Originally posted by: akubi
Originally posted by: Yreka
I think the main thing against the PS3 right now is the price. None of my friends that I would call "Console Gamers", would even consider one until they have a model under $400.
it's true, but the funny part is couple of hundred bucks isn't even money these days. back when NES mario+duck hunt bundle sold for like 200, it was a lot of money. now you got cell phone bills, cable, broadband, a night out, hundreds here and there.
kids without jobs are the only ones that should be complaining about the price. that's why the most vocal ps3 haters on the internet sound like immature preteens.
want to bitch about the games and features? fine. but the hardware is worth that much. it's not like sony's wrapped up a bowl of gumdrops in a plastic box and marked it up 600 bucks. try building one yourself, it's worth every penny. will the software make use of all this? only time will tell.
Oh I agree completely that the PS3 is worth the money. That wasn't the point I was after.
The main point I was trying to make is that much money
is significant to people who don't hold gaming as high on the totem pole of life. You sorta make my point in your first paragraph. Its because of the cellphone bills, power, gas, insurance, braces for the kids, groceries, etc that $200 becomes significant. Income IS a finite resource, ways to spend it most certainly aren't.
Its not an issue of disposable income, in my mind its A. perception of value, and B. all of the "Other things" competing for the income, disposable or otherwise.
These people are not stupid. They are very intelligent individuals in various fields, they aren't necessarily as tech savy as you, or most of the people here. Sure, you know the value of a blue-ray player, and wi-fi, but to someone who dosnt want to pay 20+ for movies, and dosent know a SSID from WEP it means exactly jack shite.
They see a $400 system with some kick ass games and a $700 dollar system with a couple of kick ass games (but understand more are on the way). To them, they can't see the difference to justify the extra cash. This is the perception of value. And this is why Sony made the effort to launch a campaign explaining the cost breakdown between the two systems and where the money is going. Problem is, even with the knowlage of the options, there are still quite a few people without a use for them.
These guys, in my experience define the console gaming sect. Admittedly this is changing as society as a whole become more tech savvy, and certain technology becomes more mainstream. But in my little circle of the world, this stereotype still, for the most part holds true.
The 360 taps into that in a way. They can grab a "kick ass" game system now for "cheap" then add wifi, HD-DVD as their needs arise. Or not, the point is choice.
Another positive about doing things this way is it allows people to grow into the tech. I'll give you a specific example. Friend of mine, Justin fits the mold perfectly. Has a HDTV, but has "no use" for blue-ray or HD-DVD. See he is my age, and we are both just barely old enough to remember VHS betamax. Anyway, he finally decides to get a system. I at least convinced him to get the premium over core, but he was convinced that "he just didnt need all that $hit" regarding the network adapter, hd drive, remote, hedset, etc. Ok fine, we get it home and he sets it up.
2 weeks later, he is bitching to me about having to keep switching the cable between his dell and xb to play online. Ok fine, go down and he springs for the (overpriced) network adapter and a cheap router. Set it up, all is good. Well now he is poking around in dashboard, and realize he can stream music, pictures, etc from his dell to his xbox. Further, he stared downloading HD clips from XBlive, and he is "blown away" by the difference between HD and SD content, so now he goes and buys the HD-DVD player.
Can the PS3 do all this ****** ? Sure, but the difference is in this case there is no way in hell he would have paid $700 for a system initially without fully understanding what exactly the tech did. M$ does a good job of sucking people like this in for the big purcahse. They take you out to dinner, kiss you, and lube up before sticking it to you. Sony basically says "Im Sony, here it is, take it dry and like it". Strange as it sounds, some people are put off by this tactic
The PS3 as it stands now is a bit ahead of its time. I still think the world will catch up before Sony goes bankrupt. After all, the PS3 is the clear choice in some sects, its not like it isnt selling at all.
(And Im sure at some point I will get a wild hair up my (_+_) to go buy one, not beofre I get a Wii though.)
See after all this generalizing, I'm the dumbass who buys all the ****** and never has time to play it
Sorry for being so verbose, im kinda bored today...