It makes me chuckle that some people think Sony decided to do this three months ago or something. Seeing as the PS2 Slim was released four years into that system's lifespan, it's not unreasonable to think that Sony had this roadmapped right from the start. It's not like you can just wave a magic wand and redesign a console; it takes R&D - probably years of it - to do so, and you need to predict when components will come down in price as well. Sony may have pushed up the timetable for this redesign based on their poor market performance, but I'm sure it was in the cards from day one.

Yes, the PS3 Slim's hard drive is upgradeable. Check out IGN's unboxing video...they added a clip at the end showing you where the "blue screw" is on the console's underside after asking Sony about it.

Wow, never underestimate the insatiable Japanese appetite for all things Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

The PSP isn't dying, but piracy is a massive issue. The hardware is selling just fine, but games aren't, to the extent that developers were considering dropping it. And I'm not saying that because Sony did; just look at the dropoff in the number of high-profile games that were released in 2008. The PSP's biggest weakness is the fact that it's so trivially easy to pirate on it.

I don't have anything against Dave Perry, but I'd put more stock in his statements if they didn't always sound like a sales pitch for his own company.