Just when you thought you had the Sony SKU situation figured out, the company has thrown yet another curve ball. At this week’s Leipzig Games Convention, Sony announced that they will be releasing a brand new PS3 bundle featuring Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a DualShock 3 controller, a voucher for a free copy of the downloadable game PAIN, as well - this is the shocker - a 160GB PS3.

The new console, which will be sold by itself in Europe but only as a part of the bundle in North America, boasts all the same features (or lack thereof) as the current 40GB and 80GB models. That means while you still get an HDMI port and built-in wi-fi, you don’t get any ports for SD cards or memory sticks. Also, the new SKU is not backwards compatible, so your PS2 will have to keep running a little longer, as those games will still not work on any PS3 model that is currently in production.

The entire bundle is coming in November and will be sold for $499, the same price point the 80GB unit used to go for by itself. Still, it’s a good deal considering you get the larger hard drive, DualShock 3, Uncharted, and a free copy of PAIN all in one package. Right about now, my 40GB unit is starting to look more and more small-fry in comparison to the newer SKUs.

It’s interesting to note the Sony has adopted the bundle plan pretty heavily for both the PS3 and the PSP lately. Each console is getting harder and harder to buy alone, and yet consumers are being asked to pay only the console MSRP or a few dollars more, effectively getting quite a bit of extra goodness for free. Could it be, after years of getting only a console and a controller and having to buy everything else separately, that at least Sony is taking us back to the time when a game actually came with your gaming system? Wouldn’t that be a refreshing change of pace?