But it isn't the Mercedes of the video game field.

It's more like the Expedition of the video game field that you can only buy if you get the Taurus of the BR field and the Focus of the CD audio field.

It's actually the best Blu-ray player on the market. Many of the $1000+ Blu-ray players lack features the PS3 has and it also has top notch video and audio output. Say what you will about it, but it is a Mercedes for gaming, Blu-ray and SACD. Of course it is a Yugo for DVD playback.

I'll give you the second two, the first one still has yet to be proven.

PS3 has another 2 christmas seasons to get through before I would be comfortable saying it was a bust. They got off to a horrible start, but I think they can bounce back fine. Maybe they won't be the powerhouse in America like there was last gen, but they can still seize a nice portion of the market.

Personally, I prefer things that way. Means less exclusives, which means less systems I feel the need to buy in the long run.

Yeah, if you see a 3-way tie (or close to it) you'll likely see less exclusives (especially between PS3 and 360).

I think the PS3 is like the housing market. Potential Buyers are at a wait-and-see period. There's a lot of people who are interested in PS3 but are waiting to see if it's worth it. Some big games and/or a price drop could start selling a lot more consoles. It seems like most people who bought a PS3 so far just wanted a Blu-ray player. :)

A Mercedes isn't just a Mercedes because it has a high-end leather interior, a digital keyless ignition and a GPS. It's got to be a Mercedes under the hood.

The PS3 has a computer in it that, while it's hard to compare because it is designed differently, most people who know this stuff seem to think is not significantly more powerful than the Xbox 360.

Sony's machine ceded the field for a year to get to the point where they could mass produce the BluRay drive for this thing, and it still costs $200 more than the 360. And now they don't have any games that sell the thing to gamers.

If they had a brand new, Next-Gen, God of War on the PS3, all other complaints aside, gamers would mortgage their firstborn for the thing. But God of War 2 is a PS2 game and no gamers feel they really need "Resistance."

Same here. They lose Final Fantasy, and they pretty much lose any chance of me buying one.

I like some of their first party games like Ratchet, Sly and God of War, but they are all titles I can live with out for sure.

Final Fantasy is the only system seller exclusive they still currently have for me personally, and even it wouldn't get me to buy a PS3 for more than $300.

Interesting that both Microsoft and Sony love the Wii as it isn't directly competing with their consoles. I imagine that by the end of this generation, most households will have Wii plus one or the other of the other two.

I also think that as HD grows in popularity, the Wii will decline somewhat.

But I think that large-scale adoption of HDTVs is probably still 5 years away. I know I don't plan on buying one soon and I actually want one. And while it looks nicer than standard def, its never blown me away (except live sports looked really nice). I think many people are waiting to upgrade after their current TV burns out or HDs are at the $500 mark.

In 5 years, we'll have all new gaming consoles.

I wouldn't count on it. Maybe for tech-heads and such.. but there's a still big number of people playing Xbox 360 on their SDTV (or HDTVs even) through composite and are none the wiser on it. I'd actually wager the opposite, once developers start putting actual time into their Wii projects they'll probably be even further enticing against the same-old, same-old the PS3 and 360 seem to be aiming for.

Very much so. Too many people that spend all their time on internet forums where this stuff (HDTV) is the norm seem to get it into their heads that what they see on the screen translates into the real world.

well, if enough people were into HD and HD gaming, I think as the popularity increases, Nintendo would almost be forced to make some type of update to allow higher resolutions

Heck, I play the Wii on an HDTV and have no problems with it. I don't see why it would be different for anyone other than the most intensive graphics whores.

The key will be two things.

1. Do these projects down the line appeal to the non-gamers like Wiisports does?

2. Do these projects appeal to mainstream gamers who have 360s and/or PS3s? Doesn't necessarily have to be the "same-old, same-old" but they need to get them on board somehow.

If the answer to either or both of these is yes, the Wii will continue to grow in popularity. If the answer is no, it would mean its the Wii will slow down and end up just appealing to the same niche as the Gamecube--i.e. kids and fans of Nintendo games like myself.

I don't know if that is a comparison Sony wants to make considering the quality of Mercedes has been consistently sliding downhill in recent years.

I agree... I play on an HDTV with the knowledge that the Wii will not look as good as the other two systems, and have no problem. Not everyone cares that much about graphics as they do about price, and by the time HDTV becomes standard, Nintendo will be on it's next console (or maybe even next next console).

Besides, fun games are still fun games... look at all the classic collections coming out. I don't think Nintendo will "have to" upgrade their resolution specs this gen.

Well they couldn't say Lexus, after the PS2's reliability...

I kinda think five years is too far out for HD adoption. It really going to depend on how low HD prices fall(IMHO I think its pretty low now). When analog signal is deep sixed in 2008, How will the proposed convertor boxes cost?

I don't think it will affect Wii popularity at all.

That's assuming they don't delay axing the analog signal again.

I'd be shocked if it actually goes through in 2008.

Agreed. Didn't they already delay it once. And doesn't this only affect over the antenna broadcasts? I believe a standard TV will be fine with a cable box/satellite box.

Yes to both questions.

It really pointless as it really only affects the poor people who can't afford any kind of cable and satellite and just get by with rabbit ears. Those people can't get an HDTV anyway, so its not like forcing broadcast to switch over is going to get HDTVs in homes any faster.

The Government has no power over cable or satellite, just broadcast since the airwaves are public domain.

Just had the PS3 launch this morning in Australia and everyone I've spoken to has reported sales as being quite dismal.
We opened our 'Domayne' store 2 hours before midnight so we could take orders and then closed shop at 1am. Maybe 10 were sold. In the same retail complex another larger retailer (Harvey Norman, Australia's largest electrical retailer) sold about 35 with 20 of them being pre orders. We opened shop again today at 9am and sold less than another 10 throughout the day. Another Domayne store I spoke to in Sydney reported only selling 11 during the midnight launch.

All in all it was much less than what we expected. The PSP and 360 launch periods saw each salesperson selling several units a day for about a week. Keep in mind we're an electrical retailer, not a games shop.

This is the forum post that prompted me to make this post.
http://www.zgeek.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65566

Is it a electronics chain similar to Best Buy or Circuit City? Wasn't the price also a bit steeper down under?

I believe it was originally 2004 or 2006. So much for that. :lol:

It's not about getting HDTVs in home faster. It's about the money the government can make in auctioning off the analog signals.

I missed your post before, and unless I'm reading it wrong, this is completely and utterly wrong. HD signals are carried over antenna as well. For free. Fox, NBC, ABC, & CBS. All you need is an HDTV with a built in decoder and a decent antenna.

So theoretically all Jim Bob needs is an HDTV and an antenna strong enough to pick up the signals.

But I may be reading your response wrong.