The interface is technically new in that it's visually catered to the PS3, but it should look familiar to anyone who's used Netflix on a Blu-ray player or connected TV in the past. This means it's pretty basic: so far as I can tell there are just "Instant Queue" and "Recently Watched" tabs, with none of the additional—though admittedly kind of useless—category views Xbox users are used to, and video navigation is unchanged, with the same visual timeline taking care of FF and RW funtions. One thing Xbox users aren't used to, though, is not having to pay for the privilege: Netflix-subscribed PS3 owners can just order a free disc and be done with it; Xbox owner need to have a paid Live subscription as well. (Ballmer's gotta eat!)

In any case, the experience is smooth from start to finish, with a fast-loading interface and the same near-instant streaming you get on any other platform. It's just a shame you need a disc—until this is part of the PS3 firmware, it'll feel more like a hack than a new feature. [Engadget]

The crux of the matter is that the warranty on an Xbox 360 "is not transferable," so if you buy a used console "that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox LIVE." So if you buy a used Xbox 360, make sure it's from a less-than-shady party—and if you buy from a used games shop, make 'em connect it to Xbox Live so you know you're getting something that works. [Major Nelson]

Cross-game text chat has been around since April, but voice chat has so far been a no-show. Kotaku writes that they tried to contact Sony for a truly official response, but only received a curt reply:

As you know, we haven't made any announcements on upcoming firmware and don't comment on rumor or speculation.

It's quite possible that the next firmware update will in fact bring cross-game chat, but I think we're getting a bit too excited over a forum post. [Playstation Forums via Kotaku]

The online retailer is also sweetening the deal with a $25 Amazon gift card, which will be good until October 3. Let the holiday insanity begin. [Kotaku]

When you think about, it's amazing that the Wii has motored along for three years at $250. But it's clear that Nintendo has to do something. The 120GB PS3 Slim is $300, the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite is $250 with rebates, and 250GB bundles for both are strongly rumored to be around the corner.

My Wii just kind of sits in the corner all lonely these days. If you don't have one, is the new price enough to make you pick one up? Or will you just hold out until 2011 for the next-gen Wii with HD graphics? [Engadget]

In other words, if you want to play a game on your console remotely, you can connect to your system by downloading the Spawn Player application on your computer. The box transmits a 720p picture over the connection and allows you to control the game with "an input device of your choosing." The box works with all of the major consoles and is available starting today at $199. The only problem is that until the majority of our games are loaded on console hard drives, it would mean that we would be confined to one game while traveling. Still, its an intriguing idea. Would it be something you could use? [Spawn Labs via TechCrunch]

Now, these videos are in no way conclusive evidence that the PS3 slim is a slow poke compared to its fatter older sibling. In fact, while some show the PS3 "phat" speeding past its svelte counterpart, others show the slim edging the big black obelisk out for the win. In either case, we're talking a matter of seconds.

So, no big deal, right? I mean, what meaningful thing could you possibly do in seven seconds that's being robbed from you thanks to a pokier PS3 slim? No, really. I want to know. [SanKaku Complex via Kotaku]

A tipster sent us this shot from a Daytona Beach Best Buy, where there's already a healthy—and as of yet untouched—stack of Slims, marked at the expected $300 price. Meanwhile, Engadget got a similar tip from Brandon, which is about two hours away from Daytona, where a reader actually bought one. This could've been one regional managerial goof-up, but could equally be two unconnected incidents, and a sign that Sony might've been using the word "September" loosely.

So, Floridians: It's probably time to check your local Best Buy. Non-Floridians: It couldn't hurt to have a look anyway. Let us know what you find. —Thanks, Boomy and !

UPDATE: And then this tip from a BB employee, who says his store—a Tampa location—has been authorized by corporate to sell the Slim starting today:

I work at one of the Best Buy's in Tampa. We got a notice in our system yesterday that we were getting the PS3's today and that there was no street date on them. No snafu here. Don't know about other districts but we were told.by corporate we can sell them today.

UPDATE 2: Lovely intern Rosa actually stopped by the Port Richey location, and after a little hassle, managed to buy one. There are also reports trickling in that other retailers, like Walmart, GameStop and Amazon, have them in stock, and not just in Florida. So yeah, the floodgates have either opened on this, or they're about to.

Physical comparison vs. original PS3:
The shape is relatively unchanged, as you saw from the pics this morning, retaining the George Foreman grill top and the same ports on the back. We thought Sony shrunk it down by moving the PSU outside the body, like the Xbox 360, but no, it's still the same. There's no power brick.

Its power and eject touch buttons are changed to actual buttons (an improvement, I think), and the USB ports are shrunk down to 2. Also gone are any of the card readers. Because of the decreased size, the Slim is much less stable in vertical mode, which explains the $24 stand coming in September. You also can't twist the PS logo on the front to vertical orientation, like you could the PS3 fat.

My favorite change is definitely the matted finish, but the decreased vents might mean that the slim is quieter and/or cooler. We'll see once we start playing some games on it.

Audible comparison vs. original PS3:
We tested the two consoles with a Transformers 2 game. While the fans were pretty much the same between the two consoles, the disc drive is noticeably louder (but not a ton louder) on the PS3 Slim. Using a decibel-meter app on the iPhone, the Slim got somewhere between 25-33dB when playing the game, and the PS3 Fat got between 22-30dB. It's not a huge difference, but you should remember that decibels are logarithmic, so every 3 decibels equals about double the loudness, give or take. So if this thing is accurate—which it probably isn't, since it's just an iPhone app—that's about twice as loud.

• The 80GB PS3 is being discontinued. in Japan by the manufacturer's request. Meanwhile, price cuts on various bundles are happening all around the world. HMM.

• Digitimes reports Sony is seriously ramping up orders for "key PS3 components," enough to build a million consoles over the next three months. Even though, you know, they've been selling fewer PS3s. HMMMM.

• Amazon lists a PS3 "Konsole Slim." Hmm.

• Update: Another one. PS3 production costs are down about 70 percent. Perfect for cramming more production stuff into less space.

• Last but not least, speculation that we'll see the PS3 Slim show its prettier face at gamecom on August 18. HHMMMMMM.

Aside from plenty of marketing/corporate speak, Game On did manage to get a few interest points out of marks. For starters, Playstation Motion Control is not the final name for the control scheme. Marks himself referred to it as a "temporary mouthful" and we can expect a name announcement to come closer to launch.

Secondly, Marks pointed out that they opted to go with a wand peripheral over pure camera-based control because they found in testing that some games just felt more natural when a prop was in the hand of the gamer. They also wanted the option of action buttons to be available for games.

And one other part of the interview that was intriguing was when Marks was asked about backwards compatibility with regard to Playstation Motion Control and Existing PS3 titles. While he sidestepped the question entirely, he also didn't dismiss the idea entirely. Maybe new control schemes would be available via patch updates?

Anyways, check out the interview for yourself (complete with passive-agressive Nintendo and Microsoft comments) over at [Game On]

In theory, a standby PS3 uses about $250 a year when in the off standby position. An Xbox 360 uses a little bit less than that. Both those consoles use a little bit of power to maintain the wireless receiver (and USB charger, if you're charging a controller) while the main power is off. If the Tricklesaver shuts this off when the TV is off, you theoretically won't be able to charge your controllers or turn on your console wirelessly.

The solution is to just turn on your TV before you activate your console. But there's not much you can do about that controller charging. It's also $35, which is kind of steep for something that only has space for one TV and one console. [PR Web via Go nintendo via Oh Gizmo]

Update: Reader Jonathan notes that the PS3 uses only 2 watts in standby, and if you're to calculate that out, that's only about $5 a year. Not quite $250.

"The Xbox 360 system software uses some of the included 512MB memory; less storage will be available to users. Additional storage (sold separately) may be needed for game saves, Xbox LIVE Arcade games, content downloads, personal file storage, and additional enhanced functionality. A hard drive is recommended for LIVE, and is required for some features," the company said in a statement. "We want to offer consumers a bit more memory at the same low price so they can enjoy more experiences on Xbox LIVE."

There you have it. [Eurogamer via CrunchGear]

The rumor states that Microsoft will be debuting a totally new console that will include native Project Natal support, full backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 software, and with slightly updated muscle to handle newer games. Supposedly, it'll be released in fall 2010.

Microsoft did mention that with the debut of Natal, the Xbox 360's lifespan is "less than halfway done," but we think it'd be a mistake to release a game-changing new control system as an entirely new console rather than a more affordable peripheral when we've seen that a peripheral is all that's needed to handle Natal. Further, the way Microsoft has phrased talk about the Xbox 360's lifespan implies to us that the humble white console is going to be around for awhile: "There's still an awful lot left we can do with that piece of hardware, so we're going to continue to do that," said Microsoft's VP of Interactive Entertainment John Schappert.

We don't think the rumor really makes sense, but maybe it's just wishful thinking; we don't want to have to buy an entirely new console, but we just might have to if that's the only way to get our hands (well, our entire bodies) on Project Natal. [1UP]

Classic Controllers, Nunchucks, Wiimotes and even the Wiimote gloves will all be available in the new color, which was one of 4 alternative colors proposed when Nintendo launched the console back in 2006. The black Wii will be available on August 1 at the same price (25,000 Yen). Be sure to check out more images over on [Kotaku].