Wild and slim PS3 redesign caught on camera?

Not that the original was any sort of tame, but some new, incredibly grainy leaked shots of a PS3 "slim," if they prove legitimate, point to a pretty wild redesign in store for the console in the near future -- not to mention what would be one of the smallest Blu-ray devices we've seen yet. There seem to be a lot of similarities to the Slimline PS2, while still holding onto that curvature the PS3 is so well known for, and even squeezing in a slot-loading disc drive and 120GB hard drive. Of course, Sony has issued a pretty strong denial of existing PS3 slim rumors, stating that "We currently don't have any plans for a redesigned PS3 at this time," but that's a pretty common way for Sony to deal with rumors, no matter which way they fall. We'll probably have to wait until E3 to learn the real truth, but it's a good bet this won't be the last true or false rumor to hit about a real or fake console in the run-up to the show. At least this one's packing pictures.

[Via Engadget Spanish; thanks Jason N.]

Gallery: Wild and slim PS3 redesign caught on camera?

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

[TareX @ May 14th 2009 9:55AM]

Great.... that's exactly what the people wanted from Sony.

Of all comments, suggestions, and demands, I am yet to see one single remark demanding a "slimmer PS3" from Sony. But it's not like there is a shortage of demands, au contraire.

[MatthewJ @ May 14th 2009 10:09AM]

To be fair to Sony, they've actually dealt with nearly all the original complaints about the PS3. I'm extremely pleased with the progress I've seen in the 2 years I've owned mine.

[hfm @ May 14th 2009 10:15AM]

I'm guessing it might be cheaper since it seems it would end up cutting down on raw materials... this might accompany a price drop.. if it does.. i think we'll see a huge boost in sales. Double whammy.

[DR House @ May 14th 2009 10:17AM]

This is sooooo good to be true ._.

[skyzbig @ May 14th 2009 10:33AM]

Like hmf said, slimmer means it's cheaper to make and so it will be cheaper to sell....they said they're going to 45nm chips this year so I reckon this is real.

Reducing the price though is up to Sony of course.

[Patriks7 @ May 14th 2009 10:40AM]

Yes, they have to slam Tegra in there to make it rock!

[CreepinJesus @ May 14th 2009 10:45AM]

Yes, of course, slimmer design means cheaper to make... NOT! Think about it... I have a pretty nice 15.4" laptop at the moment... if I want the same specs in a smaller, slimmer laptop - almost 3x the price!

[RyanTV @ May 14th 2009 10:49AM]

It's just what I want... I never bought a PS3 and it was mainly because I had no room for that honking machine. This just might get me to buy one.

[TT @ May 14th 2009 10:54AM]

@Patriks7
What?!
Why would you put a handheld/cellphone/MID chip in a console?
No, just give us an 9800GX2/GTX260/HD4870 and we'll be just fine.
(Oh, and ditch the cell processor, unnecessary waste of money, just go with a quad-core or something)
But then again, this isn't a successor or something, it's just a slimmed down version, which would probably indicate a new process (as in, less nm).

And it could've been that you tried to respond to TareX, in which case I'm sorry.

And one more thing, this is probably fake, the logo looks really weird and the case seems a bit too plastic-y and cheap.

[TT @ May 14th 2009 10:55AM]

The other post of TareX that is, the one below this one.

[JWC @ May 14th 2009 11:01AM]

The only thing I ever wanted out of a PS3 that it didn't already have was back-compat. Until Sony adds that I won't be buying nothin.

[Miles @ May 14th 2009 12:02PM]

I am holding out for the slimmer PS3...

[Shadow08 @ May 15th 2009 11:19AM]

Anyone else find it funny that they're going back to the PS2 style logo, marketing, and box design? Seems like Sony is still trying to lean on the PS2 for sales...

[JobsMaGoo @ May 14th 2009 9:58AM]

I dunno, that looks pretty fake to me. Look at the logo...

Granted it has a box and everything. Who knows, the shell just looks kinda cheap.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ May 14th 2009 10:11AM]

I agree, I don't see any reason why Sony would change the logo all of a sudden, not to mention use such cheap looking plastic. Is this maybe just a PS3 knockoff that only plays DVDs?

[Duke @ May 14th 2009 10:13AM]

Yeah, looks like the fake one's made in China (Like the Vii & Winner)

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2008/01/08/console-wars-are-over-here-is-the-winner/

[Sameer Surampalli @ May 14th 2009 10:23AM]

Sony's changed the logo on their products before. It went from Playstation (PSX) to PSone. I could see it happening again. Plus, Sony has redesigned both of their previous systems. It fits.

[aj121489 @ May 14th 2009 10:31AM]

At first I agreed but then looking at the box it all looks pretty legit besides the PS3 logo, which could easily be a redesign. Not sure why they would redesign the logo, but to be honest who cares about that anyway? And to kinda contradict what Funke, Tobias Dr. said about the DVD only, it has the Blu-ray logo on the bottom of the box on that first screen shot. I think this would be pretty sweet and if it comes with a price cut because of less materials as someone already suggested as a possibility, that would be even better

[fistpittingnork @ May 14th 2009 10:57AM]

I can't remember if the Ps2 boxes were marked, but I would imagine Sony would advertise somewhere on the box that it's a newly designed model.

[superhobo @ May 14th 2009 4:10PM]

Have you actually seen the PSone logo?

Observe:

Original Playstation: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/PlayStation1.JPG
PSone: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/sony_psone_1.jpg

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ May 18th 2009 9:59PM]

I take back everything I've said. I think this may indeed be the real deal.

[TareX @ May 14th 2009 9:57AM]

Then again, that seems even stronger than the PSP-2 denial..... if they said, "We currently don't have any plans for a redesigned PS3 at this time".... well shouldn't that just kill the rumor?

[Mik @ May 14th 2009 10:15AM]

The wording of Sony's denial renders the denial meaningless. By not having plans at this time, they could very well have plans for later today, or tomorrow, or next week, just not plans for right now. They will only ever say they have plans to do something if they're immediately announcing a product. Like when they said they had no plans for a price drop on the PS3, and then announced a price drop the next day. That said, I'd be surprised if Sony abandoned all their worldwide PLAYSTATION3 trademarks in favour of this new PS3 logo. We'll find out at E3 I guess.

[Pedroion @ May 14th 2009 1:00PM]

I guess that this is just a chinese clone.
I only believe in my eyes, btw.

[AndrewNoNumbers @ May 14th 2009 9:50PM]

@TareX Holy cow, you got "First!" and "Second!"

@Pedroion That box is way too legit.

[Phour ZwanZig @ May 14th 2009 10:54PM]

Im with Pedroion...

Yes the box does look legit, BUT, why would they change the PS3 logo.. Its no longer the Spiderman Text.. Has much more curves to the logo.. Something just doesnt seem right.. Plus. the current system has the logo printed on the system.. This is an inset logo.. Just doesnt add up..

And as for Sony dropping price.. I dont think so.. They may cut their cost on it, but they need every lil dollar/yen they can get right now to head off another 1 Billion dollar loss.. And cutting the cost doesnt mean they will actually sell enuf to make up for a price cut..

[m3nphls @ May 14th 2009 9:58AM]

Best model yet, is still the 60GB one with built-in memory card reader, 4 USB Ports and backwards compatibility.

Every other model that came out after that they took off the memory card readers, took off some USB ports and the BC.

[Matt @ May 14th 2009 11:33AM]

I have that model, and while I agree it's the best, I think the BC isn't really all that big of a deal. I've never used it, mainly because it looks worse than just plugging my PS2 in with component cables.

What I don't understand is why they don't include the software emulation they used on the older 80gbs on all models. It's not perfect, but it could handle most PS2 games and wouldn't cost them a thing.

[dagamer43 @ May 14th 2009 11:54AM]

The software emulation the 80GB models had still relied on some hardware taken from the PS2. Models after the 80GB have absolutely no PS2 hardware in them.

[walshwarriors @ May 14th 2009 11:35PM]

Nope your wrong. I have the MGS4 80 GB and it has BC, 4 usb ports AND Card readers

[distantbody @ May 14th 2009 9:59AM]

Please let this be true.

[Sublimewulf @ May 14th 2009 10:01AM]

Please let this be Fake, I wouldn't want this fugly console on my entertainment center. I'm okay with my Phat glossy black ps3 with chrome fittings. this looks like a cheap POS.

[ishaan55 @ May 14th 2009 10:10AM]

there aint gonna be new ps3 and psp at the same time. i think there is gonna only be new psp.

PS3 not lookin authentic.

[Dummy00001 @ May 14th 2009 11:44AM]

> I wouldn't want this fugly console on my entertainment center.

It's quite different for me. I have money to burn and considered to buy a console. Wii is no brainer: it fits everywhere. On other side Xbox360 is a hell: due to heating issues it literally requires a separate shelf in my hi-fi rack. But it will never get it. And top of my rack is already taken by HDTV tuner. Same goes to actual design of PS3.

I do not care how it looks. Best of all, if I wouldn't be forced to see it at all. Slim PS3, hopefully with more rack-friendly form factor, might be something what would manage to get on my prospective purchase list.

I still cannot get why they make the fancy console designs. Why not to think five minutes extra - and make it stackable - just like all hi-fi components already are.

[Game_playa @ May 14th 2009 4:04PM]

Damn it, I was gonna buy another PS3 soon, but am now gonna hold out instead.

[Platinum_Skeet @ May 14th 2009 10:00AM]

No more Spider-man Font?!? It's a fake...

[holycow @ May 14th 2009 10:02AM]

I agree... total fake!

[Aguiluz @ May 14th 2009 10:25AM]

I don't like Spiderman anyway.

[Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ May 14th 2009 10:39AM]

yea that and the dull looking plastic...

its just so damn fugly....

I mean I'll be glad when they drop the price so I can get another one for the Bedroom but damn if I want it looking like that

[Snake Robot Podium @ May 14th 2009 10:46AM]

i think that font was too menacing to the average consumer. Now that the hardcore first adopters have their consoles, the change is a good move.

[fikhl @ May 14th 2009 11:47AM]

Yeah, a poor KIRF perhaps?

[Rick @ May 14th 2009 10:05AM]

It looks like a flattened version of the PS3.

[Sublimewulf @ May 14th 2009 3:14PM]

it is a flattend version of the PS3

[Bradford @ May 15th 2009 12:20AM]

A Wii jumped on it, Mario style, and something shot out and this is what's left. The Wii then picked it up and threw it and killed a bunch of still-fat PS3s standing in a line. Then it got a 1-up.

[teiresias @ May 14th 2009 10:08AM]

The worst thing about the current console - the Spiderman font - isn't there, which probably means this is fake. That's a shame though, because getting rid of the Spiderman font - on both the console and all the game packaging would be a step in the right marketing direction anyway.

[WickedEast @ May 14th 2009 11:44AM]

Did I miss something? A company cannot change fonts anymore? Besides, the original PS3 has "Playstation 3", not "PS3", written in "Spider-man" font; so having "PS3" in another font doesn't really break any consistency rule.

Saying that this is fake based on the font alone is laughable.

[ZombieRace @ May 14th 2009 10:08AM]

Ain't broke, why fix it?

[Shinigami @ May 14th 2009 10:40AM]

Because you don't see where it broke?...

[phillypharm @ May 14th 2009 10:09AM]

um.. yeah... looks fake. i dont think sony would come out with that type of casing unless it's b4 it gets a glossy coating of some sort. i'll stick with my 1st gen 60gb 4 usb port, memory card reading, backwards compatable fatty

[Auari @ May 14th 2009 10:10AM]

So here is the real question, is Sony going to sell more consoles because its thinner??? I think not

If the price is thinner, I think so.