Documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission seem to show an even slimmer PS3 being prepped by Sony.
With this, and the news that it bought cloud-based gaming service Gaikai, could Sony be about to drop the discs?
The next model of PS3 will be the 4000 series, according to the documents. The CECH-40001x model looks like it’ll be slimmer than the current PS3, which is itself a slimmed down version of the original.
This new version will most probably be announced at the Gamescom show in Germany next month.
Asked last month whether it would launch a slimmer PS3, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida said: “We should never say never – hardware guys are always looking at ways to make things cheaper, smaller.”
The current PS3 launched in 2009, at Gamescom. It’s 32 per cent smaller and 26 per cent lighter than the fatter PS3, and consumes 34 per cent less energy. The original PS3 launched five years ago.
The PS4 is rumoured to launch next year, most probably at E3. Sony recently bought streaming service Gaikai, to deliver games via the internet, effectively doing away with the need for expensive and powerful hardware in the home. Combined with the slimmer aesthetic evident here, the PS4 could well go the way of the MacBook Air and lose the disc drive.
Source: Eurogamer
