Sony Reveals New PS3, PS+ For Vita, Not Much Else

In a press conference unsurprisingly targeted at a Japanese audience, Sony’s Tokyo Game Show press conference didn’t feature much in the way of major new announcements (for us).

No, there was nothing new about The Last Guardian.

Confirming rumors, the company revealed a third iteration of PlayStation 3, a new model that goes on sale September 25 (yes, next week) over here for $269.99. It’s a 50% size reduction over the original PS3, 25% over the already skinny PS3 Slim, and the hard drive’s upgraded to 250GB and 500GB. The 250GB model goes on sale September 25 with a copy of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and other digital goodies. The 500GB model arrives October 30 with Assassin’s Creed III.

For the record, my Xbox 360 (a launch model) still has a 20GB hard drive. I’m cheap and sad.

The increasingly attractive PlayStation Plus service is also coming to Vita, and won’t cost anything to existing subscribers on PS3. According to the PlayStation Blog, that rolls out in November, and includes access to unspecified free games, an additional 1GB of cloud storage, discounts on games and downloable content, automatic updates ala PS3, and automatic trophy syncing. The last two are a complete joke for a premium service, by the way.

The recent acquisition of cloud gaming platform Gaikai was mentioned, but it wasn’t clear when any new features would be rolled out for PS3, Vita, or if it’s being saved for an unannounced platform.

New Vita models--Blue, Red--were announced, but no word on a price drop.

Keiji Inafune’s Soul Sacrifice was shown, though it was also delayed until next spring. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is getting a Vita port. Namco Bandai also announced a sequel to its Monster Hunter-esque God Eater series.

(Thanks to Twitter user @Cheesemeister3k for the excellent translation of the event.)

RIP PlayStation Vita

I'm still waiting for my Fat PS3 to die but it keeps on trucking, I like the new models

They would at least show a logo if The Last Guardian was still a thing, right? That's too bad. =[

Sad no first party games were announced.

I'll stick with my Slim and stay Vita-less for at least a while

Typo! 500GB, not 5005B.

Hmm, i remember being intrigued by muramasa for the wii, but never picked it up. maybe i should get a vita...but i need one really solid first party game before i jump in.

Kind of nothing crazy. I might get a new PS3 though.

Well, its cheaper than a wii-u...

I want that blue vita so bad, still like using my blue PSP. 
 
Also, no Monster Hunter? That seems insane!

THATS IT? oh nooo :(....

smart of them to do the price cut, but mann no last guardian news is a bummer.

seems like that and FF versus 13 might be the Duke nukem forevers of this generation.

I think is hilarious the idea to play a game between the Vita and PSP

Muramasa on vita seems like a cool get. I'd like it on PS3 or 360 proper though. That art looks soo good in HD.

SCOOPS

Considering buying a PS3 since i've never touched or owned one. But i have surrounded myself with friends that only play Xbox so Maybe??????

@Demoskinos said:

Muramasa on vita seems like a cool get. I'd like it on PS3 or 360 proper though. That art looks soo good in HD.

It's such a fun game, too. It's good that more people will have the chance to play it.

@Hailinel: Indeed. I have it for Wii but I've never bothered to really start the game up. =\

@captain_clayman said:

Hmm, i remember being intrigued by muramasa for the wii, but never picked it up. maybe i should get a vita...but i need one really solid first party game before i jump in.

Perhaps LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted, or potentially Tear Away will interest you?

Yawn. Oh boy. Wake me up please when something exciting happens.

I wouldn't mind a vita.

Not much happened except for the games they announced that will probably come to Vita. Muramasa was already released in the west once, why not think it won't do it again? The game has already been translated.

We know that if it isn't an iphone game you don't care Patrick, but come on.

Look forward to purchasing a super cheap old Playstation slim.

Remember the Vita, you guys?

so does that mean ps4 in 2014?

So is that PS3-III? Cubed? What are we going with here?

New PS3 looks sharp. Reminds me of some '90s hardware design.

I'd buy that ps3.

this didnt happen and that didnt happen and a few of those features are pretty lame for a premium service! who cares about the new ps3 and free stuff from playstation plus. I'd rather pay money simply for online gaming functionality and the privledge to use netflix. I'd rather pay $60 a year for the ability to play Borderlands (which I also would have had to buy) online with a 360 than pay $50 a year and get 80 free games over a year, one of which is Borderlands, all with free online abilities. I'd much rather use a 360 over a PS3!

Don't like the new PS3 model, but what do I care, I don't plan on buying a new PS3 anyway. PS Plus for Vita seems cool but I rather they focus on making more PS Classics available. I still want to play Final Fantasy V on the Vita instead of the PSP that I'm currently using.

@patrickklepek For the record, my Xbox 360 (a launch model) still has a 20GB hard drive. I’m cheap and sad.

b'awwwwww

i sold my original 20gb 360 right after it RRODed and got it exchanged by my work way after return policy, and any console i got since (3ds xl) was a gift so i think i know how you feel.

then again i put way too much of my money back in 2007 into my PC, but at least it's still going strong. for now...

edit: also why would they release new models of vita if it's dying? i mean i guess it's a way to drum up interest but it seems like it'd be a lot of extraneous effort to do so. original PSP seems more and more like a good proposition for me as it can be had on the fairly cheap and has quite a few impressive strategy RPG titles (the genre which to me seems to work best on a portable)

As a PS+ member, I'm going to get a Vita now that PS+ will carry over to Vita at no extra charge.

@MarkWahlberg said:

So is that PS3-III? Cubed? What are we going with here?

PlayStation 3: The Third

...would be my suggestion :)

Btw everyone: Buy Muramasa! (Nobody cared when it was a Wii game, now let's give this game some love on Vita at least!)

PS+ on the Vita, can't wait as the free game selections on the PS3 have been really good.

As a PS+ member already I think it's a bit poor to have automatic updates and trophy syncing as a premium service, it should be a basic service provided to everyone.

Am I missing something or did they raise the price $20?...

The black one looks nice but man I just want it to be a flat, matte black like the 2nd version of the PS3, but the hardware itself looks nice, even though it doesnt have 802.11 n. Doesn't look like a slot-loading drive.  
 
Anyway my PS3 broke a while back and I miiiiight get another one cause yeah. 

You guys forgot to mention that new thing includes dust 514 as well :)

Good to hear about PS+ for Vita and Muramasa. Now I'll actually play some Vita games instead of just PS1 and PSP games on my Vita.

Not going to lie, the new PS3 looks very nice.

I'm more impressed your launch 360 is still working! I had to refurb mine due to overheating issues!

I guess PS+ for Vita could be cool for people that already own it. They don't really seem to have a plan for it, makes me sad.

500 gb hard drive at what Microsoft charges for hard drive space would cost a hundred trillion dollars.

@wewantsthering said:

Am I missing something or did they raise the price $20?...

totally did. But I read that it was only for the bundle and that they will eventually release the new 250GB model for $250 as a standalone unit.

@rjayb89 said:

Remember the Vita, you guys?

remember alf???

"a new model that goes on sale September 25 (yes, next week) over here for $269.99"

Wait, does that 'over here' indicate the States? Because Sony is currently selling 160GB systems for $250 and 320GB systems for $300 - I'm not sure whether to take that as a $30 price cut or a $20 price hike.

In any case, the lack of serious cuts does suggest that MS & Sony saw the launch price on the Wii U, laughed in glee, and abandoned deep discounts for lack of need.

No Persona 5. I WANT IT SO BAD.

@Tom_Shaw: I guess it depends if you think the extra HDD space and the inclueded game, is worth the extra price.

.

@patrickklepek Just thought you'd be interested to know there's a 12GB model being released in Australia...

Available Sept 27th - http://www.jbhifi.com.au/games/new-look-ps3-console/