PS3 capacity boost claims are claptrap, says Sony UK

Sony has dealt a blow to any storage-hungry PlayStation 3 gamers by officially denying that it’s planning to introduce either a 120GB or a 160GB version of the console into the UK.

European PS3s aren't getting more storage capacity now - or tomorrow

This week, rumours have been flying around that the company’s due to phase out production of its 80GB PS3 in the US to replace it with either a 120GB or a 160GB model for the same price. UK gamers hope that the sale of a larger capacity PS3 in the US would be mirrored in over here.

Well, no it won't. A spokeswoman at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today told Register Hardware that it “has no plans to bring either a 120GB or a 160GB PS3 into the UK”.

It's been suggested that the higher capacity hard drive might appear alongside the anticipated PS3 TV tuner, the PlayTV, which Sony announced in August 2007 ahead of the product's scheduled "early 2008" launch. PlayTV contains two tuners to allow the PS3 to operate as a full digital video recorder (DVR).

In a double blow, the SCEE spokeswoman also denied that any larger capacity machine will include a DualShock 3 controller, as also rumoured yesterday. She instead stuck to her guns and reiterated Sony’s 2007 speech that the rumble-enabled controller will appear in the UK and US at some point during 2008.