40GB PlayStation 3 Officially Announced by SCEE

The 40GB will be the cheapest PS3 yet, but no PS2 backwards compatibility will be the price to pay.

Putting an end to one of the worst-kept secrets of the year, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today confirmed the existence of a lower-priced 40GB PlayStation 3 model by announcing its availability across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australasia starting October 10. The new model will retail for €399, or about 20 percent less than the 60GB bundle.

To help keep costs down, the new 40GB model does with only two USB ports, instead of four on all previous PS3 consoles, and no memory card reader. The now-extinct 20GB PlayStation 3 also was without a memory card reader – which on the 60GB and 80GB models read Compact Flash, Secure Digital and Memory Stick media – in the interest of cost savings. Unlike the entry-level 20GB, however, the 40GB PS3 appears to retain the same silver-trim bling of the 60GB and 80GB models.

DailyTech