PS3 launch date announced at E3: Two models to be offered

According to Daily Tech, Sony said during their E3 Demo of the PS3, that they will launch November 17. The game Gran Tourismo was demoed at 1080p and Electronic Arts has stated that they had 10 titles coming for the platform, though it is unclear which of these will be capable of the 1080p resolution. However, the report did mention that Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13 stuck in their minds as two. The PS3 will reportedly come in two different configurations, the cheaper of the two with a 20 gigabyte HDD and the more expensive, a 60 gig HD. Retail pricing was stated to be $499 and $599 respectively. This includes a Blu-ray drive and integrated networking capability. By the way, Sony has promised an online back end similar to the one for Microsoft's Xbox...for free.

Furthermore, the PS3 will come with several interoperability features, including a function that will allow the PSP to link directly into the console.  The conference call also alluded to some WiFi integration, and considering the networking between the PSP and the PS3, we can only assume this means some 802.11 protocol.  Bluetooth will also be standard on the PS3.  The wireless controllers will allow for seven players at a time to use the same console.  The wireless controllers are a strong departure from the old "boomerang" concept design.  In fact, the controller looks almost exactly like the existing PS2 controller with the addition of two trigger buttons under the L1 and R1 pads, but also features motion sensitivity. The internal motion sensitivity gives the controller "six degrees of freedom." A mini-USB interface is also featured on the front of the controller -- we suspect for recharging the batteries. Sony stresses that this is not the final design, though our representative claims there will be very few changes before launch.

There is a lot more that can be read at Daily Tech concerning the E3 demo. In addition, you can check out a screenshot of the new PlayStation 3 controller at the same link.  They have an interesting update on another page as well, indicating that the lower end, 20 gigabyte model, will go on sale in Japan for $530 dollars with gigabit Ethernet and a Blu-ray reader November 11 - but it will not have some key features of the more expensive 60 gigabyte counterpart. (See chart above) Among other things, as we can see, the larger capacity unit will feature a MemoryStick, SD, CompactFlash Reader (!) and an additional output, giving it HDMI capability.

Source: Daily Tech