Following the introduction of a 40GB PlayStation 3 model in European territory earlier this month, Sony today confirmed the new entry-level edition of the console will be coming to the US as well. The stripped down 40GB model will retail November 2 for $399 featuring no backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles, two USB port instead of four and no memory card slots.
If backwards compatibility is a major concern for you, however, you'll be happy to know that the announcement came with a further surprise: the 80GB units introduced in July will go down in price from $599 to $499.
Sony president and CEO Jack Tretton acknowledged that the $599 price point was probably too high for most consumers and said that the removal of backward compatibility is mostly to encourage people to purchase more games designed specifically for the PlayStation 3, and does not dramatically reduces the cost of manufacturing the console.