Otaku Blogosphere Fail: PS3 Slim Real After All (Updated)
Humberto Saabedra
The otaku blogosphere must be new at this whole tech blogging thing so I’ll make it real simple: Whenever a law firm serves up C&D notices for pictures that look to be taken from a factory, its a pretty safe bet that the product is as real as can be short of the shell being placed on ebay.
With that out of the way, Amazon.de now features a placeholder listing for the long rumored PS3 Slim system revision. This follows a conference call in Japan on Thursday where a Sony executive was quoted as stating that the manufacturing costs for the console were reduced by an incredible 70% from its initial cost in 2006, where each PS3 was sold at up to a $280 loss.
Sony has not yet confirmed that it has begun phasing out the current 80GB model, but production on the new model was confirmed as far back as June when two Taiwanese ODMs landed the manufacturing contract for the new unit to be delivered for distribution in July in preparation for an as yet unconfirmed August launch.
Further credence then came in the form of Cease & Desist letters served by a Taiwanese law firm on behalf of the unnamed ODM(s) shortly after the first images were posted. Will it come out this month, or is September a more likely launch timeframe as I’ve been told by a couple of sources? Only time will tell…
Update: French gaming site JeuxVideo is reporting that Sony will announce a price cut and officially introduce the PS3 Slim as the primary model going forward at the European GamesCom video game conference on August 18th, stating wholesaler confirmation on the price drop as all but confirmed.
Update 2: Amazon.de has posted the above image at the beginning of this article on its PS3 Slim listing. It’s real folks.
Update 3:The picture used in the Amazon.de listing and above has been confirmed to be a fan render by various reports across the internet and subsequent independent confirmation. As of now the console has been confirmed, but any images circulating as the PS3 Slim are to be taken as unofficial until they are independently confirmed.
