New Sony PlaySation 3 Doubles HDD Capacity With 80GB HDD

Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. (SCEA) makes a series of announcements which demonstrated the strength of the PlayStation brand across all three of its platforms and further leveraged the heritage and momentum of PlayStation’s family of products to provide consumers with more compelling entertainment options than anyone in the video game industry.

Starting in September 2008, the newly announced PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) 80GB model will become the mainstay of the company’s hardware line-up. The 80GB model will retail for $399, and will offer all of the features and functionality of the 40GB model with double the storage to accommodate more movies, graphics, music, photos and other entertainment content — all for the same price. As with its predecessor, the new 80GB model will be a complete entertainment system comprising of a Blu-ray(TM) player, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in 80GB hard-disk drive. The multi-functionality of the 80GB PS3, combined with more than 140 exclusive and third-party titles and the PLAYSTATION(R)Network, is a comprehensive entertainment value designed to appeal to a wide range of consumers from hard-core gamers to general entertainment enthusiasts.

Following the success of five PSP (PlayStation Portable) Entertainment Packs, SCEA announced the Ratchet and Clank Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack, a new bundle showcasing PSP’s multi-functional feature set, targeted for holiday gift-giving. Launching in October 2008 for $199.99 MSRP, the bundle will include a limited-edition ‘Silver’ PSP system with the highly acclaimed game, Ratchet and Clank Size Matters; a blockbuster movie on UMD (Universal Media Disc); a PLAYSTATION Network voucher to download the innovative puzzle game, echochrome from PLAYSTATION Store: and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo for storing music, videos, photos and more.

In addition, SCEA introduced a new family entertainment bundle for the PlayStation 2 system, the most successful console in industry history. The limited-edition LEGO Batman: The Videogame PlayStation 2 Pack will feature the highly anticipated TT Games/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment title LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Warner Home Video’s Justice League: The New Frontier on DVD, and a PlayStation 2 system — all for $149.99 MSRP, which represents a $30 savings for consumers if the contents were purchased separately. SCEA will also launch more than 130 new titles for PlayStation 2 system this year, totaling 10,000 PlayStation 2 titles by end of the year.