llubtoille:
I remember they did the same thing with the PSOne,
ie - releasing a compact version towards the end of its life.
did they do it for the PS2?

yep! This is par for the course.

ALTHOUGH! The new console is also, USUALLY accompanied with a price cut. I'm surprised this is being sold for as much if not more money than the previous version. I would have expected them to drop the price to $200 or so.

But I bet you they'll do that next year. I think we're still 2 years away from a PS4 launch, and having them cut the price a lot more would make sense next year verses this year. Sony's probably still trying to recoup losses from earlier in the generation cycle, and frankly, the PS3 is still selling well. I also bet that Sony has a plan to support the PS3 a few years after the PS4 comes out, like they did the PS2. A few of the PS2's best games came out between 2006-2009, well into the life of the PS3 console. Sony STILL sells the damn thing! That's profit right there.

Not backwards compatible, not interested.

Like a lot of people have said I have a backwards compatible fat model, why would I want a new one? I'm waiting to see how the next generation goes, before I buy another system.

dmase:
Like a lot of people have said I have a backwards compatible fat model, why would I want a new one? I'm waiting to see how the next generation goes, before I buy another system.

Because you're obviously not the target demographic for it? This model is for your late adopter/cutting assembly costs/some unlucky bastards (got one right here) whose second PS3 is becoming so sluggish and easy to overheat that they're already saving up for the inevitable third one.

You can pick up a decent ps3 second hand from your local game dealer or off ebay/similar site. With this generation shutting up shop in the next few years, a second hand console is so much more economical than buying a spanking new one for a ridiculous price

Well, it is one of those "buy it, if your old one blows up" thing
I don't see why there is so much fuzz about it.

Faladorian:

This post is golden. That's exactly what this is. They're both trying to sell their own system by making their own system unsellable, and they're trying to compete with the Wii U. They even got the idea of external memory from Wii U, I wouldn't doubt it.

But part of the appeal of the Wii U's external memory is the fact that is cuts the cost of the product somewhat. But as it stands, this new PS3 is MORE EXPENSIVE THAN RETAIL.

It's also about as expensive as the Wii U itself, which has been noted to be more powerful than the PS3 and 360.

Things like this just... baffle me. Sony has already demonstrated with the Vita that they don't know what the hell they're doing, but this shit just takes the cake. Get with it, Sony, you're becoming senile.

Interesting article about how badly Sony has been managed in the past few years:

http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2012/09/08/the-ten-year-decline-of-sony/

This is what happens when you let engineers and designers run free: they don't care about consumer interest. Sony is one giant mess right now.

I only use my current PS3 for movies. I regret buying it. I won't even bother with the next generation of consoles so why would I ever want to buy something I already own but hardly use?

FlipC:
Out of interest how can it be "Classic" white when the default colour scheme is black?

Because the PS1 Slim was white?

I own the original brick versions of the PS1, PS2 and PS3 and they all still work fine. Except my PS3 hard drive died on me needing a replacement, and my PS1 disc tray flap needs a few tries to shut it.

No idea why people change to a smaller version.