Sony unveiled a new PlayStation 3 on Tuesday. An FCC patent earlier in the year had hinted at a slimmer design, and the new model is 20 percent thinner and 25 percent smaller than the current model.

Sony is offfering the console in two hard drive sizes, 250GB and 500GB. The models will sell for $270 and $300. The consoles will be available from September 25 and October 30, with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception: Game of the Year Edition and Assassin's Creed 3, respectively. The Uncharted 3 bundle also includes DUST 514, valued at $30. The Game of the Year edition includes 12 new multiplayer maps and over 40 multiplayer skins. Fort Co-Op Adventure and Shade Survival Mode are also included.

The move sees Sony push the console in the wake of Nintendo's Wii U release announcement.

"In order to maintain the superior gaming experiences that you expect from us here at PlayStation, we are always looking for ways to change and evolve with your gaming behaviour," Sony's director of hardware and marketing John Koller wrote on the official PlayStation blog. He added that large hard drives are important as downloadable content and new releases arrive. Games are installed on the PlayStation 3 hard drive, unlike the Xbox 360, where players can put in a disc and play.

It was also confirmed no prices will be set for UK carriers, so the undercutting of big retailers from supermarkets is set to continue. With the Nintendo 3DS launch UK retailers basically had a free-for-all. With the Nintendo 3DS XL users were even buying from Amazon Italy to get a cheaper price.