No Surprise: 80 GB PS3 May Be U.S.-Bound

In an admission which surprises no one, a Sony spokesperson says Sony's considering offering the 80 GB version of its PlayStation 3 outside South Korea.

In a concession which failed to stun the world, Sony spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka said Sony is considering offering the 80 GB version of its PlayStation 3 console to markets outside of South Korea, including the United States. “Increasing capacities for models is one of the options,” Fukuoka told reporters in Tokyo, in admitting Sony was considering offering the console in the U.S. and other markets. “We make such decisions depending on the needs of the market, and every country is different.”

Earlier this week, Sony announced it would be releasing an 80 GB version of its PlayStation 3 console in the South Korean market where broadband Internet access (and online gaming) is very prevalent. Although the United States is Sony’s largest single market for video game hardware, in demographic terms the U.S. still lags behind many other countries around the world in terms of the proportion of the population which has broadband Internet access at home.

Last month, Sony discontinued the less-expensive 20 GB version of its PlayStation 3 console in North America—and never even bothered to offer it in Europe—citing low demand from both consumers and retailers.