CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

Today came word from Sony that their upcoming next generation console, the Playstation 3, will launch in two different setups, a 20GB hard drive and 60GB hard drive package on November 17th in the US. That's not the big news though. The real jolt came when Sony confirmed what many insiders had already predicted, that these systems would retail for $500 and $600 for each respective console package. Yes you read that right, $600 bucks if you want the high end PS3 system. That's $200 more than the Premium Xbox 360 package and a whopping three times the retail price of the Nintendo Wii system which is expected to launch at under $200. I've been about as big a Sony Playstation fan as one could be over the years, buying both the PS1 and PS2 consoles the morning of their US launches, but I'm finding it difficult to come to grips with the idea of paying $600 for what is essentially still a toy, no matter how advanced it is technology-wise. So if I, a huge Playstation fan, am already having second thoughts about purchasing a PS3 console, how are those who are on the fence going to react? As painful a news item as the price was, Sony wasn't finished yet.


Not only will the Playstation 3 be astronomically expensive, it's also going to have pretty much the same controller we've been using now since the original Playstation system, albeit with a few minor tweaks to it. Throw in a little wireless function, some motion sensor technology, and voila, a rehashed Dual Shock. I'm just not sure what Sony's thinking is behind the PS3, I've always assumed they were trying to hit a homerun and create the most powerful console on the face of the planet, but I don't care what the PS3 can do, consumers are going to have a hard time shelling out $600 bucks for a game system and I think this is going to really hurt Sony's position in the video game market. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see how this is going to work out in any good way, except maybe help Nintendo gain some much-needed ground back. In truth this arrogance that Sony seems to be showing at the moment reminds me of another company named Atari many years back that began to think that they could do anything they wanted and gamers would still buy their systems. And we all know what happened to them, don't we.