Playstation 3 released today

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I remember back in in the early-to-mid 1990's, console games and PC games usually cost around $50-$60; some were as high as $70. The reason the price dropped as time went by was because hardware and game developers made the switch from cartridge and 5.25"/3.5" diskette media to CD-ROM and later DVD-ROM. The latter two were less expensive to produce, so the costs for the consumer went down. I have absolutely no clue about Blu-Ray though (or why it was chosen over HD-DVD, which I know little about as well...), which is the media format the PS3 uses.

I think Sony is shooting themselves in the foot by demanding $500 and $600 (depending on the version of PS3 you purchase) for the console and then $60 per game. Both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii are less expensive and their games are cheaper as well. True, the PS3 might be faster and more graphically capable than either of those two, but is it really worth waiting in line for 20 hours in order to fork up $600 and then however how much money for the very small library of games it currently has at the moment.

The only game I'd be interested in purchasing on the PS3 would be Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, but one game (at the moment) doesn't cut the mustard when looking at such a hefty price tag.

Games have always been crazily expensive in the US. PC games are $40-$60 depending on the title. In Britain the price is fixed about 34.99 (up from 29.99 a few years ago).

They suggested that the price was due to the fact that the general consumer base for video games is lower than say, the number of people who buy DVDs, so the pricing is more sensitive to changing production costs.

Blu-Ray is Sony's patented hi-definition format - they are backing it along with a number of other movie studios, and the PS3 incorporating the technology into the system gives it an advantage over the Xbox 360 (considering that you have to buy and connect an external HD-DVD unit to the Xbox to play Hi-Def movies). Console "add ons" like that have always been risky historically speaking - that's pretty much what killed off Sega as a console maker.

Blu-ray Vs. HD-DVD is a bit like the old Betamax/VHS battle - except that Sony is in a much stronger position these days, as they are now one of the biggest movie producers in the world. They recently bought MGM, which means they own the distribution rights for MGM's entire back catalogue - including the James Bond movies.

The Wii does look fun though - I might pick that up for the wife's birthday. We have a DS and you can apparenntly connect the handheld to the Wii.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Looking at the completed listings on ebay the price has dropped to the $900 to $1500 range. I bet the people that paid $3000+ yesterday feel PWNED!!!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Looking at the completed listings on ebay the price has dropped to the $900 to $1500 range. I bet the people that paid $3000+ yesterday feel PWNED!!!

People with the spare cash to pay that much money for a console - probably don't sweat dropping that much for something they can buy in 6 months for a 5th of the price.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Looking at the completed listings on ebay the price has dropped to the $900 to $1500 range. I bet the people that paid $3000+ yesterday feel PWNED!!!

People with the spare cash to pay that much money for a console - probably don't sweat dropping that much for something they can buy in 6 months for a 5th of the price.

So true. But people with money are usually smarter with it.

[silvanski 1]

Pheww that's a lot of money I wouldn't even think of bidding ...

I'll stick to my $40 CD of TOAWIII with its free upgrades

[DeadPoolX 9]

Games have always been crazily expensive in the US. PC games are $40-$60 depending on the title. In Britain the price is fixed about 34.99 (up from 29.99 a few years ago).

They suggested that the price was due to the fact that the general consumer base for video games is lower than say, the number of people who buy DVDs, so the pricing is more sensitive to changing production costs.

Blu-Ray is Sony's patented hi-definition format - they are backing it along with a number of other movie studios, and the PS3 incorporating the technology into the system gives it an advantage over the Xbox 360 (considering that you have to buy and connect an external HD-DVD unit to the Xbox to play Hi-Def movies). Console "add ons" like that have always been risky historically speaking - that's pretty much what killed off Sega as a console maker.

Blu-ray Vs. HD-DVD is a bit like the old Betamax/VHS battle - except that Sony is in a much stronger position these days, as they are now one of the biggest movie producers in the world. They recently bought MGM, which means they own the distribution rights for MGM's entire back catalogue - including the James Bond movies.

The Wii does look fun though - I might pick that up for the wife's birthday. We have a DS and you can apparenntly connect the handheld to the Wii.

Games in the U.S. aren't "crazily expensive." They are cheaper in the U.S. than they are in Canada. At least, that's what I've learned when speaking to my Canadian fiancee. The prices she's quoted me are sometimes amazing -- and that's not just for games, it's for practically everything!

The United States doesn't believe in price controls. That's bad for business and the market in general. Basically, consumer demand guides prices -- if it's high, the prices will soar; it's low, the prices will drop. Pretty simple, really.

Sega did kill itself with the 32X and SegaCD. If it hadn't released those and gone straight to the Saturn (even though that wasn't that great of a system when compared to the original Playstation), it might have done better. Unfortunately, people lost a lot of faith in Sega after those hardware flops.

Thanks for the lesson about Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. I hadn't been keeping up with the format wars for a while, so I was out-of-touch. I certainly remember the old VHS/Betamax battle. VHS won out, but that was kind of a shame, since Beta was a better format. Some news services still use Beta to this day. In fact, I believe my Dad still has a Beta machine...

[Toledospod 0]

I work for Best Buy here in Toledo, OH, so it was funny to see people in tents which they set-up at least 24 hours before the store opened. We only got 34 and apparently, there were 36 people in line before the store opened, so those that were 35 and 36 in line lost out. I was talking to a guy that works in Merchandising this morning and he said he bought one from the store yesterday(there were no restrictions on employees buying, just no discount). When he got outside he was approached by people offering him like $800 his console. He refused the offer's and then some guy came up and offered him $2000 in cash!! Needless to say he took it and is gonna buy two more and sell them on EBay and keep the rest of the money. Can't believe someone walks around with $2000 dollars cash in their pocket though, might as well have had a sign on his forehead saying 'I have loads of cash on me, please mug me!'

Bottom line with the PS3 thing is it's all about supply and demand. My wife reckons that Sony deliberately limited the number of consoles released on the launch day to raise the demand for it and they obviously knew that people would pay almost anything to get one. They'll probably deliver more to the store in the next shipment, which we've been told when it might be, but we're not allowed to tell customers that we know when they're coming in again, otherwise we could be fired.

Personally I don't care that it can play movies, music and stuff....I can't justify paying $600 for the PS3. I'd rather get the Nintendo Wii, even though I know the graphics aren't as good. I'm more of a Nintendo fan anyway. Rumours were flying around at the last placed I worked at that Microsoft were gonna lower the price of the Xbox 360 'cos they're worried about the Wii. I can sorta see why they're worried, seeing as how the Wii controller is gonna be able to do so much and of course being able to play all the old Nintendo games on it too.

[eric&gen 0]

Everyone has to keep up with the latest and greatest video game system that hits the market then they make a shortage on purpose so they can make people pay high prices how crazy.

[SoL. 0]

That same madness went with the XBox 360 for a few days after it was released. People buying them to put them on eBay and making big bucks!

A month after, they were everywhere and we got one but on the regular price, which is still expensive (IMO) but my kids are having fun with it so that's "priceless" LOL.

I guess they have enough money to spend that much in a console but not enough patience to wait and get it cheaper

[Peggy 1]

I would never pay that much for a game.

[DeadPoolX 9]

I saw on one of the cable news channels that the mayor of Boston wanted to sue Sony and the retailers (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc) for all of the problems and mass hysteria that's been caused to the city revolving around the extremely limited release of the PS3.

Personally, I don't see they have a case. Sure, Sony shouldn't have released so few units and then distributed only a paltry few to each retailer, but they can't all be held responsible for the actions of a few crazies. Most people line up in a somewhat organized fashion and waited however long it took to get into the store. Some got a PS3, some didn't. Very few broke the law or went nuts.

If this lawsuit does go through -- and it's successful -- then I can't imagine who else or what other entity might held accountable for the actions of others.

[GaryC 7]

I haven't kept up with the consoles. I always had my PC set up with the fastest and best when I was gaming. I wonder how this one rates next to a high end PC?

[DeadPoolX 9]

I haven't kept up with the consoles. I always had my PC set up with the fastest and best when I was gaming. I wonder how this one rates next to a high end PC?

From what I've noticed -- in the PC vs console war -- whenever a new generation of consoles emerges, those new consoles beat anything the current crop of PCs can muster up. However, in a couple of years, the PCs end up surpassing the consoles (due to technological hardware innovation, while the console's hardware remains the same) and that's pretty much the trend.

[heishe 2]

I had a PS2 but I let Pigu take it with him last time he went back to England, because I'm such a nice girlfriend.

[I'm Gone 60]

I bought daughter and wife a couple years ago 2 Nintendo 64s and about 50 games. I might have spent $100.00 and they are just fine with playing Mario Kart and Pac Man. No way in hell I would spend $600.00 on a video game player, plus whatever the games cost. I read that your old games might not play properly or not at all on the new Sony machine.