Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has stated that PS3 will ship with a hard drive included, according to a report on Next-Gen.biz.
Confirmation on the inclusion of a HDD in the PS3 package follows revelations from Sony's Ken Kutaragi at last week's PlayStation Business Briefing that a hard drive is required for gaming on the next-gen console. What wasn't clear at the time though was whether a hard drive would have to be purchased as an extra or would be an out-of-the-box feature. But that all appears to be cleared up now. Phew.

Speaking at the briefing last week, Kutaragi said that the PS3 has been developed with a hard disk in mind, developers asked "to develop games as though all PS3s have the HDD installed." PS3's HDD will be 60Gb in capacity, but will be upgradeable, will run Linux and will perform media hub and home server/network platform services, with Sony additionally saying that the hard drive unit will enhance gameplay and allow for full internet access.