PlayStation 3 has a great roster of games and boasts the best first-party exclusives across the three major console platforms, with the likes of God of War, Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid, to name but a few, all setting the console alight. For those who have yet to experience the PS3, the arrival of a budget-priced, super slim model at GamesCom would be perfect timing.
It’s currently rumoured that Sony will announce a PS3 slim (PS3-4000) that will be thinner than the current model and sport an entry-level 16GB harddrive. The knock-on effect of producing a slimmer, lower storage model is that the price, rumoured to be around $150, will be more affordable for the consumer.
With Microsoft snubbing GamesCom this year, Sony is totally in the limelight and has the opportunity to make a real impression and push to overtake its competitor, who has largely dominated console hardware sales since the Xbox 360 and PS3 launched. The Xbox 360, however, is looking exhausted with a poor showing at E3, and with estimates that Microsoft’s console is only just ahead in hardware sales – VGChartz reports 67.4m 65.4m units sold in favour of Xbox 360– there’s a great chance for Sony to overtake and really stamp its mark quite vigorously on this current-gen.
The Last Of Us, part of a host of new games that gives PS3 legs
The best way Sony can do this will be through the games, which we know are coming, and price reductions across its entire range of models, which we believe is also about to happen. The PlayStation 3 already has a host of impressive titles available and many can now pick it up at a fraction of the cost the system was sold at release date. Games such as Skyrim, Arkham City, LittleBig Planet and Red Dead Redemption on their own should spur sales of a new lower-priced PS3, but with GamesCom showing off a host of great looking new IPs, including PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, LBP Karting, Beyond: Two Souls and The Last Of Us, it’s a killer opportunity for Sony to sprint ahead and swell its install base.
Even titles such as Wonderbook, which some may have laughed about at E3, will sell these new lower-priced consoles like popcorn at a funfair. Parents harassed by their children wanting to play J.K Rowling’s Book Of Spells will opt for the entry-level affordable model and PS3-4000, if indeed it does exist, will fly off the shelves this Christmas.
Sony had a great E3 this year, despite the lack of PS Vita news, and GamesCom is looking more and more important for the company, and its performance in Europe and North America, the closer it gets. On top of what we’ve already seen at E3, there are two new IPs set to be revealed and the debut of some new Vita titles, including Call Of Duty: Declassified. If Sony also reveals this new PS3 Slim model at its press conference, and brings down the price of existing PS3 SKUs, it could be in for a very successful six months indeed.