Sony adds a bigger hard drive to the PlayStation 3

Continuing its drive to gain market share, Sony said today it is launching a new version of the PlayStation 3 game console with a larger 250-gigabyte hard disk drive.

The new PS 3 system will be available in stores on Nov. 3 for $349.99. The announcement comes after Sony introduced the PS 3 Slim, a smaller and lighter model with a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive at $299, on Sept. 1. The PS 3 Slim sold 1 million units worldwide in the three weeks after it launched.

There have been rumors the new model was coming for some time. It is the first move by a console maker to stoke sales since all three console makers cut their prices in September.

The new model is a bid to get hardcore gamers to buy a machine at a higher price with a lot of storage so they can download more games, movies and TV shows from the PlayStation Network. Sony currently offers 2,300 movies on the PSN. The new machine also has the same smaller form as the PS 3 Slim.

Microsoft is also reportedly poised to introduce a model with a larger hard disk. It will be interesting to see if this higher-priced model will move off the shelves during the holiday season. This is just the sort of thing that Sony needs to keep doing to keep itself in front of gamers. Sony is still a distant No. 3 in the console battle, behind No. 2 Microsoft and No. 1 Nintendo.

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