Japan: New PS3 Models Now Official

First rumoured back in April, as usual, when the FCC registrations were spotted, the new CECH-3000A/B models have now been found by andriasang on Sony’s Japanese PlayStation site.  They are simply a new hardware revision of the PS3 Slim and do not add new features or even larger hard disk drives.

The CECH-3000B model retains the 320GB HDD found in current ‘B’ models.  The CECH-3000A (160GB) model is not, yet at least, granted its own product page but will feature in the amazing Tales of Xillia livery (see picture below) for that bundle.  The two main differences are the power consumption rating which drops 30W to 200W and a drop in weight from 3kg to 2.6kg.

While the differences are small and of only marginal interest to consumers at the moment beyond saving a few cents/pence/yen on your electricity bill they will surely increase the hardware’s profitability for Sony.  The lower power consumption and weight suggests a reduced component count due to consolidation and a reduction in the cooling paraphernalia required to stop the PS3 melting itself.

Direct manufacturing costs are therefore likely to be lower than they have been.  Beyond that the reduced weight may well mean packaging costs are lower as there is less mass to protect against drops in transit.  The shipping costs for the consoles will be lower too if shipped by weight or possibly volume if Sony has managed to shrink the packaging.

All these probable cost savings mean that the already profitable hardware for Sony has become even more so and certainly gives Sony more wriggle room if the price cuts that are rumoured for later this year come to fruition.

34 Comments

  1. That Tales of Xillia PS3 is amazing. I want two.

  2. Cool, one step closer to an ultra slim with 4 usb ports and external psu :>

  3. Ooooooooooh pweety :3

    • Looks definitely worth getting.

  4. Wow, the tales of xillia ps3 looks great.

  5. Whooooooooooza (f**k Japan only)

  6. Want, but would settle for Tales of Xillia western release.

    • Hmm, I shouldn’t have come here. This post post is full of things we’ll likely never have. Apart from the black box that’s shed a few pounds of course.

      • I know, it’s heartbreaking – and no still no sign of a Steambot Chronicles HD remake/sequel ;)

        Still, I’m settling for that copy of Tales of Symphonia you kindly sent in your role as Santa Aerobes, and I’ll just have to break out the felt-tip pens and doodle on my PS3 to complete the experience.

      • Tales of Symphonia? Eternal Sonata, surely? ;)

      • Ha! All these JRPGs are the same anyway ;) Either way I owe you a pint!

  7. I quite like that. Wish it was a faceplate though (like the GT5 one)
    Wonder if they are doing any more designs :)

  8. I think that the main thing people want to know is that their manufacturing methods of the past using the cheap scanty solder and flux paste on the Motherboards that caused YLOD is indeed in the past!!
    It’s great to see the console getting smaller, quieter and lighter, so for me, attention to manufacturing methods would priorotise over any pimping up the ride :)

  9. This looks sweet. I wonder whether the day will come when they stick a USB port or two at the back for the PS Eye and Play TV cables to connect to, rather than the rather unsightly mess of cables running round the front of the unit…

  10. I don’t like the possibility of reduced cooling power :/

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