New PS3 sku rings of smart business sense.

Sony has announced its newest sku for the Playstation 3 and it is quite a doozy. Set to be released in June is another variation of the 80 gb PS3, but this time it is being bundled with a Dualshock 3 (the new ps3 controller that has rumble) and a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. There is no word yet on the backwards compatibility of the new sku, but one would assume that it would have the same 70-80% compatibility that the previous 80 gb Motorstorm bundle had. The system will debut for $499, so if you've been sitting on the fence as to whether or not you should pick up a PS3, June looks to be the deciding time.

Honestly, this is the smartest thing that Sony has done for the PS3 yet. The consistent delays of in-game messaging, the Home network, and the US release of the Dualshock 3 (now slated for an April release) has been frustrating to say the least. However this new Metal Gear Solid system deal is incredibly sharp and will guarantee a boost in sales for Sony during the slow Summer months.

Also released today on PSP is Patapon. If you haven't had the pleasure of trying out the demo for Patapon, it can be downloaded off either the PS3 or PC PSN networks. The unique little rhythm/strategy game is coming out for $19.99, so there's pretty much no reason not to pick up a copy.

On the PS2 front, Shin Megami Tensei fans will be elated to hear the Atlus is going to be releasing the director's cut of Persona 3 (dubbed Persona 3: FES) in America on April 22. The director's cut makes several changes to the original game as well as adding in a 30+ hour expansion pack after the completion of the original story.

Work beckons

So GDC has officially come to a close. While there has certainly been a great deal of interesting and varied discourse between developers and the media, the announcements for games themselves aren't particularly noteworthy. Some of the more interesting news includes:

- Gears of War 2 has officially been announced for the Xbox 360 with a November release. Smart planning on Microsoft's part as GoW2 can provide their system with some resistance to the Playstation 3's incredibly strong Fall and Winter lineups.
- Portal 2 is in the works, but they are hardly past the conceptual phase of development. Expect a longer wait. On a related note, "Still Alive" (the song played during the closing credits of Portal) is being released as a song for Rock Band.
- It would appear that PSN Home is further along than everyone thought. Some screenshots were shown and it looks near completion.