Looks like I will be waiting a couple of years for this to drop in price. I already have a 360 so I plan on skipping this in favor of the Revolution(I refuse to say wii).

http://ps3today.com/Blogs/News/hqs/blr_3925.aspx

It has a 20 and 60 gig hdd listed. I guess there are two versions, but they are not removable like the 360's hdd. I havn't really read any articles on the actual games shown, but if anyone has any links to articles and pics please share.

As has been pointed out before, Sony will sell out their entire stock until well after the new year. They could price it at 800, hell, a THOUSAND. It wouldn't matter. It would sell out. It's after those assured-buys are done, after the hardcore sony fanatics have all gotten their copies, that the price will matter. And by then, Sony might well be ready for a significant price drop. Sony has certainly not lost the battle yet. They WILL sell out for months on end. Period.

I predict that we will see 60GB PS3's selling for upwards of 1500 dollars on Ebay.

Anyone read this yet? The lower priced version is crippled. Isn't that what they gave Microsoft so much sh*t about, with the two different price points? And it doesn't even say whether or not you'll be able to "upgrade" later, like you can with the 360 by just buying a hdd.

If they actually go through with a 360 price drop, I think Microsoft really has a chance.

The lower priced one won't support memory sticks, sd or flash, won't have wifi, and won't do hdmi. Ouch.

Its gotta be a misprint.. I mean.. it just has to be.. no HDMI after all the crap about 1080P being the real "true HD".. I mean.. it has to be a misprint.

dual HDMI 1080P outputs at the same time.. just a few months ago!

Wow. I didn't notice that until I read the pdf. I thought the price difference was just the smaller hard drive.

The 2nd sku is the retard package so they can say they are only $100 more than the 360, but also have a Blu Ray player.

It is more expensive than my current gaming pc, but the PS3 will probably last you 6 years if it doesn't break down.

Why would you want a Blue Ray player that can't do HD?

That's why it's the 'tard package.

I wouldn't assume that no hdmi means no Hi-Def movies tho. I don't think that whole thing is set in stone.

I know nothing about HD signals, so tell me: Does the loss of HDMI limit any HD signal OTHER than 1080p? Will all the others 480, 720, etc. work? Will 1080i?

I was under the impression that no current TV's were even able to take advantage of 1080p. But maybe that was 1080i. So confusing.

In all, I think these are bad moves on Sony's part. I'd assume that things like memory compatibility and HDMI outputs are not the sorts of things that you could buy later and add on. Having two DISTINCT skus is a terrible idea. At least the core 360 can be made identical to the other version. The two PS3's are literally two different machines. Unless they have removable ports, which I doubt they will.

Did anyone else notice the lackluster response the audience gave for over half the conference? The only time I heard a shout of joy was when Mr. Skinny-Pink-Shirt-Pointing-Fingers said Hideo Kojima's name.

Ouch, ouch, ouch. Well, I guess I can rule out a PS3 for myself for a long while. Heck, I've been balking at the $399 price of the Xbox 360 so far.

Next gen is too dang spendy

Sure, but after ripping the "Xbox 1.5" for not supporting "true HD" (1080p), to release a PS3 that doesn't support "true HD" is, well, laughable.

And as bad as the Xbox 360 Core was, at least it's completely upgradable to a Premium system - buy a HDD, slap it in, buy a wireless controller, and you're money. You can't slap in HDMI ports, memory card ports, etc. This is a real cut-up version of the PS3. So I've got to get the big expensive one, but that won't happen anytime around launch (unless someone wants to buy me a nice wedding present? kthx)

Notice that many of the original ports are gone even in the more expensive $600 version. It only comes with 1x HDMI port, 1x Ethernet, ect. Originaly the PS3 was slated to have 2x HDMI outputs, 4x Ethernet Ports w/ the ability to act as a router/switch. It looks like they slashed all that to implement wireless controllers and the newly stolen motion sensor.

A little technical blurb for those of you confused about the whole HDMI thing: Blu-Ray will require High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), Component output does not support HDCP. So, effectively, you'll be screwed out of watching Blu-Ray movies.

I'm defintely not picking up a PS3 at that price. I was peeved enough at MS charging $399 for the 360, but suddenly that price has become a whole lot more attractive. Knowing Sony the price will not drop for years either. The PS2 stayed at $299 for at least 2 years (or am I wrong here?) I'm pretty much praying that people will outright refuse to buy these things, lest the average cost of consoles start to skyrocket over the coming generations.

Let me clarify 1080i and 1080p. The i stands for interlaced, which means you see have the image every other frame. It looks like it "swims" to me, just a little bit. I've got Oblivion running on 1080i on my xbox 360 (just the menus are at 1080i) and its a lot sharper than 720p but it still swims.

So the HDMI/1080p is worth the extra $100. But $600 for everything? Forget it! I can get the same games on my Xbox 360!