And that just means that the rumored new model will be destined for the rest of the world, probably at the equivalent of $400 USD (and probably $450 in Canada, despite the fact that their dollar is worth as much as the US Dollar right now).
You’ll notice on the front that there are only two USB slots, and no memory card slots (who uses those anyway?).
What you won’t notice is on the inside – PS1 and PS2 backwards compatibility has been completely removed. We’re not talking about pulling out the Emotion Engine chip like they did with the 80GB model – it simply won’t play older Playstation titles. It isn’t specified whether downloaded PS1 games will work or not. I assume so, since they would be cutting off a revenue stream from PSN if they did that.
The current model of PS3 will be reduced to €500, and once they are gone, this 40GB version will be all that remains. Until they replace it with another cheaper-to-build model I guess. In the US, it will most likely sit along side the 80GB, for the ‘power users’ who want limited PS1/PS2 compatibility and… memory slots. Remember, the hard drive is extremely easy to replace on the PS3, so hard drive size is somewhat irrelevant in comparing the models.
This price really makes me think… Just 2 or 3 years ago I was thinking I will never own a console because PC is the best platform for games I like.
But now you can play FPS or RTS on XBOX and PS. Hm, probably some time next year I’ll decide to let console enter my house.