
The official PlayStation 3 website has finally been launched for European and Australian territories, revealing general technical specifications for the two models (20GB and 60GB), both of which will apparently be released in the UK. Which is kind of odd, given the comments made by SCEE UK chief Ray Maguire back in May, when he said that the UK was unlikely to see the 20GB version. The difference between this and the 60GB model (aside from the obvious HDD capacity) is the lack of HDMI output, Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g, and a four-in-one media card reader - all of which will be present in the 60GB model.
The 20GB model is also listed on Amazon.co.uk, though currently without any pricing or availability details. According to some reports, Amazon.co.uk briefly displayed the 20GB "standard" model as set for release in January 2007, several months later than the November 17th launch of the 60GB "premium" version. So don't be too surprised if Sony tries to push the high-end model through Christmas, before releasing the more gamer-oriented 20GB model early next year.
Back to facts, the said official PlayStation 3 website also displays 8 first party games, with screenshots that have been added to our local galleries as well:
- Eye of Judgement
- Formula One 06
- Genji 2
- Heavenly Sword
- MotorStorm
- Resistance: Fall of Man
- SingStar
- Warhawk
Aside from these, the website also features other PS3 titles presented at E3 2006 (screenshots and trailers included), a forum just ripe for spamming and flaming, a brief Q&A about the PS3 and the technologies it uses, and of course a gallery with pictures of the beast. By the way, notice the silver trim on the 60GB model? As far as I can tell, that's the best way to tell them apart at a glance.
But what about the prices? Well, there's no change for the console itself: €499 for the 20GB model, and €599 for the 60GB version. As for the games, there's a good news and a bad news, according to comments made by SCEA president Kaz Hirai. The sarcastically good news is that PS3 games should be priced below $100 (oh, joy!), but the bad news is that prices higher than $59 are quite possible!
Therefore, it's no wonder that even Japanese developers are starting to stray away from Sony's next-gen console, as indicated by a survey published in the latest issue of Japan's Ge-Maga magazine. A quick summary posted on Joystiq shows that:
- 90.29% of those surveyed disagreed with the PS3's price point
- 56.31% disagree with the multiple SKUs
- 55.82% think the console will not sell with its current announced lineup
- while 48.54% are unfazed, 32.52% of those survey were less confident with the PS3 after its E3 showing
- 62.13% feel the PS3 won't reach its goal of 6 million units sold by March 2007 And that about sums it up for today's PS3 report. We could also go into that World Tour Soccer Next-Gen rumour... but I think I'll pass. Though you can still read about it on TVG, if you like.




