The PlayStation 3 sports two additional USB ports, 3 Gigabit ethernet ports and 2 HDMI ports. Sony unveiled the PS 3 to the world in May, 2005, during the 2005 E3 conference.
They did not present a functional version of the console at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, although they did have demonstrations (such as Metal Gear Solid 4 game) at both events. These took place on development kits and similar PC hardware. They also showed video footage of what the PlayStation 3 specifications would look like.
Sony initially planned for the system to have 2 HDMI ports, 3 Ethernet ports and 6 USB ports. These numbers were later reduced to 1 HDMI port, 1 ethernet port and 4 USB ports, presumably to help cut costs. They brought out 2 different configurations: a 60 gig console and a 20 gig console with a price difference of about 100 dollars.
The 60 gig console has some really flashy features such as a Wi-Fi internet connection, a HDMI port, more than one flash card reader and a chrome trim with the silver logo.
The PS 3 was, as is always the case, first released in Japan in November 2006 at 07:00 am. It was reported that a large number of systems were bought by businessmen who bribed Chinese nationals in order to buy the consoles. This gave the businessmen the opportunity to sell the units on Ebay. In the first 24 hours of its introduction in Japan an astonishing 81,639 systems were sold.
