I don't even want to know how expensive a larger model would be. They still have to drop the price drastically if they want my business.

I would think this has more to do with that crazy PS3 home theatre system or whatever they were going to make.

Like I said in the other post... possible arcade machine? 80GB just isnt different enough from 60 for another retail model, and 60GB isnt quite big enough for OS+Game storage if you ditch the BD. It would be silly to put a BD drive in an arcade box, imho.

Er bluetooth fix......new ariel....better signal to noise ratio....it's in the filing....*sigh*

Any techs in the house? None at all....didn't think so

PS2 memory card slots would have been nice, so I wouldn't have had to buy the $15 adapter.

But I suppose including them on the system would have made it cost $15 extra, so what the hell.

I'm going to up my hard drive to 260GB before the Home update hits. With all the stuff they are adding there, it will probably eat up a decent chunk of my 60GB HDD.

It's been said before but it deserves saying again: I stopped playing PC games because I got tired of upgrading all the time.

I'm probably just going to stick with my old stuff for a while. This is just ridiculous.

I still think it'll end up just being a new larger hard drive model introduced in a year or twos time to replace the current premium model at the 600 price point.

As easy as it is to replace the PS3s HDD there are still those that would rather not mess with it and just grab the largest available on the market.

@A-Rude-Hero: This could actually be really good for the consumer. If sony does bring out a 250gig to replace their current ones in say a year or two (it kinda makes sense to just grow, its not like they are ripping people off or anything), then people could buy the old 60/20 gig thats "discontinued" for cheaper, and then buy their own SATA of whatever size they want...

They'll probabaly continue to upgrade the hard drive over time as costs for the 60GB drive drops. As long as they are simply increasing the capacity of the drive, it shouldn't be a problem. They are probably just debating on whether to offer a larger capacity drive or simply past the cost reduction on to the consumer. It may come to a point where a 120GB drive is more popular and thus cheaper than a 60GB drive to produce. Hence, it makes economic sense to follow the laptop market direction.

Make it white! :)

Golddiggerrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Hmmm. It's doubtful, but I have to wonder, due to the unsuccess of the 20 gig PS3 model, if Sony will actually pull a smart move and make the current higher end version of the system available for the price of the current 20 gig, and then release the 80 gig PS3 at the price point the 60 gig is currently at. That would make sense, since no one is buying the 20 gig, and it would give them a reason to drop the price a bit on the more popular model.

Like I said, doubtful (price dropping?!! Sony?!!!), but something that crossed my mind.

@0x15e: The difference with the newer 360 and this potential PS3 is that they don't force you to upgrade to play a certain game. You can play all games on any of the models.

@doubtful: Yes. Black is so last gen.

"I still got the bigger penis! Just wait a couple months and I will show you how much bigger mine is!"

I find the whole response hard to believe. It doesn't sound like Sony at all.

What I would expect is:

Here at Sony we say how big hard disks should be, the Disk shipping in the Xbox 360 Elite is no threat to us as it doesn't even hold 120GB of data.

Last year Sony predicted the future and actually began shipping our 80GB model but it's just so popular that you can't find one on store shelves.

Blah blah foot in mouth blah

Head of Sony marketing.

Hmm, so a better Bluetooth antenna? I thought the PS3 was perfect? ;)

With the "Elite" and now this theoretical cause for a PS3 price drop.. I want a PS3 more and more.

@ultim8fury:

Sadly, with the way Sony PR has been this launch cycle, that isn't nearly as asinine as you may have been trying to make it.

I wouldn't have been surprised to see that exact release out on display these days.

What exactly is wrong with the current PS3's bluetooth capabilities? I use my old ass motorola bluetooth headset all the time, and i've never had an issue. Hmmm, a harddrive increase wouldnt be that bad, I already have a 120gb hdd in mine, so it wouldnt bother me much. I just bought my PS3 a few weeks ago though, so if they DO end up releasing a new model, and give it some better gadgets than the current 60gb I would be sorta pissed. But just a memory increase, I think thats cool.

@internetnerd:

The Bluetooth antenna is because some people have reported it giving out randomly, so your character in Resistance would randomly shoot, or start running into the walls. It usually only last a second or two, but it's pretty annoying when you die because of it.

I've noticed it only happens when people live near high interferance areas, like high voltage power lines or near airports (like myself.)

Even still, it only happens maybe once a month, so it's not really an issue to me. If it happened more frequently, I suppose I can see people being angry with it.

It will be the same price... If you know the laptop market and 2,5" HDD market you know that it's soon going to be more expensiv for sony to use a 60go than a 80go at the same old price of the 60go...

It's normal the PS3 use the PC market for cost reduction. It's good for everyone.

hmm... maybe that bluetooth antenna is to fix a problem I encountered (and Ashcraft too, I think).
Whenever the controller sits idle, the triangle button seems to be pressed at a random time. Happened while watching BluRay movies and also when I was playing God of War: I paused the game and it 'unpaused' like 3 or 4 times while I was eating a pizza. Kind of annoying.
But... I hope I am wrong and this can be fixed with only a fw upgrade.

This most be a joke. Come on, I upgraded my PS3 HD to 125gb, by myself. So I don't see the point. May be or May be this could be speculations from a retard game reviewer or a retard idea from Sony. I bet it came from a retard game reviewer

I interpret this as, 20gb bad 60gb good, upgrade both and still stay at the same price, replacing the 20 with the 60gb and then 60gb with the 80gb, but after seeing MS announce 120gb, I think Sony delayed this to make the hardrive same or bigger size just for laugh!

I doubt there will be a price raise, no matter how dumb MS is, Sony aint gonna be just as dumb, I think infact Sony sees their chance to take em out swift over this misstake by MS.

nice engrish

If they do release a newer version with an added antenna I wonder what the chances of Sony giving a small external that could somehow be connected to the system to the current owners. Would be nice if they do enhance the Blu Ray.

That said though, I've yet to experience any problems with my controllers. Not during movies, games, or even just idle, so not a big deal really in my mind.

You know what. I was all set to say that Sony's 100 dollar (and hopefully pounds) price drop would sway me to buy one finally.

I then thought about a game I got just recently. The humble virtua tennis. I have the 360 version and it runs smooth at 1080p. My friend and I went to virgin and played the PS3 version. It was essentially the same game with a bit of a washed out looking (due to over-lighting, which seems to be a feature of the nvidia graphics chip) but, was otherwise identical. That was until we played a game on my 360 at home. We tried the online feature and joined a doubles tournament. I had so much fun that I genuinely can't think why the online is missing from the PS3 version. It's like that version is missing a whole second game!

I guess this kind of made me realise that the reason I'm not buying a PS3 isn't sony but, rather the fact that PS3 doesn't have live or anything close to it at present. The price was just a bonus in that it woke a lot of people up to the fact that paying for potential is silly, when the aim of that potential i.e. an online media hub, is and has already been here over a year.

I think I may get the PS3 as a blue-ray player but, it's not that good of a games console no matter what people want to believe. Unless sony bring out a 768mb version I don't think it even has the potential to be. 256mb isn't enough memory not even close!

Is it me, or does this seem a little unecessary. The current models aren't exactly flying off the shelves here. Plus what's the price going to be for this one?

I estimate this new 80GB PS3 to be $1100 USD, both 60GB and 20GB combined.

@penhalion: Ok I understand that not having a Live style online system can be a downside, but you start your post stating the game looks exactly the same on both systems (lighting aside) and then decide it equates to PS3 being crippled by it's GPU?

From "multiple SKUs is stupid and confusing" to "Fuck it, let's just give the consumer choices each with small subtle differences." in a couple of months.

@penhalion:

thanks for that long rambling waste of my time response.

@omegasc:

I had that issue with the Triangle button as well on one of my controllers, but I learned that it had nothing to do with the Bluetooth!

I just disassembled the controller and took a look at the contacts for the TRIANGLE button. I noted what appeared to be a small fiber lying on top of the contact points, so I gave it a good cleaning. I reassembled everything and have never had any problem since : )

So you might want to try that!

@loc182:
I'll give it a try... thank you!

@Jabbertrack:

Yeah, Sony has announced the ps3 elite in CES07.
It's IPTV, TiVo functionality, 1TB of storage(if I remember correctly), and it's supposed to cost U$2000

@0x15e: "It's been said before but it deserves saying again: I stopped playing PC games because I got tired of upgrading all the time."

And none of these upgrades are needed to play 100% of the games, so what are you talking about?

Hope it works for you too : )

I was so annoyed when the OSD menu would just randomly popup when I was watching movies. So I feel your pain on this manufacturing issue.

I must warn you that the PS3 controller is not as friendly as I feel it should be when you go to disassemble it. The screws are easy enough, but there is a snap catch where the two halves of the controller come together just below the analog LED. I found this to be a pain to release, and I was even following Sony's instructions...

Also, be careful to make sure that the small piece of plastic that serves as the reset button is in the proper place before you put it back together. Thanks to USER ERROR I ended up putting that on backwards at first :P

Though I guess it is not as bad as when the potentiometer fell off inside my official Sega Dreamcast steering wheel. Now that thing was annoying to take apart!

@rluzinski:

Yeah, until they put in a new graphics card that I can't get anywhere else but Sony, I'm not worried.

The only reason I think people are upset with MS is because they aren't charging a fair amount for their hard drive, which is proprietary and you can only get it from them. If you could easily install a 260GB drive into the 360, don't think people would care nearly as much.

@omegasc:
Your controller is busted. Others reported the same thing. It doesn't happen to most people, and one person said he got his controller replaced and it fixed it.

As to the 80GB, it'd have to be for a special edition or just for a replacement for the 60GB. There's no way to market a 60GB and an 80GB side-by-side, there's not enough product differentiation. Especially since it's tough to even use all the 20GB right now, let alone 60.

@Irenicus: "I think infact Sony sees their chance to take em out swift over this misstake by MS."

That's a great point. I can't imagine anymore core or premium 360s being sold after this silly elite stuff. Furthermore, I'm sure the 10 million current 360 owners are going to be so disgusted that they'll throw away their console in disgust. All because of the elite.

That or you are a moronic fanboy that makes a fool of yourself every time you open your mouth. Please tell me you are just a 14 year old that doesn't know better.

it's probably a reference to the coming remodel of the system, a little early.

@rluzinski:

You could have argued his point without being such a dick about it, you know. The sarcasm and insults were unnecessary.

@joelface:

I mean that it's not the price that's a real issue here. It's the pay for the potential that is the problem.

@A-Rude-Hero:

I didn't say it's crippled by it's GPU you must be thinking of someone else. I said it's crippled by the 256mb memory that Sony chose to lumber it with. Extra online services in games will take memory, as will friends lists, voice chat, in game messaging etc. etc. All of this has to come from somewhere and that means less and less memory for the actual games.

I program these things remember. From a developer perspective (which I guess is where the ramble came from) I don't see how we fit that stuff into a game and still keep it identical or better than it's 360 equivalent. As time goes on I think you'll start to see what I mean in the actual games themselves. The proof as they say will be in the differences and not similarities between a 360 version of a game and a PS3 version.

@penhalion: I just didn't see the connection you were making between RAM and Online in your original post, and thought you were going back to graphics, as that seems to be the arguement that comes up time and time again.

Seeing as the original XBOX had only 64MB of RAM and had the online experience that has become the epitome of what online should be, I would think that Sony should be more than capable of creating their own (I guess with home) online service work just as well.

@A-Rude-Hero:

Well, you could argue that games are more complex now than they were on the original X-Box. But I was playing games on my PC that are comparible to Xbox games then with only 256MB of RAM on my wifes computer, and still ran Trillian (three way instant messenger,) and a host of other programs. It can be done.

@rluzinski: It started well then you manage to make yourself sound like a 14 year old MS fanboy...

Nobody else finds this interesting in light of yesterday's statement by Sony that they felt the "Elite" was unnecessary and further splintering the Xbox userbase? Yes, I know that the Elite adds new features whereas if this Sony rumor is true it's probably just a larger hard drive, but are Sony people even *aware* of what's going on around them?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070328/tc_zd/204127

I also found it funny that the same guy was claiming that it was important to reach beyond the hardcore when Nintendo's been saying that for years.

@A-Rude-Hero:

Ah a genuinely intelligent conversation :)

If I may I'll go a bit developer techy (please forgive this but, it's necessary to explain a bit of the behind the scenes)

In this generation and to a large extent last gen, all of the textures are compressed and un-compressed on the fly. This is why people notice the mud effect when they move last gen consoles to hi-def TVs. The problem is that this gens textures, sounds etc. etc are a lot larger than last gens. They need to be in order to look good in hi-def.

This leaves us developers planning out every last molecule of memory like over active chipmonks.

When I develope for the 360, I have a pool that can be changed in size as I need and allows me to fill up about 460-480mb of memory with my own balance of textures and data (AI, physics etc. etc.) stuff. The system takes the rest but, significantly, supplies me with online, guide bar, friends lists, achievements and voice chat functionality using the 30 - 40 megabytes that it permenantly keeps for itself.

When I develope for the PS3, I get 256mb and am told that the graphics card has the other 256mb. There is no give or take what-so-ever. So I need to be far tighter with my code and textures lest I return to singing "those muddy looking" blues. The PS3 doesn't supply me with any online services beyond the basics and in fact they have only now been added to the Sony dev kit SDK. The problem is that if I use them I loose what looks like about 20mb (that's if I use all of the available services). I can reduce this overhead by using only say a friends list or use online with voice chat but, no friends list etc. etc.

Having spoken to a sony dev rep. recently I guess my frustration with their replies about why they can't simply change the XMB to include these functions and have us call into them, is really starting to get to me now. It's like they don't give a damn about how hard they have made their hardware to work with.

As a developer I go where the money is so if PS3 does suddenly take off like a rocket I'll be two faced and start talking it up and trying to plug stuff I've worked on like any hypocrit. For now though I get to be honest. The amount of work needed to fit the same or equivalent game into a PS3 is dis-proportionate to the cash return any company can hope to get at present. Unless sony provide some gold coloured parachutes or air bags. Expect developers to jump ship with increasing regularity.

Sony need to do two things immediately.

1. Drop the bloomin' price by 100 pounds/dollars/euros
2. Ignoring home for a moment, Provide a simply online environment for games that mimics if not directly copies live.
3. Start bankrolling AAA games that can be tailored to show of the PS3 math power. This means HEAVY on the physics, HEAVY on procedural environments and crucially HEAVY on the game length i.e. something like blue dragon but on a blue-ray.

Some interesting comments here, but lots of inaccuracies..

@penhalion

If you really were a developer, you would know the PS3 has 512MB memory, the same as the 360, 256 of GDDR3 for the GPU and 256MB of XDR for the Cell (for which the bandwidth is insanely fast), the GPU can access all 512 of this, if needed. In addition, each of the 7 SPE's also have 256KB of local storage.

As for the 80GB HDD, this is merely the side effect of the fact few HDD manufacturers are making 60GB drives these days, in all likelyhood, it's cheaper for Sony to use 80GB drives, and pass the extra 20GB onto end users, and save a few$$ in the process for themselves.

@penhalion: So what company do you develop for? cause this sounds like pure nonsense, infact it sounds like rubbsih.

1.Drop price why?(your a developer no?)So why do you want a price cut if your happy developing for 360?
2.Why ignore Home that beats Live hands down and actually makes it better for developers and publishers not to say the least the gaming community within online gaming. Copy live now? why? I guess you want them to fail?
3.banking games, so that people get tired of the PS3 and leaves the system while MS rolls out a lot of mayor titles. Now that makes sense... How long should they bank the games? 2009 right?

Now im just gonna log out, log back in with another name and if so it happens a PS3 developer drops by in this topic and explains why 360 is crap for developers... dont blame me! lol (kiddin')

I don't think Sony is just going to release a new 80GB PS3 with nothing else changed. They recently settled that ongoing vibration controller law suit so if there's going to be any refreshing of PS3 models this year, I bet it's going to include a new version of the sixaxis controller with improved connectivity, dual shock vibration, and possibly other tweaks.

Having the 60GB model take the 20GB price point and discontinuing the 20GB model also makes sense especially since many retailers are refusing to stock the 20GB version. All of this happening around the time Home launches later this year makes sense to me.