Playstation 3 Slashes Price And Size

Today is a good day for the video game community. Well, it is at least good for the consumers!

On September 1st, Sony will be launching the Playstation 3 120GB System. As the name suggests, it includes a whopping 120 gigabytes of hard drive space. Also, the size and weight of the console has been drastically reduced, prompting fans to dub the unit "PS3 Slim". And in a move that I found surprising, Sony is giving it a retail price of $299.99! But before you give Sony all of your money, there are a few more considerations.

The fact of the matter is that Sony's hardware sales haven't been too spectacular. A portion of this fact is due to the backward compatibility (or lack thereof) in certain models. Know this: the PS3 Slim will NOT PLAY ANY PLAYSTATION 2 GAMES! And get this, it will play certain games made for the PS One. You must be kidding me, Sony! After three years and a half-dozen SKUs, you still can't give us a system that plays ALL of your video game formats? The PS2 merchandise is still available at fair prices. Still, that doesn't mean you should have three Sony consoles plugged into your TV. I personally believe that they are unwilling to make a universal console. But like I said earlier, it's a good day for the community.

Sony isn't the only one showing some recession love. The Xbox 360 Elite is also scheduled for a price drop to $299.99. It has the 120GB hard drive, and it can play over 300 games from the original Xbox. Also, you can view HD videos through Xbox Live and Netflix for your movie fix.

Yet, Microsoft hasn't quite made that "Red Ring of Death" thing completely go away. They are shrinking their CPUs to cosume less heat and energy, so that is a start. "RRoD" complaints are dropping, but the PS3 has yet to document such a problem at all. Maybe because it doesn't play PS2 games, I wonder?

We have two good options for the Fall Season, three if you count the Nintendo Wii. Just do me a favor: choose wisely!