o you get excited about new products and sunny forecasts? Me too. But I detest sales speak and hype crafted by bean counters. So I tend to wade past most computer expo journalism… I’m interested in discussion, videos of new products in action, release dates to mark on my calendar, and that’s about it. No press confro-mercials. What can I say, I’m Steve Jobs’d out.

But I followed the live updates from Gamespot’s journalist at GamesCom in Germany today (a huge trade show which was press-and-industry types-only today and will open to the public tomorrow) And.. well, what can one say… it’s trade show. There are sexy new products being demoed and lots of self-congratulatory speeches being made.

For just $299, she'll come to your door, and... just kidding. But what a great picture, don't you think?

Sony’s press conference today was, for the most part, no exception… But, they made official news out of the rumors that the 120GB PS3 Slim (already available for pre-order at Amazon) will be released in early September, and most importantly, they announced that all 80GB PS3s are dropping in price to $299, the change is effective immediately, and it includes existing retailer stock.

This is, I argue, the most important industry development for some time. For the game console consumer, it changes everything.

Think about it; the PS3, widely held by regular people as the system that was “probably the best, but too expensive” is now competitively priced with the Wii and the Xbox 360. Price is longer the relevant factor in deciding which console to get your kids (or your nextgen-hungry self). It’s now down to which feature set and library you like better, and little else.

But the PS3 is still a Blu-Ray player. And a good one.. my cousin Carl points out that product-review giant CNet uses the PS3 as their reference player, which they hook up the various TVs to compare Blu-Ray performance. Standalone Blu-Ray units can cost upwards of 500 bucks, if you want a fancy one.

And in general the PS3 is technologically superior and represents more tapped and untapped potential than the 360 or the Wii; Carl points me to this very heady, techy article about the PS3′s Cell processor and its video encoding abilities.

Yes I detest sales speak.. but there literally has never been a better time to get a PS3. There is inarguably no better bang-for-the-buck out there for gamers.

..And I thought the Best Buy killer-app bundle last month was good… remember? $399 for the 80GB PS3 with Metal Gear Solid 4 AND Killone 2.. probably the two most successful PS3 exclusives. But even at $399 the PS3 was still ‘the expensive system.’ And even at those prices, the PS3 has outsold the Wii some months in Japan. There’s little doubt a $299 price point is going to be a game changer this Christmas.

About the Slim: I’m not that excited that the PS3 is going to be slimmer—it’s a stationary piece of A/V equipment, not a fucking iPod, folks. It’s still going to take up exactly one piece of gear’s worth of space on your shelf or TV stand. Conscientiously reducing the size of your game console footprint won’t improve your life unless you live in a 150-square-foot pod in downtown Tokyo.

The ‘slim’ console brings with it a new aesthetic to compete for your attention in Best Buy or K-Mart but the guts are still the same. The important change is the price (again, a 120GB PS3 Slim will phase out the 80GB PS3 Chunky, costing just $299).