After last week’s statement that the 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 will likely sell for £425, Sony’s Ray Maguire is at it again, this time revealing that the cheaper 20GB version of the console (which will cost around £340) may never actually turn up here at all.


Speaking to games industry magazine MCV, Maguire said: “The lower-end 20GB version of PlayStation 3 has no Wi-Fi, no HDMI and none of the other slots in it, so it's really a question of where we would position it. It's more likely that we will only launch the 60GB version.”


The lack of HDMI is the real killer for the 20GB PS3, as all the other things Maguire mentions (and the 20GB hard drive itself) will be available via add-ons. While you will be able to output Hi-Def video on the cheaper PS3, it won’t be copy-protected and this could lead to compatibility problems in the future. In theory, some Blu-ray movies would not play back in Hi-Def at all; the PS3 would downscale them back to standard definition.


As with the pricing issue, Maguire’s statement shouldn’t be taken as gospel – but it’s certainly not looking good for the 20GB PS3’s release prospects.

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Thanks to T3

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Looks like the U.K. we will get our hands on a 20-gig PS3 after all – Amazon’s got both versions of Sony’s next-gen gaming powerhouse available for pre-order, although it looks like you’ll have to wait until January for the cheaper edition.


We were bracing ourselves for a wallet-whacking following Sony exec Ray Maguires’s disheartening comments that the cheaper PS3 might never make it too our shelves, so Amazon’s listing is great news!


Other retailers have the PS3 listed for £550, but have so far only confirmed that we’ll see the 60-gig version.


Amazon doesn’t give a price for the lower spec PS3, and Sony are writing it off as pure speculation on the retailer's part, saying it’s yet to decide whether we’ll get the 20-gig console over here at all.


Still, Amazon has tagged the 20-gig version with a release date of 26 January, which is some way off Sony’s 17th November launch date we’ve all known for so long.
Time will tell whether we’ll be able to pick up a PS3 for less than expected, but hopefully Amazon can deliver on its promises closer to the console’s launch.

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