Alleged PS3 Slim Spy Shots Inspire Hope, Doubt

Dredged from the Far East of the blogosphere and spreading rapidly, these photos are said to be of a new, smaller version of the PS3. They're plentiful and clear, but could they be real? UPDATED

Sony has a history of miniaturizing their game systems after a while, as in the cases of the PS2 Slim and PS one, but at this stage in the PS3's life a slim version would be a surprise.

More to the point, there are issue with how this spotted hardware fits within Sony convention. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft notes that the console has essentially renamed—Sony has always branded it with the full PlayStation 3 moniker—and that midstream logo changes are uncharacteristic of the company. The glaringly inferior finish is what stands out the most, as some of these shitty plastic components look like they came right out of a PS3 knockoff mill.