160GB PlayStation 3 Announced for Europe and North America

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced at Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig that the 160GB PLAYSTATION 3 will launch in October/November 2008 in the PAL markets as part of a bundle box including additional PLAYSTATION Network content. It will have the same features as the 80GB PAL PS3 except double the storage.

Other sources have also reported that there will be a 160GB PS3 for North America. This will include Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, PLAYSTATION Network Voucher for PAIN and a DUALSHOCK3 Wireless Controller.

This has come as a complete surprise as the new 80GB PAL PS3 is due to release this Friday (22nd August). Too bad I have already ordered my 80GB PS3. I might have waited for the 160GB version, but then they may have announced another one. You can always change the HDD to a higher capacity one on your own.

Press Release: Europe | North America

Where is the 80GB PS3 for Europe, Sony? (A PlayStation 3 Story) [Update 6]

I have wanted to buy the PlayStation 3 ever since it came out in November 2006 (USA and Japan). I waited and waited. Then finally Sony released the PS3 in Europe in March 2007. After finding out that Sony had removed the “Emotion Engine” CPU from the European PS3, I was angry. This limits the compatibility with PS2 games on the European PS3 because only software emulation is being used rather than hardware emulation. For some who has a large collection of PS2 games, this is huge smack in the face. Unsure of what to do I waited and thought to myself that this situation is temporary.

Not long after (maybe a month, or two) Sony replaced the 60GB European PS3 with a lower-class 40GB PS3 that completely removed PS2 backward compatibility by removing the “Graphics Synthesizer” GPU, the last of the PS3 hardware. This new “downgrade” also removes the flash card readers, SACD support as well as lowering the number of USB 2.0 ports to 2 from 4.