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The big three of the console world, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo dominate the console market. The current generation of consoles has been the longest generation in the history of video gaming. The consoles that dominate this generation, the seventh according to Wikipedia, have been Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii on the home console front, and the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable on the handheld front.
The PS3 has been one of the most successful consoles of this generation, and Sony has not updated it in a long while. However, going by pictures leaked at the Anatel site (Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications), it seems a new slim model of the PS3 is coming up. Technoblog was able to get the images from the site, which show off some of the specs of the new version of the console.
The new PS3 Slim
The images show a sliding panel on the top of the console, which could mean a cheaper top loading disc drive. The product numbers for the consoles read CECH-4011A, CHECH-4011B and CECH-4011C, which correspond to the respective storage capacities - 16 GB, 250 GB, and 500 GB.
The model number
According to Joystiq, the diagrams for the new version of the consoles have shown up on the website for the American FCC. Sony has declined to comment on the possibility of a new model of the PlayStation 3.
What looks to be a top loaded disc drive
Sony already has a slim version of the PlayStation 3, released back in 2009. This version of the console would be the second slim version to be released.
There have been slim versions for the consoles by all three developers, such as Nintendo’s version of the Wii without support for Gamecube games, and the Xbox 360 S.
The console as a whole
Sony has released slim versions of their consoles in the past, such as the PSOne, the much smaller and portable version of the original PlayStation, and the PlayStation 2 Slim.
The original PlayStation 3 came with backwards compatibility for PlayStation 2 games, which was one of the biggest things to go when they released the PlayStation 3 Slim, though the console still retains backwards compatibility with PlayStation games on disc or bought off the PlayStation Network store.
One of the biggest reasons for the rise of popularity of the PlayStation 3 was the price cut that happened in 2011, with $50 shaved off the price. As a result, the entry-level 160 GB model cost $250 instead of $300, and the 320 GB premium model cost $300 instead of $350. According to PCWorld, at least one retail source claims that the PlayStation 3 sales have surged up by 65%.
The PlayStation 3 continues to be a very popular console due to its strong single player games exclusive to the system, such as the Uncharted series, Demon’s Souls, God of War 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, and the game recently unveiled at E3, Last Of Us.
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