Beyond Gaming

"The PS3's coming, tra-la, tra-la ..."

The recent $100 price drop on the PS3 is already paying dividends for Sony.  In the two weeks since the reduction, sales have increased 135 percent. 

This is great news for early adopters of the PS3.  Increased sales may lead to greater support for the system by third party game developers, to more game exclusives, and can help tilt the scales of the Blu-Ray-HD DVD battle if the system really takes off.

Maybe this success will encourage Sony not to screw things up by jacking up the price of the PS3 to $599 when the 80GB system comes out in August.  With Lair and Madden 08 coming out for the PS3, August can be a great month for Sony.

Say it aint Sony!

As an early adopter of the PS3, I feel cheated by the latest news from Sony.

Sony is introducing an 80GB version of the PS3, which will be available for $599, and is going to phase out the 60GB version of the PS3.

While early adopters should be rewarded for their patronage, it seems we're always getting the "royal screw job," to quote Homer Simpson.

First, the Xbox 360 is plagued with the Red Ring of Death and hardware failures, now Sony gives late comers an advantage by offering the 80GB version -- and to top it off, there's word that the new, improved version will be reduced in price to $499 once the stock of the original 60GB version is sold out.

I guess I shouldn't complain -- as Sony attracts more gamers to the PS3, the industry and game developers will throw more support behind the system and improve on the high quality games already available for the system. 

What do you think about the recent moves from Sony?  Are you more inclined to buy the system now that it's available for $499, or will you wait for further price drops?

'Swiit' Victory

The final numbers are in, and Nintendo can claim victory as its Wii sold more units than the PS3 and Xbox 360 during their respective launches.

PS3 to Stay in Short Supply

An analyst with American Technology Research has bad news for people interested in purchasing the PS3.

With European demand stretching supplies thin, analyst Paul-John McNealy says that it is likely that the PS3 will have limited availability in the U.S. through June 2007

No PS3 or Wii? Register at Amazon tomorrow

Amazon is giving an early Christmas present to gamers.  Consumers who want to pick up a PS3 (60 Gig or 20 Gig versions) or the Nintendo Wii can visit here to sign up for a random drawing being held Tuesday, December 19.  Those names selected will have the opportunity to purchase one of the hard-to-get systems.

You have to act fast, though -- you can only sign up for the drawing through 3:00 a.m. Eastern on Monday, December 18.

For those who aren't selected, BensBargains.net does a great job of tracking the availability of the PS3 and Wii at various online retail sites. The PS3 Finder and Wii Tracker are updated every 10 minutes.  I know these sites work because I used the Xbox 360 Tracker to get my system last year.

Good luck!