With the end-of-year game release rush just weeks away, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia has decided to beef up its console offering by announcing that it will be upgrading the hard drive capacity on its standard and premium PS3 units.

　　Later this month Sony will be phasing out the 120GB and 250GB PS3 consoles and replacing them with 160GB and 320GB iterations instead. But it won't be an immediate change-over. The 320GB PS3s will be available first on September 16, with the 160GB consoles arriving a week later on September 23.

　　Not ignoring its handheld system, Sony also announced that it would be launching a new line of budget PlayStation Portable games called PSP Essentials in Australia. There are currently 22 games available, all of which have been out for quite a while and priced at A$14.95 ($13.56) each. Some of the games in the PSP Essentials line include:

　　Pursuit Force

　　Secret Agent Clank

　　Wipeout Pulse

　　Daxter

　　Fight Night Round 3

　　Burnout Legends

　　Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

　　Tom Clancy's Endwar

　　Sonic Rivals 2

　　MX vs. ATV Untamed

　　Marvel Superhero Squad