After weeks of speculation, including grainy shots of Italian games catalogues, non-denial denials and rumours flying around like a Tony Hawk 360 kickflip to noseslide, Sony has announced a 40GB version of the PlayStation 3 that will sell for just £300 – exactly the same price as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Elite. What’s more, the standard 60GB version will have its price cut to £350 for Christmas with two games thrown in.

As the old saying about PCs goes, it looks like the right time to buy is always in six months’ time. However, if you want your console to replace a DVD player too, you’ll be taking a bet on the ongoing high-definition DVD format wars, which might still scupper either the PS3 (which supports Blu-Ray) or Xbox 360 (which uses rival HDMI). Sony has some big hitters on its side (including Apple and Hitachi), but remember: this is the company that brought you Betamax…

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