Earlier today at Sony Computer Entertainment America's annual retail conference Destination PlayStation in Scottsdale, AZ, the company announced two new hardware bundles for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, as well as an April release and MSRP for the DualShock 3 controller in North America.
During the past month, buzz has been high regarding a new PS3 hardware SKU, as the 80GB MotorStorm bundle, launched last July, has been discontinued at many retailers. With today's announcement Sony seems to have quashed rumors of a unit with more hard-drive space. The new 80GB PS3 bundle will coincide with the launch of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 in late spring, and will include a copy of the game as well as a DualShock 3 controller for $499 USD. In addition, SCEA confirmed that the new PS3 controller will come out in North America this April at $54.99 USD.
In addition to a new bundle for the PS3, SCEA announced a limited edition God of War: Chains of Olympus bundle which will come out in North America this June. Priced at $199 USD, the pack will consist of a "Deep Red" PSP Slim with an image of Kratos silk-screened on the battery case, a copy of God of War: Chains of Olympus, "Superbad" on UMD, and a voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the PlayStation Store.
The final announcement from Destination PlayStation concerns MGS4. SCEA (surprisingly, not Konami itself) announced that via a pre-order program, gamers who reserve a copy of the game will gain access to Metal Gear Online's multiplayer beta in late April.