A few days back we heard that Best Buy is dropping the 80GB PS3 model in their stores. That kicked off all kinds of wild speculation, and an analyst even chimed in, but now some new rumors point to two new models of PS3 in the works.
Ars Technica's highly accurate mole is on the case again, and he says that we can expect news SKUs with a sizable storage size increase in the future.
"Sony is, in fact, phasing out the 80GB PS3. Sony is going to stay with the two-SKU approach though, and the prices look to stay the same," the mole told Ars Technica.
"The Spiderman 3 pack-in will disappear as well once the 80GB unit is gone. In order to maintain a similar value proposition to the 80GB/Spiderman 3 bundle, I expect to see a storage increase to 120 or 160GB at the same price point, plus the new DualShock 3 controller."
Silly! If this is true, Sony must be going after the Most SKUs Ever for One Console award. If the price does stay the same, I guess we can't complain too much.
What do you think? Can we rely on AT's mole again? Do we really need bigger hard disks in our PS3s? Are you tired of waiting for the DualShock 3?
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Blargh, this is retarded. Just decide on a system setup and FUKKEN STICK WITH IT
Why don't they knock the price down more and let people put in whatever they want.
i think it would make a lot of sense to release one more sku when the dual shock 3 comes out and then have that be the only one left. cause this is totally bananas.
If its a white 120 GB PS3 with Dual Shock 3, then by all means bring it!
I don't know if the mole or the author can be trusted, since there is no 80GB/Spider-Nan 3 bundle. Maybe it's just a harmless typo. I do at least agree with the no-price-drop speculation. I see Microsoft as the next price-drop-leader.
Spider-Nan 3 is sort of like Mr. Nanny, with fewer steroids.
I totally called this last week.
Dual Shock 3 in the new SKU.
Well, it's not THAT surprising. It's not like Sony's uber-powered PS3 could ship with a smaller hard drive than the 360's top-end model forever.
Obviously this is referring to the 40 gb spiderman bundle and the regular 80 gb motorstorm bundle, not an 80 gb spiderman bundle. Based on how Sony supports putting in your own hard drive (or so i think i read before), having random hd size upgrades really doesn't make sense with their other ideas... then again neither does dropping BC. They're really having fun screwing around with how they run things at Sony this round of consoles, aren't they.
If they drop useless SKUs (cough cough 360 arcade) I don't think introducing new ones is such a bad idea.
We'll see, Sony. We'll see.
Pick a size and stick with it, dammit! I'm not going to settle and buy a PS3 until I'm sure that it won't be obsolete within months.
Not again...
I've gotta get my PS3 replaced soon, but I've got a first-gen 60GB and I just know Sony's support reps will tell me I don't really need backwards compatibility anymore.
<grumblegrumblegrumble>
Buy the original 60GB unit. Replace the hard drive with whatever size you want. Trade-in the Sixaxis for a DualShock 3. Boom, you've got your ideal PS3.
At least, that's what I'm going to do.
I want dualshock.
Tired of waiting for the DS3?
WTF? I've had one since November last year.
Who the hell didn't guess that there is going to be a new sku for a PS3 with DS3. That's just common sense. Interestingly enough this isn't a new thing. The psone got a new sku for the dualshock. Commonsense will tell you this will happen this time around too.
Xbox is still ahead in the running for most SKUs for one console award. They've had the Core, Pro, Pro w/HDMI, Elite, Halo edition, and Arcade. If (when) Sony releases another Playstation SKU, they'll be on number 5. Nothing better than seeing the sheer terror on a parent's face when they tell you they want an Xbox and you ask which one.
I don't think it makes sense for Sony to increase the HDD size in their SKUs when you can often find cheaper and larger drives that are compatible with the system. They should, instead, keep the default drive size the same and decrease the price to make it more attractive to the average consumer who often looks to two things: game selection and price.
SO MANY SKUS OMG CHOOSE ONE SONY
And give us the Duel Shock 3.
Seems like a good idea, especailly if they're ever going to add movie downloads, but they wouldn't do that, it's not like they own a movie studio or anything.
I'm curious as to BC or no BC though.
Dear Sony: A good number of us know how to fucking replace a 2.5'' HDD and where to buy one. Cut this shit out, it's pathetic.
As B-Radicate stated, there are larger, more economical HDD's out there.
I should've gotten a 20 GB when they were on super sale.
Why does everyone freak out over multiple sku's? I think its a good thing. I don't care if they have 20 as long as they can all play all the games. What's wrong with Choice?
I admit the 80 GB was kinda dumb, since you can get the 40 GB for a hundered bucks less, and buy a 160 GB HDD for that $100... but still. The more choices the merrier.
Bring um on Sony!
LOL at the people slamming the diferent skus
quick round up for ya
in one year and half
one core and one pro model (by the way our costumers dont need hdmi or larger storage)
wait for it
the elite with an hdmi port its costumers dont need
but wait..
now we add hdmi to all our models.. we just feel like giving you stuff cause you dont need it..
but wait no more core its now the arcade model
and our best idea yet.. a haloless halo console
brilliant....
______
of course there will be more skus on both camps.. and its only important because its being reported, its nothing new in any business...
40gb is lowest model.. still bigger hd than the core/arcade or the pro 360... thre really shouldnt be a need for larger drives since you can upgrade yourself, (i plan to put in a 320gb of 400gb) but there are common users who are less savy who need it done for them so it makes sense.
(if gamestop and other stores were smart they would open up a tech shop and perform had drive upgrades with full content transfers for costumers, they could even over charge)
@amalgamut00
Simply put, because the average consumer is dumb... many of them won't think about getting a harddrive on their own. They will see the "no harddrive" on the box and say "err... but i want a hardrive" and thus will not even think about the fact that they can put in their own harddrive and that it would actually cost less too... this kind of stuff is most common with Parents who buy consoles for their kids but don't know a thing about them; and they make up a healthy portion of the "average consumer" (if not, that's atleast what MS and Sony probably think)
It's only after they buy the console and that the hardrive starts running out of space that they realize "hey this harddrive is too small... oh hey! i can actually replace this thing... oh hey, large internal harddrives are not that costly"... ya...
All I'm saying is that there are other features to improve upon besides HDD size. In terms outright features, these SKUs present nothing new besides a trend which points to the 1TB model in 2009.
Oh Sony, alienate those who already bought your system when it didn't have the features it didn't before. Also in a period of almost fourteen months since its initial launch, they are proposing to submit two more models to the four they have released already? You can tell Sony is on the defense when it can't even make up its fucking mind.
1 new SKU per good exclusive. Sounds about right!
120gb, white, w/ backwards compatibility and I'd consider buying a PS3
As I said earlier, they should just put out a 100 GB model with software-based BC (like the 80 GB) and a DualShock 3 for $449.
160Gig and 250Gig are the cheapest SATA notebook drives on the market right now, no reason they couldn't go with either model. If anything Going from 40gig to 250gig should drive the price down.
in theory.
Still waiting for my ds3 from play-asia, it's only been a week though.
Sony SKUs = 5 (when this happens)
MS SKUs = 6 (now)
Quit yer bitchin'
OMG THE PS3 HAS SOOOO MANY SKUs!!! SONY IS STUPID!!!
Arcade, Core, Pro, Elite.....enough said. Shut your mouths and be happy that the PS3 aint $600 anymore. They may have had different SKUs, but at any given time, there was only 2 different ones on store shelves. 360 on the other hand, has ALL of them. And you know, other than BC the difference between the low end and the high end models aren't different. Whereas with the 360 packaged, the cheaper you go, the more gimped you get. So nobody should try and pull that "Multiple SKU = consumer confusion" bash on the PS3, cause the 360 is doing it M$ is confusing people a lot more than Sony is
I'm glad I got mine with backwards compatibility when I did! What if my PS2 ever dies?
As for the Dualshock, I didn't really notice that much (during Uncharted) that the rumble was missing. I guess it would be nice, but I do love how long the battery lasts and how feather-light the controller is.
Both Microsoft and Sony have a lot of sku's out there for their systems. You can keep dreaming of a day where there will be only one definitative version of a console. Companies will always see ways to improve their products and because of that you will get new models. As technology gets better and less costly they can add more to the system and keep the cost down. Hello pc and laptops. Sure just 1 sku to rule them all would be ideal, however with the way technology moves its lucky we don't have more skus than we do now.
One of the Xbox 360 biggest flaws is Microsoft's insistence on games running off the disc and internal RAM and not taking advantage of the HD. 360 games become gimped by not being able to be cached on the HD. Sony doesn't put this limitation on games for the PS3 platform and thus you should get fantastic looking games that play smoothly without framerate drops and such.
I could be wrong but this fact may be Sony's trump card.
Look we have to all find it funny that when the PS3 and Xbox 360 are both having several different models, yet the Wii has only one model and that single model has been beating both the PS3 and 360's SKU army.
Frankly, i don't consider what Sony is doing to be "having MANY SKU's"... Sure, in TOTAL they have a lot of SKUs, but Sony has phased out the old SKUs and kept it a 2 SKU market... it's not 20GB, 40GB, 60GB, and 80GB, it's just 40GB and 80GB... and soon it will be 40GB and 120GB... unlike MS who not only has more SKU's but is still producing most of them; What MS is doing is MUCH worse than what Sony is doing... Not to mention that the only real gimping being done between the 2 PS3 SKU's is Backwards compatiability, which is not that bad considering how their are many people out that own a PS2 and don't mind having two systems hooked up if it means they can save $100 in the process
im liking sonys approch more and more, but im still waiting for mgs4 before i even attempt a buy
*Sigh*
Was Sony the ones saying that they did not want people confused with butt loads of SKUs?
That's right... phasing out old models and making them NOT on the shelves leads to confusion when a person goes to the store... how exactly?
I don't think the average consumer (read: 99% even) gives a flying fancy as to what the specific SKU is on the item they're purchasing; they look at price and the words on the box.
I honestly don't see the problem. If you already bought a PS3, these new SKUs won't do anything to affect development. If you don't, these new SKUs add more value. I mean, who doesn't want a larger HDD and DS3? If they start adding or removing wireless or start removing HDDS and start adding or removing HDMI drives, then there will be a problem. Anyway, I want a fucking DS3. Where the fuck is my DS3?
They need to stop making new ones so I can buy one.
The N64 was awesome. Only one SKU.
Those were the days.
This thread is now a thread about banjo kazooie 3. I can't wait for that game
Man, their research and marketing departments should be fired.. Whoever came up with the original 20 and 60 GB systems were apparently way off. They still can't figure out what the public wants..
Roryzilla, you forgot about the damn N64 ram pack. Those were the days my ass. The Dreamcast. Now that was a bargain.
Lucky me, I knew to wait over a year before blowing massive amounts of cash on systems that either had problems or were not yet complete.
I intend, and have always intended to get a PS3, and my plan was to wait until at least March of this year, probably April though. But with the price drops and the larger HDD's I think I'm going to be getting quite the deal!
I'm just waiting for the PS3 Online Store where you build your own console.
Why does the PS3 need this big of a HD? No really, is there a reason? My 20 GB hard drive on my 360 will never be filled up 5 years from now. Do PS3 users download way more movies and crappy arcade games than 360 users?
20GB is WAAAAY too little. I've almost filled my friend's 20GB hard drive with just music!
No back-compat, no deal for me.
Give it time, eventually someone will write some badass PS2 and XBOX emulators and then it will be a total non-issue.
what happened to making only one
Just keep it at 80GB and lower the price, we can buy our own HHDs if that isn't enough
i believe the bigger the better, though i have the 60 gig, i am glad i got that model, seems the best model to date, but i will get an hdd upgrade as i now have only 12 gigs left. and remember some of the newer sku's only have 2 usb ports, no mem card slots and no/limited bc support. but i don't care, i got the good one. ebay all day if ya want a 60 gig. and why not upgrade a sku? they just did it to the psp and it's better. its a good thing as long as they don't alienate previous owners(coughmicrosoft) #1_in_the_hood_G!!
I don't really care, I have a 60GB and am HAPPY I bought it. Even if I did pay more...
SKU LIST:
[Microsoft]
Xbox 360 Premium
Xbox 360 Core
Xbox 360 Elite
Xbox 360 Premium w/HDMI
Xbox 360 Core w/HDMI
Xbox 360 Halo Edition
Xbox 360 Arcade
(7 SKU's)
[Sony]
PS3 60gig
PS3 20gig
PS3 80gig
PS3 40gig
?
(4[?] SKU's)
(Please tell me if I am missing any BS3 SKU's, I think I covered all of the Xbox's)
Btw, I am an Xbox 360 owner. I have had my original Premium since launch. RRoD is not 99.948576948567% like some people say (unless I got that 0.162534162543% lol). I love my Xbox and it works like a charm whenever I want it. I have nothing against BS---err---PS3.
OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE.
Why can't they just wait and do these things in the first place? They should've fucking known that they'd need to come out with higher-GB SKUs.
I've already stated this in my blog...days ago...
Fact is the disc is going the way of the dinosaur. Music and now video is being downloaded, stored and accessed via a HD.
Would they have Backwards Compatibility?
You guys do know how electronics work right? Especially the Hard Drive market.
The HD manuf advances technology and the market moves with them. After a short period of time, a 40GB will be more expensive to buy in bulk than an 80GB. The manuf would stop 40GB production altogether, and all customers (dell, HP, sony, apple) move to the higher GB model that is now in the mass production lines.
When you produce a machine at this volume, you have to move to the newer parts to keep your volume purchasing costs down. It's manufacturing economics, and why complain when even the higher volume stand alone disks get cheaper as a result too. Then I can upgrade my launch PS3 HD for cheaper.