Article written by Alex C.
Published on 30/05/2012 at 12:00 AM.
Time for a refresh? The Slim PS3 still looks great, but a price cut would be great news.
That of a new PlayStation 3 SKU.
“What’s to stop Sony pushing out a new, cheaper, lighter, smaller PlayStation 3?” we asked a few days back.
Following on from the idea that whilst a PS4 won’t be making an appearance in Los Angeles – at least not publicly - we speculated that a refresh of current hardware might be on the cards.
We obviously can’t confirm anything here or even offer much in the way of details – we honestly have no idea, this is just wishful thinking – but could there perhaps a cheaper model (a price cut would really stir sales), or maybe one with a bigger hard drive, or even just a new colour?
This would certainly lend weight to MCV’s certainty that both Sony and Microsoft were planning to showcase new hardware. Perhaps they both still are, but with current-gen machines?
If Sony are thinking about rolling out the PS4 any time soon, then the sheer amount of top-tier games announced in the last few weeks and months would have been a waste. No, we’re fairly sure Sony will be sticking with PS3 and Vita for a while – but that doesn’t mean some tweaks can’t happen.
Everyone’s desperate for Sony to really kick up a gear with PS Vita, but a price-cut or a few changes to the PS3 would no doubt go down nicely – better than a white PlayStation Portable at least, eh?
No disc drive?
The Go and the Vita seem to suggest they want to move away from physical media, this might be a testing ground for them.
Of course, that’d mean losing the DVD and Blu-Ray, but I presume the costs would go down significantly, and the reliability of the console would go up.
Could possibly end up as the cheapest current gen console out there if they cut as many corners as possible, which would increase sales enormously…
Think of it as the Xbox 360 Arcade to the 360 Elite which would be the PS3 Slim, continuing as it has…
But for them to release a model with no disc drive, it’d also mean they’d have to make sure ALL future retail releases get a psn store release, which I find massively unlikely.
Since I got a PSPGo I have learned to never to that again, unless there is NO disc option (or flash-cart) available, then and only then Will I happily go digital. Amazon just provides MUCH cheaper prices (even when games are new)
One of the biggest restrictions with the current PS3 from expanding it any further is that the allocated ram is all taken up (apparently) this is (apparently) the reason why cross game voice chat is not available.
a new PS3 complete with the ability to add even more content and services sounds intresting to me.
or maybe its just a slimmer version again… afterall blu-ray drives are in laptops now so its not like they have to use these big drives anymore.
To say the least im excited for all 3 press conferances next week.
I really can’t see Sony adding extra features to the same console and alienate the current userbase….saying that i wont say anything about PS2 compatibility and non 60GB’s so nothing is surprising i guess.
its an out there guess, but unless a revision decreases manufacturing costs why bother, surley there has to be a draw other than “its smaller”
Only reason i have a slim is coz my 60gb died, i would have never changed if not for that.
Sony have done ram increases in the past, i belive PSP’s ram got doubled with the first slim revision. so you never know :)
I’m pinning my hopes on an even slimmer PS3. Fully featured and complete with slot loading bluray but housed in a case the size of the PS2 slim… or is that asking too much :)
They’d never do a Hanna Montana… would they?.. :o
A smaller ps3? Hmm possible I guess? As for the psp ram increase, I believe it was the system rom that got increased?
Part of it was unlocked, the cache I think?
Sony won’t make the PS3 super slim! Then the fan and heatsink would become too small and add Sonys cheap manufacturer, you’ll be getting YLOD as much as the old 360′s got RROD.
They might, the heatsink could come straight out of a laptop like the slim PS2′s one. Plus, there are always going to be gadget nuts like me who are sucked in by a smaller, slicker version of whatever is already out. It would sell. The question is would it make them any money?
Not happening. At least, not at E3. Why? Because it hasn’t been leaked three months earlier :)
Was anything even leaked?
If there was new PS3 hardware coming, my mum would know about it by now. Lets face it, Sony cant keep a secret to themselves.
Put a USB port on the back and I’ll buy it.
I would buy a slimmer/smaller PS3 :P The Slim PS3 now is not that small/slim is it. You know SONY they can make it even smaller/slimmer + stick PS2 playback in the newer version to(I’M ONLY DREAMING, again…) LoL:D
lol :D
Wouldn’t be that surprised if we saw another Playstation branded TV, maybe this time with a built in PS3 for 3D movie/game playback.