NEWS: Sony to launch cut-price PS3

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Sony is introducing a cut-price version of its PS3 console for £299 this Wednesday, with a smaller 40GB hard drive and no backwards compatibility with its previous consoles.

It is also slashing the price of the current 60GB model from £425 to £349.

The company denies the move is in response to lower-than-expected sales of the PS3 in Europe, but admits some customers found the initial price too expensive.

The new, cheaper PS3 will be unable to play PlayStation 1 and 2 games, has two USB ports instead of four and no slots for memory cards.

It brings it into line with the price of Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120GB hard drive but unlike the PS3 does not include a Blu-ray drive.

More than 5.5 million PS3 consoles have been shipped worldwide, compared with more than 10 million each of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360.

Technorati Tags: Blu-ray, Nintendo Wii, PS3, Xbox 360

Andy Clough
Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.