With lagging sales and the decision to stop making the smaller 20 GB version of the PlayStation 3, Sony is now facing the unenviable position of playing catch-up in the race to be the number one selling next gen gaming machine.

Microsoft is also playing hardball with Sony by announcing the Xbox 360 Elite which gives users a 120 GB hard drive to play around with, besting the largest PS3 drive by a factor of two. Now two strong indicators have surfaced that show Sony is preparing to also up the size of its PS3 hard drive.

The reports stem from a March 2007 Sony request to the FCC to change the hard drive capacity on its PS3 gaming system from 60 GB to 80 GB. The report, practically a smoking gun, was given further strength when a Sony executive commented that the 20 GB and 60 GB versions of the PlayStation 3 may not be enough but stopped short of saying that they were going to produce a larger PS3 drive.

All that’s really left is for Sony to own up and announce the official release date for the 80 GB PS3, a move that will probably throw a bucket of cold water on store sales of the 60 GB version when it comes down.

Source: TechNewsWorld