Editorial: A slimmer, cheaper, better PS3. Was that so hard?

I've wanted a PlayStation 3 since forever. It plays Blu-ray movies, it has some great exclusive titles, and it looks like it could beat somebody up without breaking a sweat across its glossy matte brow. But it's always seemed out of reach price-wise. As my desire grew stronger over recent months, I found myself unable to pull the trigger: I just didn't want to pay $400 for a video game console that came out in 2006. The fact that I could get a lot more for my $400 than $500 would've gotten me at launch was hardly consolation, given that the PS3's main competition, the Xbox 360, has been available in a "full fledged" edition for $300 for a while. Luckily, the PS3 Slim has come at last to save me from all this heartache. Follow along, as I journey from the mire of indecision to the glories of console love... but really, it's all about the price drop.

Minimum price for a "usable" SKU.

A good deal or not, most of my price hesitation has been based on the fact that the PS3 has always seemed "overdue" for a price cut (as demonstrated on the chart above). That's why, despite Sony's incessant claims of "bang for buck," it's never seemed the right time to buy: I didn't want to be sucker and waste a hundie with a pre-drop purchase.

My price gripes actually had very little to do with what you get for the money, all other factors removed. I currently have a PC-based solution for playing Blu-ray movies, but I'd love the convenience of using my PS3 to view my slowly expanding Blu-ray collection. The networked media features of the PS3 are quite alluring, I like the idea of using the PS3's browser over an HD plug rather than my Wii's low-res browser when showing a must-see YouTube video to guests (something my 360 can't do), and I could even see myself spending a few minutes now and then arranging furniture and watching my avatar get molested on PlayStation Home. Unfortunately for Sony, I've owned a 360 since 2005, and a Wii since a few months after the launch, so I've been pretty much covered in the games department for a long while now.

Still, there's a growing stable of PS3 exclusive titles that I've been eying jealously from behind my big white Xbox 360 controller. Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted, Killzone 2, Valkyria Chronicles, Wipeout HD and LittleBigPlanet all quickly spring to mind, with games like EyePet and The Last Guardian (pictured) hopefully not too terribly far off. PSN titles (Wipeout HD included) are also a major draw, with Sony seeming to attract the "right sort" of indie titles into its fold. It probably won't be enough to pull me away from the Xbox 360 on a constant basis -- between my Live Arcade investments, 360 exclusives and existing Live buddies, there's plenty of reason to stick around -- but it's going to be nice to have the option to fire up the PS3 for a little bit of Fat Princess now and then.

In truth, I'm feeling a little smug now for waiting so long. The PS3 Slim's quieter operation, lower power draw and size advantages are a major perk in my eyes. It's taken a few years, but the hardware, services, library and (finally) price have all matured considerably. I'm one of those weird people who waited for the PlayStation 2 slimline before jumping into Sony waters, and consider it one of my best gaming investments ever -- my friend's PS2s were dying as my slim new unit was just beginning to live. Even more exciting is the forthcoming launch of the PlayStation Motion Controller next year, which really "spoke" to me on a personal level a lot more than the gimmicky Natal demo and the been-there-done-that MotionPlus display. For all I know I could be jumping on board right in time for a renaissance of the PS3 -- or perhaps another crushing defeat at the hands of Nintendo and Microsoft, but at least I'll have my Blu-ray discs.

What's been keeping me up at nights in the run-up to the PS3 Slim launch was Sony's heavy handed treatment of the PSPgo. In as many words (trust me, I've asked), Sony basically realized the PSPgo was desirable due to its improved form factor and lighter weight, and decided to overcharge accordingly -- pegging it at $50 more than the basic PSP 3000, though it lacks the UMD drive of its progenitor. Meanwhile Nintendo has continually drilled down its DS pricetag, while simultaneously introducing substantial improvements to the form factor in the DS Lite and functionality in the DSi. It's pretty crazy that now I can get a PS3 Slim (which plays Blu-ray movies in case you didn't know) for only $50 more than a PSPgo.

	120GB PS3 Slim	160GB PS3	80GB PS3
Product code	CECH-2000A	CECH-Pxx	CECH-Kxx / CECH-Lxx
Price	$299.99	$399.99	$299.99
Color	Matte Black	Piano Black (Glossy)	Piano Black (Glossy)
HDD	120GB 2.5-inch SATA	160GB 2.5-inch SATA	80GB 2.5-inch SATA
Dimensions	11.42 x 2.56 x 11.42 in.	12.75 x 3.86 x 10.8 in.	12.75 x 3.86 x 10.8 in.
Weight	7.05 lb.	11 lb.	11 lb.
Power	250W	280W	280W
Vertical Stand	Optional ($24)	Not necessary	Not necessary
Compatibility	PSOne	PSOne, Linux	PSOne, Linux
PS2 compat?	No	No	No
BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC)	Yes	No	No
Bundle	Wireless DualShock 3 controller	Wireless DualShock 3 controller, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, PAIN downloadable game voucher	Wireless DualShock 3 controller

Read more about this chart here.

Of course, it's not all roses for me: the PS3 Slim kicks out the ability to install an alternative OS onto the system, something I was sort of looking forward to tinkering with, and there's also no hint of backwards compatibility: it would sure be a joy to see my copies of Persona 4 and Shadow of the Colossus upscaled to glorious 1080p, and I've certainly considered springing for an old backwards-compat system to stretch my legs on. My fellow Engadget writer and dear friend Nilay Patel just scored a $275 60GB backwards compatible system on Craigslist, and I've thought about hunting down something similar, but in the end I like the lower fan noise and reduced power draw of a PS3 Slim more than I care for upscaled PS2 titles.

If I had to look at it objectively, and I was coming at this generation fresh with zero investment in any of the systems, I'd probably still pick the 360 over the PS3 -- Microsoft just seems to want it a bit more than the other guys. Its stable of hard-won exclusives, timed exclusives and extensive Live functionality (and Netflix!) make the system easily worth the price. Still, for the moment Sony is selling a console with a 120GB HDD and a Blu-ray drive up against Microsoft's DVD-playing Xbox Pro with a 60GB HDD for the same price. Microsoft will probably be rectifying the HDD discrepancy before the Slim even hits the market, but will have to hope that online movie titles will make up for the Blu-ray gap -- and let's not forget a history of hardware faults that might have informed consumers a little wary to begin with.

Overall, I think the PS3 Slim fits me quite nicely at this point in time, finally fulfilling my "three pillar strategy" of console ownership without making me feel like a sucker in the process. I'm looking forward to meeting all the nice folks on the (free) PlayStation Network who've never had the pleasure of virtually shooting me in the face, and the DLNA-friendly console should be able to manage my 360's Windows 7-powered media streaming duties just nicely. I'll never again find myself plastered to any side of a console fanboy fight (until the next next gen, of course), and I can stop humming loudly to ignore all those peskily glowing reviews for the occasional PS3 exclusive. Sony has finally converted an old-fashioned "Wii60" man like me, and suddenly the world is a happier, gentler place.


See more video at our hub!

Further reading: Check out all of our PS3 Slim coverage from yesterday, including our unboxing and hands-on!

[makimak22 Posted Aug 20th 2009 9:15PM]

I am waiting for the next installment of the editorial "A slimmer, Wi-Fi/BluRay-equipped, zero RRoD/E74 xbox360... Why is it so hard?"

[Ex14 Posted Aug 21st 2009 2:58AM]

Finally sony does something right?

Makes a 360 lover like me consider geting it now. for it's price and capabilities, i'm really very interested in getting it now. Now if only sony realises this and reduces the price of the pspgo to a DS price XDD

And it'll be interesting to see if MS has anything up their sleeves to counter this wonderful move by sony.

[DaveBG Posted Aug 21st 2009 5:50AM]

Just awesome!

[jpsoraire Posted Aug 23rd 2009 4:20PM]

I disagree of your "usable" description. The XBOX 360 Arcade is "usable" at it's $199.99 price point and you incorrectly list the $299.99 as the least expensive "usable" SKU.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 24th 2009 5:14PM]

I can complain. I've owned a PS3 for a year now. A friend of mine got me the 80gb PS3 with some game that I couldn't stand. Gears of War I think. Sorry, I know, it's very popular. I hated the perspective and the controls.
My real complaints are as follows:
Great, they gave me rechargable controllers... with a crapy 4 foot cord. WTF am I going to use that for?
Why do I have to install every GD game before I can play it?
Why do I have to download (far slower on the PS3 than my Xbox360) a demo and then INSTALL IT???? My 360 just plays demos... no INSTALL!
Why are all internet related activities so much slower on the PS3?
Why are all installation activities so much slower on a PS3? I thought I had a super beefy system that could handle this process...?
All the games that I'm interested in seem to have better options for the Xbox.
Don't get me wrong, for the cash/hardware, the PS3 won at 400 hands DOWN. I'm still pissed about my 1998 hardware in my Wii for 250, the bastard's not actually worth more than 75 bucks, but still: for pure entertainment value: my 360 takes it.
People talk about the FREE PS3 gamers internet stuff... it's SLOW. I'd rather pay 50 bucks a year and have things actually happen. 400 (not mine) dollars for a system that I have to WAIT on...
Firmware updates... yeah... those tend to take about 30 minutes all told over my FiOS lines, including install. On my 360, it's less than 5 minutes, and I can see a difference. I have yet to be able to visually distinguish any differences with all the firmware updates I get from Sony... roughly 3-4 in a year.

I can put a game in and just play it.
I can download a demo and PLAY it.
I can stream movies (GOOD ONES) and a TON of shows (VERY GOOD ONES) from Netflix and watch them.
I can buy a whole game now if I like on Xbox Live.

What I'd like to see is a mesh of these two in my next NextGen console. I'd like a system that has the perks of both.

Specifically, I'd like a blu-ray playing NextBox that's compatible with other, NON-MS add-ons like bluetooth keyboards and headsets and any kind of harddrive I WANT.
To me, that option and the blu-ray were the two best things about the PS3... my friend asked me if it was a waste this weekend, I said, "Hell no! I love blu-ray!" All the exclusives that Sony had that I was interested in, they don't have anymore... other than Arkham Asylum. Looking forward to playing as the Joker, which is apparently a PS3 only option (last I heard).

[DantePerr Posted Aug 26th 2009 1:28AM]

Sony, Please, Please put PS2 hardware into the slim. PLEASE. I will buy it, I swear (cross heart, etc.). Even if you slap another 50 bucks on (okay, maybe 25...30 tops?). Even if you made it a different SKU/model (one non-PS2 compatible PS3, and the slightly more expensive compatible one). And what if you dropped the PS2 down another 10 bucks? maybe 20? If I were a cheap gamer I'd definitely go for that.

You made this thing great, but with that one glaring exception (ok and it is a bit deep physically, but I can't be too picky). I've never bought one of your consoles before (ok, I bought the little PSOne, but in 2004...certainly past its prime, and it was only 50 bucks).

I'm just throwing things out there in the hope that I can have one console set up instead of 2...I'm the kind of person who brings this stuff to friends' houses. What if I want to play some DBZ: Budokai 3 (PS2) with people and then sit down for Watchmen on Blu-Ray?

Please! I'm so close to buying the thing! You could have it out by Christmas, couldn't you? come on!

[TinyGrasshopper Posted Sep 9th 2009 4:38PM]

Don't forget Resistance 2, Infamous and God of War 3, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain.

PS3 really is taking a traditional route of PS3 exclusive titles to sell it

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 24th 2009 1:23AM]

i just bought one because i couldn't live w/o playing metal gear one more day; it shurrely looks cheap and not as impressive as the now classic ps3. i believe it is fair to pay 300 for a bluray player+120 GBhd(interchangeable)+some alien tchnology processor