Earlier today, some mysterious pictures of what appeared to be a new, slimmer PlayStation 3 surfaced on the internet, and spread across it like wildfire, further fueling speculation that Sony had something up its sleeve.

However, when confronted with the photographs, Sony told CVG "We don't know anything about the system in the photos," which falls pretty well in line with their earlier denial yesterday.

Spong now reports that the source of the photographs, LevelUp, have since removed them.

"Obviously these could have been removed because the site was embarrassed about having such obvious fakes up," they theorize. "On the other hand, of course, the fabrication plant in China for the new PS3 could have sent the cops around and ordered that the images of a prototype or even new PS3 be removed this close to E3."

Adding yet more fuel to the rumor is an article from The Financial Times, which calls for a price cut following Sony's latest forecast:

"In its video game business, Sony forecast a 29 per cent increase in sales of the Playstation 3 console, from 10.06m last year to 13m this year," they say, adding "Given the fall in PS3 sales since Microsoft cut the price of its rival Xbox 360, that will be taken as a clear signal that Sony intends a price cut of its own later this year."

Will Sony unveil a slimmer console or a slimmer price? It seems inevitable, but perhaps they simply refuse to do it for as long as people talk about it. And once people give up, then they'll cut the price. Maybe.