Chime In: Ladies and Gentlerebels, the Real PS3 Slim
It’s a Sony, Sony, Sony kinda news day, and we couldn’t resist poking fun at the “big reveal” everyone was waiting for this morning. But there’s a lot of room in our hearts for the PS3 – it is how we play Valkyria Chronicles and WipEout afterall.
Perhaps more important than the design is that this official announcement out of GamesCom means that many more gamers will get a chance to finally play those titles, along with many other solid games that have suffered while waiting for this move.
The PS3 Slim is 32% smaller, 36% lighter, consumes 34% less power, and includes a 120gb hard drive for $299 US – available the first week of September according to the Kaz.
[Kotaku says 33% smaller, while VG247 says 32% - the official 4cr figure is 69%]
Find out what the 4cr staff thinks and hit us up with your opinions after the break.
Jody:
i will go pro:
i think it looks small and awesome. Don’t get me wrong, I probably prefer the look of the original, but I’ll be the first to admit that it is huge. I do prefer the matte look over my glossy one. The only thing I don’t really like the look of is the power and eject buttons. I love how seamlessly they are blended in on the old model. The touch buttons are sweet. Really though, the best part of the whole thing is the price. The more of my friends that get a PS3, the better for me. Personally I absolutely love the thing. I’m just glad I got one with full PS2 BC.
Evan:
My PS3 was stolen earlier in the year and I haven’t really had any desire to get a new one, but this announcement has slightly changed my mind. Making the console smaller is nice, but the 299 price tag and 120gb harddrive is what interests me. Now it’s the same price as the 360 but double the harddrive space. My only qualm with the PS3 Slim is that, judging by Sony’s comments and their own website, it won’t be backwards compatible with PS2 games. If it was, I would probably get one in the near future.
Michael:
I’d chime in but I don’t care about the PS3 at all. Actually you can post that as my chime in.
Mitch:
The slim PS3? What more is there to say? When Sony first unveiled the console design AND the controller design, the Internet crapped its pants and Carl Jung had a field day. The console looked like a plastic grill and the controller looked like a double-headed dildo. Years later, it’s nice to know that Sony went the distance, listened to public opinion and finally made the PS3 look like a Chinese knock-off of its own product.
Honestly, Sony strikes me as a company with Aspergers: It’s often-times brilliant, but Lord Almighty, it has no idea how to behave itself in public.
GK:
God I love my PS3. Personally, I don’t really care that it’s half the size of my TV, but I certainly wouldn’t mind that I could get one a little bit smaller. To be honest most of the games I play on it are cross platform, but every now and again a game like Metal Gear Solid 4 makes me glad that I bought the Playstation. Now that it’s at $300, only $50 or so more than the wii, it’s a done deal. Blu-Ray players are hovering around the $200 point so that extra 100 gets you a decent media server and the ability to play both current generation games and PS1 games (can I say Final Fantasy VII?). Hell, you can even install an operating system on it and turn it into a computer/research tool. This price drop and slimming is a great move for Sony, but I feel that it could have come a little sooner. Anyways, back to Fat Princess!
Edgar:
Where do we put the steaks?
Jamie:
There’s no denying it looks like a grill, and maybe more anorexic than slim. Something that struck me about the PS3 since the day I first brought it home was that it looked like a machine I spent a stupid amount of money on. But with or without that sheen it still sits in a cabinet under my television, so I guess it really doesn’t matter, or at least not nearly as much as the fact that more people are going to have a chance to check out several games that have been neglected, and several more on the way that needed this price-cut to gain a fighting chance at sales success.
At least Activision will stop making empty threats, and it’ll be interesting to hear from other developers in the coming weeks.
What say you Rebels?
4cr Staff - August 18th, 2009 - 
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Mitch on August 18, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Edgar never ceases to make me giggle.
Triscuit on August 18, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I like the fact that it’s smaller, but I have two problems with it: I don’t like the matte look, and it’s a perfect freaking square. It looks way too oblong in it’s current slim-itized state.
ZaxCG2 on August 18, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I still don’t understand why they can’t make this thing flat. They don’t want you to have any other system to stack on top of it?
Otherwise, I’m happy with it. I approve highly of the pricepoint and it’s definitely something that I might be willing to put money towards in the future. I have to be honest, they’re really making up for the atomic bomb they dropped during it’s initial launch.
So glad I haven’t bought a single next-gen console yet!
yanipheonu on August 18, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I’m holding some of the criticism until I see an actual unit. I thought a lot of things looked ugly in official pics, but look better in real life (PS3 phat and the DS Phat are some examples).
Kenofthedead on August 18, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Looks well enough, and I’m always a fan of smaller size consoles.
Still, I’m happy with my PS3 despite it’s large size. With it I was able to get rid of my Playstation 2, and now I can hapily play every Playstation title I own without the need of two diffrent systems taking up space.
If I had waited for this one, well I would still be using the PS2, so not much space saved at all then.
Now hopefuly more people buy Valkyria Chronicles.
Jacob on August 18, 2009 at 6:47 pm
“I still don’t understand why they can’t make this thing flat. They don’t want you to have any other system to stack on top of it?”
People have asked that of almost every system since the NES. Essentially, yes, they don’t want you putting stuff on top of it. For heat reasons, and so stuff like drinks don’t get spilled on it when placed on top. (It happened to the NES a lot, apparently.)
So, get a shelf, or place your systems side-by-side vertically.
jhgd on August 18, 2009 at 7:02 pm
I plan on getting one off Amazon once it launches.
Needless to say, this will be the ugliest system I own.
wiiarebrothers on August 18, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Kristofor on August 18, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Holy crap. I’ll take one…I don’t even like Sony. But I do like PS3.
raindog469 on August 18, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Better price drop than I expected. I fully expect to see a $199 Wii this xmas (or maybe a $249 Wii with bundled Wii Fit or Wii Sports Resort/MotionPlus.)
I still don’t see myself buying a PS3.
Volt on August 18, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Mitch has it. After seeing the “leaked” images for a few weeks now, I thought for sure that it couldn’t be real. The slim PS3 looks like it should have 500 pirated NES games pre-installed. Maybe that was the point? Maybe Sony is overtaken by such hubris (for some reason) that they can expect people to buy it regardless? I don’t freaking know, maaan.
The price drop is awesome though. I think we’ll see a definite PS3 renaissance here. Even if for a little while.
Chuck on August 19, 2009 at 1:13 am
It looks fine.
I still have to get a 360 of my own, because i’ve just been using my roomates for the past 2 years.
But $300 sounds nice.
Much better than the old price by far, and it actually makes me feel like wanting one.
CaTZ on August 19, 2009 at 1:56 am
how big is the power brick?
Michael on August 19, 2009 at 3:58 am
One thing that came to mind when I read that the slim and fat would cost the same amount:
What is the difference between them? In the case of the PS2, the slim one cost more than the wider model. In fact, in almost all updated models of products that offer more than its predecessor, the predecessor gets a price drop while the new one takes up the previous cost.
While I’m glad to see a price drop, something seems rather fishy about this particular fact…
-jon ^_^ on August 19, 2009 at 9:55 am
I think it’s kinda funny that it appears they managed to make the PS3 look even uglier.
Ujn Hunter on August 19, 2009 at 10:00 am
Wow Sony really knows how to make good looking systems… *ahem* I’ll keep my 60gb PS3 with ALL the features thanks! Why pay for less?
EdEN on August 19, 2009 at 12:58 pm
The 360 has been $199 for a while and Nintendo didn’t cut the price of the Wii. The PS3 is now $299 and Nintendo doesn’t have to cut the price of the Wii because it still sells waaaaaaaaaaaay more than both of it’s competitors combined.
Nintendo will first introduce the black color console than cut the price.
As for the new PS3 Slim, I’ll get one as soon as one of my relatives comes to visit from the US since it will either:
a) Not be released in Mexico until June 2010 (still waiting for the “official” 160 GB PS3 over here.
b) If released in Mexico, will be $150 more expensive due to import taxes and what not.
Joe on August 19, 2009 at 1:29 pm
This will finally give the 360 some competition as far a specs go. The 60gb Xbox360 is $299 with no wifi ($90 more for the device), payed subsription to live gold, and no blueray player. There are other pros and cons to both systems but the price won’t be such a factor. I own a 360 and like it. (Except that time it red lighted me.)
Joe on August 19, 2009 at 1:45 pm
@Michael
I also wondered about the difference too. Are the specs the different.
Bob on August 19, 2009 at 3:13 pm
It looks a little ugly actually, and looks like it’s using a cheap plastic case.
Nevertheless, it’s only 300 now, and %30 less on a lot of bad stuff.
shouamabane on August 19, 2009 at 4:14 pm
@Michael, Joe
The older systems are bundled with games. Also, the slim is unable to install Linux.
I’m a fan of PS3 and its games. This news is great for everybody.
Bob on August 19, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I just realized that
plastic case = no fingerprints
Genius!
jam on August 22, 2009 at 10:49 am
I guess they’re trying to put the whole 599 US DOLLARS thing behind them for good by making it look like a cheap piece of crap. It could have looked a lot better if they had waited a year so they’d be able to reduce the size more noticeably, but they needed to get it out now so they’d have a slightly better chance of having some impact on Wii sales, so I guess it can’t be helped.
What happened to the heat-sensing buttons, BTW? Those were totally the best part.
dave on August 22, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I love the simplicity of the slim. It maintains the general shape while cutting anything superfluous. Do gaming consoles really need chrome paint and flashing lights on them at this point?
H on September 6, 2009 at 5:19 pm
i get the impression its supposed to melt into its surroundings better, be less conspicuous. not bad that it saves energy either. but its ugly nonetheless. its console design a la ikea: functional, characterless, uses cheap lightweight materials, marketable to noone and anyone
H on September 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm
although i may be a hypocrite, because the only consoles i think look good are the dslite and gbmicro, which are equally simple-looking. maybe the gb brick too.
Mckma on April 29, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I think it looks kinda weird, not really digging the inlaid PS3, but the matte is nice (always liked that over glossy)…