PS3 Too Much

Finally, Sony announced PS3's launch date and price. In late November, $499 buys a 20 GB PS3 or $599 buys one with 60 GB. Man, $600 for a gaming console is pretty expensive. But wait, you do get a Blu-ray drive to play a couple of movies. Sony forces you to pay extra for something that may or may not become the new standard format for movies. It definitely appears that Sony is willing to jeopardize it domination in the gaming industry with a technology that most people don't need. (Read Why the World Doesn't Need Hi-Def DVD's) For now, Blu-ray or HD-DVD are only for those with too much money to burn, much like the 1080p HD TVs. Why anyone would buy a 1080p TV is beyond me. There is zero 1080p content right now and will not be any in the near future. But I guess it sounds cool to say, "My TV is a 1080p!" Still think you need a 1080p TV? Read this first.

Let's get back to the subject, PS3 will include a useless Blu-ray drive for $600 at launch time when Microsoft will lower its price for its premium system down to $299 or less (according to rumors).

DarkVision Hardware also reports, "However, Sony's president Ken Kutaragi is still confident they will reach their shipment targets and he even points out the console is 'probably too cheap'." Too cheap? Kutaragi obsviously thinks people are made of money.

How many parents can justify buying their kids a $600+ gaming console? How many young working people can actually afford a $600+ gaming console? Will you buy a $300 XBox 360 or a $600 PS3? Sony needs to dump the Blu-ray drive on the PS3 so it can lower its price at launch time. But I guess history does tend to repeat iteself. The PS3 is becoming the new Sega Dreamcast.