Officials from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have issued a statement denying press reports that the new 40GB hard drive model of the PlayStation 3 has a 40 percent failure rate, as claimed by a Dutch website earlier in the week. The rumors first appeared on Dutch website Gamed.nl earlier in the week, but was given little credence by more established sites - and the story was only sparsely reported. Nonetheless, SCEE has issued a press release denying the reports, clarifying that the 40GB PS3 has a failure rate comparable to the existing low levels of the 60GB model. “We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PlayStation 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story,” said David Reeves, president of SCEE. “Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.” In this case, Sony has obviously decided to speak out to forestall any other rumors, since the company appears anxious to avoid any of the same negative publicity associated with the Xbox 360’s far more widely reported hardware reliability issues.