Sony's PlayStation 2 has just got 75% smaller! Sony have confirmed, what has been widely rumoured for the past few days, that a new-look PS2 will be released in the UK on the 1st of November and will replace the current SCPH-50000 version of the console.

While the machine won't, as had been expected, be called PStwo, it does offer a similarly dramatic level of size reduction as the PSone did in comparison to the original PlayStation: the internal volume has been reduced by 75%, the weight has been halved and the thickness has been reduced from 7.8cm to 2.8cm

The new PS2 will also come with a built-in ethernet port for online gaming and will retail for around £100 - the same price as the current model.

"We did it for PlayStation and now we've done it for PlayStation 2," comments Sony Computer Entertainment president David Reeves. "This totally redesigned, network-ready model will demonstrate that PlayStation has once again the design flair and innovation that has made PlayStation the world's best loved and most successful games console.

"We are confident that the combination of a new, more affordable price point, the great Christmas line-up and now this stunning new PlayStation 2 model will encourage a whole new generation of consumers to experience the fun of PlayStation".

The new-look PS2 will come with a single controller, with both an updated vertical stand and multitap available separately. The console will be on show later this week at the Tokyo Game Show, so expect more reports in the coming days.