PS3 Slim announced

Brian Ambrozy 18 Aug, 2009 at 3:30pm ET Article published in Gaming

New PS3 slim

Today at Gamescom, Sony announced the new PS3 Slim. The Slim will retail for $299 starting September 1st in North America and Europe. Besides being much smaller, it uses less power and runs cooler, in addition to sporting a 120gb hard drive, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and the standard Blu-Ray player and 1080p HDMI support.

At $299 the PS3 Slim is poised to finally take its place as the heart of a very viable entertainment system. With support for the ever-expanding PlayStation Network as well as being arguable the best Blu-Ray player on the market, this was a smart move on Sony’s part.

Comments

1. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 4:36pm UPSLynx hmmm...
   
   The PS3 finally becomes attractive to me.
   
   If I were to buy a current gen console, the PS3 is definitely it, but I've had no interest due to pricepoint, power usage, and other things.
   
   I might consider one now, I'd love to play MGS4, Blazblue, and FF
2. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 4:38pm Cliff_Forster Xbox 360 price cut t-minus and..... They almost have to now.
3. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 5:29pm danball1976 Hmmm, is it still able to play PSOne and PS2 games? Also, does it still have any USB ports, ethernet or memory card ports?
4. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 6:13pm primesuspect No recent PS3 has been hardware compatible with PS1/PS2. Software compatibility is released on a patch-by-patch basis, with "most" old games being compatible. There's a list somewhere.
   
   Yes, there is still Ethernet, and two USB. Memory card, no.
   
   
5. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 8:07pm Snarkasm WOW, they chopped a lot off that thing. That's an incredible size reduction.
6. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 8:56pm Gate28 Goddamn 300 dollars. Early adopter rebate, plox?
7. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:11pm UPSLynx I can't believe I want a PS3. My reputation will be ruined.
8. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:18pm Gate28

   UPSLynx wrote:

   I can't believe I want a PS3. My reputation will be ruined.

   
   As what? A weeaboo? Sony is a Japanese company, you know...
   
   Also, the PS3 folds and has free online play. I luff my PS3
9. 
   18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:37pm Thrax Xbox is better.
10. 
    18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:46pm GnomeQueen

    Thrax wrote:

    Xbox is better.

    
    Shush, you don't even own a next gen console.
11. 
    18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:49pm Thrax Nor do I own a Veyron, but I know what's best.
12. 
    18 Aug 2009 ~ 9:50pm GnomeQueen Bugatti Veyron....uhhhhhh
    
    *drools*
13. 
    18 Aug 2009 ~ 11:11pm ledbetter

    Thrax wrote:

    Nor do I own a Veyron, but I know what's best.

    
    Probably as reliable, too.
14. 
    18 Aug 2009 ~ 11:21pm Garg I'm not interested in paying for Xbox Live, and I'm still not satisfied with the 360's build quality (not talking about RROD - there are plenty of other issues). So if I buy a next gen console, it'll be this. The continuing lack of PS2 compatibility is incredibly lame, though. BTW, Prime, all PS3s play PS1 games.
    
    I'll pick up a 360 to play the single-player games I've missed out on by the time 360s are being dumped for 720s.
15. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 1:58am UPSLynx Thrax - perhaps it's a stronger platform, but almost any 360 game that's worth a darn, I can play it on PC (and probably enjoy it significantly more there)
    
    There are many PS3 exclusives that are actually that, and make me wish I could play them. Few 360 exclusives are not also found on the PC eventually.
16. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 9:25am Cliff_Forster I agree with Bobby,
    
    The 360 is more or less Direct X on TV. The PS3 does offer some exclusives that seem more compelling if your already a PC gamer.
    
    Not to mention, you take the cost down $100 now, it at least seems to be designed better, tests will show next month, but its smaller, removes that power brick, I wonder if it runs cooler as well (the 360 is hot and sounds like a small jet plane). You get a blu-ray player, which I am luke warm on at best, but its a throw in feature that we can't knock. The online play is free. If I'm Microsoft, I can't like this move at all.
17. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 12:02pm Koreish I still don't find the Blu-ray player a compelling arguement for the PS3. The rest is all perfectly legit but Blu-ray just isn't nailing DVD in it's coffin. We'll have a new form of HD storage by the time Blu-ray ousts DVD from it's throne.
18. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 2:32pm MAGIC I love my blue-ray player...erm uh-hem... PS3.
    
    But damn, i might try to sell my quick and get the slim version. It looks nice.
19. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 3:02pm Garg

    MAGIC wrote:

    I love my blue-ray player...erm uh-hem... PS3.
    
    But damn, i might try to sell my quick and get the slim version. It looks nice.

    
    It's worth a bit if you've got one of the original backwards-compatible ones.
20. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 3:13pm primesuspect I DO have one of the originals, except I have a huge library of PS2 games that I fear for...
21. 
    19 Aug 2009 ~ 3:27pm Snarkasm PSN's online play is free, but it's shit, at least in my experiences - particularly in the voice chat arena.
    
    I, too, am thinking about selling my old (as good a time as any, what with the move) and picking up a slim... it's the OG 60gb version, so definitely has BC built in.
    
    Still debating.
22. 
    20 Aug 2009 ~ 8:18pm Preacher I use the PS3 more for media serving and Blu-ray movies than games...although I must say Infamous was excellent and GoW is looking promising.
23. 
    21 Aug 2009 ~ 6:51pm Snarkasm Preordered mine today. Be picking it up next week.
24. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 1:14am ardichoke Added to my Amazon Wish List (aka birthday/christmas list). The only down side to the slim PS3 is that they took out the ability to install Linux on it. Oh well, I wasn't planning on doing that anyway. Also, PS2 emulation could possibly be restored soon, Sony has applied for a patent on a method that would apparently allow them to do full PS2 emulation via software on the Cell processor. Here's hoping that shows up in a software patch soon!
    
    As for the XBox 360, there's a reason I will never own it. 50% failure rate is disgraceful.
25. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 11:16am Snarkasm All right, now I have to smack you down.
    
    First, PS2 emulation MAY come back, but Sony says fuck no.
    
    Second, that 50% rate you disparage came from a 5,000-person survey, and it's not meaningful in ANY WAY. It could be 100% full of PS3 fanboys who just felt like having a lark at the 360's expense. Actual warranty-based failure rate analyses say the failure rate is somewhere around 16%. And please note that a 5,000-person sample size from a gaming news site survey is, in fact, a far inferior dataset compared to a 1,000-person sample size from a 360 warranty agent.
    
    Moreover, the original causes of most failures were fixed with the Jasper revision, so you'd never see a problem if you bought one now.
    
    And if you'll note from the survey, only 3% of respondents said they wouldn't buy another 360 because of its hardware failures. Sounds like the 360 is a massive success compared to the PS3 if 97% of people are willing to completely ignore this "crippling flaw" and buy another one again.
    
    That survey is the only thing disgraceful here.
26. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 11:58am NiGHTS I would have thought that any internet based poll, by now, would throw up red flags for anyone when it comes to legitimacy - especially for something like videogames. Think about the typical person to cast a ballot for something like this.
27. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:12pm Cliff_Forster Speaking from personal experience I have shown the Xbox 360 to have about a 80% fail rate. I purchased two, one for me, one for my son. I exchanged each twice for red ringing (thanks Best Buy extended warranty). I got tired of mine, traded it for a wii so me and my little girl could play together and they guy I traded with had his tank again a few months later, so we are officially one for six at this point.
    
    The Xbox 360 has to be the single biggest quality control failure in consumer electronics history.
    
    Microsoft turned me off on the HD console front. If I want to play those games, I'll play them on windows from now on.
28. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:31pm MAGIC

    Cliff_Forster wrote:

    Speaking from personal experience I have shown the Xbox 360 to have about a 80% fail rate. I purchased two, one for me, one for my son. I exchanged each twice for red ringing (thanks Best Buy extended warranty). I got tired of mine, traded it for a wii so me and my little girl could play together and they guy I traded with had his tank again a few months later, so we are officially one for six at this point.
    
    The Xbox 360 has to be the single biggest quality control failure in consumer electronics history.
    
    Microsoft turned me off on the HD console front. If I want to play those games, I'll play them on windows from now on.

    
    Agreed, my aunt has traded in her family's like 3 times over the course of a year and a half i believe. its ridiculous.
29. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:32pm Gate28 I trade my XBox in about once a year, but I have never, EVER, had a single problem with my PS3.
30. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:33pm Snarkasm And it's still getting fixed for free, isn't it?
    
    They underestimated the cooling capability, acknowledged the flaw, and are fixing it for everybody for free. They may have screwed up, but they're working hard to rectify the situation and they solved the issue in later releases.
    
    Yeah, it sucks - but it's essentially over, and it's still everybody's favorite talking point.
    
    Meanwhile, Sony frequently refuses to fix things under warranty because the console's "too dusty." That doesn't sound like service to me, so I'm hoping mine never breaks.
31. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:39pm primesuspect Meanwhile, my Wii failed on me and Nintendo wants $75 to fix it. Whereas when my 360 died, Microsoft was exceptionally head-over-heels to fix it for me, apologizing profusely every step of the process.
32. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:41pm MAGIC It's great that they want to fix it, but you still have the inconvenience of the downtime and having to go ship it.
33. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 12:44pm Garg

    Snarkasm wrote:

    Actual warranty-based failure rate analyses say the failure rate is somewhere around 16%.

    
    I'd just like to make a note that the mere 16% rate for the 360 is over five times the rate for the PS3 and Wii.
    

    Snarkasm wrote:

    And if you'll note from the survey, only 3% of respondents said they wouldn't buy another 360 because of its hardware failures. Sounds like the 360 is a massive success compared to the PS3 if 97% of people are willing to completely ignore this "crippling flaw" and buy another one again.

    
    One thing I see a lot in these pointless Internet console arguments I for some reason participate in are the separate arguments of "this console is good because a lot of people like it" and "this console is bad and I won't buy it."
    
    I'm in the second group. I've got my reasons for not wanting to buy one, but I don't care if anybody else does, or how much they seem content with situations I wouldn't tolerate.
34. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 1:00pm primesuspect For me, it all comes down to games. I have a blast on all three consoles, so... whatever.
    
    There are games for each that are completely awesome. PS3 exclusives like Flower, Pixeljunk Monsters, the old PS1 library, etc. The 360 arcade is incredible, and the 360 gets the most use in the house because of Netflix on demand. The Wii's virtual console is SUPER epic, and the exclusive properties like Mario, Metroid, and Zelda make it a must.
    
    I dunno; as a real gamer, I think owning all four platforms is a must
35. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 2:05pm mirage We bought a PS3 a little more than a year ago after asking all of the friends of my son about their XBOX 360 experience. All of them (about 5-6) had to send their XBOX for repair, and some of them had done that twice. The funny thing is that all of them highly recommended XBOX 360 over PS3. Snarkasm or Thrax might understand them but I failed (please do not attempt to explain, not interested). I am very happy with the PS3 both as a game console and a media center. We have about 10 games so far and all of them are very much fun. Kids love the LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet and Clank. Uncharted, MGS4 are also very good. I especially like Grand Tourismo and Burnout Paradise. I have upgraded the PS3 harddisk by transferring my laptop's old harddisk, it was such a good saving to upgrade two devices at once. The unified bluetooth interface for all of the peripherals is such an elegant solution and integrated wifi is a must for me. The best thing is that the new PS3, although looks better than the old model, is not an upgrade that I am compelled due to quality improvement. To me, PS3 is the best - a big period. Here, I added my 2c too.
36. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 2:44pm Trumandrummer

    mirage wrote:

    We bought a PS3 a little more than a year ago after asking all of the friends of my son about their XBOX 360 experience. All of them (about 5-6) had to send their XBOX for repair, and some of them had done that twice. The funny thing is that all of them highly recommended XBOX 360 over PS3. Snarkasm or Thrax might understand them but I failed (please do not attempt to explain, not interested). I am very happy with the PS3 both as a game console and a media center. We have about 10 games so far and all of them are very much fun. Kids love the LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet and Clank. Uncharted, MGS4 are also very good. I especially like Grand Tourismo and Burnout Paradise. I have upgraded the PS3 harddisk by transferring my laptop's old harddisk, it was such a good saving to upgrade two devices at once. The unified bluetooth interface for all of the peripherals is such an elegant solution and integrated wifi is a must for me. The best thing is that the new PS3, although looks better than the old model, is not an upgrade that I am compelled due to quality improvement. To me, PS3 is the best - a big period. Here, I added my 2c too.

    
    Same here. A couple of my buddies had a 360. One of my buddies got the Red ring of death. So he bought a new one (I told him to send it in, but he don't listen) and my other buddy had sent his in for a repair before. Still, some people prefer the 360, but I hate waiting. If I had to send my console in for weeks, I would go crazy. So I bought the 40gb ps3 (last year) and put a 320gb 2.5" drive in it.
    I too, love my ps3.
37. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 2:58pm ardichoke I've also read some speculation that the "fix" for the RROD problem was actually just a firmware update that made the RROD not occur under certain circumstances that it previously would have, thus partially fixing the symptom but not the actual problem. Of course, I'm not sure that's 100% accurate but if so... doesn't mean the problem is actually fixed, it just means that Microsoft is trying to screw people out of having to repair it. Either way, a 16% failure rate is epic, and not in a good way. I don't even play console games that much but I'd be pissed if I had to send mine in and wait for weeks to get it back.
    
    Getting back ON topic... Does anyone know if the PS3 handles disk switching for PS1 titles properly? I tried playing MGS on my PS2 but it doesn't handle the disk swap right so I can only play through the 1st disk. Made me very sad.
38. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 3:53pm Snarkasm The actual fix for the RRoD is a stronger backplate to prevent warping and a better heatsink to funnel the heat away faster (therefore also preventing warping). I don't believe a firmware fix was involved.
39. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 4:28pm Preacher I've been very happy with the PS3, excluding the removal of PS1 and PS2 compatability. Caveat Emptor, in my case. I should have done better research and ensure the model we got had that feature.
40. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 5:51pm Cliff_Forster

    primesuspect wrote:

    Meanwhile, my Wii failed on me and Nintendo wants $75 to fix it. Whereas when my 360 died, Microsoft was exceptionally head-over-heels to fix it for me, apologizing profusely every step of the process.

    
    Class legal action is why Brian. Nintendo produced a quality product and did nothing to intentionally deceive the public, thus they are entitled to their repair fee on the rare instance that a wii tanks outside of warranty.
    
    Brian, I remember seeing several store displays for the launch 360 failing inside of the first month, and I would think, perhaps it just needs to air out bit instead of being encased in that hard display plastic, hell, even clerks thought that was the issue, that is, until just about every unit they sold fell back on their laps right in Feb or so after the first Christmas launch.
    
    Microsoft is doing the right thing now, but don't think they are doing it because they love you, they are doing it because they have to at this point. Everyone is aware that they knowingly sold the public a lemon and now they are paying the price, as they should.
41. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 5:57pm primesuspect Ok.
    
    I still like playing Castle Crashers and Marvel vs. Capcom II on the Xbox Live Arcade though
42. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 9:00pm Snarkasm What? "Intentionally deceive the public," "knowingly sold the public a lemon"? What are you saying, Cliff?
    
    Get your conspiracy theories out of legitimate threads. It was an engineering mistake that wasn't time-tested, not an intentionally-created hardware fault designed so they could take a ten billion dollar loss and extend the warranties out to three years.
    
    I mean really.
43. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 9:29pm ledbetter

    ardichoke wrote:

    Does anyone know if the PS3 handles disk switching for PS1 titles properly? I tried playing MGS on my PS2 but it doesn't handle the disk swap right so I can only play through the 1st disk. Made me very sad.

    
    I checked Sony's site and it does not address this issue but I found several forums that say you can.
44. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 10:50pm mirage Here is the article Cliff is talking about. Snark, you are posting the bullshit actually.
    
    See this too
    http://gizmodo.com/5046314/the-shocking-inside-story-of-the-epic-defects-that-killed-millions-of-xbox-360s
    
    And another
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2008/jan/22/thexbox360failurestheinsi
45. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 11:00pm Cliff_Forster

    Snarkasm wrote:

    What the fuck, "intentionally deceive the public," "knowingly sold the public a lemon"? What in the goddamn hell are you smoking, Cliff?
    
    Get your conspiracy bullshit out of legitimate threads. It was an engineering mistake that wasn't time-tested, not an intentionally-created hardware fault designed so they could take a ten billion dollar loss and extend the warranties out to three years.
    
    I mean Jesus Christ. What the fuck, Cliff?

    
    One yellow flag on the field Snark. One can be direct while remaining civil. Let me add please, Jesus games on PC, lets not bring him into this.
    
    If you would have politely asked me I would have guided you to one of many journalistic exposes that site Microsoft sources that knew that the original design was not battle tested, and destined to failure. Once again Snark, one for six, thats what I am batting on Xbox 360 units. One of those units was a model manufactured in 2008 and it has failed like four others prior.
    
    Read below, and before you blast me if you would like I could find about a half dozen more of these, in fact I am familiar of a report where a former Microsoft engineer blew the whistle. They were selling lemons at launch, that is not debatable, weather they knew or not you might argue about, I honestly think they did, and if anyone were to dig hard enough they could probably prove it and it would be a class action nightmare as big as the 3 yr. warranty extension without the appearance of doing the right thing. Of course the right thing would have been to delay launch and serve the public a product that was not a hunk of junk.
    
    Snark, companies don't extend warranty terms out of the blue just because they love their customers. You know, that real world you are always reminding me about
    
    http://games.venturebeat.com/2008/09/05/xbox-360-defects-an-inside-history-of-microsofts-video-game-console-woes/
46. 
    22 Aug 2009 ~ 11:40pm Snarkasm Note that I've never said they extended the warranty because they loved their customers - they extended the warranty because they realized it was a manufacturing or design defect.
    
    Apologies, but mirage, two of your sources point to the same story as Cliff's, and Cliff's link involves no actual facts that I can see - it's just Mr. Takahashi saying things as if they're true with no firsthand accounts to back those up. Mirage, your third looks more promising, but even the writer doesn't sound like he particularly believes in the source.
    
    If you can find the report from an actual Microsoft employee that spoke up to people before launch and alerted them to the possibility of an RRoD issue, I will apologize even more profusely. Maybe it's just one of those situations where, in hindsight, I can't imagine a company willingly putting out something that was going to lose them billions of dollars down the line... maybe at the beginning they didn't think it was going to last as long as it did. I don't know, but the way it came out of your fingers, Cliff, you managed to make it sound like MS knew, without a doubt, that the RRoD would wreck everybody and put it out anyway - and without a first-party source, I can't honestly believe that.
    
    Last response redacted for poor manners. Apologies to all, I just got temperamental for a minute. Everybody knows Cliff brings out the best in me.
47. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 12:18am ledbetter November 22, 2005 was the official launch date for the 360. Nearly FOUR YEARS have past and not only have defects been a constant, but also more alarmingly frequent.
    
    I'm sorry, but I can see no reason why anyone would defend Microsoft for developing such piss poor hardware that is devoid of any quality assurance. Passion is one of the things that makes this industry great, but come on. Worship great products, not the companies that make them.
48. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 12:45am Garg I find it most likely that their lawyers and engineers decided it would be cheaper to replace consoles for X period of time rather than redesign the consoles immediately (I don't know if it actually was cheaper that way, and it's hard to factor in any potential damage to their corporate image into cost). If true, that's essentially public deception (whether the fault was found before launch or if it became apparent soon afterwards).
49. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 1:29am Cyclonite Anyone else tired of the Console vs. PC and PS3 vs. Xbox 360 debates that seem to have been going on at an increasing rate over the last couple weeks? You're not going to convince each other.
50. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 1:32am NiGHTS Whatever, man. PC gaming rules, corporations try to rip you off, indie devs are the best, **** the RIAA, playerbase decides my fun, long live C64.
51. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 11:04am Snarkasm

    NiGHTS wrote:

    Whatever, man. PC gaming rules, corporations try to rip you off, indie devs are the best, **** the RIAA, playerbase decides my fun, long live C64.

    
    I think we can all work with that.
52. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 1:29pm ardichoke

    NiGHTS wrote:

    Whatever, man. PC gaming rules, corporations try to rip you off, indie devs are the best, **** the RIAA, playerbase decides my fun, long live C64.

    I would like to add to this that the GP2X is the best portable gaming device evar. Long live indie hardware devs!
53. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 2:54pm Thrax Fuck yeah GP2X!
54. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 3:08pm ardichoke Thrax agreed with something I posted.... is the sky falling? o_O
55. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 9:08pm Snarkasm Quite possibly. Just in case, I'll leave this here:
    
    
    
    Sea pig.
56. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 9:09pm Thrax
57. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 9:10pm Snarkasm Side note: that may very well be, by far, the best thing that has ever come of that picture.
58. 
    23 Aug 2009 ~ 10:39pm Garg I still want a Pandora.