Photo leak of possible PS3 Slim...

Or is it just a screen grab?

 

I don't speak German. Is this an official Amazon page or from a private store?

http://www.amazon.de/Sony-PlayStati...1GPU/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1249094607&sr=8-7

 

That image was taken from Amazon. Seems someone was a little too enthusiastic and mistakenly listed the slimline a bit early. It really can't be too long until the official announcement now?

 

Seems that the official announcement could be on August 18th. Two weeks and counting, with some price drops on the current model coming too.

 

New evidence is popping up every day now. Retailers worldwide are reporting that the current PS3 supply is drying up, and Sony will not restock them until late August/early September (rumored to be the Slim, $100 cheaper).

I hope it can stand up vertically. Looks like it would need a stand. Another trinket to sell...

By the way, the new high quality render appearing in hong kong magazines is a fake, made by a flickr user. It's too ugly to post here.

 

Any idea what it would cost?

 

I'm going with $299.99.

 

Yep. $299 or there's no point. With the 360 Elite model going down to $299, Sony needs to compete.

 

At last! The $299 PS3. Thank you Sony! Time to add the PS3 Slim to my Christmas list.

 

I'm hoping this is true. Damn, i already have 5 or 6 games waiting for the console. Not to mention Wipeout HD is a PSN must buy.

 

I'm buying a new PS3 soon anyway so I can buy some blu-ray movies and play UK PS1 games on there (both on CD and from PSN) so they better get this out soon. If they include the rumoured PS2 compatibility (again) it's a no-brainer for me.

 

What? I am surprised by that as frankly I think the PS3 is one of the quietest pieces of hardware I own.... oh wait, maybe I need to switch it on more often... oh wait, maybe some developers need to come out with some exciting new titles sometime soon.

Honestly though, operating noise is not excessive on the PS3 at all.

As for a slimline, it's ALL about economics and Sony are doing their utmost to drive down production costs. This is less about customer satisfaction and hugely more about cutting, cutting, cutting the phat. Something Sony have always done so why are we surprised?

 

As Parris said, it's a quiet machine, much quieter then the Dreamcast, Xbox 360 and even the PS2...

It only gets loud if the CPU is getting hot and it only does that if the machine has poor circulation. A good couple of inches in each direction and the base being on a hard surface and it hardly makes a sound.

I've heard how loud the PS3 can get, when it was in a display case and the fan to suck the air out of the display case failed. It did then sound like a jumbo jet taking off but once the display case was removed it went quiet again after only 5 minutes...

 

Think they're waiting to announce or release it until late September to coincide with the release of odst? Just a thought

 

Although, judging Sony's actions with the PS3 over the last few years, they'll probably try and sell it for $399 with no PS1 (disk) or PS2 backcompat.

And not supporting BluRay movies out the box.

Or come without support for non-HD TVs.

Or feature a video of Kaz Hirai laughing at you when it boots up - not because he's saying you made a bad decision, but Sony's marketing department thought that would really make people love it more. And of course be totally, totally wrong.

 

Rumoured PS2 backcompat?! How could they afford the hardware being added back in when originally taken out to save cash? If software based... hopefully this will be released for existing PS3 owners?

edit: sp

 

Sony have patented Cell based PS2 emulation. I'm totally sure that the slimline will have software based PS2 compatibility from day 1.

 

That patent is really old from what I recall. And it's for some portion of the emulation that the BC PS3s already do. I don't know the specifics of what's emulated so can someone else that does fill us in a bit more?

 

Yes, it is a patent for the Emotion Engine emulation and the techniques used. It does not relate to the GPU.

 

Sony took a big kick in the nuts removing the backwards compatibility (after hyping it so much at launch), it remains to be seen if they chomp down on humble pie and re-introduce it. However seeing as the 360 is making great strides with XBOX games for download, Sony would be stupid to not go down the same road. The PS3 is more than capable of emulating the entire PS2 in CPU alone, and it has enough of a back catalogue to justify it, so it seems pretty certain that they will want to cash in on it.

I am sitting on the money waiting. I will buy another PS3 regardless of the outcome, but a PS2 game store would make them a tidy profit, and they must know that they need to make every effort to claw back some of the money they have lost on this venture.