$599 for a PS3!?!

OK, Sony, I hope you know what you're doing. $599 for a fully loaded PS3 is pretty steep and a lot of dough to ask gamers to cough up. (There's also a $499 PS3, but it lacks MS/SD/CF card reader input, WI-FI, and HDMI output). What's the point of giving gamers Blu Ray if they can't output it in true HD? I hope Sony isn't resting on their laurels and just expecting the gaming public to jump right in. Remembering back to the 16-bit era, Nintendo, the champ at the time, did just that and Sega swooped in with their Genesis to beat out the SNES. Continuing on to the 32-bit era, Nintendo and Sega rested and Sony swooped in with their winner, the PS2. Sony was able to repeat their success with the PS2 when others couldn't.

So sony was able to repeat twice when no one else in the business could. Can they do it again with the PS3 the third time around? I don't think they can. Not they way they are setting themselves up with this pricing scheme. Sure, the lower priced package will attract the casual gamer, or even the odd generous grandparent or mom/dad to buy; but that's still a hefty price tag of $499 to swallow. Out-pricing everyone else on the playing field-this isn't such a smart idea. Sony should have stuck with selling PS3's at a loss, and making it up in the long run and through software sales like they did with the PS2.

I predict that Nintendo has a winner with their strategy of attracting back gamers with good games and innovative controller design (which they've always done with every system they've made), Microsoft maybe in 2nd with their Xbox 360 (as much as I hate to admit it), with Sony coming in third place. I will be glad if I am proved wrong. I have an Xbox 360 and am not happy with it as I have previously mentioned before on this blog.