Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Australia both announced new games consoles this week. The new consoles will have more hard drive space compared to their predecessors.

The new Microsoft Xbox 360 Pro console, which will be released on 18 August, comes equipped with a 60GB hard drive. This is triple the storage of the previous Xbox 360 Pro machine. The new hard drive will allow gamers to store larger amounts of digital media on their console, including photos, music, movies and downloadable games (via Xbox Live).

“Now consumers have three times the storage space to manage the rich content available on Xbox Live”, said Jeremy Hinton, Xbox product marketing manager.

The new Pro console will retail for $499.00: the same price as the old 20GB version. An Xbox 360 Communicator, a component high definition AV cable and an Ethernet connectivity cable are also included in the sales package.

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia has announced its new PlayStation 3 model will come with an 80GB hard drive, which is double the storage capacity of the current PlayStation 3. The new PlayStation 3 will replace the 40GB version and retail for the same price ($699). It will be released on 28 August.

The 80GB PS3 also includes one DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller with inbuilt rumble (previous PS3 controllers did not support rumble). As with the Xbox 360 Pro, the new PlayStation model will allow gamers to store more games, movies, music, photos and downloadable content.

Michael Ephraim, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia and New Zealand, remarked: “The 80GB memory allows you consolidate all of your digital music, photos and movies in one central place within the home and experience them on a high-definition TV.”