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Are you someone who has yet to get on the PS3 bandwagon? Do you find yourself sitting in front of your computer monitor, waiting for the right time to get in on the action? Are you waiting for the perfect PS3 bundle? You know, the one with the smaller hard drive and no backwards compatibility? Well… your day will be coming soon. The 40GB PlayStation 3 will be available in North America on November 2nd, 2007 for a retail price of $399.

Also announced was the immediate price drop of the 80GB PS3… that’s the one that is actually worth owning. The 80GB PS3 will now retail for $499, a $100 mark-down from earlier.

Pardon the lack of pictures with funny little snide comments — I’m at school. I got this press release through my personal GMail account, and figured “…well, it seems urgent enough.” But that is beside the point. Why on Earth does this 40GB console exist? Someone explain this to me. When the PS3 launched, it had a 20GB and 60GB model. Sony phased out the 20GB, claiming to want to focus all their efforts on one universal SKU. A short time laterthe 80GB was announced. Now we have a 40GB console with no backwards compatibility… why not just keep the 20GB SKU? That’s one question that, for the life of me, I can’t figure out.

Press Release after the break.

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Oct. 18 — Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) today announced plans to introduce a new 40GB model of its PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system. Beginning November 2nd, to further enhance the HD entertainment experience, the new 40GB PS3 model will come bundled with the blockbuster movie Spider-Man(TM) 3 Blu-ray Disc(TM) (BD) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $399 (USD/CND). The company also announced that effective immediately, the current 80GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499 (USD/CND), $100 below the original launch price.

“We’re pleased to offer the consumer a lower price point without sacrificing the core technology components that make PS3 the most advanced high-definition entertainment system available. Every PS3 comes with a Blu-ray drive, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in hard-drive,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO, SCEA. “This holiday season we’ll be able to offer attractive retail pricing with a broad portfolio of outstanding games including Ratchet & Clank(R) Future: Tools of Destruction(TM), THE EYE OF JUDGMENT(TM), Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune(TM), Heavenly Sword(TM), Call of Duty(R) 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed(TM), Haze(TM) and RockBand(TM).”

The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation(R)2 titles, reflecting the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles. Consumers looking for backwards compatibility can take advantage of the limited PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility of the 80GB PS3.

PLAYSTATION(R)3 40GB Specification
Product name PLAYSTATION(R)3
CPU Cell Broadband Engine(TM) (Cell/B.E.)
GPU RSX(TM)
Sound Dolby 5.1ch, DTS 5.1ch , LPCM 7.1ch, AAC, others *1 *2
Memory 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD 2.5″ Serial ATA 40GB
I/O USB 2.0 x2
Communication Ethernet X1 (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEEE 802.11 b/g Included
Bluetooth 2.0 Included (EDR)
Wireless controller (Bluetooth) Included
AV Output
Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI OUT x1 *3
AV MULTI OUT x1
DIGITAL OUT x1 (OPTICAL)
BD/DVD/CD Maximum Read Speed BD 2x (BD-ROM)
Drive DVD 8x (DVD-ROM) (Read Only)
CD 24x (CD-ROM)
Dimensions Approximately 12.75in(W) x 3.86in (H) x 10.8in (D)
Weight Approximately 11 lbs

1 A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch. is required to output 7.1 Ch. audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector.

2 This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.

“Deep Color” and “x.v.Color (xvYCC)” defined by HDMI ver1.3a are supported.

Sony, PlayStation 3, 40GB