PS3 Slim in Europe on 1st September

Following on from its press conference at gamescom tonight, Sony has said that the European version of the new PlayStation 3 will launch on 1st September.

The console will cost €299 in mainland Europe and £249 in the UK.

In documentation released after the announcement, we were also told to expect Bravia Sync functionality, allowing people with Bravia TVs and HDMI to operate the XMB using their TV remote, rather than buying the fancy-pants one.

Also in the press release, we were told we'd no longer be able to install another operating system on the PS3. Alright then. Fahey will no doubt be gutted.

The tech specs for the new PS3 - model number CECH-2000A, fact fans - acknowledge that it still has only two USB slots, unlike our beefy 60GB originals.

Then again, it does have a 120GB hard disk, as revealed during the conference, and it also draws less power.

SCE boss Kaz Hirai also demonstrated a new vertical stand during the conference, which will cost $24 in the US and has no current European price or date.

You can see it in Europe though in our video footage of the PS3 Slim's unveiling.

Interestingly, the PS3 Slim press release also notes that we no longer need to refer to the console as PLAYSTATION 3, which will come as a relief to Sony since we weren't doing that anyway. PlayStation 3 it is.