New 12GB PS3 confirmed for Sunday, Best Buy bundling it with two games

XMNR: News of a possible new 12GB Playstation 3 for North America hit earlier this week from Engadget when a listing showed up at Canadian retailer FutureShop. A promotional email received by this Examiner from Best Buy on Friday confirms that the new console is will hit stores on Aug. 18 with this particular retailer offering a bundle featuring The Last of Us and Uncharted 3.

[shivvy24]

in australia we can get them for $199 so i wonder what the price will be like in US

[Caleb_H]

Probably like 20 bucks.

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

most likely $199 also. the US has not yet received a $199 SKU. lookin forward to the new low price for sure.

[clrlite]

At that price this thing will fly off shelves here in the US, especially if they include those specific games.

@Onilink:
"12gb is absurd in this digital age."
It is a value package and offers an absurd amount of value for someone like me who plans to upgrade the HD anyway. Also, a lot of people buy physical copies....

@Caleb: " Probably like 20 bucks."

Haha and I'm happy they're actually getting it for $199 in the Australia.

[shadyiswin]

I got these in last night,was tempted to take a screen shot,but I'm sure I'm not the only one,it rings up at $199.97 here

[timl241]

The 360 had a $199 SKU back in 2008. I guess 5 years is a reasonable amount of time to respond to that, lol.

[DrRobotnik]

And it still came in third place world wide this gen lol.

[Donnyskillz]

we dont live in world wide, we live in america how did the PS3 do there lol

[gaffyh]

@Donny - America isn't part of the world?

Wow.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@Donny

"We"? You really think everyone in N4G lives in USA, don't you?

[AngryEnglish]

The 10 million sales in Japan only make it that the ps3 is 100k in front worldwide.....

You guys never think about the fact the Microsoft took 78 million sales, ps2 150 millions sales is massive success....PS3 selling only half that..... Well yeah, I own both but its plainly obvious that the ps3 was not the success it was looking for like the ps2

[rainslacker]

@Angry

When PS3 was rumored to have sold 76 million(I believe), I went back and looked up the sales of the PS2 for the same time frame. I did this to see if Sony had truly lost 1/2 of it's install base since people assumed that the 150 million equated to that install base.

Anyhow, what I found is that Sony is only down about 9 million units from the PS2 sales within the same time of the consoles life.

So, that means that Sony has only lost roughly 11% of it's prior "market share" based on your logic regarding the issue. In this case MS only "stole" about 9 million sales from Sony(Actually only about 5 million when official numbers numbers were released).

The gist of my argument is that you can't take the total sales of a console that has been around for over a decade, and compare them to the sales of one that's been around for 6, to make a judgement on Year over year loss/gain. No business in the world works like that.

I'll turn your argument around on you now, since I found it kind of fun the other day.

MS was unable to match Sony's sales of the PS2(or PS3) within the same time frame of the consoles life cycle.

Anyhow, Sony is on track to easily break 100 million units sold, and I wouldn't doubt that lifetime sales end up being close to the PS2's. I expect to see a huge surge of PS3 sales this holiday with cheaper SKU's becoming available. That's what always happens with a new console release.

MS will probably break 100 million units sold as well. Only thing unknown is if they will sell the X1 for another 6 years.

[--Onilink--]

2 digital games?? Lol jk.

12gb is absurd in this digital age. Even the 32GB for the wiiu were absurd but i expect those thing from Nintendo not Sony (i do own both consoles btw)

[GamersRulz]

still better than Arcade 360!

[memots]

And somehow your comment gets a disagree .... lol

[--Onilink--]

True, much better than the arcade. Though that doesnt make it any good on its own.

As for the disagrees.. Seriously? 12gb minus OS, chances are you can do 1 game installation and 1 digital game...

It makes even less sense that they use te most expensive memory type for the "cheap sku".. They could have used a regular hdd for the price of that flash memory and give WAY MORE space.

No reason to be blind people, all companies make bad decisions all the time

[guitarded77]

And Wii U base model. Sure 12gb sucks, but it's easily upgradable, and if people don't want to upgrade, it's $50-$70 more for 500gb.

[kreate]

'you can do 1 game installation and 1 digital game'

The 12gb ps3 isn't for ppl who gonna download.

Its for ppl who want to play disk games, watch movies, HOME, 2nd console to boost urself, for kids, etc.

If u change ur mind in the future, u can add a hdd.

[Deadpoolio]

You mean the 4gb that DOESN'T allow online play or really any functionality aside from playing games and Netflix....And yet none of the packaging on it tells people that they will not be able to play any games online without purchasing the overpriced $150 250gb hdd....

This is definitely a better deal since it's flash memory has no limitations and for an extra $50 bucks you could stick a 500gb HDD in the empty slot

[lsujester]

I was thinking about getting one just for a replacement. I have a 300GB HDD in my current PS3, but the console is wearing out. I imagine other people might do the same.

[badz149]

@--Onilink--

"12gb is absurd in this digital age."

yeah, tell THAT to Nintendo!

[JetsFool3500]

Yeah & it has an HDMI port

[snipab8t]

You don't have mandatory installs on an xbox 360.

[dredgewalker]

It's still easy to upgrade the harddrive so 12gigs is no real problem. Also this would be a good deal for anyone who has a broken ps3, they can just transfer their harddrives to this unit.

[devwan]

I'm not sure you can whip a HDD out of one ps3 and stick it in another, you might have to back it up, format it, insert into new machine and restore - could be wrong but it's part of the protection system iirc.

[badz149]

@dredgewalker

the thing is, you can't do THAT. you can take out a PS3 HDD and put it back with no problem but once you connected it to something else, another PS3 or a pc for example (it doesn't work though) you will be forced to format the HDD when you put it back again. that is why users are asked to make a backup anytime they want to take out the HDD.

[Si_85]

Having upgraded PS3 models before I can tell you that you can't interchange hard drives without formatting them first, unfortunately :-(

[dredgewalker]

I only meant you can still use the hdd on old the PS3 to the newer one in case you old PS3 died. You'd have to backup your data first on your hdd on an external hdd and then install the hdd then do a format. Afterwards do a system restore through the backup utility in the PS3. Though I think there are limits to what can be restored to the newer PS3 system.

[kingPoS]

I think you mean to transfer from Ethernet... right? To move content from one ps3 to another, you'll have to make sure the target and source ps3's are both deactivated. I'm sure it would help if the target HDD were larger than the source.

If you've made a backup from the old ps3 and restore to a different one, you'll just get themes, pics, music and non protected video.

[Darrius Cole]

The only appeal of this SKU is that it is under $200. If Best Buy puts it in a bundle that raises the price to $250 they are undermining the whole point of the SKU.

[jocomat9]

ya i thought the same thing

[rainslacker]

Author could really learn to write better in my opinion.

This "bundle" is offering UC3:GOTY for free if you buy this PS3 and TLOU.

At least that's what it took me a while to figure out from what he wrote.

If that's the case, then it's a good deal for people that want TLOU and UC3. Console price is still $200, and most people are likely to want to purchase a game with it. Why not get two of the highest rated PS3 games at the same time?

[Deadpoolio]

Ummmm it's 12gb of Flash memory...There is nothing in the HDD bay, giving people the ability to put their own size HDD into it....So it's not really that absurd it something to pull in people who haven't purchased a PS3

[TongkatAli]

This is going to rape the Wii U. Price is King, always.

[Mr Tretton]

PS4 will rape WiiU, so, no.

[Run_bare]

the reason for 12gb is for the consumer to take out the had and put their own bigger had without paying too much for the console.

[Run_bare]

sorry, I meant hdd hard drive not had.

[MoonConquistador]

No Run bare, as Deadpoolio mentioned above, there is nothing in the HDD bay on these models, not even a HDD caddy which you need to buy separately.

The 12GB is Flash memory, not a HDD you need to remove

[Run_bare]

@deadpolio, really, I did not know that, thank you for telling me.

[rainslacker]

Quite a few people don't even need 12GB's of space. Casuals probably wouldn't get close to using that much. They'll just pop in a game and call it good.

Of course, if they can hook these people into PS+, they can possibly entice people to pay for the metal bay you have to buy separate to install your own hard drive.

[devwan]

@--Onilink-- "12gb is absurd in this digital age."

Actually it's not absurd. This SKU isn't for those who will be downloading games from PSN and watching downloaded movies/tv on it, it's a cheap offline option to appeal to those on a budget and those who don't want online functionality.

I bought my nephews the 12GB ps3 last xmas and as online gaming and downloads isn't something they'll ever do with a ps3 (they are 5 and 6) and it is the perfect unit for them. It's got enough room for game saves and the odd on-disc system update and that'll do them fine.

[Tei777]

Some people just want a replacement console, some just want to play a handful of exclusives and others who are this late to the game probably isn't concerned about the digital future.

[SlyFoxC]

@ onilink

in this digital age you can get a 500 GB Hardrive for your ps3 for 20-50 bucks...

[GraveLord]

The difference here is that Sony has had 250 and 500GB models out there forever. This 12GB isn't for "The digital age" its for the occasional Call of Duty player and Netflix viewer.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Wait...is that really being offered with those games as digital versions?? Is 12gb even enough space for both those games if they are digital?

[Queasy]

No, they aren't digital versions of the game.

[ShAkKa]

For Uncharted 3 alone you would need about 80 gigs of free space.

[CGI-Quality]

Uh, wha.....?

[ShAkKa]

The game is 40gb but you need double that amount to be able to install it.

So yeah... That.

[Darrius Cole]

They probably put certain pieces of data on the disk 2 or 3 times to improve seek times. But still the game is going to be bigger than 12 GB.

[ricochetmg]

Why ?

[CaulkSlap]

Well if you want to install your own larger HDD this is actually probably the best option. Pay less for base model and put a good 1TB drive in it.

[Deadpoolio]

It's flash memory the HDD slot is empty...But your right it is a better option considering you can get a 500gb or 1tb HDD for between $50-70 bucks....

Way better than the 4gb arcade that cannot play games online, It's cute though how Micro$haft doesn't tell you that it's not capable of playing online MP hoping people will buy it...Just so they can turn around and have to purchase their rip off $150 250gb hdd

[sic_chops]

Yep... M$ = nickels and dimes. Rip off

[Double_O_Revan]

Now that's a bundle! The system and those 2 games for only $200! Wow

[Queasy]

Unfortunatey, that doesn't appear to be the way it works. The text from Best Buy is slightly confusing but I read it as purchasing the 12GB PS3 and The Last of Us together will come with a copy of Uncharted 3: GOTY for free.

So, that likely makes the bundle $240 to $260 depending on the price of The Last of Us on Sunday.

[JunioRS101]

Because of my budget, I have to wait around for Gaikai to come into play to get my hands on TLOU :'{

I wanna play it sooo bad.

[RavageX]

Some people have access to cheap hard drives or have extras. This would be perfect for that so it does make sense. It did not make sense with the 360 simply because you couldn't use whatever hard drive you wanted, you had to have theirs.

[Quicktopick]

So let me get this straight. can u put a 500Gig HDD on this ps3 just like the older models?

[dcj0524]

Yes.

[Quicktopick]

bubble for u... ty

[GribbleGrunger]

Yes. You don't have to save the data out to another drive and then reinstall it either. All you do is install a Hard Drive and it asks you whether you want the console to access the flash memory or the HDD. It's as simple as that.

[rbluetank]

this might sell like hotcakes. the Last of US is a great game! you also get UC3. this package says buy me... lol

[Godlovesgamers]

Ps3 Slim with 750GB Momentus XT, Im set.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Bundled with two games? Then it's already useless. Time to upgrade your harddrive new adopters.

[Ju]

Neither of those two require installing to the HDD.

[kingPoS]

I don't think it's a preset bundle, it's more like Best Buy rubber bands, tapes or plastic wraps the extra games to the box.

I remember seeing those monster cable bundles a few years back. Ouch lol

[GraveLord]

For a "multiconsolegamer" you're very misinformed. It's kinda like you didn't play Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us. Can it be....you are a liar!?

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Any PS3 owner knows the 12 GB model is useless. Mandatory game installs, patches, demos and DLC content will fill up the 12 GB harddrive very quickly. The upcoming GTA V has a mandatory 8.5 GB HDD install. So while these two games might not require a game install, a great many do.

Maybe you don't know this stuff either because you don't own a PS3, or you're just an angry little fanboy making excuses for the biggest flaw of the 12 GB model.

Either way your comment makes you look childish, hostile and pathetically uninformed.

I suggest you put me on your ignore list. I don't usually coverse with people who don't know what they're talking about.

[rainslacker]

Up until I got PS+ last year ago, or so, I only had about 9GB's of data on my PS3, and I play a lot of games. I think your overestimating the amount of stuff that games install. Even for games with bigger installs, those installs are typically optional, or tiered. Most games install only a few hundred MB of data onto the drive.

If one were to have something like PS+ or downloads a lot of movies/music onto their system, then they should probably look into a different SKU, or install a HDD.

I would also imagine those that are into GTAV probably already have a larger HDD version of the PS3 or 360 already. After all GTA4 came out 5 years ago on both systems. Either way, it's still possible to install it onto the drive and still have some room left over.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

"Typically optional"

Are you sure you actually own a PS3?

[rainslacker]

Indeed I do. Have about 200 games for it, although I haven't come close to playing them all.

And yes, while a lot of games require installs, those BIG installs are typically optional. You can often select if you want to have a minimal install, which is usually pretty small, or a performance boosting install, which takes up more space.

But as I said, despite having played lots of games, I was still under 9GB's even when I would typically install the bigger install option.

BTW, Uncharted 3 has a mandatory install of 1GB according to the box. From my recollection it kept a lot of assets on the drive, but I got it after getting PS+ and upgrading my hard drive, so don't worry about it either way. TLOU has no mandatory install. However it says it requires 50MB on the hard drive. Likely for buffering or saves, or possibly update data.

Most games that would appeal to the target audience of a 12GB machine probably don't have big installs.

[thinktwice]

12gb lol wtf totally pointless man there must be some real poor people out there

[joeorc]

@thinktwice

How is it pointless, the fact that after you put your own harddrive you want, in the system you still get 12 Extra GB's of storage, over what you would have lost due to partition! every harddrive format you do you will loose some of its space due to a partition. This way you gain some back due to 12 GB being there already. there is also some pretty good PS3 PSN games that do not take up so much space anyway. like Flower, flow, PS1 classic's, some PS2 classic's, every freaking Multi-media app for the PS3 will also fit with quite a large number of storage left over on that 12 GB's

[Ju]

I wonder why your name is thinktwice. Think twice! Go with it.

[GraveLord]

There are poor people out there. You're right about that.

[scott182]

poor people that have actual lives and can't spend all their money on games.... you're right.

[rainslacker]

It may be pointless, but it'll sell like hotcakes this holiday season.

[Brianaro]

I have an old hard drive this is perfect

[Nik_P757]

I'm confused, are these supposed to be released yet? I literally just saw them at walmart 20 minutes ago.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

For sale or just on display? I mean it's the weekend either way. They could have just put them out a couple days early.

[Nik_P757]

I just saw all of them out in the case. I didn't ask if it was for sale yet or not but they had around 6 in there

[NeoTribe]

12 gigs is pathetic. Why pay 199 for such a small amount of hard drive space. The operating system will eat up some of it right off the bat. I wouldn't even be able to download hitman absolution for free from the ps store because its a 16 gig dl.

[devwan]

This SKU is obviously not for those interested in PS+, it's a bargain unit to appeal to parents who want value in a games machine for their kids. It also appeals to those who might want to buy the cheapest unit possible in order to install a huge HDD.

[kingPoS]

Pro tip: It's really a 16gb chip the OS takes 4gb, that's why it says 12gb.

While it's true the average parent probably won't care about 12gb or 500gb. The 5-10 kid/s their buying it for will most likely not even care.

[Bowzabub]

Perfect console for people who just want a PS3 for apps. I check into Home once in awhile and there are so many people that only use Home and that is it. Most of these people are MMO fans, at least the ones I have talked to. It's an ok app, I jump on it from time to time, maybe a few times a month just to peep it out. But like I was saying, this would be perfect for those people & gamers that will just upgrade their HDD. Smart move by Sony. Mommies only see the price on the box after all. Worked really well for MS.

[joeorc]

@Bowzabub

100% exactly, Playstation Home saves are all cloud based, so this 12 GB is quite a large amount for your system anyway if you mainly use the free functions for online without the need for plus, the only real draw back is if your Game requires a much larger Harddrive for its use, so for example DC universe is a huge game over 17 GB! already just for one game! if you can find a physical disc copy of the game than you would be set, but if not you would need an internal Harddrive but the option to use a generic 2.5" SATA harddrive is a pretty handy feature.

upgrading your Harddrive yourself does not void your warranty also. So its not a problem there is even instructions on how to do it in the book that comes with your PS3.

[HeroReborn]

Have to agree with what someone else has mentioned, in this game space to effectively use the console you need at least 50gb if not you are doing a extreme balancing act between patches and dlc. I mean how could you ever hope to take advantage of Ps plus with this

[generalthadeape]

I just "upgraded" from a PS3 "phatty" to a "slim" earlier this week & also got another for my office upstairs.

I prefer the "slim" model over the "super-slim" model because it seems better built, runs quieter, and the giant top loading tray is ever so cheaply made.

I knew this deal was coming, but I'd rather pay for the machine I like / want than one that doesn't satisfy me.

Otherwise, this is a good deal for someone that wants to get in on the PS3 action for a really good price-- if so, I wholeheartedly agree that installing a larger hard drive of your choice would be the way to go.

[Rageanitus]

I do not see this as an Issue, Ive owned 2 PS3's since launch and a rarely see any need for large amount of HD space.

Reason.... I buy all my games from physical stores (they tend to be much cheaper over the long term).

The only time I used alot of HD space was for MGS4.

We are not there yet for consoles. People still want their physical discs, and honestly I do not play more than 3 games at a time.

Till the day they do it like steam (full backwards compatability) I do not really see the DD for consoles flying like how they sell in real stores.

[kingPoS]

Solution - Buy a HDD caddy & 1tb HDD. If the PS3 is $199 you'll be able to get all that for just about $300.

[Dogswithguns]

I morelikely to get one sometimes for my room.. already have PS3 Slim.

[MadMen]

I wonder why 12GB, and no I dont mean not why include a HardDrive I mean why that exact amount.

I would think they would do 16GB.

[supergravity]

when I saw that it was best buy bundling the new 12gb PS3 I expected the logical bundle coming from them, considering they sell laptop hard drive's...it would of made more sense to tie in a good capacity hard drive. But then again I don't what kinda margin they have to play with. Either way it's good to see a lower cost alternative for the consumer, with user upgradeability of the PS3 hard drive I've actually thought this made sense as an option from the onset, even with the mandatory install of most games.

[LordDhampire]

I think this bundle is great, my ps3 broke and I won't buy a used one just for it to break again, and I have laptop harddrives out the wazzou

[zainkool]

I can see the value in the price, but that 12gb is useless. It be all used up in a month. good thing Sony lets u upgrade the hard drive.

[RiPPn]

Love this model just for the fact that if my launch 60gb with replaced 750gb hard drive ever ylod it will be a cheap purchase. Just pull the hard drive from the dead model and slap it into this one and all is good for cheap.

Well except I don't like the look and top loading of this model, so I would likely buy the model before this off of CL or eBay, but still like having the option.