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GC 2008: Sony Hardware Announcements

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Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, who chose not to go up on stage to sing and dance, Sony put on somewhat of an interesting press conference which included games and a fair bit of hardware announcements. And since anything SCEE said at Leipzig pertained to Europe alone, SCEA put up a blog post detailing the North American version.

Here’s the breakdown:

PlayStation 3 with 160 GB Hard Drive

  • November for $499.99  USD/CAD
  • Comes with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
  • DualShock 3
  • Voucher for PSN game PAIN

New PlayStation Portable (PSP-3000)

  • $199.99 USD/CAD for Entertainment Packs
    • 4 GB Memory Pro Duo Pack available
    • Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Entertainment Pack also available
      • Echochrome for PSN
      • National Treassure 2
  • Improvements include:
    • Built in mic
    • Improved LCD screen with “increased intensity and number of colours”
    • Smoother edges and corners

PS3 Wireless Keypad

  • Bluetooth enabled
  • Sports shortcut keys for quick access to Friends List and Message Box
  • Snaps on the top of the Dual Shock 3
  • Main button on the top can act as a touch pad
  • Ugly as sin

So it looks like Sony is doubling up the storage capacities of their $399 and $499 PS3 SKUs. Very nice of them and on a marketing standpoint, it’s a plus. They can also tout that their hard drive is bigger than Microsoft’s hard drive. “Wow. It’s soooo big!” Well, mine’s bigger than theirs combined since I’m sporting a 320 GB data storing monster.

I like the PSP-3000’s changes. They’re not very drastic, but appreciated. I wonder how much nicer the new screen is.

What I don’t like is this ugly snap on keyboard. It’s so hideous sitting on top of controller like that. At least Microsoft’s offering conforms to the controller. This thing looks like some parasite leeching onto it.

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