Sony’s Ken Kutaragi has said that “We’re not going to equip [the PS3 with] an HDD by default, because no matter how much [capacity] we put in it, it won’t be enough.” Is he really saying that there’s no HDD big enough to be used with the PS3? It’s disappointing to hear that the HDD won’t be included by default, and his excuse sounds a little lame to me. The real reason is probably cost-cutting, so why doesn’t he just admit it?

If no HDD is included, that means when developers work on a title for the PS3, it has to work without the HDD. It also means that many will choose to ignore the HDD ability altogether. How many PS2 games are there currently with HDD support? Uh…. It’s a shame that the same thing could happen to the PS3. With the Xbox 360 coming with a 20GB HDD by default, it means that developers can count on its presence. And that’s a big advantage for the Xbox 360 that the PS3 won’t have.

Sony needs to rethink this strategy. I’d be willing to pay a couple extra bucks for a PS3 that includes a HDD by default, and I have pretty low discretionary income. So if I’m willing to do it, I’m sure others are too. The advantage to the PS3 platform outweigh the small cost involved. But that’s just me – I’d love to hear from readers about what you think.

Link: GameSpot – Add-on PlayStation 3 HDD will run Linux

But wait! In a different article Sony’s Masayuki Chatanai said only that the inclusion of a HDD in the PS3 is undecided. So…. maybe it will be! But I doubt it. If Kutaragi said it won’t be and Chatanai says it maybe won’t be, then my bets are on “won’t be”.

One interesting thing mentioned, though, is that the controller might be changed before launch. I hope so! That batarang thing doesn’t look so comfortable. Chatani also revealed why the PS3 supports up to seven wireless controllers – that’s how many Bluetooth wireless controller connections the PS3 could handle. So it’s probably a practicality thing hardware-wise.

Chatani also “commented that the PS3 is still at a prototype stage and has room for improvement in graphics and physics.”

Oooh, one last tidbit. “He confirmed that Sony is still aiming for a spring 2006 US launch for the PS3, with a possible simultaneous launch in Japan.” So yay! The US won’t be getting their PS3 half a year after Japan. (And I hope by “US” he’s also including Canada.)

Link: GameSpot – PS3 to ship without HDD?