Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe hasn't decided to hook it's marketing wagon to a more reliable star, as its American counterpart has recently done. It's quite delighted to continue with creep-tastic imagery and poodle-enhancing analogies established by the This Is Living campaign. Games don't sell systems! Certainly not like lithe acrobats in vinyl pants do.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced the pricing structure for the PlayStation 3 of SingStar and it's absolutely... reasonable? While the Blu-ray disc containing SingStar certainly won't be packed anywhere near capacity with a meager stock of 30 tracks, the additional 44 available in the SingStore on day one will certainly add some variety. The standard SingStar disc will set UK gamers back £24.99, with a dual microphone bundle checking in at £49.99.

Additional songs/videos will cost £0.99/€1.49 and will start flowing from the SingStore on December 17. Or 17 December, if that's your thing. Not an unreasonable price, I would think, as it's about $2 per a la carte track against the pathetic US Dollar. I might also think that many publishers would be wise to start thinking about lowering the prices of their downloadable content in the face of Rock Band's arrival, as my personal earmarking of DLC funds is tilting favorably in its direction.

"When we launched PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) in March, we promised that we would continue to improve the service throughout the SCEE territories and offer more stores to new regions as quickly as possible," said Chris Stanton-Jones, VP of Distributor Markets for SCEE. "The launch of these four new stores highlights our commitment both to improving our offering and the importance of these increasingly dynamic markets.

We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story... Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.

I have a feeling that games in America are more in the hands of the core gamer than in Europe. I think gaming has probably spread a bit more widely in Europe, compared with America, and maybe the gaming system in America is still more in the den then in the living room.

Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that a former employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has acknowledged his responsibility for the unauthorized online distribution of an unrated play-test version of Manhunt 2 submitted for the European PAL PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.

Welcome, Polish PlayStation contingent! SCEE has announced today the formation of Sony Computer Entertainment Polska Sp. z.o.o., an attempt to cater the PlayStation business to the "rapidly growing Polish market." As of April 1, 2008, it will be official, giving Polish PlayStation fans a more complete Polish experience with a Polish PlayStation Store and more games localized in the Polish language. Remember the name Marcin Ziobrowski, because he'll be our go-to-guy for all things PlayStation and Polish.

As a person of Polish descent, I can definitely say I'm exactly 25% more excited about this news than I would normally be upon hearing of a new wholly owned SCEE subsidiary. Nieźle!

We've been considering this since launch - this is all part of a very carefully thought-out plan.

The 40GB model, to be launched in Europe on 10th October, is a new model and is not equipped with any of the semi conductors from the PS2, and backwards compatibility would therefore have to be achieved by software emulation alone. The sheer numbers of PS2 titles available, together with the increased complexity of using a software only solution for each and every title means that to ensure accurate software emulation for the majority would be technically challenging, time consuming and costly. As we have mentioned on several occasions, our engineering resources are now focused on developing new and innovative features and services for the PS3 and, as a result the 40GB model does not have backwards compatibility with PS2 titles.

We ran the story a bit earlier this morning that the UK is getting a 40GB PS3 model at a fancy new €399 price point. The new model won't support PS2 backwards compatibility and will have two less USB ports and no multi-card memory reader.

What wasn't clear from the release was what exactly was going on with the 60GB model, which is being reduced in price to €499. Turns out it is indeed going the way of the US version of the 60GB model.

From Nick Sharples, Sony's Director of Corporate Communications in Europe:

The 60GB Starter pack will remain on sale until stocks run out (a number of months, depending on territory.) Thereafter, the 40GB model will be the only SKU in the SCEE region.

I feel like we need to have a wake or something. Meanwhile the SCEA folks remind us that no announcements have been made for North America about potential price drops, SKU shuffling or new models.

Looks like we just hit step six.

Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe just confirmed what we seemingly all already knew: The Playstation 3 is getting a price drop. Only they don't call it a price drop, they call it a new model. Why does this sound familiar?

The "new" 40GBHDD PS3 will hit SCEE territories on Oct. 10 for €399 and comes with a SIXAXIS wireless controller, WiFi, HDMI two USB ports, rather than four, and no multi memory card port. The new model will also not be backwards compatible with the PS2.

SCEE also announced that the 60GB PS3 will not sell for €499 until they run out of supplies. Which makes me think they're getting rid of the 60GB model in Europe. I'll be checking on both that and if this will in anyway be mirrored in the U.S. or other territories. Stay tuned.

New PLAYSTATION®3 Model to Take Holiday Season by Storm [SCEE, thanks for all of the tips]

Rumors of a "big bang" announcement from Sony appeared on the French edition of GamePro late last week, issuing in a mini-torrent of speculation from internet bottom feeders, console war veterans, bloggers and message board posters. Speculation that Sony would be holding a conference on October 12th seemed to tie in nicely with the now painfully obvious future appearance of the PLAYSTATION 3 40GB announcement.

SCEE has since told Eurogamer that "has nothing of the sort planned", meaning we won't have to wake up early/stay up late to learn what they have up their sleeves. While spokespeople say they have nothing planned nor have they announced anything new, that doesn't rule out a "small bang" announcement about the new PS3 model that doesn't quite fit into the terms provided in PR speak.

No Sony conference next week [Eurogamer]