If 25% of U.S households have paid for HD TV's then everyone who has one is going to want the HDMI input and the Blue-Ray. People who have bought High Definition have decided it's worth the extra money to get the extra resolution. This same concept is going to take place for consoles too. Even if the PS3 is $300 more than the Wii I think people will be willing to pay it it order to get HD games and HD movies. Here's why i'll buy the PS3 over the Wii. Three years from now i'll still be playing. At that time I will want the games to have improved both graphically and in plot. Since the Wii is using a standard DVD you'll only be able to pack 8GB (estimate) of data into the game. THis will include movies, text, and game. If you get a system with a HD-DVD games will have 50GB worth of data for playing. What this means i'm not sure as I don't have anything to compare it too. I do know that 3 years from now that i'll be glad i spent the extra money.
If you don't want all the features the the PS3 is going to have then don't buy it. Stick with XBOX360. Sony is trying to differentiate it's product with features people don't normally have. Keep in mind also that the PS2 has been around for 4-5 years so we can assume the PS3 will be around for some time to come. I can almost bet that within a couple years almost everyone will have a HD TV. Above all else technology is growing and there is a curve. Microsoft placed their product on the curve for what people are looking for now. Sony on the other hand is placing their product ahead of the curve. If you bought a computer that's ahead of the curve you will pay more. Yes the markup is more but the parts that are in it cost more too. Also, Nintendo has already said they aren't trying to compete with Microsoft and Sony, they are trying to hit a different market. People have different ideas for what they are willing to spend money. Just because one product seems to expensive for you doesn't mean it's a bad product.
The comparison against the Wii and the Xbox 360 are fair, but with the PS3 you get so much more. First of all you are getting a High Definition DVD player for both models. Xbox is releasing one that hooks into the 360 and selling it for $200. Wii won't have this at all. If you buy any High Def DVD player now the cheapest you can get in much more than the High-End PS3. With the PS3 you're basically getting a 3.2 GHz computer with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Blue-Ray. You can get Wi-Fi for the Xbox360 as well but once again it's extra. I don't think Sony is getting this wrong. They are marketing to PC gamers who want to play console games. If you don't mind low end graphics and lack of functionality stick with cheap. If you want cheap then stick with Wii, but if you stick with Wii you won't have nearly the same features. If you want better go with XBOX 360, but with XBOX 360 you'll pay more for the features you want. In the end Sony is going to lose money selling the PS3 as it costs more to produce then what they are selling for. They will however make gobs of money selling the kinds of games people love to play.
Slashdot Mirror
If 25% of U.S households have paid for HD TV's then everyone who has one is going to want the HDMI input and the Blue-Ray. People who have bought High Definition have decided it's worth the extra money to get the extra resolution. This same concept is going to take place for consoles too. Even if the PS3 is $300 more than the Wii I think people will be willing to pay it it order to get HD games and HD movies. Here's why i'll buy the PS3 over the Wii. Three years from now i'll still be playing. At that time I will want the games to have improved both graphically and in plot. Since the Wii is using a standard DVD you'll only be able to pack 8GB (estimate) of data into the game. THis will include movies, text, and game. If you get a system with a HD-DVD games will have 50GB worth of data for playing. What this means i'm not sure as I don't have anything to compare it too. I do know that 3 years from now that i'll be glad i spent the extra money.
If you don't want all the features the the PS3 is going to have then don't buy it. Stick with XBOX360. Sony is trying to differentiate it's product with features people don't normally have. Keep in mind also that the PS2 has been around for 4-5 years so we can assume the PS3 will be around for some time to come. I can almost bet that within a couple years almost everyone will have a HD TV. Above all else technology is growing and there is a curve. Microsoft placed their product on the curve for what people are looking for now. Sony on the other hand is placing their product ahead of the curve. If you bought a computer that's ahead of the curve you will pay more. Yes the markup is more but the parts that are in it cost more too. Also, Nintendo has already said they aren't trying to compete with Microsoft and Sony, they are trying to hit a different market. People have different ideas for what they are willing to spend money. Just because one product seems to expensive for you doesn't mean it's a bad product.
The comparison against the Wii and the Xbox 360 are fair, but with the PS3 you get so much more. First of all you are getting a High Definition DVD player for both models. Xbox is releasing one that hooks into the 360 and selling it for $200. Wii won't have this at all. If you buy any High Def DVD player now the cheapest you can get in much more than the High-End PS3. With the PS3 you're basically getting a 3.2 GHz computer with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Blue-Ray. You can get Wi-Fi for the Xbox360 as well but once again it's extra. I don't think Sony is getting this wrong. They are marketing to PC gamers who want to play console games. If you don't mind low end graphics and lack of functionality stick with cheap. If you want cheap then stick with Wii, but if you stick with Wii you won't have nearly the same features. If you want better go with XBOX 360, but with XBOX 360 you'll pay more for the features you want. In the end Sony is going to lose money selling the PS3 as it costs more to produce then what they are selling for. They will however make gobs of money selling the kinds of games people love to play.