Sony to drop low-end PS3 from UK launch?
By Ryan Block 
posted May 23rd 2006 10:04AM
posted May 23rd 2006 10:04AM
After all the delays and with so much rumor and hearsay going on over at the SCEA camp as to what shape the PlayStation 3's actually going to take this November (and what it is they're going to do to convince us to pick one up that doesn't involve low-balling us), for the time being we're a little leery of the kinds of things Sony's saying about this and that. But it's remarkably hard to argue when Ray Maguire, head of Sony Computer Entertainment UK, says something like: "The lower-end 20Gb version of PlayStation 3 has no WiFi, no HDMI, and none of the other slots in it, so it's... more likely that we will only launch the 60GB version." Saywha? The figure Sony UK's been tossing around for launch is £425 ($800 US), which -- we're sorry -- is hardly a bargain for any gaming console, equipped with Blu-ray or not. And with the premium UK and EU customers already pay on their gadgets, we can't even imagine why Sony would launch a single $800 version of the PS3 and expect people to cough it up. Then again SCEUK might recant and surprise us with a more reasonable launch price (and both console versions, as the rest of Europe should be getting), but if one thing's for sure, we smell a British gamer mutiny on their hands if they stay the course for a $800 UK launch.[Via The Reg]
When the first PlayStation was launched it cost nearly 3 times more than that of the Nitendo. The same thing is happening now.
And we all know who the winner was last time, and I think parent - you will be suprised how much they spend - will buy a £400+ games machine.
Anyways...its not truly official yet? I doubt they will do that, VERY suprised.
Can't surely charge £425 ... Us lot on the UK already pay such an incredible extra that the guys in the US pay for theirs. I realise different markets incur different costs and all that, but still...
Problem is - people will still buy it - but then winge that it was so expensive :( Long way above my measly student budget!!
£425 is extortionate, there's no way I'm paying that.
Us Brits get ripped off by tech companies all the time, and they wonder why we all sneak stuff in on the grey/black market...
#1 I think it was twice as much. ps1 was $300 and snes was $150 at the time.
Here we have a very good example of why you shouldn't use the word drop to mean 'release' when you also mean 'not release'.
Nobody in their right mind will pay £425 for this. But it'll be £199 before too long, then £150....
It will sell out at any price, and go for double on ebay, don't worry about that.
What im concerned about is the cost of Games. New XBOX 360 games are £50 ($92) and i just can't see blu-ray games being any cheaper than $100 in the UK.
Are there any plans to release the smaller games on DVD or is it just blu-ray?
RIP OFF Britain
I don't know what Sony are doing! I'd fully intended to buy a PS3 to go alongside my Xbox 360 as I was a long time PS2 fan and owner until last December.
Sony seem to be sitting on their previous success, copying other companies rather than innovating and then charging over the odds for it.
I have to agree with what was said on the last podcast that Sony seem to be banking on the Blu-Ray aspect selling this for them whatever the cost. I'm not sure it'll be a sucessful strategy for the EU and USA markets.
I think I'll stick with my 360 (no regrets there at all) and buy a Wii for an alternative gaming experience. Possibly the combo of choice for this gen of consoles?
£425 is the correct and official price for the 'full' PS3 system, I work for a UK games retailer and have seen that figure getting bandied about a lot.
Even at that price though, it'll sell out. Parents these days just can't say no to little Billy when he's screaming at them to get him the new toy at Christmas, £425 or not.
If you shell out that much for a console, you deserve the derision you get, especially in a few months when the price will be 1/3rd of that.
P23 = DOA.
i know i'm getting a Wii and i may get a 360, but thats too crazy. besides the kinda people that want ps3 in the uk are chav's/pikeys and they'll just steal them, sony's going down this time. awful console... worse price
Once again, Sony underwhelms me.
I wish the UK market mattered to Sony, but it really doesn't. The PS3 will sell well in Japan and USA, and probably even in the rest of the EU, and will probably do ok in the UK despite the extortionate price.
I think the key to PS3 won't be the games but the inclusion of Blu-Ray. If the format takes off, they'll easily justify the cost by comparing it to the other Blu-Ray players on the market.
Early adopters of the Blu-Ray format won't have a problem with a £425 asking cost, especially if they're getting a 'free' next-gen console in the box.
"This PS2 is sure to fail!!!
Let me see, i can get a dreamcast NOW, for £150. I'd have this everyday over that £300 PS2 that's not even out yet! Plus the dreamcast has sold a few milion already, the PS2 will never be able to catch up.
And who in the world wants a dvd player? I hate it, all dvd's come with macrovision copy protection, what a rip-off!! And $ony is forcing us the dvd player who we don't want anyway!!
With the dreamcast there will be a dvd player add-on, that is much better because you don't have to buy it if you don't want to!!
Sony might have had it's succes with the PS1, but it's going to lose real hard this time!!"
-etc, bla bla bla.
Engadget, the PS3 is coming and neither you ,nor your anti-sony fanboy community will be able to stop it from happening.
Wow. I wish they would just drop the lower end one altogether. Who really went out last year and said "Ooooo boy imma gonna get me a 360 CORE!!!!"
No one.
What's shipping out right now? The premiums.
I hate this 2 console tactic because it allows companies to create an even more "artificial" shortage. "Oh, we had demand for the lesser model, so we can't create the high-end one to our greatest capacity". Just take the price of the high cost one ($600 USD last I heard), cut $50 from it and sell it. I might think about it then.
Of course there's Sony's notoriously shoddy 1st batch hardware. And with as much tech as there's supposed to be in this the 2nd batch will be shoddy too.
No matter what price the thing comes out at, it will be slod out. You'll always get some fool to pay for it. It is a good machine afterall ;)
Engadget: Please use the word "drop" in a consistent manner. According to this site, when Viewsonic "drops" an LCD they are adding it to their product lineup, when Sony "drops" the cheap PS3 they aren't going to sell it. Yes, I can figure it out, but the headlines are useless if I have to read the post to figure out what the headline means.
14: The Dreamcast/PS2 comparison to this is so inaccurate, it's pathetic. DVD was a new, generally accepted format that was replacing a format that was long overdue for a replacement. It was like the conversion from cassettes to CDs; the market desired it.
The market at large does not care about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Only 10% of homes have a high definition TV to benefit from the new formats, where everyone could benefit from the improved quality of DVDs over VHS tapes.
Also, the Dreamcast was not as popular as the 360 is now, nor was the price of the PS2 perceived anywhere near as negatively as the PS3's is. As far as the add-on that wasn't goes, Microsoft is a far different company than Sega; in their video game division at least, they can actually carry out their plans (I won't mention the OS division).
Sega was pathetic competition for Sony; as a business, they were completely outmatched. Microsoft is every bit Sony's equal (or superior) as far as funding and marketing go, and Nintendo has always been one of the more saavy players in the market.
The PS3 is not going to have anywhere near the success of its predecessors because Sony is far too overconfident. Sony has messed this launch up in every way possible; it's hard to blow such a mindshare and marketshare lead, but Sony appears to be fully capable of doing so.
I didn't leave Sony, Sony left me and every other sane gamer.
I hear all of you guys in UK/Europe getting upset at the expense of tehnology compared to the US, but isn't most of the reason your high taxes?
Don't get me wrong, I think the PS3 is overpriced, but you cannot totally blame Sony/Microsoft if your country adds a pretty high tax to the goods that are sold in your country.
#17 at least TRY to look like you're not a spamming shill
The end is near for the playstation console
The way SONY is handling everything about this launch, for every geographical location, is startling. One would think they've NEVER been in the video game business with the way this launch has been handled so far, yet we know they've thrived for years. Simply amazing when you consider SCEA is the most profitable part of SONY...you'd think that they'd have their gameplan together by now. Yet another reason NOT to buy a PS3 at launch. It's pretty clear that these guys don't yet have a clue.
why are they using the spiderman movie font for the ps3?
Idiots! Are you poor??? Homeless? I'm personally getting all 3 next gen. You pay a vintage price for vintage wine. You're just jealous that you cannot afford to play with the gaming elite. Get used to it or get a job!!!
Engadget, the PS3 is coming and neither you ,nor your anti-sony fanboy community will be able to stop it from happening.
#14: I think #19 covered your argument (almost completely...) but let me just mention one thing that may deal a fatal blow to your fan boy-ism (if you will)...there is a huge price tag on this machine! Yes, it plays blu-ray, but if you want to fight that argument then look at the standalone players...if someone wants to buy it for the blu-ray, then they should go buy the $999 stand alone player that has a better drive in it as well as all of the player features. Period. There is no way that Sony can justify the price point of this machine, much less the lack of innovation that accompanies it.
I mean even if you hate M$ you have to admit that they have set the tone for the next generation of gaming. Consider this:
1) All of the consoles now are using a HDD of some sort OR giving the gamers the option (thank you xbox)
2) Removal HDD (sony and nintendo with external hdd) the 360 has inspired the idea of upgrading when it's convenient/or available...all companies are using this idea now.
3) The interface - the guide button...sony plans on creating an interface on their console that resembles the 360's, but they don't stop there...they steal our friggin guide button feature/idea as well!
4) Online play- Don't need to say much here...sony's copying the structure of Xbox live step by step. Not to mention the Xbox live marketplace...
5) Two SKU's - It's obvious that Sony doesn't have a gameplan...they laughed at M$ for "complicating" the market with two sku's at launch. Now what is Sony doing in almost every region? Launching two sku's....
6) Worldwide launch - We saw the disaster last year when M$ launched the 360, and sony cracked jokes...but apparently the whole world wide launch was successful, because now they're doing it this november!
There's no way that you, nor sony, can deny the significant signs that Sony has fallen behind...Nintendo doesn't want to lead the industry because they like to do things their way, and I respect that as do most gamers...But Microsoft is the force that is pushing ahead right now and creating the games that are truly next gen, and there's no denying it anymore.
The usual reason they cite for the high costs are taxes and "regionalization" (
Just a few of my thoughts...
-As much as I would like to see gamers and consumers put it to Sony by not running out in droves to search out, buy(and then resell on Ebay) the PS3 it's gonna happen. As much as people are complaining about the price(myself included) a good amount of people are going to run out and buy it. Remember the X360 launch, where you could only pre-order bundles and the cheapest one was $500? It will be same the same thing all over again, it might even be worse. Sony has a LOT of brand loyalty, even most non-gamers know about the Playstation
-I worked for EB during the Dreamcast and PS2 launches and the the amount of people that used to come into the store and would play the Dreamcast, and then say 'It's cool, but the Playstation2 is gonna be better!' when the system hadn't been released yet was incredible. And I've been seeing the same thing with X360/PS3.
-People were sitting on the fence last holiday because of Sony's 'great' showing at E3(BTW - where was Killzone 2 at this years E3?) and Microsoft's botching of their headstart due to 'supply issues'. If the 360 had mad more of an 'impact' - Sony would have done more to make the $600 seem like it was more bang for the buck: pack in game, bigger harddrive, etc. Right now, they have the whole king of the hill mentality going (kinda like Nintendo used to) and they probably won't lose it until they start suffering fiscally
You guys forget that interest rates are expected to rise before Christmas, this could negatively affect sales on that alone (In Canada and the USA anyways). 360 came out at a good time when money was liquid and spending was rampid, a slowdown should be in order.
-M.
#24 is an idiot... It's not about being poor dumbass, if you would only use your brain, paying that much for a toy like the PS3 isn't so intriguing to me. You could build a PC that would be 10 times better for that price. The PS3 is a waste of money, and in the end, the only ones laughing are the Sony execs sipping the vintage wine, that they purchased with your chump change, on their "Playstation 3" (in Spider-Man font) yacht.
Some of you peeps just dont get it...
1) gamers are gamers and there will always be "fanboys"
2) normal peeps are just ignorant
3) battles are battles but damint there's a WAR on
Sony has a huge following so they maintained backwards compatability. This is just another reason they will keep a large number of loyalist.
Is there a differnce between 720p/1080p? 4ghz/4000+? 125watts/140watts? The differnece is "BUZZ words"... Normal peeps are the easiest to sell items to... and marketing firms target this audience and not the "fanboys"... Sony has "1080p and Blu-Ray HD movies"... Dont believe me? Visit your local BestBuy or CircuitCity and see what every TV salesman is trying to sell you... This years newest 1080p HDTV compared to last years 720p HDTV... Hmmm... you want another example? Try saying XBOX360... let see guess.. "X" "BOX" "Three" "Sixty".. notice the "Three" in there.. MS doesnt want XBOX2 vs PS3... who wants to be a preceived 1 generation behind? BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Words...
Blu-ray equiped PS3 is a Trojan Horse in the "Format War"... Media sales will decide the winner and its so much easer for PS3 owners to drop $35 to see a HD movie. Everyone else is wearry of the "Format War", so no one wants to waste at least $500. So how is HD-DVD titles going to sell if no one has a HD-DVD player?
For you idiots on both sides of the pond, the pricing in the UK *INCLUDES* the 17.5% VAT which is mandatory in Europe (and up to 25% in some European countries) while the US pricing NEVER includes the 6-8% tax (Yes, I know it's 0% in a few select states).
The 17.5% extra VAT obviously increases the price 17.5% at least.
If you can't afford the 17.5% extra, buy it from the US, lie on the customs form stating what the value is and hope it supports 220volts.
#28 austin
I hardly think the difference between 720p and 1080p is simply a buzzword, Its double the resolution.
Really I don't recall hardly anyone using their PS2 regularly as a DVD player, It wasn't a very good one and the PS3 will be the same (Else I can't see why the PS3 is 10% of the size of any other Blu-Ray player).
Seriously families aren't going to be using this for digital home entertainment convergence, who wants to use a controller to start a movie, who wants to see the stupid OS load before they can start watching a movie. Seriously I have heard some people state that home cinema fans will be buying it just for the blu-ray drive, Thats simply not the case.
425 quid is far too much, it will probably still sell, but how many parents come christmas are gonna be looking at the identical 360 and PS3 games and thinking about getting a PS3 for their kid at probably twice the price of the xbox360.
As far as I'm concerned, though £425 is a lot of cash for a games machine I'll still buy it because it's a killer piece of technology
and i wont be the only one. I expect this will sell and sell fast, even without the artificial (IMO) stock shortage capers MS pulled on everyone (though I don't mean to suggest Sony wont pull a similar trick).
the only thing that sucks about this story is that us Brits are getting humped again. this country blows on taxes :(
PS2 and PS3 was never intended to be used as a primary stand alone player... The fact that it can play DVD/Blu-Ray is the Buzz word.
Every thing has to be "backwards compatable"... "Upgradeable"... "Future Proof".. "Universial"... It gives salesmen something to talk about, a selling point...
Like I stated earlier, it's much easier for PS3 owners to try a HD movie at $35... If Sony sells 10 million PS3 and 1/3 of them buys just 1 movie.. thats over 3 million Blu-Ray titles off store shelves... Sony has a lot invested in Blu-Ray and the PS3 is a Trojan Horse that allows a "Blu-Ray" player to enter your house. Once its in, why would you spend $500 for the cheapest HD-DVD player? I'm sure even PS3 fans are weary of a "Format War".. but since they've got a PS3, no harm in spending $35 for thier favorite movies...
#12, wtf are you talking about? Only chavs/pikeys? I've never heard such bollocks. Also, I'm sorry but I've never met anyone who owns or wants a 360 either.
The premium version will cost 599EUR in Euro Europe.
That's 765 USD today : http://www.google.com/search?q=599+EUR+in+USD
So, i will not be surprised for 797 USD (425GBP) in UK.
That's "only" 4% more expensive.
I know we have 16~21% VAT in Europe, but with the 1USD=1EUR for most suggested electronic price, that's 28% more ! :(
[David:moua]
slayermayer,
I knew I'd catch you someday. This dude craps on PS3 for any console related article especially the sony ones. Everyone, slayermayer is a M$ employee. I guess you can't shoot someone for being patriotic to the company he works for...
slayer mayer said: 3) The interface - the guide button...sony plans on creating an interface on their console that resembles the 360's, but they don't stop there...they steal """""""""our""""""""" friggin guide button feature/idea as well!
87.6% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
@ Meko -- #25
Meko, jealousy has NOTHING to do with it! This is about COMMON SENSE and the principle of the matter, two ideas which you seriously seem to be lacking. $800 Dollars is for a video game unit -- IS RIDICULOUS!!!
Food, Clothing, Rent/Mortgage, Car Note, Credit Cards. Entertainment and Tech Toys are LAST on the list, not FIRST. The PS3 is more than half a months rent (Not all of us live at home with mom, and work at the mall.) Also, with Sony's customer care track record, they need to be KISSING our ASSES, not pissing us off by pushing this format war on us.
I'm not getting suckered into this bullshit -- I'm buying a Wii and a 360. You can drink wine...
Busted Slayermayer!!!!
Quote "The interface - the guide button...sony plans on creating an interface on their console that resembles the 360's, but they don't stop there...they steal our friggin guide button feature/idea as well!"
Unquote
Steal "OUR" friggin' guide button feature -- Slayermayer is a Microsoft Employee.
Screw Sony - Long live Nintendo!!
TAxes have NOTHING to do with it - the tax is a set rate percentage, so it IS sony who has pumped this price up for Brits/ not the Government (but our other taxes do suck)
Someone said the UK isnt importnt to Sony PS3/ are you mad.. UK is a massive game console market with many games / publishers here - the price is down to the bleeding £sterling pound being so strong so these f*ckin corps wanna screw us.
Sony PS3 is shit and the technology everyone is going mad over is out already in PC's -- and soon to come over priced over hyped bluray players. Get a grip; Sony thinks they have everyone by the nuts, but its the uninformed who will buy this. Its ONLY feature thats worth any £$ is the graphics output BUT thats it. Playing games at hiDef will be good if you have the TV for it.. over %90 of people do NOT! It'll be around the NEXT gen of consoles that DVD will seem aged. People have way too many DVD's - its atechnology that has not come close to dieing. FACT. People do not feel the need to replace DVD with any kind of urgency, as VHS faded back in the day.
Sony and their ulterior motives.
I want a GAMES machine - new games, new ways of playing... that leaves one choice > NINTENDO.
PS3 will be nice shiny graphics.. OH WOOOOO, like my quadcore PC slammed full of RAM cant shit all over a PS3 already.. graphics grpahics graphics, that's what PS3 owners will get. Tech heads may fall prey to the PS3 but true gamers know the score...
Nintendo; go learn and get to know.. innovation since day one, and, oh yea, the Xbox360 is alright I guess
Sony's biggest slip this time around is using Blu-ray. Even excluding the increase in cost, it is unsupported and bears an unfamiliar name that isn't going to catch on in time to save the PS3.
If a new format is adopted, it will be HD-DVD. Consumers recognize both HD and DVD, so they understand what they're getting with the title. HD-DVD sounds much more familiar to the mass market.
The price is not what concerns me, it's the lack of video games at launch that bothers me. I haven't read about any games that make me say, "OMG I MUST have a PS3 at launch."
#41: Sorry, but Sony learned from their mistake last time - by banning porn from the Beta-max format they
dug their own grave. This time Sony has learned their lesson and are actively pursuing the porn industry
to make sure they won their acceptance (and they did), so with the porn industry supporting them AND
the extra 20 million Blu-ray drives out there in 2 years they'll still win the format war. Even with a
less-than-average amount of movies due to not being "true" Blu-ray drives in the PS3 (consumers wont buy
them JUST to play Blu-ray movies, so they can't be considered "true" Blu-ray drives) as far as consumer
trust goes, they'll still add enough purchased Blu-ray drives and Blu-ray movies to allow them to dump
the price to nothing quicker than HD-DVD.
The PS3 is clearly the better machine. It pains me to buy an XBOX360, seeing as it has no support
for the 1080P that my projector can handle, and no 1080P that my 2 pre-ordered 1080P TVs can handle,
but sure, I'll have both the XBOX360 and PS3 (Sadly for Microsoft, my XBOX360 will feature 99% pirated
games though, while the PS3 likely wont..)
#40 "TAxes have NOTHING to do with it - the tax is a set rate percentage"
Are you fucking stupid?
The US NEVER includes taxes in their pricing. 7-8% is added AT PURCHASE (in about 47 states)
The UK ALWAYS includes taxes in their pricing. 17.5% is ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE PRICING.
How the FUCK does that not affect the pricing that you see, THERE'S 17.5% ADDED TO THE UK
PRICE? Go back to 2nd grade math you illiterate fuck (or wait, are you still in 2nd grade?)
When game studios develop games for your PC, whether it has a 3.6GHZ Intel processor or a
2.23GHz Dual-core AMD, 512MB or 4GB of ram, a DVD player, a Blu-ray or a HD-DVD drive it's NOT
a common development platform so they can't develop games that MAXIMIZES performance for
your computer, they have to make sure it runs properly on EVERY FUCKING SYSTEM OUT THERE.
With the PS3 (and to a lesser extent the XBOX360 - due to its inferior hardware) they can develop
games that accurately use the hardware to 100%. When you get off welfare in 3 years and get a real
job and you can actually afford a real HDTV at 1080P, you'll also notice the difference - because
by then the PS3 will still be capable of 1080P - while the XBOX360 wont.
Ahem it's funny how HD supporters tend to not to acknowledge that if a person sees an upscaled dvd which there are a number of players that do the job and then looks at a blu-ray on a HDMI HDTV they cannot tell a difference at all.
Btw HD-DVD when you actually look at the supporters it's far more impressive then Blu-ray. But both formats are likely to fail.
As for the PS3 being powerfull it isn't. Any PS3 game can be put on the 360 without any downgrade in graphical quality. A lot of game developers are making comments they are unhappy with Sony and that the PS3 is driving up the game development costs by tens of millions of dollars. In fact the 360 is easier to develop for and delivers the same quality of graphics and processing power. Cell is a complete joke it was originally meant to be a desktop processor. Multicore processing is unknown for console games. No game that has been written for a multicore has performed better then the single core version.
Also there is the lack of rumble and the motion sensing is crap in the controller.
Add in the comments by tech people that the blu-ray player has a massive failure rate in it's production line and the amount of defective discs is incredibly high then a lot of people are going to find themselves with lemons.
Also the PS3 loads it's games onto the HDD to lower load times. The online isn't going to be free. Game developments can charge what they want.
Btw the PS1 and PS2 were less powerfull then their competitors.
Oh btw a lot of developers have said they would have rather put their games on the Nintendo Gamecube then the PS2 but their developer overruled them. These publishers aren't happy about the PS3 price nor that the games are going to cost 75 dollars at least in the US.
With the added game costs and numerous game companies told they cannot put the game types they put on the PS2 on the PS3 they aren't happy with Sony. Remember Guitar Hero likely it won't be on the PS3 nor will 2D games, quirky games. Sony wants hyperrealistic FPS, Racing games, sports titles, RPGS that costs millions of dollars to develop for and are mostly FMV.
Sorry but the mighty Sony it's digging it's grave. They should be making tens of billions of dollars in profit but instead they make only slightly more money then Nintendo does. The second largest consumer electronics company in the world makes a fraction of what it should. Sony is tens of billions of dollars in debt.
microsoft is so damn scared of sony. that just to up their share of sales for the x box 360 they are goin to lauch the console in 12 more country. the funnier part is that they are launching the console officialy in india in november however the console has been available here since last november. even then the rate was lesser than what microsoft is gonne charge. neway i really dont care . i have been savin money 4 the ps3 and i am gonne buy it. i didnt even buy the ps2 and just played on my friends console. but i do have a ps1. i have been savin and savin and savin just to buy this and noway am i buyin a 360 degree BOX.
cheers
dhruv
Microsoft Xbox 360: Price US $ 399
The Microsoft Xbox 360, is said to be cheaper than the PlayStation 3, but further research on the subject reflects that infact the Xbox 360 is costlier than the PlayStation 3. Just compare the features and the overall prices including all the accessories.
The Console: US $399
Features: 20 GB Hard-Disk, 2.4 GHz Wireless controllers (upto 4), Power PC processor (Three cores at 3.2 GHz each), 3 USB ports, Wi-fi is optional with a add-on adapter (802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g) sold separately for US $100, External HD-DVD drive will retail for about US $200, Online Gaming Service 'Live' for $49 per year for actual playability. Micro downloads will be available for Game Content. HDMI add-on port for the Xbox 360 will be probably about US $50. Number of Xbox 360 titles = 160 titles. About 1000 Xbox titles to be backward compatible with the Xbox 360. Total Games Playable on the Xbox 360 = 1160 Games.
Total Price of the Xbox 360 Including all the Accessories = US $399 + US $200 + US $100 +
US $50 + US $ 49 = US $798.
Sony PlayStation 3: Price US $ 599
Features: 60 GB Hard-Disk, Integrated Bluetooth, Integrated Wi-fi, Motion Sensitive Bluetooth Controller, Cell Processor (Seven cores at 3.2 GHz each), Inbuilt Blu-ray drive, Inbuilt HDMI port, Free Online Service dubbed 'PlayStation HUB' with free Online Gaming. But downloadable Game content would be through micro payments. Number of launch titles for PlayStation 3 = 15*. Number of PlayStation playable titles including PlayStation 2 are said to be about 15,000 titles*. All this for only US $599.
Which is Cheaper PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360, see for yourself.
the above is absolutely bizarre reasoning.