With E3 only a few days away, the rumors and speculation have begun to filter around the Internet; all eyes will be on Los Angeles to see what Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have up their respective sleeves. Luckily, we don't have to guess, as we have the support of our very well-informed mole. His information? Not only is the PSP Go real, but we'll be seeing a slimmed-down PS3 in August or September. However, this news likely won't be announced during E3.
Allow us to explain. There are plenty of PS3 systems sitting on store shelves right now, and Sony is planning on sitting back and allowing the supply of those units to dry up over the summer. We shouldn't expect a price cut, but the possibility is certainly there. After retailers are ready for new stock, Sony will begin releasing the slimmer units to retail, although what features have been taken away or added is still anyone's guess.
This isn't breaking news, as Engadget came into possession of supposedly leaked pictures of a smaller PS3 a few weeks ago; the story ran around the tech press quickly. The existence of a smaller PS3 seemed rather unlikely, until the sites that ran the picture received a cease and desist letter from a Chinese company saying that pictures contained "confidential information."
The other bit of information concerns the worst-kept secret in gaming, the upcoming UMD-less PSP that should be revealed at E3. Our mole says that yes, it's the real thing, and we can expect it to be lighter than its UMD-sporting predecessor, along with lower power consumption and possibly a lower price.
The PSP-Go will be sold right next to its bigger brother, which won't be taken from store shelves any time soon. A good number of titles will be released with both retail releases and digital downloads, with some games like Unbound Saga forgoing a retail release altogether. I also doubt that Patapon 2 will be the last game sold as a download voucher inside a plastic case, although we don't have any firm information about that strategy at this time.
Both of these projects have been talked about for some time, but hearing them confirmed by the mole puts them on much more solid footing. This is the person that broke the story about the Resident Evil V 360 bundle for us, who cracked the Patapon 2 thing wide open before there was any speculation, and who saw the 360 Halo 3 and Fable 2 bundle coming (and before that the 360 price drops). That's not even a complete list! The track record (100 percent correct) of the mole speaks for itself, and with so much buzz around these two Sony-related stories... there has to be a fire to justify all the smoke.
When will we know for sure? The PSP-Go will likely be announced at E3, so that rumor will be confirmed very soon. As for the slimmer PS3, that will be kept quiet for quite a while. Why tell customers that new hardware is coming when you're trying to clear the retail channel of your older models? The mole did say the hardware could be shown to select partners at E3, behind very tightly closed doors, so more leaks may provide extra evidence of the system's existence.
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If what the Modle says is true...
A slimmed-down PS3 for September is a bit surprise since it would be a slimmed nodel in less than 3 years of launch. However, if Sony is planning to have a price cut around the same time, it would make sense.
Another bit of surprise is PSP GO! would be sold side by side with PSP-3000. Didn't expect that.
