The last of the three big E3 2008 keynote speeches ended with Sony last night, who revealed that its 80GB PS3 will now become the mainstay of the company’s hardware line-up.

The company has revealed that in the US the 80GB console will be offered at the same price of the 40GB model, this September.

The 80GB PS3 was launched in North America earlier this year and the 60GB model was phased out after existing stock had been sold. Sony is lagging behind Microsoft and Nintendo in terms of sales of its hardware in North America, so the price cut aims to bridge that gap.

The new 80GB model will retail for $399, and will offer all of the features and functionality of the 40GB model with double the storage to accommodate more movies, graphics, music, photos and other entertainment content – all for the same price. As with its predecessor, the new 80GB model will be a complete entertainment system comprising of a Blu-ray player, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in 80GB hard-disk drive.

PS2 fans may be upset to learn that the 80GB model will not be backwards compatible with PS2 games.