Last year, Sony announced that it was redesigning its PlayStation 3 once again with the PS3 Super Slim. The system featured a new, even slimmer build than the first redesign as well as more storage space, but removed the front-loading disc tray for a spring-loaded one on top of the console. Sony showed off two colors, both black and white, but only made black available in North America,
That last part is changing, as Sony announced Thursday that it is bringing a new "classic white" model to the United States and Canada.
The white Super Slim will be available for $300 on Jan. 27 and packs a 500GB built-in hard drive. That's a ton of space, but users might actually need it considering the system's other pack-in: a one-year membership to the PlayStation Plus subscription service. PS Plus offers frequent discounts and sales on digitally-downloaded video games purchased through the PlayStation Network. Subscribers also get up to 2GB of game saves that can be stored online instead of on the physical hard drive.
The most notable feature of PS Plus, though, is the fact that it presents subscribers with free games to download. These are full-featured PS3 games that members can have free access to for as long as they subscribe to the service. If the subscription isn't renewed, though, the games are gone.
"PlayStation continues to stand for gamers, and as such, we're excited to give PlayStation fans in North America what they've been asking for - a colored PS3 and access to a library of PS3 games for them to download and play instantly through PlayStation Plus and the Instant Game Collection," said John Koller, vice president of platforms marketing at SCEA. "Gamers are looking for the best value and the best content, and with PlayStation Plus, they'll always have something new to play, choosing from a library of hit games such as inFAMOUS 2 and LittleBigPlanet 2."
Some of the top free PS Plus games are:
- BioShock 2
- LittleBigPlanet 2
- Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
- Resident Evil 5
- Saints Row 2
- Borderlands
- infamous 2
- NFL Blitz
- NBA Jam On Fire Edition,
- The Walking Dead Episode 1
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
