Sony announces new PS3 model and price cut

Jack Tretton, the President of Sony Computer Entertainment America, settled rumors today when he announced the imminent release of a new Playstation 3 model: a $400 40 GB version.

This is coming after Sony cleared house on a 20 GB version earlier this year upon seeing that gamers preferred the 60 GB and 80 GB models. And there has been more than just hard-drive space cut from this model; the backward compatibility with the PS2 has also been removed.

In a interview with Reuters, Tretton states, "We're choosing to focus on the PlayStation 2 consumer with the PlayStation 2, which remains incredibly relevant, and focus on the PlayStation 3 consumer with the new 40-gigabyte model and the great software coming out."

"Backward compatibility is a nice secondary consideration, but it's far from the number-one priority."

Along with the introduction of the new model, the 80 GB PS3 has been cut in price from $600 to $500.

The 40 GB model, already available in Europe and Japan, will be released in the United States on Nov. 2, just ahead of the Holiday season. Whether it will be enough to help bolster the PS3's abysmal sales...well, we'll just have to wait and see.