Adding to earlier claims from an Ars Technica mole, IGN reports various sources have told the website that a recent Gamestop conference call reportedly confirmed the death of the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model. The sources also allege that in its place Sony will release a 120 GB version packaged with ready-to-rumble DualShock 3 controllers.

Sony told IGN that any talk about new consoles iterations is rumor and speculation, and therefore no comment. We haven't seen any patents filed for a new PS3 model (each one has a different model number; see our fancy SKU chart), but the circumstantial evidence is starting to add up.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

With rumors predicting the imminent disappearance of the PlayStation 3's 80GB model and its subsequent substitution by a new SKU in America, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has chimed in and told GamesIndustry.biz that it currently has no plans to introduce a 120GB PS3 to the UK. Whereas the rumored 120GB - 160GB PS3 (with Dual Shock 3 controller) would take the retired 80GB model's place in the US, there would be no ex-SKUs to do the same in the UK. The 40GB system is the only in-production model currently being sold in the European region.

As for the arrival of a new PlayStation 3 in America, Sony is sticking to its silenced "no comment" guns.

An Ars Technica "mole" reports that the 80GB PS3 is indeed out and will be replaced by a 120- or 160GB PS3 with a DualShock 3 controller at the same price point ($499). Beyond the extra gigglebytes and the rumbling controller, the "mole" had nothing else to add; questions regarding backwards compatibility, USB ports and other such incidentals will have to wait for another day.

CVG spoke with Sony Europe which dismissed the story as "rumour and speculation." Sony America gave us a similar response, minus the British "u." A Sony America spokesperson said, "As you know, we don't comment on rumor or speculation." For those keeping track, the emergence of a new PS3 model would be the fifth, sixth, fourth *mumble* SKU ... actually, we've lost count.

Read: Mole: 80GB PS3 dead, 120-160GB with Dual Shock 3 incoming
Read: Sony Europe responds

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft's group product manager, told Game Theory yesterday that the 120GB external drive for the Xbox 360 is not overpriced at $179. Said Greenberg, "If you compare what we are offering with a real plug-and-play drive the closest thing would be to take a 120-gig self-powered external PC drive, and in that case we are seeing those retail at anywhere from $160 to $200 for comparable laptop-sized external hard drives."

Greenberg probably doesn't want you to know that he's wrong, but he's wrong. Sure, you can pay $200 for a 120GB drive if you really want to, but as with most products, there are plenty of deals to be had; unless you're locked into buying peripherals from a single manufacturer that controls its monopolistic pricing with a proprietary vice-grip. Which, in the case of the Xbox 360 ... you are. Though if Greenberg had said, "We own you. Deal with it," that might not have been as good for PR.

They own you. Deal with it.

So, a much bigger Xbox 360 hard drive is a good thing, right? Well ... not when it comes with some fairly crippling conditions. Wired has the skinny on some of the small print on Microsoft's new little "Elite" storage device:

• You cannot put the data from two or more 20 GB hard disks onto one 120 GB hard disk. If you attempt to move multiple drives, only the last one you move will be stored.
• You can only move data from the 20GB Hard Disk to the 120 GB Hard Disk. Transferring data in the other direction, or any other combination, is not possible.
• Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted.
• Any data stored on the 20 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted after it is moved over.
• Once you move the data over, it cannot be placed back on the original hard disk.

That first bullet point sticking out at ya, just a bit? It might rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially since Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told everyone to buy two 20GB HDDs back when they released all of the TV and movie content, and people were worried storing everything. Zoinks.

It's hard to think about people not getting just a bit cheesed about this. If you have two hard drives, that Microsoft told you to buy, and then when they finally release the new bigger drive and then tell you that you can only put one drive's worth of good on it, that's a pretty bitter pill they're asking you to swallow.

We've contacted Microsoft to get some answers on how that data cable does its business.

Yesterday we showed you a photo of the rumored Xbox 360 v2 that should be coming down the pipelines soon. It'll supposedly have an HDMI port, and feature a 120GB drive in it, making it well worth it, particularly if it is priced the same as the current consoles. Now we have video of the system in question (codenamed Zephyr), and if you ask us it looks fairly real. Of course, as sister-site Xbox 360 Fanboy points out, the Linux penguin in the shot makes us very suspicious. Plus that plug/adapter setup at the rear of the 360 looks fairly nasty.

Normally when people mod consoles they add things like Christmas tree lights, liquid-cooling, and a built-in popcorn popper. Which doesn't mean that this thing is real, but so far we're still buying it, and we'll really be buying it when it hits a store near us. HDMI and a much bigger hard drive? Yes, please.