Los Angeles/Cologne: Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 will feature higher-capacity hard drives in North America this fall to let consumers download more games and entertainment, the company said on Tuesday. The game console will come with about 33 percent more storage capacity than previous versions, but at least one analyst said that it is not likely to be a major selling point for consumers.
"In the greater scheme of things, it means nothing. Every year the price of storage goes down so the average storage in any given device goes up," said Daniel Ernst, analyst with Hudson Square Research.
Sony said the new models of the PlayStation 3 will include one with 320 gigabytes of memory in the PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle, with a suggested retail price of $ 399.99.
The 160-gigabyte model PS3 system will ship to retailers at the same price as the existing PS3 model, with a suggested retail price of $ 299.99.
From October, the company will also start selling a 160-gigabyte PS3 in combination with its Move motion-control game system in Europe, it announced at a news conference in Cologne, Germany, a day ahead of Gamescom, Europe's largest video game trade fair.
This version will cost 299 euros ($ 384.6), it said, adding that a 320-gigabyte version featuring Move would go on sale Sept. 15 for 349 euros, the same date that Move will launch.
Sony's announcement marks another step in the war of the three big consoles - Sony's Playstation, Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 - with manufacturers offering new bundles to lure customers away from the competition.
Microsoft announced earlier on Tuesday that it would start selling its Kinect motion-controlling game system in Europe from Nov. 10, in a move to poach gamers away from Sony's flagship PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. Motion-controlled gaming is one of the industry's big hopes.
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