Jack Tretton, President of Sony Computer Entertainment America has now confirmed that the new 40GB PlayStation 3 will make it's way to the U.S., releasing on November 2 for a retail price of USD 400.

If that wasn't good enough, Tretton also confirmed that the 80GB version will be getting a hundred price cut, dropping it from USD 600 – 500.



For the new 40GB PS3, Sony has removed its ability to play PS2 games, which for some people was a selling point.

"We're choosing to focus on the PlayStation 2 consumer with the PlayStation 2, which remains incredibly relevant, and focus on the PlayStation 3 consumer with the new 40-gigabyte model and the great software coming out," Tretton said.

"Backward compatibility is a nice secondary consideration, but it's far from the number-one priority."

With this recent announcement we can only hope that the U.S market responds to the new SKU and price drop like the U.K., driving sales up 178%.

No word on Spiderman 3 being bundled with the 40GB PS3 or if the 40GB will be the white ceramic version seen in Japan and Korea, but stay tuned as PSU will keep you updated.

Update:

We have been notified that the 80GB price cut is effective immediately.

Additionally, according to Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, the 40GB PS3 will come bundled with the Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray disc as previously rumoured.