I'll admit, I'm in the "It's too f#@king expensive" crowd. That $599 price tag was a press conference punch in the gut. However, I fully realize that I will do what's necessary to secure a PS3 on day one. The console lust just takes over. All I see is shiny new piano black plastic and a vision of my future self huffing the factory fresh fumes from the newly opened box. But I'm the guy who came this close (fingers just a hairs breadth apart) to dropping over a grand on a Prada suit today. I know, I know. In my defense, it was really sweet.

Speaking of suits, the analysts at DFC Intelligence also think that the PS3 is just a bit too pricey, that it might hurt Sony's marketshare and the industry as a whole. Citing that the "video game business model has been to build an installed base of tens of millions of users in a very short-time frame", Sony's premium price "could spell rough times for publishers that have come to rely so much on Sony's ability to build a huge market of devoted video game consumers". Will the market see what a "bargain" they'll be getting with Blu-Ray, integrated Wi-Fi and a standard hard drive?

On the other side of the fence is Next-Gen. They contend that the console is quite a bargain, that it will continue to sell out for the first six-months, putting all of Sony's promised 6 million consoles into the hands of the hardcore within the first four and a half months.

Would I be surprised? No. Clearly the Xbox 360 is selling out at higher prices than the previous generation and, for a time, well above it on eBay. I'm starting to wonder what happens the following year, when Sony can afford to drop the price a bit lower. Launch mania will be over, the Wii and the Xbox 360 will be firmly entrenched and Blu Ray acceptance will still be an unknown factor. Regardless of the outcome, it's going to be an exciting console war to watch from the outside. —Michael McWhertor

Analyst: PlayStation 3 Price Could Hurt Sony, Industry [Gamasutra]
Opinion: Sony's Far From Being Whipped [Next-Gen]

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