Brilliant idea, let's release a console that doesn't play any existing game...

Wow... just when I thought G4 couldn't sink lower... a PS3 that only downloads PSN games ;) and on top of that... DOESNT PLAY A SINGLE PS3 DISC... BRILLIANT IDEA MORONS! (note I'm not insulting them only stating a fact of what they are)

Really... how does a PS3 work if it isn't a PS3? I mean... I'm at a loss for words here... really I gotta leave this thread before my brain dies from seeing that article...

OMG What?!??

The only thing they can safely strip from ps3 is wi-fi and maybe exchange HDD for big SDHD flash memory (8 or 16 gigs) while alowing users to use any external usb HDD.

Now this could be a new ps3 slim but are the savings really worth it ?

Holy shit the guy who suggested that must be retarded

That's actually not a bad idea after all. The most important thing Sony would gain, would be to sell the thing with profit and people would buy it for the content they actually get paid for (instead of getting it as a BD player, where Sony would get a part of the royalties).
If the HDD would be replaced with 3,5 model or even make a place for second HDD which you could put in by yourself.
The platform would be online only, which had access to PSN and it wouldn't be called as PS3.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but my solution that I came up with a while back would be to remove the wi-fi. I'm sure that would cut costs at least an extra $20-30 right there. Then offer an add-on for those that really need it. They could also make a version with a smaller hard drive. Bring back the 40GB model with no internal Wi-Fi and you have saved $20-30 more for a total of $60 cheaper model. Then all they need to do is finish shrinking the processors (GPU/CPU) and they will have shaved enough cost to afford a price cut, or offer a cheaper model.

I can't think of anything else they could do to cheapen it without crippling it in a major way.

Hmm ok let's say sony do it. Now what exactly are those guys going to play?

On PSN from full ps3 games there's

Burnout Paradise

Socom

Siren

GT5 prolog

AND ?

Reading this thread doesn't help my faith in humanity. Why are so many people assuming that Sony wouldn't put PS3 titles up for download if they did this, perhaps even the old ones?

Sure, there are some things to criticize regarding this idea, but let's keep this real. When you get to an incredible conclusion, it often helps to examine your assumptions.

Wrong placement.  Sorry.