Goofy: PS3 Will Cost Ya Six Bills

$600 for a console game?

Sony says it's worth it because of the "free" benefits included (free, as long as you spend $600), like Blu-Ray HD DVD playing, and a Blu-Ray copy of Talledega Nights.

And free online gaming-- at least at first. Publishers can (will) begin charing later.

$600 for a game system seems a bridge too far. Sony's risking the end of their whole franchise by trashing an entire cycle of product purchasing.

Meanwhile, in Japan, they're going to sell it for still-a-lot-but-not-jawdropping $427 or so. If they can sell it in Japan at that price, why not North America?

I can't imagine there won't be fire-sale prices on the system six months after its release, just to keep the PlayStation franchise alive. But even if they start selling it at $450 a half year after its debut, a lot of customers are going someplace else.

I thought the PlayStation2 was kind of pricey when I bought it, a couple years back, for $225 or so. I think they're wildly overestimating the number of teens or game-crazy adults willing to pay $600 for a videogame console.

The XBox 360 costs half as much. That's a big difference.

Related: EA Game "Battlefield 2142" Now Comes Included With Unremovable Spyware: The idea is that the game logs your IP, to determine what part of the world you're playing in, then can insert language/region-appropriate advertising in the game. Billboards might advertise for Pepsi or, if you're in Korea, Dog Tongue Cola (now with 10% more extra dog tongue).

Gamers, who are a silly bunch, think this is a big deal. I don't, but EA provides no warnings on the outside of the box about this -- meaning you probably can't get a refund for the opened game once you find it's loaded with privacy-invading spyware.

Also Related... Someone in advertising is pretty smart, because I can't help avoid seeing a commercial for the PS2 game Justice League Heroes on any channel I watch, and I'm the target demographic for it.

Then again, everyone knows almost all superhero games suck.

Yup, everyone knows.

posted by Ace at 09:00 PM

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