Sony is boosting the capabilities of their PlayStation3 lineup while maintaining their price points. The $399.99 MSRP price point, formerly 40GB, is now an 80GB unit. Previously announced, this is now shipping to retailers.

And today Sony announced a new unit for the $499.99 price point, with 160GB. But more than just a boost in storage capacity, Sony will launch the 160GB unit in November as part of a bundle. The bundle will include the 160GB PS3, a copy of the game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a voucher for a couple of the game PAIN via the PlayStation Store, and a DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller. All for $499.99. That sounds like a pretty good deal, especially since I my 60GB PS3 cost me the same amount with no bundle back when I got it.

Of course, the PS3 remains one of the best Blu-ray players on the market. But the additional storage space will make a difference now that Sony is offering video downloads, including HD video, via the PlayStation Store, and as they move toward increasing broadband game distribution.

Their press release:
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This week, June 2-6, is High Definition week for Amazon’s Gold Box promotions. Check back daily for deals on HighDef consumer electronics, video games, and Blu-ray Movies and TV. Amazon normally offers a few different Gold Box deals in the the course of a day, so you might want to check in a few times.

Amazon is running a special promotion through 11:59pm PST on Monday, May 26th, 2008, purchase a 40GB Sony PlayStation3 and receive the Sony PS3 Blu-ray remote and the movie The Fifth Element on Blu-ray for free. The 40GB PS3 sells for $399.99, which is a good value for a full-featured Blu-ray player today, let alone one that is also a top-end game system. And it is probably the most future-proof of any BD deck, with an increasing number of online services coming from Sony.

Picked up from Blu-ray Stats.

I previously mentioned PlayTeeVee’s beta test for their new multi-player TiVo HME game. Now it is out of beta and anyone with a broadband connected TiVo can try it out. You just need to add PlayTeeVee to your TiVo, which is very easy to do. The game? It is Reversi:

The object of the game is to make your pieces constitute a majority of the pieces on the board at the end of the game, by turning over as many of your opponent’s pieces as possible. This can be done by flanking the other person’s pieces either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Whoever ends up with the most number of pieces at the end of the game wins. The game ends when either the board is full or one player doesn’t have any pieces left.

If you can’t find someone to play with, there is a single player mode where you can play against the computer.

You know, I hadn’t thought of it before, but a lot of turn-based board games would work fairly well as TiVo games. The classics like checkers and chess, of course. But I could really see something like Battleship working well too. TiVo already has a ‘Connect Four’ clone - but making it online two player could be interesting for PlayTeeVee. Scrabble, Monopoly, etc - all could work. Of course, card games - poker, blackjack, etc, could work too. But more people need to use it to encourage development.

The previously discussed Sony PS3 DVR add-on, the PlayTV, finally has a European release schedule and pricing.

The PlayTV will be available in Europe in September for €100, or approximately £80/$160. As previously reported, the PlayTV will have dual DVB-T tuners to enable DVR functionality on the PS3, and content can be place-shifted for remote viewing on the Sony PSP. Australia is expected to receive the PlayTV roughly a month after the European release.

Who knows if well ever see something like this in the US. Unlike most of the rest of the world, terrestrial broadcast isn’t very popular in the US. So while an ATSC version of the PlayTV would certainly be possible, I don’t think it would sell well. Sony would really need a CableCARD-enabled tuner as most of the US market uses cable, and/or a partnership with DirecTV or Dish Network. Though the PS3 is certainly capable of handling OCAP/tru2way, and the BD-J standard for Blu-ray is actually part of the same familiar as OCAP (both are based on GEM/MHP), so perhaps some work could be reused.

From Register Hardware.

PlayTeeVee is getting ready to release their first online multi-player game for TiVo, and they’re looking for people to beta test it before release. If you have a broadband connected TiVo and you’re interested in testing it, email beta at playteevee dot com with your TeeVeeTag (which you create within the PlayTeeVee application) or your TiVo’s ID. See their blog for more details.

I post a lot about TiVo in Australia, but they’re not the only game in, or coming to, town. CNET Australia reports that Australia EPG provider IceTV plans to add a feature called ‘IceTV Recommendations’, which is similar to TiVo Suggestions. Since IceTV is just a guide and not a full DVR package, it does not auto-record the programs, but rather presents them as suggestions to the user to decide on. (You can do the same on TiVo by disabling Suggestion auto-recording and then manually checking them in the menus. TiVo+8 is the shortcut.) The feature is currently compatible with Windows Media Center and Mac/EyeTV, but compatibility with additional DVRs which use the IceTV guide will be announced in the coming weeks.

And the previously discussed Sony PlayTV DVR add-on for the PlayStation3 looks to be hitting Australia in 4Q2008, according to Gizmodo Australia who attended a Sony briefing. Australia is getting it roughly a month after the European market, so they have something to look forward to as well. Giz also got more details from the briefing:

Other interesting tidbits include that there’s only an input for your aerial, no output, which means you won’t be able to connect your antenna to your TV through the PlayTV. And while you can only record TV programs to the PS3’s internal hard drive, you can backup the contents to an external drive. It isn’t finalised, but it looks like the EPG will be supplied by the rumoured FreeView collection of free-to-air networks as well

So it looks like the DVR choices for Australians will be expanding soon with TiVo, PlayTV, and possibly a Freeview DVR.

The leaders in TiVo gaming, PlayTeeVee, have just added a new channel to their TiVo HME application. It is ‘Under Construction’, but according to their blog it will soon be home to their first multi-player game for TiVo. First they’ll be running a beta, so keep an eye on their blog if you want to be first to try it out. What kind of game do you think it will be?

In a post to PlayStation.Blog, Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing & PLAYSTATION Network, lists a number of updates, games, and features coming to the PlayStation3 in 2008. The one I’m most interested in is the long-awaited downloadable content. Sony has been talking about providing real, full-length entertainment video downloads (not just trailers and such) for a while now, and it sounds like it is finally getting close:

Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used. Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon …

I’m very curious as to what Sony will offer, especially if they offer HD downloads with better quality than what the others are offering today.