80GB PS3 For Japanese Market As Well??? News

Speaking to UK industry publication MCV, the analyst of a leading publisher in Japan, Enterbrain, has stated that he expects to see the introduction of a PlayStation 3 with a larger HDD into the Japanese market, with a price cut and the eventual phasing out of the existing 20GB and 60GB PS3 models.

The Chief Marketing Analyst of Enterbrain, Mitsunobu Uwatoko, told MCV: "The $100 price cut with the 20GB upgrade in the US was not really surprising, as there have been rumours, given that the PS3 has been struggling.

"It's like the time has come," said Uwatoko. "In Japan too, PS3's HDD will perhaps be much bigger. And nobody thinks that the 60GB or the 20GB will last much longer."

Despite Uwatoko's comments to MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan have not announced any plans to introduce a bigger HDD in the region, or cut the prices and phase out the 20GB and 60GB models. What SCEJ has done, however, is introduce a similar PS3 bundle offer as has been seen in the European market.

Sony's PS3 has struggled to compete with Wii this year, under-selling the Nintendo console by as much as eight to one in mid-July (according to numbers from Media Create). However, Sony sales did double in the last week of July, spurred on by the release of Everybody's Golf 5 in a bundle offer. Numbers from Enterbrain set Wii sales at 1,775,005 for the first half of 2007, while the PS3 managed just 503,554 units.