Sony offer an alternative to a price cut for PS3...

Following Sony's generous UK PlayStation 3 package consisting of two launch titles, a brace of control pads and a 60GB console, the majority of punters looking to get their hands on a piece of Sony's next-gen pie felt a little fobbed off. Even more so in light of the price cuts seen in America and Japan, it seemed that once again the PAL territories were getting a bum deal.

Well, guess what? Sony have come up with a new, cost-effective way of making the PS3 available to potential buyers who found the £425 price tag too much to swallow. As of next week Sony will be releasing a diluted version of the PS3, stripped of a lot of the extras that made the launch model a truly premium console. The first and most significant casualty is the hard drive, which has been cut back to 40GB, a feature that will be expanded to a muscular 80GB in the States. Yet another poke in the eye for the UK market. In addition to losing 20GB of storage space, the new PS3 will be shorn of two of its USB ports and backwards compatibility with PS2 titles, although PSone discs will still work fine. Every cloud, eh? But wait, there's more. You won't be able to pop your music and holiday snaps onto the hard drive directly through the memory card slots simply because there aren't any on the updated, downgraded machine.
The upside to all of this is that those yet to own a PS3 can now pick one up for the more wallet friendly price tag of £299.99. Unfortunately, the really bad news is that anyone wanting the full spec original console will have to get it fast. Luckily, there's great news for anyone looking to get their mitts on the untouched launch model. You can now pick one up for the bargain price of just £349.99! Genuine value for money once the games start to arrive (patience, give it a couple of months). Rumour has it that soon the 40GB model will be the only available option so you'll have to get in quick or be condemned to own an inferior slab of plastic and chips. Ouch!

Also, while we're on the subject, The Shed would like to issue a pair of apologies. One for being away for so long (moving to London took some time out of our schedule) and two for being weighted heavily on the PS3 side. We assure you that we are totally unbiased in our console love. We love them all equally. Long story short, Landon is the 360 reviewer and he's a lazy git and neither of us own, or know anyone that owns, a Wii. So there.

The 40GB PlayStation 3 and cut price 60GB model is available from today. That's Wednesday 10th October, kids.