Hey, Sony fanboys, lighten up already.

Sony is about to go a whiter shade of pale, offering gamers a chance to truly lighten up. 

OK, forgive me. I enjoy tweaking the noses of both Sony and Nintendo fanboys. Old habits die hard.

But I digress. Starting January 27^th, Sony’s gaming division will debut a new slim Classic White PlayStation 3 system in the United States and Canada. It will sport the same sleek, curved design of the PS3 slim system (I still have my original, Day 1 machine, complete with the backward compatibility hardware, which I love), just in a white case rather than the traditional black.

For those who haven’t dove into Sony’s pool just yet (yes, I’m looking at you 360 users who might enjoy some of the PS3 exclusives that make it a worthy investment), the Classic White console is being bundled with some extra gaming goodness. For $299.99, you’ll get the console (with its 500GB hard drive), a white controller and a one-year membership to PlayStation Plus.

PS Plus is an online service that offers gamers access to a library of a dozen PS3 games each month. The service refreshes its lineup of free games regularly. Some of the more popular titles that have been available via PS Plus include The Walking Dead Episode 1 – A New Day, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, BioShock 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Resident Evil 5, Saints Row 2, Borderlands, inFAMOUS 2 and Gotham City Impostors.

And for those of you who have a PlayStation Vita, Sony’s versatile handheld platform, the PS Plus service also offers access to six titles each month.

According to Sony, PS Plus members had access to more than 50 free and 270 discounted PS3 games in 2012, as well as more than 90 add-ons for PS3 titles and 8 free PS Vita games.

PS Plus also offers members discounts on games and downloadable content, early beta access, automatic game and system software updates, as well as 2GB of online storage for PS3 and Vita game saves.

When all is said and done, Sony feels this new bundle is quite an attractive opportunity at a decent price point.

“We’re excited to give PlayStation fans what they’ve been asking for - a colored PS3 and access to a library of games for them to download and play instantly,” John Koller, Sony’s vice-president of platforms marketing, said in a press release.
So, is this new price and the new slick look enough to entice you to dive into the PS3 pool?

Wayne Chamberlain has covered the gaming industry since 2002. He is a contributor, filing under the name Strider-bot, at BigShinyRobot.com. And he is also the co-host of the Star Wars Book Report podcast, available on iTunes. He can be reached at chamberlain.wayne@yahoo.com.