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40GB PS3 Confirmed, 60GB Price Drop For UK?

That 40GB PS3 rumor is all but official at this point, what with so much evidence popping up all over the Internet. In fact, we're already starting to see "unofficial confirmations," like the one today from UK site, Pocket-Lint. They say that not only will Sony announce the new lower-spec model tomorrow, but they're also planning to drop the price of the 60GB model.

The 40GB PS3 will supposedly retail for £299 so as to more closely compete with the Xbox 360 Elite, and "multiple sources in the games industry in the UK" have also confirmed they're slashing the 60GB price by £56 to £369 in an obvious attempt to create a sales spike for the holidays. This flies in the face of what Sony president Kaz Hirai has said in the past – they're not "immediately considering" a price cut – but perhaps he only meant for Japan and the US.

"Although we aren't sure when in October it's happening we are aware that the price will drop to £369, with shops probably selling for £349, and a 40GB model launching as well to compete against the Xbox 360", a major games publisher told Pocket-lint.

Also, this is the first time we're hearing the word "Core" associated with the mysterious 40GB model. It will apparently boast Blu-Ray (duh), the 40GB hard drive (another duh), Wi-Fi connectivity and a Sixaxis controller, but it will only have two USB slots (there are four in the 60 and 80GB models) and it's losing the memory card reader. Surprisingly enough, though, it should also have the graphics synthesizer chip, which makes nigh-on full b/c possible…something that was removed from the 80GB model. But this won't even really be an issue for UK gamers, as all UK b/c is done via software emulation.

If you break it down, it appears that a "Core" PS3 purchase will be cheaper than the Xbox 360 Elite by £160, if you include the cost of purchasing a Wi-Fi adapter and HD-DVD drive for the Elite. We have no idea if any of Pocket-Lint's sources are accurate, but we do know that none of this comes as a shock. Sony has been planning something like this for a while; in this case, the rumors do appear to be very true.