That's who point

People on here don't have a PS3 largely. Why? 400UKP is a lot for a games console.

A Wii is 179UKP, 400-179 leaves a lot of money for games.

Console Envy

I'm reading a lot of comments here from people who clearly don't have a PS3 but desperately want one. To hide their envy, (perhaps it's jealousy because they already blew their wad on a nice shiny 360?) they bleat on and on about Sony being bad, or PS3 being too expensive or crap. Then there are the somewhat irrational comments that go something like x360 is teh best, Wii roxx and PS3 is carp!

How about some justification for you comments people? I could easily say PS3 rocks, Wii is kiddy crap that looks dated already and is capable of no more than my 6 year old PS2. I could also point out that the Xbox360 Premium and Elite come closer to costing what a PS3 does, but offer nothing like the capability. Can you play HD-DVD or BluRay on your 360? No. Go spend another $199 for that pleasure. Oh, wait suddenly it's as expensive as the PS3, but wait what's this? No wireless networking? Backwards compatibility that is little more than a joke.

Come on people, get real. I have a PS3, it's really no bigger than the old original PS2, so all this bull about it being so huge is simply that, bull. Heavy? Hmmm.... yes, but so is my DVR, guess what, I lug neither of them around on my back every day, so I don't really notice the weight of it either. Wireless controller is nice, wireless networking is nice. BluRay playback is awesome. Upscaled games and DVDs are awesome. In fact playing some of the later PS2 games, especially if you're new to them, looks so good, you could be forgiven for thinking that the game had in some way been re-worked for PS3. Yes, the upscaling is that good.

I haven't seen terribly many posters anywhere that actually have a PS3 and have a problem with the unit, the function or the price. Yes, $600 is steep, but I spent $1000 building a modest PC last year. If I'd spec'd it up for gaming I could have added at least another $500 to the bill, and that's without an HD playback device. So, cost is somewhat relative. I also remember back in the 80s, some 20 years ago, people paid 399pounds sterling for BBC Micros, and they paid (if memory serves) up to 199 pounds sterling for Spectrums, C64s and those bloody Amstrads. That was 20+ years of inflation ago, God alone knows how much that is in todays money. Cost is relative.

You know that the worst cost is/was? The HDMI cable. Had I been stupid I'd have paid over $100 for a 'Monster' cable, or $50 for a Sony one, of $20-30 for a store bought 'generic' one. Even Belkins are in the $50 range for crying out loud. I got clever went to NewEgg.com and for a nice simple $4.99 plus shipping I got (in 3 days) a nice 6ft HDMI cable that works perfectly. If you want to bitch about the cost of something, pick your targets with more care. PS3 is a very good piece of hardware for the money, stop being sheep led around by Microsoft or Nintendo and evaluate the machine not the marketing. If you really must complain about the cost of console related items, please pick on the HDMI cable folks, they are printing money. $130 for a 8 foot HDMI cable? What is it made from braided plantinum? Ha!

I'm a Sony user for many years

Had the ps, ps2, have a psp, my phone is sony ericsson (810i, excellent phone), and I still use my old dsc-t3 digital camera for a fun pocket digital.

Now I've established that, I think it's fair to say that Nintendo deserve their success for innovating and giving the world cheap cheerful fun rather than high end processing. I'm about as likely to buy a wii as a ps3.

I do think that in two to three years, things will have shifted, as the wii dates more and more, while the ps3 has room to recover if it gets the killer apps it needs. That said, there's no reason Nintendo can't come out with some new ideas for the wii, or maybe a Xii, a nex-gen better spec version for slightly more in a few years.

Sony have put themselves in a difficult spot by finally being the one to price high - and by screwing europe on release, build, and price. They've miffed me enough that I won't buy until it has at least a few more great games, WITH online gaming.

In their defence though, the poster earlier who pointed to the Wii as a revenue stream while others lose on sales - the wii is exceptional in the console market, and that's exactly why Nintendo deserve credit. However it's hard to replicat enovelty, and it will slide technologically faster. If the ps3 or Xbox360 get wide enough suppor,t the money is in licensing and publishing games, which can return big if played right. They just play to a bigger strategy.

So enjoy the Wii, it may not be a laster, but it's a great kick in the pants for traditional console design! :)

I have neither.............

I read with interest all the news on Sonys PS3 and the XBox 360 and it still makes me laugh. I do not have a games console and have only briefly owned one for 3 weeks before burglars stole it and was never replaced. That was a PS2 and frankly, I was bored before I even started. All this oooooh the PS3 has gigapixell transformatting instead of shadow forcing doogle plops is ridiculous. WHO CARES?!? Stick it on your 32" Bog standard LCD at home and it all looks the same anyway. Plus, if the game is written poorly (which most are) then it doesn't use the technology to the full anyway! Any muppet knows that - just look at Windows Vista. Yes, the games are improving all the time and yes, there is interactivity over Broadband internet but at the end of the day, you have a peice of plastic in your hand, a silly headset on your head and you are frantically pressing buttons to 'kill', 'outrun' or 'out drive' an opponent whom you will probably never meet. Some social activity that is.

However the Wii is something else. No Giga plops, terra pixels, nano polygonning comparisons here because it doesn't need it. It has become a social gaming event where friends can actually see, touch and talk to each other have a good time. Blimey, you can even have a drink with them and make a night of it. My point is it comes down to this. Some nerdy, geeky, I want the (perceivable) best whatever it takes bod is only interested in its performance and fancy named processors and couldn't care less about its playability etc.And thats where Sony have fallen down. These people are usually 12 and rely on parents who, being ADULTS, can obviously see that £425 to be locked in your bedroom for eternity is a fruitless waste of money. The Wii at half the price is playable by all and the return on investment is far greater.

Do you know. I have convinced myself to buy one now. How manys that now then? 6 squillion 3 hundred and ninety - one now..........

XNA Toolkit

I forgot to add in my earlier comment that another factor on buying the 360 was the XNA toolkit that Microsoft have made available. I am starting to write some games for the 360, great fun!