Forget the 40GB PS3 model. It’s being pushed aside and will be collecting dust in September. It will be replaced by another version thanks to Sony’s “Gentlemen, we can rebuild it” bionic console attitude. The 80GB model is back. It’s being called the Core Pack and has “the same functionality” as the 40GB model, with double the storage for the same price of $399. We think that means no backwards compatibility. This should make PS3 fans very happy.

If you were hoping to somehow get your hands on that gun metal gray Metal Gear Solid 4 Playstation 3 bundle, here’s your chance. Konami has issued a press release showing that they exclusively will have a 40GB MGS4 PS3 bundle available for North American with the pre-sell starting on May 19th. This is not the same as the 80GB bundle we had talked about last month but a new offering available only from Konami.

The package comes with a Gun Metal Gray, 40GB Playstation 3, a matching wireless dualshock controller, Metal Gear Online, a Blu-ray disc with 2 hours of exclusive additional content and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition game. The bundle is priced at $599.99 and will only go while supplies last so if you want one of these you’ll want to keep on top of this offer. In fact, you can add it to your Wish List on the Konami site now to keep up with the offer.

Now that the U.S. might be getting the white model of the PS3 the folks in Japan always need to have something a little more and have added a Satin Silver Playstation 3 model to the lineup. This makes a total of 3 colors available in the original black, white and now the most recent silver.

This model is also the 40GB version with the lack of PS2 game playing capabilities, card reader and fewer USB ports, but nevertheless seems to be helping out sales for Sony. The satin silver model will retail for ¥39,980 (about $374 USD). Sony will also release to Japan a matching DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller (not included) which will be in the same satin silver color. Sony has the controller retailing at 5,500 yen (about $52 USD).

According to some leaked information from a Best Buy employee, the retailer sent out an internal memo that the 80GB Playstation 3 is scheduled to be “going closeout”, which basically means they will sell what’s on shelves and not stock anymore. The internal communication states that this is expected to take place as soon as January 28.

It’s been apparent that the 80GB model of the PS3 hasn’t had the selling power of the smaller and cheaper models, but since the removal of the 60GB models this leaves the shelves with nothing that is backwards compatible with PS2 games. It also limits consumers to the scaled down PS3 without the memory card reader and fewer USB ports.

The Playstation 3 ended 2007 with a strong December selling just under 800,000 units during the month and looks to trying to keep on with momentum this year by releasing the white PS3 that we saw launch last October in Japan. It came with a 40GB hard drive, white DualShock controllers and like the other 40GB models it lacked the memory card reader, backwards compatibility and had only two USB ports. This white model headed for the US appears to be the same. The information along with photos was released by the FCC and shows it was originally submitted last October with a request to keep it under wraps for a while.

Sony, the proclaimed leader in the high-definition camcorder category, rolled into CES this week with six new HD camcorder models. They offer features like 1920 x 1080 resolution recording and face detection technology. Sony says “the SR12, SR11, SR10, UX20 and UX10 models will all ship in March for about $1,400, $1,200, $1,000, $1,000 and $800, respectively. The HDR-HC9 camcorder will ship in February for about $1,100.”

The consumer electronics giant added that all these new camcorders feature a new high-profile encoding system and, depending upon the model, offer other must haves like high resolution digital still captures and hybrid/hybrid plus movie recording.

You can get the full details of these new Sony HD camcorders after the jump.

Black Friday seems to have had a positive benefit for sluggish sales of not just Sony’s PlayStation 3 but for Nintendo’s Wii system. Over 350,000 Wiis were sold last week, 50,000 more than what was sold the week before that. The Thanksgiving week represents the second-best sales plateau for Nintendo’s latest game console, beaten only by the launch week of the Wii in 2006.

Meanwhile the sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 increased in November 298% over the sales in October. Part of that dramatic spike in PS3s finding their forever homes must be from Sony’s price drop of the $399 40GB unit. The price drop even had its effect in Japan where the Wii has been the dominant next gen gaming console for consumers: for the first time since the PS3′s launch more of the Sony consoles were sold to gamers than Wiis.

Today Microsoft has officially launched the highly rumored Xbox 360 Arcade console at a reasonable $279 bundled with games and trying to pick up on the “entire family” of gamers and bring some more attention to the Xbox Live Arcade games.

“As families gather together this holiday, it’s the perfect time to launch a new low-priced, high-value Xbox 360 that plays games, TV shows and music for everyone to enjoy,” said Jeff Bell, vice president of global marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “In addition to offering an incredible all-in-one package for families to get right into the fun, the Xbox 360 Arcade system features the industry-leading Family Settings, which allow parents to control what their kids are watching and playing — and we know how important that control is to families around the world.”

Microsoft is working hard to be competitive with its rivals Sony and Nintendo in Japan’s market which has proven so far to be fairly difficult for them. Despite a stellar month in September for US Xbox 360 sales, the company has not faired as well with the Japanese market over the past year in keeping up with the home town’s PS3 and Wii game consoles. As the holidays are nearing the company is keeping pace and making moves with its console trying to spur some additional sales with an announced price drop for the Xbox 360 core system and the 20GB bundle.

Starting on November 1 in Japan, the Xbox 360 20GB bundle will start retailing for ¥34,800 ($306) which is a $44 cut from its previous price. The 360 core system will start going for ¥27,800 ($245) which gives it an $18 cut. Microsoft is also putting out a limited Value Pack for the console for ¥34,800 ($306) which comes with Viva Pinata and Forza Motorsport 2 titles but no HDMI cable.

Sony has announced today that the 40GB Playstation 3 that was recently announced for Europe and Japan will indeed be coming to the US this fall as well. The new 40GB PS3 will retail for $399 and start selling on November 2. It looks like it has the same configuration as the other releases as well including the lack of backwards compatibility for PS2 games, no memory card reader and two USB ports short. No word on a white version of the console for the US, but the 40GB PS3 will also come bundled with Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray disc.

Sony states in the press release that those wanting backwards compatibility should look to the 80GB model which is also receiving a price cut effective immediately. Sony has given the 80GB PS3 a $100 price drop from its original launch price of $599, pricing it a $499 today. We can never complain about price drops but even with the cut the PS3 is still the most expensive latest-generation console on the market compared to its rivals Wii and Xbox 360.

Today Sony announced they will be launching a 40GB PS3 in Japan on November 11th, a year to the day after the console was initially launched in Japan. The new 40GB PS3 will have a few changes changes from the units currently available including no memory card reader or backwards compatibility and will be short two of the four USB ports, which sounds just like the model recently announced for the UK.

Just last week we found out that Sony had finally given a price cut for the PS3 in the UK, offering a Value Pack with the 60GB console and two games for £349 (down from the original 60GB PS3 price of £425). They also announced a new 40GB model that will go on sale in the UK in October (and hopefully to the US soon after) which lets gamers become PS3 owners at an even lower price of £299.

The new 40GB model lacks backwards compatibility, a couple USB ports and a card reader, but nevertheless allowed a larger audience the ability to get on board with the PS3. At this point folks in the UK had a couple options, they could get a better deal with the larger drive capacity and all the features or save a few more bucks and not be able to play their PS2 games on the PS3, but not for long.

Sony today released an announcement confirming rumors and FCC leaks of a less-expensive 40GB PS3 launching before the holidays. According the the announcement this model is currently only going to be available for Europe but it wouldn’t make sense for Sony to only release it in one area where PS3 sales are suffering. Hopefully it will be making its way to the US soon.

The new 40GB model will retail for €399 in the UK and aside from the drive size the new PS3′s will also lack 2 of the four USB ports and will have no memory card reader in order to cut some costs. It will also not be backwards compatible for PS2 games which isn’t too big of a deal for Europe models since software manages the backwards compatibility but for the U.S. it kinda’ stinks. We’ll have to watch this holiday season to see if this helps Sony take a bigger bite out of latest-generation game console sales and we’ll keep our eyes peeled for a U.S. targeted 40-giger.

The rumor mill is up and running right away this morning due to rumors that Sony will have a price cut coming soon for the Playstation 3 in the UK. Not only are there rumors on just a price cut but also a whole new 40GB PS3 model, both coming sometime in October.

According to Pocket-lint, “multiple sources” at Sony have confirmed that Sony will be creating a 40GB version of the PS3 for the UK market and it will be retailing for £299, making more direct competition for the Xbox 360. According to the sources they will also be dropping the price of the 60GB model by £56 bringing it to £369. The new 40GB model would feature Blu-ray (making a very competitive Blu-ray player alone) along with Wi-Fi and a SIXAXIS controller, but will be slightly scaled down sans two of four USB ports and a memory card reader.

It’s no secret that Sony needs to pep up sales of the PlayStation 3. Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 continue to outsell the PS3 and as the holiday season starts to approach Sony needs to do something to get its console on the Christmas wish lists of kids. But what could they do? For starters how about introducing a cheaper PS3?