, casuals, senior and female gamers. Sony and MS would be hard pressed to target them with the current gaming content, and image.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

I like the new slim, and intend to buy one now that it's official. As long as it can fit larger 2.5" HDDs I'll pick up a WD 1TB drive and watch movies for a few months straight If not 500GB should still do.

 

[patsu]

Don't get 1Tb. The net says they tuned the firmware down to handle 500Gb max. for some unknown reason.

I don't know if they have changed. May be archie4oz or DeanA want to comment ?

 

[joker454]

I think you'd have more of a point if it didn't seem like the Pro was the best-selling SKU. The arcade may be the best deal, but it seems that people buying consoles are going to the store with $250-300 in their pocket.

For a long time the cheaper model was missing a lot of stuff that made it unattractive, be it missing hd cables, no headphones, no hdd, wired controllers, etc. It got a reputation of being gimped, or "The Tard Pack". And I always thought the Elite was overpriced. But the new 360 skus are fairly close in functionality. Add a cheap hdd and the Arcade is just about a white Elite. Perception remains that the cheaper one is gimped, but it's not all that gimped anymore.

Sony and MS would be hard pressed to target them with the current gaming content, and image.

See, I think the new PS3 slim is actually taking those audiences in mind for a future attack against the Wii (360 will eventually do the same). They have given it a softer less industrial look, which I think will in the future be part of their push to totally go after that target audience you mention, once they pack in the motion controllers. The original PS3 was more bold and brash, the slim is more minimalist and understated, a softened look to go with a softened image.

 

[fallguy]

You have to separate what you want from what others want. For you it's not even close. But not everyone wants to collect movies, trudge to the store to buy them (especially in Winter), etc. Clicking a button and watching a movie is very desirable to many. So yes, the $200 box totally competes with the others, no question about it in my mind.

Trudge? You act as if its hard to go to a store. People go to stores all the time. Especially in the Winter around the holidays. You're a hermit? Fine, buy online, probably even cheaper anyways.

Its not even close to the same. You're just trying to rationalize it, to make the 360 arcade in the same league as the $300 club.

 

[patsu]

See, I think the new PS3 slim is actually taking those audiences in mind for a future attack against the Wii (360 will eventually do the same). They have given it a softer less industrial look, which I think will in the future be part of their push to totally go after that target audience you mention, once they pack in the motion controllers. The original PS3 was more bold and brash, the slim is more minimalist and understated, a softened look to go with a softened image.

Future is future. We will cross the bridge when we get there.

 

[joker454]

Its not even close to the same. You're just trying to rationalize it, to make the 360 arcade in the same league as the $300 club.

You're right, it's not even close to the same. That's because for some downloadable Netflix is actually a significant if not insurmountable advantage that blu-ray can't hope to compete against, even more so since it's just $200 to get it. But you can't see that because you feel everyone watches movies like you.

Future is future. We will cross the bridge when we get there.

It's sooner than you think

 

[bbot]

The price disparity between PS3 and XB360 is now gone. People will now flock to PS3, if something drastic is not done by Microsoft. For example, cutting the price of the Elite to $199 and the price of the Arcade to $149 or maybe even $99.

 

[AzBat]

The price disparity between PS3 and XB360 is now gone. People will now flock to PS3, if something drastic is not done by Microsoft. For example, cutting the price of the Elite to $199 and the price of the Arcade to $149 or maybe even $99.

You're in some other reality if you think MS will drop the price of the Elite to $199 or even drop the price of the Arcade. The $199 Arcade is here to stay. There's also no way MS is dropping the price of the Elite more than $100 in one lump. They'll probably drop the Pro 60gb to $250 to clear inventory, but that's about it. Now Microsoft might add some value by adding a games bundle for Xmas, but that's about as far as I expect MS to do.

Tommy McClain

 

[bbot]

You're in some other reality if you think MS will drop the price of the Elite to $199 or even drop the price of the Arcade. The $199 Arcade is here to stay. There's also no way MS is dropping the price of the Elite more than $100 in one lump. They'll probably drop the Pro 60gb to $250 to clear inventory, but that's about it. Now Microsoft might add some value by adding a games bundle for Xmas, but that's about as far as I expect MS to do.

Tommy McClain

I see this as the turnaround of PS3, and the beginning the decline of XB360 because Microsoft won't take any drastic measures.

 

[AzBat]

I see this as the turnaround of PS3, and the beginning the decline of XB360 because Microsoft won't take any drastic measures.

Personally, I think it does put PS3 on more equal footing with the Elite. Sony is sure to sell a lot more PS3 because of the cheaper price and smaller SKU. However, I don't see Microsoft having to take a lot of drastic measures either. They already have an Arcade SKU. If they didn't, then you might have a point. BTW, I also don't see the Elite taking all of the Pro audience. More like 60% will go for Arcade and 40% to Elite. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how MS responds, but something tells me we already know what they're going to do.

Tommy McClain

 

[22psi]

The price disparity between PS3 and XB360 is now gone. People will now flock to PS3, if something drastic is not done by Microsoft. For example, cutting the price of the Elite to $199 and the price of the Arcade to $149 or maybe even $99.

many have been saying ppl will flock to the ps3 for some years now

 

[AzBat]

many have been saying ppl will flock to the ps3 for some years now

Agreed, but things are a little different now. We'll now have price parity @ $300 (provided MS do drop the price of the Elite to $300).

Tommy McClain

 

[betan]

Gamestop on price drop:

There are moments so significant that everyone remembers exactly what they were doing when it happened. One of those moments is upon us. Make sure you're doing something cool so that you don't have to tell your grandchildren a boring story when they ask about the great PlayStation 3 price drop of 2009.

 

[mrcorbo]

I see this as the turnaround of PS3, and the beginning the decline of XB360 because Microsoft won't take any drastic measures.

This exact sentiment has been expressed at many different times during this console generation. I myself even thought it was going to be a turning point in early 2008 with the Blu-Ray victory and strong sales momentum leading into the release of MGS4. We all know how that turned out. At this point, I would think a little bit of skepticism is in order.

 

[Ben-Nice]

I see this as the turnaround of PS3, and the beginning the decline of XB360 because Microsoft won't take any drastic measures.

Some bundles for this X-Mas and they will be fine and then a price drop bundled with Natal will come next year.

 

[mrcorbo]

Personally, I think it does put PS3 on more equal footing with the Elite. Sony is sure to sell a lot more PS3 because of the cheaper price and smaller SKU. However, I don't see Microsoft having to take a lot of drastic measures either. They already have an Arcade SKU. If they didn't, then you might have a point. BTW, I also don't see the Elite taking all of the Pro audience. More like 60% will go for Arcade and 40% to Elite. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how MS responds, but something tells me we already know what they're going to do.

Tommy McClain

Here's a suggestion. Drop the Arcade to $179, push the XBOX Live starter kits with more options starting with a 60GB hard drive version priced @ $69.99, a 120GB model priced so that there's a price premium for arcade + 120GB pack over the Elite and from there expand to larger capacities. This creates a virtual pro model without having to have a separate SKU (which should make retailers happy) and creates an upgrade path from Arcade to Elite equivalent and beyond.

 

[AzBat]

Here's a suggestion. Drop the Arcade to $179, push the XBOX Live starter kits with more options starting with a 60GB hard drive version priced @ $69.99, a 120GB model priced so that there's a price premium for arcade + 120GB pack over the Elite and from there expand to larger capacities. This creates a virtual pro model without having to have a separate SKU (which should make retailers happy) and creates an upgrade path from Arcade to Elite equivalent and beyond.

Great suggestion. That's one option people forget about: the Live Starter Kits. That maybe one of the reasons for the demise of the Pro SKU. 60gb, 120gb & 250gb Starter Kits with 3-month Live subscription, headset, & HDMI & Ethernet cables, could definitely help compete with the $300 PS3. I had suggested something along the lines previously: get rid of the $300 Elite and keep 2 different colored Arcades (White & Black), then offer the above suggested Starter Kits.

Tommy McClain

 

[wco81]

I like the design of the original better, with the glossy finish. But the smaller size and the greater energy-efficiency is appealing.

So it consumes 34% less energy than what, the current SKUs or including the original 60 GB SKUs too?

What's the die-shrink roadmap look like, still room for more or not before the next gen?

Frankly, I'd like to see next gen in 2011 (or sooner) than buy another SKU of the current gen.

 

[draconian]

check out this post from an n4g user Super_Secret. He told ps3 slim secrets back in June.
http://forums.n4g.com/Firmware-280-Release-Tomorrow-m659467-p5.aspx

he wrote:

It is real. It is a PS3 that's been cut down as much as physically possible without preventing the loss of playback of any existing PS3 title out there. It still has blu-ray, it still has wireless, it still has bluetooth and it still has gigabit ethernet.
"OtherOS" support has been removed.
You still get 2 USB ports.
Hard drive sizes will be bigger, it will come in 120Gb and 250Gb flavours. It's still replaceable and will actually be slightly easier as it has been relocated to the front of the console.
It will NOT have any "new" features, such as backwards compatibility or enhanced peripheral support. It's just a PS3, but slightly smaller and cheaper.
The power supply is still internal, but a different power cable will be used.
Rear ports are still the same: 1x HDMI, 1x Sony AV port, 1x Optical, 1x Ethernet. And of course a power port.
Release date and official announcement are not final.
Price is undetermined, but make no mistake, this is a "slimmed" PS3 in ever sense of the word. It's as cheap as can possibly be, so expect it to launch with a smaller price tag than what you're paying now in your respective territories.
Internally, several daughter boards have been removed, but all functionality is still there. This is due to a more advanced manufacturing process. It still uses a few extra boards, though, we're not quite at PSTwo levels yet.
A Cheaper Blu-ray drive is being used. It wont be any slower, but expect to see similar issues that another competitor had a while ago.
Touch-sensitive buttons on the front for power/eject are gone in favour of cheaper push buttons.
It has a slightly different startup screen. Only slightly.
It's about 50% smaller than current PS3s.
It wont be called the "PS3 Slim". The PS1 "slim" and the PS2 "slim" were never officially called the "slim", either.

In short: It's a smaller PS3, but that's it. No new features, no special hardware, just smaller and cheaper. And it wont have sex with you.


Cross-game chat is in the works as part of Firmware 3.0. It wont be out during the summer, but assuming all goes well, it will be out well before the holidays. Current timeframe places it around September, but it's still very much a WIP. If there are any major delays, that will slip and if there are very few delays at all, it might even arrive earlier, but don't bank on it as it is a lot more complicated than you might imagine. At this point, it's working quite well in the labs and supports several players at once.
It's targeted to work with all past and future games that support ingame XMB, much like text chat.
I'm not a betting man, but I wouldn't be surprised if the "slim" shipped with this firmware installed (that doesn't mean the slim will come first, remember).

Who said the 3000 wasn't being phased out? It will be and sooner than you realise. However, the PSP Go isn't what's replacing it. The 4000 is. And yes, it will have a UMD drive. And similar to the PS3 "slim", it's nothing to actually get excited about.

-so cross game chat is coming and a psp 4000 with umd

-the same user claims that the main reason "other OS" was removed was because SONY felt some people were buying them and building server farms. PS3 in server farms aren't users who are buying games.