Sony confirms 80GB PlayStation

The latest incarnation of the firm's high-definition gaming console will be available in South Korea from 16 June, when the PS3 goes on sale in the country.

Unlike in other regions, where the PS3 sells with a 20GB or 60GB hard drive, those versions will not be available in South Korea, just the larger capacity 80GB at around $962.

Although initially exclusive to South Korea, a Sony spokesman admitted that the new version may be sold in other regions.

"At this time there are no concrete plans [to sell the model in other markets]. It could be an option to introduce it in other regions, but it needs to be decided by each region," he told the Washington Post.

Rumours of the 80GB version were sparked after references to it were spotted in a Sony filing to the US Federal Communications Commission for a class II permissive change.

The filing was made because of a change to the Bluetooth module used in the PlayStation 3.

Sony announced over 30 new games for the PS3, due out later this year and early 2008, at an industry event in San Diego last week.

These included Warhawk, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, SOCOM: Confrontation, Heavenly Sword, The Eye of Judgement and SingStar.

Sony also showed off John Woo Presents Strangehold, a game that uses the large storage capacity of Blu-ray discs by offering a game and a movie.