New PlayStation 3 'slim' in UAE next week

Sony’s new slimmer version of PlayStation 3, which was launched at the recent Tokyo Game Show will be in the UAE next week.

The 12GB economy version will be priced at Dh999 and the 250GB and 500GB versions will be launched later in October, said Robert Fisser, PlayStation’s General Manager in Middle East and North Africa.

He was speaking at the three-day mega gaming event Games12, the region’s largest gaming convention held at Dubai Festival City last week.

The new version of the console is approximately 20 per cent smaller and 25 per cent lighter when compared to the current PS3 model.

Fisser says PlayStation is also working on various elements towards localisation of content.

“Despite challenges faced due to localisation, especially with regard to technical difficulties that Arabic localisation brings apart from categorisation, we are moving forward as today we have a much greater local audience.

"My predecessor started eight years ago with basically nothing. Today we are in a much stronger position and we are looking at a growth rate of at least 10 to 20 per cent in the local UAE market and much more across the GCC,” he added.

Games 12

The organisers of Games 12 say at least 25,000 visitors, mostly ardent gaming enthusiasts attended this year’s event.

Apart from PlayStation, the three-day event had participants from Microsoft Xbox Gulf, Pluto Games and Red Entertainment Distribution, all part of the Gaming Alliance Middle East.

Among the games featured at the event were the Black Ops 2, Assassin’s Creed III, FIFA 13, Resident Evil 6 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.

"This year has proven that Middle Eastern gamers are passionate about experiencing the latest and greatest that Xbox has to offer, including Halo 4, Gears of War Judgment, Dance Central 3, Forza Horizon and Fable: The Journey. It's one of the biggest crowds we've seen to date," said Aman Sangar, Interactive Entertainment Business Category Lead MEA, Microsoft.

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