If you remember well, we brought you a while ago the news regarding the release of a new PlayStation 2 model in Japan (a really nice red one, too) - and it was not at all a big surprise to find out that Sony does something "Japan only". It seems that we were wrong this time, though, since the company has just released a new PS2 model in Europe and India - a decision that, in the end, is pretty strange, having in mind that Sony has a PS3 to care of now.

Anyway, the new model promises to be "slimmer, sleeker and more suave". The most important thing it will bring, though, is the in-built AC adapter (which means that the external one goes bye-bye). The Indian model will be priced at 6,990 Indian Rupees ($162/€102), just like the current model and no price changes are expected for the European market.

"The playstation network is ready for India. It is only the integration of the payment gateway that needs to be done," said SCE country manager Atindriya Bose to website Economic Times. "We shall launch it by the end of this fiscal," he added.

It seems that Sony now considers the PlayStation 2 to be an entry level console, which helps first timers to enter the gaming zone and, hopefully, to convince them to upgrade to a PlayStation 3. And, having in mind that no less than 120 million units of the PS2 have been sold since the console was launched, Sony has, in theory the great starting point. However, we all know that the reality is different, with the PS3 recording lower sales than the Xbox 360 or Wii consoles.

Asked if the introduction of the new PS2 model could affect the market for PS3s, Bose said that would not be the case: "We do not market it as a PS2 or PS3. It is the experience of the PS that we market. PS3 is for the next generation. People who are first timers in the gaming market want to pick up PS2 and experience that, before upgrading to PS3".