Sony Launches 12GB PS3 For North America

[admin]

Following the success of the 12GB version of the PS3 in foreign markets including Europe and Australia, Sony has now started shipping the hard-drive-less version of the PS3 in North America starting this week, the company announced on their blog.

Retailing for a recommended price of $199, the 12GB PS3 features flash storage in lieu of a hard-drive, allowing the installation of at least one game.

As a comparison, a PS3 featuring a 500GB and bundled with the upcoming GTA V game can be had, at Amazon, for $269.99.

Other than the lack of storage, the 12GB PS3 has an identical feature-set to its bigger capacity siblings.

The move towards a low storage version of the console was first pioneered by Microsoft, with the 4GB version of the Xbox 360 proving popular to the budget conscious. Unlike the Xbox 360, the PS3 design allows users to add their own laptop based hard-drives to increase storage with only a bit of DIY required, all without voiding the warranty and with official instructions provided by Sony.

The 4GB version of the Xbox 360 also carries the same $199 recommended price tag.

[drfsupercenter]

The Xbox 360 can add more space too. You just have to use Microsoft's hard drives. I have the 4GB console with a hard drive in it, official one too.

[admin]

That was what I was trying to say (clumsily, perhaps), that PS3 owners can add their own, non official laptop based HDDs, whereas the Xbox 360 only accepts pre-packaged drives.

The 12GB PS3 isn't worth it though IMO, not at $199. The GTA V bundle with the 500GB PS3 is only $70 more, and 12GB (8GB usable probably) is hardly anything. Those with PS Plus subscriptions in order to get the free monthly games will need more storage to take full advantage as well. If it was $149, then it might be a more interesting proposition.