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COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Sony Corp will launch a slimmer, cheaper version of its PlayStation 3 game console next month, hoping to jumpstart sales and win back market share from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.

Starting in September, the latest, less bulky version of the PS3 will be rolled out at $299 in the United States, 299 euros ($422.7) in Europe and 29,980 yen ($315.6) in Japan, the company said on Tuesday.

That represents a major price cut from the existing PS3 models, which runs between $399 to $499 and have proven less popular than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

"The main thing is that there is a significant price cut," said Ed Barton, analyst at Screen Digest. "We have argued since the beginning that there must be a substantial cut and this is a positive development."

Sony's new PS3 comes with a 120 gigabyte hard disk, but consumes 34 percent less power than the original model and is 32 percent smaller, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said at the Gamescom video game trade show in Cologne, Germany.

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