The annual E3 gaming summit continues to dish out new product announcements from the industry. Today is Sony's turn, where they have announced a new 80GB "core" PS3 bundle that will be launching in September for just $399.
This new reworked PS3 will have the same functionality as the existing 40GB model, except double the hard disk capacity. This means that the newly introduced model should have no PS2 backwards compatibility and only 2 USB ports.
Photo source: Kotaku
What will happen to the existing 40GB model? Nothing has been officially announced yet, but chances are good that Sony will start to clearance out the 40GB units soon. As to the exact clearance pricing, it's anyone's guess at the moment, but I imagine they will drop into the price range of $299 - $349.
Sony also announced a new video rental and purchasing service that is going live tonight! PS3 users will now be able to hop on the Playstation store online to rent or purchase TV shows and films from Sony Pictures, Warner, Fox, Lion's Gate, Disney and other content providers. 85 standard definition titles will be available at launch, with various price points ranging between $1.99 - $15 depending on the content, resolution and type (rental vs purchase).
Unfortunately, there is still no news of Netflix compatibility coming to the PS3. Microsoft announced yesterday that Xbox Live Gold users will be able to access Netflix instant viewing titles directly from their Xbox 360.
