Sony has officially confirmed that the 80GB PlayStation 3 console will arrive in European territories on August 27, priced at GBP 299/EUR 399.

In addition, the company also revealed that the PS3 Platinum range would arrive in PAL regions on August 1, and will retail for approximately GBP 19.99/EUR 29.99 per title. The PS3's video download service, however, will not be released in Europe this year.

“Generally, everything that Jack Tretton laid out [in the Sony press conference], with only two exceptions, pertains exactly to the PAL markets," said Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President, David Reeves.

“This is symptomatic of the fact that our company is getting more global, and more consistent - the exceptions are the video download service and some of the specifics of the PSP and PS2 promotions.”

"PS3 80GB - we will introduce this in the PAL markets on August 27, it will be a simultaneous release. It will come in at EUR 399, GBP 299, and we will be doing promotional bundles from the middle of September to the end of December at various prices…the 80GB replaces the 40GB.”

"We will launch Platinum for PS3 on August 1, so that's the same time frame as North America. The suggested retail price will be EUR 29.99 and GBP 19.99."

Reeves added that PlayStation Home’s open beta would be made available in Europe on the same date as in North America, and that we can expect more announcements in regards to the video download service later in the year.