Sony Computer Entertainment America announces that the PlayStation 3 gaming console is getting a new bundle, aimed at the North American market. The bundle is released because of the upcoming launch of a limited edition of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

The bundle is set to retail for close to 500 dollars, specifically 499.99 dollars, and the package will include a 160 GB PlayStation 3 system, a copy of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, which was created by Naughty Dog, a PlayStation Network voucher which will get you downloadable game Pain from Idol Minds and a DualShock 3 wireless controller.

Jack Tretton, who is the president and the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, explained the increased hard drive of the bundled console by saying that "As PlayStation Network continues to evolve with our recently-launched video delivery service and more exclusive games, PS3 owners are demanding more storage capacity".

It was widely anticipated that Sony would create a console variant with a bigger hard drive but some analysts also expected to see an across the board price cut for the console. Sony seems to believe that storage capacity is more important to potential buyers than price and sales of the new bundle will prove whether they are right or not.

Sony also says that a Wireless Keypad will be launched. The new peripheral will be attached to the Sixaxis and to the DualShock 3 and will make its first appearance in North America in November.

The new Wireless Keypad will be used to access the text chat communication service which is implemented in PlayStation 3. A Communication Button and a Message Box Button are included so that users can jump to the XMB while playing a game. It seems that the new peripheral can also be used with some smartphones and with other portable devices.

Sony says that LittleBigPlanet and PlayStation Home will offer full support for the new Wireless Keypad. Prices have not been revealed for the moment.