AfterDawn: News

Sony begins shipping 80GB PS3

Sony has begun shipping their PlayStaion 3 80GB model, returning the company's lineup to two models.

The new unit will have 20GB of extra storage, and comes bundled with a copy of Motorstorm. There are no added features to the new model, but there is one notable removal. The "emotion engine", the hardware engine used for added backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games has been removed to save costs on the system.



The 60GB model continues to sell at its lowered $499 USD price tag, but analysts are awaiting an announcement that will show that the model is either canceled or will have the emotion engine removed as well.

The 80GB model will begin selling this week for $599 USD.

Source:
Electronista

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 7 Aug 2007 15:20

• Previous article

• Another PS2 price drop coming soon?

• Next article

• Microsoft releases special edition Halo 3 Zune for military personnel

• 29 comments

• limelight

  Ugh, I dont even know where to begin about this...

  7.8.2007 16:29 #1

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by limelight: Ugh, I dont even know where to begin about this...Neither do I. Lower the price for a short time to clear inventory and then release another model with a measly 20GB of more storage. I guess it comes with a "free" game, but what if someone does not want Motorstorm and rather the PS3 80GB be $60 cheaper minus the game.

  7.8.2007 16:56 #2

• anubis66

  is this not also coming with two controllers? i thought i was. i wish motorstorm was two player, but they cut it out so the greaphics could be better..what a shame.

  7.8.2007 16:58 #3

• 21Q

  No backwards compatibility! Good thing I saved my ps2.

  7.8.2007 18:54 #4

• M4DHATT3R

  I've always thought one of the smartest thing with Playstation was the backwards compatibility. The fact that a new console didn't mean all of your old games became obsolete was very consumer oriented (from PS 1 to PS2 and now to PS3). I think eliminating the emotion engine is a big mistake. There are a lot of kick ass PS2 game out there. Just better hope that my PS2 doesn't stop working years down the line when new PS2's are no longer manufactured.

  7.8.2007 19:02 #5

• vinny13

  You guys are all crying about your BWC. I think it's a good move. Cuts costs. That little bit counts.
  
  Oh ya... Aren't they calld updates???
  
  Scared of them? Then go buy a used 60GB somewhere. Save yourself some money.
  
  Anyways, 1 console is better then 4(360 Core, Premium, Elite, and soon Halo 3 Ed.).

  7.8.2007 20:40 #6

• nobrainer

  if you want working BC i'd pick up a 60 gig while they are still about as i live in the uk and BC(backwards compatability) sucks. Sonys idea of a working ps2 game is that it loads on the ps3 regardless of the graphicial glitches, tearing, freezes and just so buggy that the games are more of a chore than fun as you frustratingly hit the buttons with hope it will work.
  
  you would have thought sony would have fixed titles like madden, ff7, gta, nhl, ect.
  
  i dont understand why they feel the need to lie to us and say it works, i'd have much more respect for sony if they actually told the truth for once in regards to the ps3, i was loyal to sony but the ps4 can go fly imo after the appalling behaviour from sony.
  
  this is what david reeves said about ps2 pc updates: http://www.scee.presscentre.com/Content/...31&NewsAreaID=2
  
  Originally posted by David Reeves: Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3and they stood by their word as not a single update for bc has been released since the topic fell out of the uk papers so i hope you get better support america as it sucks to be a european ps3 owner.
  
  btw here is the euro bc list: http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc/
  
  and where it says Quote:*** No known issues to date i believe that means NOT TESTED YET as my daughters copy of piglets big game won't even load even though sony say NO ISSUES, ffs
  
  here are sony's tips to play ps2 games:
  Originally posted by sony bc list euro: To have the best experience when playing your PlayStation®2 titles, we recommend that:
  
  1. You avoid connecting any non-essential USB peripherals to your PS3
  2. You avoid the use of "60Hz" and network modes (which may experience noticeable graphical corruption not present in the main game)
  3. You should skip optional FMV sequences (a small number of games have graphical corruption in one or more video sequences).
  4. A maximum of seven players can play (non-network) multiplayer PS2 games.
  

  8.8.2007 00:54 #7

• japhy

  Ah it is good to have the 60 gb, but I do think Sony will fix the software emulation.

  8.8.2007 05:32 #8

• SilvaJDS

  whats the point of buying this they probs bring a 120gb next month and soo on , same with 360

  8.8.2007 06:50 #9

• necronite

  i always like how manufacturers throw in something that costs virtually nothing for another $100 charge to the customer. How much are gigabytes these days like 25 cents each?

  8.8.2007 08:25 #10

• REAM

  Originally posted by necronite: i always like how manufacturers throw in something that costs virtually nothing for another $100 charge to the customer. How much are gigabytes these days like 25 cents each?No they aint
  
  and 80GB drive is about £20, and then including a game £45, = £65 more then $100, so IMO worth it.
  
  PS they do have to recoup money some how.
  
  and i dont see where you americans get of complaining about prices. come live in the UK, and then speak

  8.8.2007 11:28 #11

• sammorris

  Do bear in mind that while a game sells for £45, it isn't worth £45.

  10.8.2007 02:09 #12

• wetsparks

  Like some one else said, give it 6 months and a new updated version with a bigger hard drive will come out and they will lower this $100 and sell the newer for $600. When will Sony learn! People want a GAMING MACHINE, not a home entertainment device. They need to bring the price down for GAMERS if they want to make money. Why do they think the Wii sells so well?!?!

  10.8.2007 20:23 #13

• sammorris

  Why do you think the Wii DID sell so well. The initial bubble is getting a bit thin on the ground for the Wii, unless more games are brought out for it, sales are going to tumble. From an actual console perspective, the 360 is still the most attractive at the moment, and if it weren't for the ludicrous number of returns and faults, it'd be a clear winner. The PS3 is starting to pick up the pace, but it'll only really sell well when it's the same price that the 360 is now. For an additional $100, I'd expect the PS3's hard drive to double in size, not add another 20GB anyway.

  11.8.2007 01:59 #14

• plazma247

  Not Exactly on topic, but I though they might give a few people here a smile.
  
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w
  ps3 Song
  
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uZQA2zGihCs
  360 song
  
  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wrjQ7joYHi0
  Wii Song

  11.8.2007 05:23 #15

• sammorris

  Good god, these people have too much free time, can I have some?

  11.8.2007 05:33 #16

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by sammorris: Why do you think the Wii DID sell so well. The initial bubble is getting a bit thin on the ground for the Wii, unless more games are brought out for it, sales are going to tumble. From an actual console perspective, the 360 is still the most attractive at the moment, and if it weren't for the ludicrous number of returns and faults, it'd be a clear winner. The PS3 is starting to pick up the pace, but it'll only really sell well when it's the same price that the 360 is now. For an additional $100, I'd expect the PS3's hard drive to double in size, not add another 20GB anyway.there is a great video here of phil harrison avoiding questions and stating that they are marketing the 80gig ps3 at "HEAVY DOWNLOADERS" wow 20 gigs gonna help now.
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_...bb&mp=rm&news=1
  
  and then you have quotes from david reeves stating an extra 80 gig for the uk is pointless: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option...d=6454&Itemid=2
  
  Quote:Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves has been explaining why PAL territories won’t see the release of an 80GB PlayStation 3 by claiming that the extra 20 gigabytes “is not worth it”.
  
  ImageThe revelation was made during a presentation to introduce the European PS3 starter pack. Reeves said that he didn’t really see the point of introducing an 80GB model to the European market as there was only a small difference between that and the current 60GB PS3.
  
  "You know, the difference between 60 and the 80 gigabyte is very small. We just feel that going up 20 gigabyte is not worth it.”
  
  
  He also noted that SCEE would consider releasing a revised PS3 model in the future if the storage capacity was much larger, perhaps doubled to 120GB.
  
  “If you're going to double it, it's worth it. So maybe you'll see something a little bit later, but 60 and 80, really not much difference."
  
  Sony Computer Entertainment America recently announced that an 80GB hard drive-equipped PlayStation 3 will launch in North America in August. It will retail for $599.if they could just stop the pr contradictions and blatant lies maybe sony would fair a little better but can you ever actually tell when they are telling the truth anymore!
  
  and by far the worst shit from their mouths is uk backwards compatibility please look through the b/c list in my previous post ppl to see how bad ps2 compatibility is as it sucks big time.

  12.8.2007 01:22 #17

• sammorris

  I think Sony are marketing themselves out of the market. The amount people download isn't going to be dramatically less here than in the US or Japan, so if they're charging an extra $100 for a bigger hard disk, shove a 200GB one in, sell that and the 60GB model, and have done with it.

  12.8.2007 01:25 #18

• borhan9

  Sony to me is trying to become like Microsoft in the sense that you will eventually need to update to the newer package of hardware or software due to the fact that companies like Sony and Microsoft will stop their support for the older models and software.

  17.8.2007 16:47 #19

• sammorris

  Actually, Sony are keeping pretty uniform here, the hard disk size isn't going to change much. However, the fact that not all 360s come with a hard disk will cause some support issues.

  20.8.2007 03:04 #20

• ZippyDSM

  BWC is the deal breaker for me I put the 360 off to this day because of the BWC issues,you forget you sale more consoles if ti has coherent BWC more consoles sold more NEW GAMES sold sony is goign ass backwards and wont find out till it falls off the cliff....
  
  On a brighter side the PS3 has software emulation that can do better filtering and effects making older games look a bit better but its 20-40% less compatible than the EEchip systems.
  
  the PS3 is dead until it has more games than the 360 or falls under 500$ USD/600USD world wide, NEXT!

  20.8.2007 10:11 #21

• sammorris

  BWC?

  21.8.2007 05:14 #22

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by sammorris: BWC?Back wards compatibility, believe it or not it is a big issue with some people.

  21.8.2007 05:20 #23

• sammorris

  Hmm I agree, but then I didn't own an original xbox, and the only game people I know care about is Halo 2, and that works.

  21.8.2007 05:23 #24

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by sammorris: Hmm I agree, but then I didn't own an original xbox, and the only game people I know care about is Halo 2, and that works.I collect games and um play them,so having it work with 5-10$ xbox games is a must :P
  thats why I didn't get one and the fail rate issues have kept me from gettign one,maybe next year. LOL

  21.8.2007 05:29 #25

• sammorris

  Though we own one collectively (although I'm going to end that soon, I've had enough), I would never buy one myself, not unless I was rich enough to buy two, and modify one of them so it worked properly, having the other as a backup that I could send off for replacement every few weeks.

  21.8.2007 06:02 #26

• necronite

  Quote:Originally posted by necronite: i always like how manufacturers throw in something that costs virtually nothing for another $100 charge to the customer. How much are gigabytes these days like 25 cents each?No they aint
  
  and 80GB drive is about £20, and then including a game £45, = £65 more then $100, so IMO worth it.
  
  PS they do have to recoup money some how.
  
  and i dont see where you americans get of complaining about prices. come live in the UK, and then speakyour comparison of prices doesn't make any sense. You need to determine if the value of the 80gb over the 60gb plus the game >= $100, or whatever the increase is in pounds sterling

  7.9.2007 09:05 #27

• nobrainer

  @ necronite
  
  the 80 gig is not being release in the uk or europe as there is just no point as david reeves told gameindustry biz.
  
  http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26702
  
  Quote:So once the 60GB is gone, that will be the end of the 60GB then?
  
  In America, yes.
  
  Why not offer the 80GB model in Europe?
  
  The difference between 60GB and 80GB is not really necessary. The difference in cost between a 60 and 80 is just Euro cents; it's nothing, because the cost of memory is so small.
  
  Probably we could have gone for 80GB, but does it really make any difference? We just know that we get a better supply on the 60GB than we will on the 80GB. So we chose to continue with the 60GB until we find that we can get something better, maybe lower cost. It just didn't seem necessary to us.
  
  But if as you say there's no difference between the 60GB and 80GB, is SCEA making the right decision in offering the 80GB?
  
  The difference is that the 60GB we have now has about 88 per cent backwards compatibility. The 60GB they had had 100 per cent backwards compatibility. They felt that by going down for 100 to 88, for example, that they'd have to add something in - and that's what they did. then you have the other idiot phil harrison saying that the ps3 80gig is great value for heavy down loaders at $100 more with the EE hardware chip being removed from the "improved" 80gig ps3 even though there is very little difference in price between putting a 60 or 80 gig in the ps3 its still good value for $100 more sry did they just contradict themselves?
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check...1&nbram=1&asb=1

  7.9.2007 10:57 #28

• ZippyDSM

  nobrainer
  For sony the cost in the HDD size difference is 40 or 50 cents,the way drives depreciate in value and how they are made a 60 and 80 are realtivlity the same.
  
  the EE chip was stated to be 40USD and that was never in the 800USD euro PS3, sony is playing a very poor game of "look this costs hundreds more than the others it HAS to be good" shtick.
  
  Sorry even tho I think 100 more for better build quality is acceptable the higher the price of the unit will only lead to down a bleak path.
  
  If sony dose not lower its price by 100-200 when MGS and FF13 hit the shelfs they are done for this generation.
  
  
  Frankly at this point and time I would be pleased if they dropped the unit prices to no more than 600USD world wide and 500USD in the states.

  7.9.2007 11:06 #29