40GB PS3 Most Likely Coming to US; No Backward Compatibility
October 10, 2007Gamers who have avoided the Playstation 3 because of its abominable $ 599 price tag may finally be getting a well-needed break– sort of.
Gamespot reported a couple of days ago that a stripped down, $ 399 PS3 will be hitting North American shores on November 2, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter. Given that the lite version of the console has already been announced for Europe, this report is likely true.
The 40GB model will be the cheapest Blu-Ray player currently available, and will actually cost less than the Xbox 360’s $ 449 Elite model. Finally, those of us with more lint than crisp bills in our pockets will be able to play the anticipated games on the horizon. Unfortunately…
Unsurprisingly, the Reporter also says the console will have the same stripped-down form factor as the European 40GB PS3, with just two USB ports, no memory card readers, and the still-baffling lack of software-based backward compatibility.
The 2 USB ports I could easily deal with. But no memory card slots or backward compatibility? That’s a major letdown. Given how tremendous the back catalog of Playstation titles is, and the fact that most of the good games are (currently) on the older systems, what’s the deal here?
On the other hand, the Playstation 2 still widely available and very affordable. But if you don’t own one and have to shell out the extra $ 130 just to have it next to your neutered PS3, guess how much you’ll end up spending.
