196w ago - At GamesCom today, Sony's Kaz Hirai has confirmed the PS3 is getting a new model. That's right, the PS3 Slim! It will be available in stores during the first week of September and include the same features and functionality.

A 120GB hard drive is also included, and it will be 33 percent smaller and 36 percent lighter than the original PS3 console.

The cost? It will be 299. That's $299, 299 euros and 29980 yen. That will also be the price for the current PS3 starting tomorrow.

The PS3 Slim (below) looks like the leaked box model rumored from several months ago.

Finally, a release date for the PS3 Slim will vary by region but it will be available everywhere by September 1, 2009.

248w ago - It appears that two of the Xbox 360 SKUs will receive a $50 price drop by the week of Sept. 7, making the 60GB model $299, the Elite $399, and the Arcade will drop $80 to $199.

A few of our retail contacts, some of whom have given Joystiq good intel in the past -- and who all work for separate corporations -- have sent us identical information regarding a price drop.

Evidence of the Elite and Arcade price cut can be found in the picture below featuring an image from the Sept. 7 Radio Shack flyer.