Megaton News

So far only announced for Europe/UK the new PS3 will be priced at €399 and £299, and will include one SIXAXIS wireless controller, Wi-Fi, HDMI, two USB 2.0 ports rather than four and no longer includes the multi memory card port.

One more little thing the new PS3 is no longer backwards compatible with PS2 games. No software backwards compatibility or hardware backwards compatibility. With Sony saying this is “reflecting both the reduced emphasis placed on this feature amongst later purchasers of PS3, as well as the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles”.

Sony already ripped out hardware backwards compatability with the 80gb, there is no justification whatsoever for removing software backwards compatibilty for the 100 million+ selling PS2. Stupid moves like this are why the Wii continues to piss on the PS3′s rotting corpse. Hopefully this Playstation Tard Pack (the PTP) never makes it’s way to North America.

IGN is reporting:

Big shocker at today’s Electronic Arts pre Tokyo Game Show press event. While playing a demo of Burnout Paradise, we felt something that we never thought we’d feel from a PS3 controller — shake!

That’s right, Burnout Paradise is the first rumble-equipped PS3 game we’ve ever played. Which made us think at the time, if the game is making the controller shake, the controller must be a new version of the Sixaxis!

In fact, the controller we were using to play the demo looked exactly like a standard Sixaxis, except that it had a sticker on the bottom that said “RUMBLE.” It also felt notably heavier than the standard Sixaxis.

We presume this is a prototype of the PlayStation 3′s new rumble controller, whatever it’s going to be called.

The rumble itself felt around the level of PlayStation 2 rumble. We’re not sure just yet if Sony is using any of that next generation technology Immersion has been talking about for the past few months.

Expect more info once the Tokyo Game Show really gets goin’.