PS3 users have been waiting for this one for awhile while their Xbox 360 buddies have been streaming Netflix since July of last year and bragging about it. But now is your time Sony fans. PS3 instant streaming discs are now being sent out to Netflix users who have requested them.

It’s either this or wait for an XMB software update late next year that will let you stream Netflix to the PS3 disc-free, which is how it should be.

You’ve been praying for it and now at long last Netflix streaming will be available “later this year” on the PS3. Just like the Xbox 360, it will be free with the $8.99-a-month plan. But with the PS3, you’ll enable Netflix via an “instant streaming Blu-ray disc.”

The free disc will activate Netflix via BD-Live. You’ll have to load up the disc every time you want to use Netflix for now. You’ll be able to order movies and do all of the other stuff right on screen without having to do it on your computer first.

The idea here is that if you buy a Bravia TV, they’ll throw a PS3 at it for you. Or something. Clever Australian marketing. Take one 46-inch Bravia TV KDL46X LCD and launch a PS3 Slim into it at 50 MPH. It’s sure to go viral. Or so they hope.

It’s a slow motion thing of beauty. Much more graceful than watching a Wiimote assault a TV. Very satisfying. So the moral of the story is to get yourself a PS3 along with that TV, because there are better ways to connect the two.

At last! Already released as a series of bundles in the UK, Sony has announced a November release date for the North American 250GB PlayStation 3 Slim. It goes on sale on November 3rd, just in time to gift to yourself for Christmas.

This unit is the same size and shape as the 120GB PlayStation 3 Slim, it just has slightly over double the hard drive space. interestingly, the system seems to be priced a tad lower than its UK counterparts at $349.99.

Well, we had previously heard that a 250GB version of the PS3 Slim would be showing up and now it looks like those rumors were right. Some pictures of a 250GB PS3 Slim have been spotted at retail.

The 250GB PS3 Slim is listed as “in stock” on Amazon.co.uk, but it’s not arriving until October 6th. But it is for sale at some retail store in Europe apparently right this instant.

Final Fantasy fans will want to save up their money for this one. At the Tokyo Game Show press conference today, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase unveiled the special FFXIII-themed limited edition PlayStation 3.

As you can see, the FFXIII PS3 is pink on white, with a “Lightning” theme along with FFXIII branding. Under the hood, it will be a 250GB model. If you don’t mind the pink, then consider this a Christmas present to yourself. It’ll be available on December 17 in Japan.

The PS3 could face shortages during this holiday season if the current sales rate continues, according to SCEA chief Jack Tretton. He brags that PS3 sales have tripled since the price drop to $300 and the new slim redesign and says that it’s “conceivable” that these sustained sales could lead to some stores running out as demand outpaces supply.

The price drop alone has led to the PS3 outselling the Xbox 360 and the Wii. We’ll see what happens. Microsoft’s matching price drop for the Xbox 360 Elite might offset the discount, as well as the impending Wii price cut.

Above is a Microsoft Word document from SEGA America’s official FTP site in SEGA’s news directory. It could be there as a joke, but if it’s real, then it reveals some interesting details. Mainly that Sony will be launching its PS3 motion controller in Japan in March of 2010, then elsewhere in the Spring.

There are also details of PlayStation 2 emulation on the PS3 and that “SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc).” Want more? Maybe they will announce it at the Tokyo Game Show which starts Thursday.

Deny everything. That’s Sony’s stance on plans of a 250GB PS3 bundle for the US. Problem is, the rumors just keep on coming. According to Joystiq, the inventory screen shown above is from a supposed Norwegian GameStop employee. It shows five different 250GB PS3 bundles.

Specifically Ratchet & Clank, Assassin’s Creed 2, FIFA 10, Need for Speed: Shift, and Uncharted 2. Prices are apparently the same for each (an $85 increase over the standard 120GB model).

This is the tipping point. This bit of news right here. This is the very thing that finally, at long last dooms humanity to a Wall-E future, where humans are all fat and stupid. Yeah, why bother to use the phone? Who needs all that human contact? No way you’re heading to the store to pick up that pizza either, not the way your chins bang into each other like a pair of Kerbangers.

No, the best way to do it is to order pizza from your PS3. The Papa John’s site delivers ads for Sony games like LittleBigPlanet and the digital download PixelJunk Shooter, and makes it easy to order a pizza with your DualShock 3.

Well looky here. We just got news of an 250GB Xbox 360 and now this. A leaked image of a PlayStation 3 slim bundle for Uncharted 2 that also sports a 250GB hard drive.

According to Engadget, they have confirmed that it’s legit, but other than that, there’s no word on when it will be announced or any info on a price or release date. A good guess would be that we will see it hit retail in mid-October alongside Uncharted 2, but no one knows.

Looks like Sony’s PS3 Slim is paying off for the company. Sales of PS3 hardware at “top retailers” jumped 300% for the first week of September compared to the week before the system’s price was cut to $299 for the “slim”.

Yes, people are actually buying the console. This news surely makes the folks at Sony feel all warm and tingly, but that’s not it for good news. According to a survey by GamePlan Insights, five of consumers’ top 10 most-wanted games are actually on the PS3 (Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2).

Well, that didn’t take long. ColorWare is bringing PS3 Slims to life with a rainbow of colors. They aren’t just colorizing the console, but the controller as well. You can customize the color of the PS3 logo, the top of the console, or the bottom. That way you can make it look super funky.

Once it’s been colorized, everything is high-gloss and scratch resistant, so it’s more than just a paint job. If you want to send yours in, it will cost you $149 or you can just buy one from them for $449.

In case you have been living under a rock, the big thing right now is 3D and the 3D bandwagon is bursting at the seams from so many people jumping on board. The PlayStation 3 is the latest on the 3D bandwagon, bringing a 3D mode to Sony’s console that will work with all existing games sometime in the next year.

To enjoy this feature, you will of course need a new TV that supports 3D. So it may be a while until this is really common. It’s one interesting direction that consoles are headed in, but what do you guys think of the whole 3D momentum? Is it over-hyped or is this really the future of gaming? We want to hear your thoughts.

Here’s an interesting situation involving the PS3s firmware 3.00. After the PS3 firmware 3.0 went live the problems began. One issue that caught our interest is that some controllers apparently get locked out of the console after the update is installed.

After a lot of back and forth on the official PlayStation3 forum, users think that they have nailed the problem. It looks like the problem controllers were knock-offs. Is Sony intentionally blocking the knock-offs on purpose? Or are they just incompatible with firmware 3.0?