So Sony have finally released a new redesign of their Playstation 3 console similar to what they did with the Playstation 1 & 2.  If you haven’t already gotten one will the redesign convince you to do otherwise? Lets have a look.  

Well it looks like Sony has put their beloved Playstation on a bit of a diet, both in size and price which now retails for $499 – a much more agreeable price than the six hundred to seven hundred dollar sku before it. Cosmetically the new ps3 has been changed from a black polished finish to a textured matt black surface reducing marks and clinging dust.  The logo branding has changed and calls to mind a similarity with the Playstation 2 logo and aesthetic. 

As you can see, big difference!

Buttons are no longer touch sensitive and are actually buttons that you need to press down.  The new slim design has a massive 120 gig hard drive which is more than enough room to download games and media from the PS network.  I own a 40 gig machine I bought a couple of years ago and have longed for more storage space, seems like those wanting to get a slim will have plenty of room to play with and you’ll need it, especially with some of the bigger installs.

Here is the first advert for the new Playstation 3 redesign and price from America. 

You got two USB ports in the front, built in Wi-Fi for internet and online gaming and Ethernet port for those wanting a cabled experience and lets not forget the HDMI port. The on/off switch on the back has been removed and quite frankly I’m happy about that as I saw little use for it in the first place.  

You can still remove the hard drive just as easily as the ‘fat’ model if you want to upgrade storage but you won’t be able to install your own operating system.  There is still no backward compatibility for Playstation 2 games but Australian gamers are no doubt used to this by now.  Lets hope they can rectify this omission via software emulation in the near future.  

The slim is 32 percent thinner, 36 percent lighter and uses 34 percent less electricity than the fat model.  It’s leaner, meaner and greener and the engineering quality seems to be the consistently high level we have come to expect from Sony.  

This series of commercials is from Japan.  I like them even if they are only a step above the 'lifestyle' adverts that Nintendo do.  At least these people actually look like people who would play a playstation 3 and not just some arsehole that could be lifted from Better Homes and Gardens.

The cherry on top is of course that this is a Blu-Ray player, and probably one of the most versatile and better quality Blu-ray players on the market. When you consider that you can play games, use the PS3 as a multimedia hub and watch Blu-Ray movies, all for just under five hundred dollars, there are very few excuses left for those that have been wanting to get into the new Playstation console but have been unable to afford to do so.  

What will the children look like?

With exclusive games like Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4, resistance and the always entertaining Little Big Planet in it’s library, there are plenty of games to appeal to all ages, the only problem is that if already own a Playstation 3, there is little incentive to buy another one as it performs identically to it’s bigger brother.

We do have to return this to Sony but I plan on buying one as soon as possible to serve as a back-up unit.  It looks great, it’s a great size and now it’s a great price.  If you haven’t got a Playstation 3 and have been waiting for this to happen, you know what to do.  I for one like the new sku from Sony and can see them having great success with it.   At the end of this console war, it most certainly seems like the winners are going to be us gamers.

What you can expect to see when you get your new console. Schmicko!

As far as I'm concerned, Sony has done an excellent job on the redesign and have offered the perfect balance between looks and functionality not to mention cost.  If you haven't got one and want one then your time has come!