I have to say that Motorstorm looks pretty damn good on my 1080p.

Sony has officially discontinued the 20GB model in the US.
I really don't understand this considering their poor sales. They might sell a few more consoles if they could actually get the cheaper model in stores.

Yeah, I just read that too. Makes me wonder if Microsoft had some advanced warning of this announcement and helped them decide to release the 360 Elite.

Dropping the 20GB model I think leaves the door open for a price drop on the 60GB later this year.

But if the 20GB model wasn't selling either, or at a worse pace then the 60GB model, then there's no point.

Interesting that retailer demand was enough to eliminate the 20 GB model. I wonder how it was for the 360's Core system?

Well, Im glad I got one when I did...

That news is bad for me. I have no need for the extra features in the 60GB model, so I was waiting for the 20GB model to drop within my price range. Now it looks like I will have to wait even longer now. The PS4 will probably be out before I get a PS3 now.

Dam sucks for Sony. At least I use my 20 gb model for a blu ray movie once a month and to play ps2 games. LOL

Isn't the base model gettinga 80GB HDD too? I thought I read that rumor somewhere....basically, the 80GB HDD was the same price for Sony to throw in there...we'll see how that goes. Didn't the original XBOX do that at one point though...8GB to like 10GB or something?

Some of the Xbox units were released with 10GB drives, but it wasn't an official upgrade. I think the 80GB thing has been shot down by Sony.

There are also reports of a bad batch of PS3s that make really loud whinning noises.

It is supposed to be January 2007 manufactured units with "CE133190xxx and CE133212xxx" serial number series. I'll check mine when I get home.

How do you know when the unit was manufactured? My serial number starts off with CE2, does that mean a date of February?

Not sure. I didn't see it mentioned in the joystiq posting.

Same here! I haven't played more than 30 seconds of my PS3 (tried the Motorstorm demo). But it's a great BD player and handles GOW II nicely.

I can't believe they dropped the 20 Gig - you can still find a Core 360 if you look, and that thing is even more gimped than the 20 Gig.

Guess the retailers didn't want more product clogging up their shelves (The last few times I've been to the store, I see PS3s at Target and Best Buy crammed in to every available part of the shelf.)

That's what disappoints me - it looks like the plan for this generation, at least for the PS3 and 360, will be to keep the price high but add features, rather than dropping the price as in the past. If they drop the price of the 60GB model to $500, the cost of entry is the same as it was before when the 20GB model was available, only now you get more things you may not even use.

With the 360, instead of a price drop on the Core system, they may just phase that out and replace it with the premium, keeping the minimum cost at $300 as before. Granted, that's easier to accept because the Premium is such a no-brainer (unlike the 60GB PS3).

What they should do is what Apple does with the iPod - when the next one comes out, they just slide everything down but leave the pricing structure the same. So, in the case of the 360, what they should have done was dropped the Core, made the Premium $299 and the Elite $399.

Sony should have dropped the 20, slid the 60 to $500 and introduced an 80 or 100 at $600. They also should have waited until Xmas 2007 to do it.

I just realized just how bad I suck at Mortal Kombat II. Give me Killer Instinct 2 and I wouldn't even feel challenged at the highest difficulty. But MK2? Man I suck...

There isn't much incentive for someone to drop $100 for an extra 20-40 GB. Right now (or, up until right now) the extra $100 got you 40GB, WiFi and memory card slots.

Since the HDD isn't proprietary, one can upgrade to whatever size they want.

Sony is in a different boat than MS, they showed all their cards with the 60GB version. MS has the option to add more "features" (not that this is a good thing) to make more money per console, where Sony really is just in a position to cost reduce. They were losing more money on the 20GB version than the 60GB one. The extra "features" in the 60GB didn't cost Sony anywhere near the $100 they were charging.

MS had a better business plan for making money. By keeping the HDD, memory card, wireless adapter, etc. proprietary, they can set a high price and make a killing on accessories. Over time, MS will make a bigger profit off consumers because of this (not taking games/BR movies into account).

Sony had a better plan for the consumer, give it to you all at once, but failed to realize that the average consumer would prefer to spend $600+ over a period of time (i.e. grab a 360, 6 mo. later grab the wireless adapter, a year later a bigger hard drive, etc).

Once Sony can get the PS3 in the sub-$400 range, they will have much more success. Unfortunately, by the time that happens, it may be too late.

I think it all depends who you talk to. Some people LOVE everything at once....although, I can see how MS tries to bleed everything out of the consumer, which turns some people off.

I have both systems, and I love my 360....but that is because my PS3 is on my smaller TV, so I barely touch it.

I also find it amusing that people LOVE the arcade games on the PS3. "MKII for $5!!!!! Sign me UP!" I still find it a bit overpriced, and I hate using actual currency (but I've said that before).

DJ, why do you hate using actual currency? Is it because of the credit card info thing?

Because I like that both Nintendo and Sony are using equivalents of dollars, instead of the ridiculous 1600 points = 20 bucks conversion Microsoft uses to "hide" the real cost of content.

I had no interest in MKII for $5, but I love that its real money. I also like the fact that my $5 old game has some effort put into it to add online, new arenas and HD support. It is not just the lazy ROM dump Nintendo charges $5-$10 for.

I don't have to spend $20 to buy a $5 game. I fucking hate the point systems that can keep you from breaking even.

Eh, it's cheaper than SNES games on the Wii (another system I enjoy), and it has online play. I actually prefer having all the bells and whistles in one fell swoop. Microsoft's method of having all these add-ons that cost an arm and a leg turned me off a bit.

Wait...did MKII already come out? I haven't checked the store in about a week.

What other add-ons has MS released besides the HD-DVD drive (which isn't even used for gaming)?

There's also the proprietary hard drive, which will be a factor if people want to upgrade when the larger one comes out.

Plus, the wi-fi.