Only just a while ago, word on the street was that Sony was releasing a PS3 implemented with an 80 GB hard drive unit. Those rumors eventually turned out to be true, yet no official release date was confirmed, except for Korea. Thus, Korans are the first to get the high-end PS3 from Sony. Unfortunately, Europe isn't getting it. For now at least.

The first news of an 80GB version of the PS3 first appeared on the Sony Korea website, which said it would launch there on June 16 priced at KWR 518,000 (EUR 412), as GameIndustri.biz reports today. They're still not considering a price cut... Jeez!

And just so you don't get your hopes up about the Europe-not-getting-it thing, here's some official word from a Sony spokesperson posted on the same site: "At this moment in time, there are no plans to introduce the 80GB version of PlayStation 3 in Europe."

If you remember, Biz/Tech once posted something about the announcement of the 80 GB PS3... "SCEK is currently working out sales details with the head office, including pricing and models that will be available. Once the Japanese headquarters gives the go ahead, SCEK will launch an aggressive marketing campaign in Korea. The industry is predicting that Sony will release in Korea a deluxe model of the PS3 with a wireless LAN adapter and a 60GB hard disk priced between W500,000 and W600,000."

That isn't entirely correct. You see, Sony didn't say anything about adding new features to the 80 GB SKU, and here are the same spokesperson's words to confirm it: "The chassis of the 80GB Korean PlayStation 3 is identical to the chassis of the European version. The only exception is the larger hard drive."

So I guess that's shutting up everyone saying that the 80GB PS3 is the high end model of the same machine... Oh wait, I just said it myself earlier. Oh well, you get the point.