I'll guess the ps3 will weigh in at $500, and hells yeah I'm buying one even if it costs more. I'm a
console-neutral early adopter, and I'll pay whatever MSRP I have to for whatever console I need.
I take any news about the ps3 with a grain of salt. It's not out yet, and no one is really sure when it will be.
It's common knowledge that sales of consoles never make money. Microsoft taking a buck twenty five hit is expected,
and I remember reading that the ps2 lost $140 on it's launch. I fully expect Sony to take into account
Microsoft's actions in the next year, and price their console accordingly.
Microsoft is getting a jump on the next generation, but I don't know how well the Xbox 1.5 will compete with the
ps3 into the future. Maybe the price is right, but if price was everything, why is anyone bothering to buy a 360 when
you can spend *less than half* on a ps2? If the ps3 was comparable to the 360 on the hardware level, we wouldn't be
having this discussion, Sony would have screwed up major. But as it stands, Microsoft's decision to jump the gun
might be genius or it might bite them in the butt. It's too early to tell.
Sorry, I'm getting into a slightly off topic rant here, but all of this discussion could be moot. Games themselves
are getting too expensive to produce, and if this doesn't change, it won't matter what the ps3 costs. Shelf
space is small, so companies have to make bigger and bigger games with bigger and bigger expectations to take the
relatively small slots at Best Buy. After they've spent millions on development and the game tanks, developers will
be pushed out of business. Games need to be shorter, less expensive to produce, and in fewer number. Publishers are too
dependant on the blockbuster hits, they need to learn that overall, the non-hits outsell the hits (at least that is the
case in the music industry). But this requires that big box stores stock older and out of the mainstream games. Any
store has last years music and last years movies, but do they have last year's games? Probably not. Sony's
rental and resale lockout technology and Microsoft's increasing some game prices to $60 are the kneejerk response
to this problem, but it's just a bandaid for a hemorraging wound. Business models need to change.
