E3 '08: 40GB PS3 phased out for 80GB kit

Among the many news during the recent E3 2008 Sony Press Conference was the announcement that it will be introducing a new US$399 80GB PlayStation 3. On stage, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) America president Jack Tretton was upbeat about the console, saying it offered "twice the storage for the same price".

While such a proposition is attractive, Tretton also raised some questions by saying the console will have "the same functionalities" as the 40GB. That model has been the subject of criticism for its lack of backward compatibility with PlayStation 2 games and, to a lesser extent, not having media card slots. Tretton also omitted any mention of whether or not Sony will continue to manufacture the 40GB, perhaps at a lower price point.

That afternoon, SCE senior vice president of marketing Peter Diller answered several of the lingering questions about the new 80GB PS3. First, the US$399 model will soon be the "de facto standard kit" in the US, with all other models--including the 40GB bare-bones model being phased out. Dille said Sony has already ceased shipping the 40GB to stores, and is letting remaining stock of the console clear itself out of the retail channel. He said Sony has no price cut akin to Microsoft's US$50 discounting of the now-discontinued 20GB Xbox 360.

Secondly, Dille said the new 80GB will have the "exact same functionality as the 40GB model", and will essentially be the same console with a larger hard drive. This means that once the current 80GB PS3s sell out, no new Sony consoles will have backward compatibility with PS2 games. "The strong sales of the US$399 model show that isn't a critical issue, since more and more PS2 owners are upgrading to PS3," he told CNET. "We find that people who care deeply about backward compatibility usually already have a PS2."

When contacted, a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative would not comment on whether these changes will be reflected in the UK and the rest of Europe now or at any point in the future. We've contacted the company's Asia office and will update this article in due time.