Sony Computer Entertainment's E3 2008 press conference earlier this week unveiled quite a few juicy titbits of news, including confirmation of a new 80GB PlayStation 3 model, the launch of a Platinum games range for the PS3, and release dates for some of its major first-party titles. Unfortunately, those details were only relevant for North America, with Sony saying more information would be coming soon for other territories.
At a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) event held in Santa Monica, California, SCEE boss David Reeves finally announced those details, saying that the 80GB PS3 would be arriving in Europe, the UK, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand on 27 August (with Russia to follow two weeks later). The 80GB PS3 will cost €399 in Europe and £299 in Britain. No other pricing details for other territories were announced, though a Sony Computer Entertainment Australia spokesperson said Australian pricing would be announced soon. As for the PSP and the PlayStation 2, Reeves said there would be no European price drops, although he did confirm that new bundle deals were on the way.
Just like in the US, the 80GB model will replace the current 40GB SKU. Reeves said there would be no price reduction on the 40GB model in the interim, saying that there were only a small number left in the channel (particularly in the UK).
Reeves also confirmed that the Platinum range of PS3 games would be coming to the SCEE territories, saying titles such as Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Virtua Tennis 3, and Assassin's Creed would be coming at a knock-down price from 1 August (with WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 arriving in September). The Platinum games will cost €29.99 in Europe, £19.99 in the UK, AU$49 in Australia, and NZ$59 in New Zealand.
Europeans and Aussies won't be waiting for their PS3 games either, it seems. MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2 and Siren: Blood Curse are all planned to arrive in SCEE territories on the same "day and date" as the US. God of War III is scheduled for 2009. And as for the Home open beta, Reeves said it would open in Autumn 2008, with more details to follow. GT TV, on the other hand, is confirmed for a 1 August launch in SCEE countries, although no pricing has yet been released.
"We're making every effort to make this day and date with US releases, but please appreciate we don't have one language — we have 13 languages, and we have 27 stores — it takes a while to get these localised and uploaded," he said.
As for the video download service recently announced for the US, Reeves admitted that it would not be heading to Europe and Australia in 2008.
"This will not come to the PAL markets this year, but Sir Howard Stringer has made the commitment that non-games will come to all regions in due course and it will. The dates for video content will come later this year. For us, and I think you appreciate most of you Europeans, that local content is important, and that's what [we are] working on right now," Reeves said.
Like this article? Click below to send it to your mobile for free!
Dean
18/07/2008 04:03 PM
Does the 80GB PS3 play PS2 games? It was pretty lame that they removed that capability from the 40GB model...
Report offensive content
Franky225
19/07/2008 06:03 PM
yes it will, they have a hardware update for the 40GB model to allow you to do this aswell.
Report offensive content
SCAT01
07/08/2008 09:28 AM
Franky225 your wrong. The 80GB is just like the 40GB but with a bigger 40GB. Do some research before posting
Report offensive content
MRTIME
07/08/2008 09:31 AM
I think what SCAT01 is trying to say is that the 80GB is just like the 40Gb except with a bigger HDD.
Report offensive content