Just got a PS3 as well... my online ID is "scottshoots" is anyone wants to add me.

I received 'Babel' several weeks after the Paramount announcement (but sent in my form in late July.)

(I wonder if there will be any issues with receiving WB titles from Toshiba and if I will receive my HD DVDs before there's another studio defection from that format.)

Rumors are swirling on CAG and SD about a possbile 40GB price cut to $299....I highly doubt it, but it would be nice....maybe a friend will buy one if that happens.

No way Sony's going to cut the price of the PS3 in half barely a year out. Not too confident people are picking up second jobs to afford one are they?

I hope they cut the price! You got to believe Microsoft is going to cut the price on one of the SKU's at some point. Maybe the arcade version to 229? With the economy the way it is and no big shopping days I would think sales would be slow in the upcoming months?

I'm surprised MS has been able to ride their pricing as long as they have, especially on unreliable hardware. 2 years with only a $20 price cut? That's insane. I would assume they will have one before GTA hits.

I think Sony has more pressure to lower prices than Microsoft. The PS3 is THE Blu-ray player as far as studios are concerned (for the time being) and so a lower cost PS3 means more BD Players in households for studios. As a gaming system it's still playing second fiddle to the 360, as an overall entertainment machine? It's got a slight edge.

Edit: Oh and my GT5: Prologue came in, great game but one thing gets me... why oh why can't there be just a little AA going on. Damn jaggies manage to be extra distracting since everything else looks so damn nice. Eye of Judgement from the Amazon DOTD sale came in as well, can't wait to try it out .

I still haven't bought either system yet. I am mainly a PC gamer and the prices NEED to drop. If either the 360 or the PS3 was down to $250 they would sell like hotcakes! Some people can't afford 350-400 to 500 for a system plus games. It really has to be a true price drop not some crap bundle of some sort. Just my opinion...

Technically, the 40GB has not had a price cut yet, as it is a new SKU for Sony.

So what is the actual breakdown of price drops? Does this look right?

60GB: $600 -> $500
80GB: $500 -> $500
20GB: $500 -> $400
40GB: $400 -> $400

I'm curious to see what the PS3 sales figures are following Warner's Blu-ray exclusivity announcement.

Pretty much, yes.

Longshot maybe, but not impossible. The costs of the console are supposedly way down and the need to continue the sales they had in December. With the potential of selling a lot more BD movies and with big titles coming I would not be shocked by another $100 price drop.

Supposed Sony is just now manufacturing PS3s for less than the sale price. A $100 price drop now would put them back in the hole again. Any price drop will probably happen closer to E3 though.

True, but they can't afford to stay this far behind Microsoft forever. They have to prove to third parties that they can catch MS and Nintendo for that matter. If it takes a price drop they have to do it. Selling software is what matters and if they fail to gain ground on MS in 2008 they are done for this gen.

I think its pretty clear that Worldwide, the PS3 will easily overtake the 360 in the next 2 years. It is just the US market that is very tough for sony ATM. I think that there will be some major surprises as far as exclusive games coming out this year that will really help sonys cause, not to mention the success of Blu-Ray gives the PS3 a lot more worth then before when there was no guarantee of it succeeding. The US just has a lot of gamers who love the type of games that come to the 360, and thats understandable, but i think Sony will make great strides this year in countering the balance, and next year should really go full on. Worldwide tho, i do not think sony has much to worry about, it is doing VERY well all over the rest of the world. I do not consider the Wii competition to the PS3 in any way at all, it is more of a Toy and games made for the Wii arent competiting against games made for the PS3 at all. Totally different market.

I'm really not sure it is that clear. The 360 is crushing it in North America and the UK. There is not a lot of the world left for the PS3 to catch up in. It needs to compete in those two countries as well.

I agree with this somewhat, but you look at the top selling games in Japan you see tons of Nintendo. They have some big selling Wii titles there and Sony needs to compete with Nintendo in their home country. They can't lose badly to Nintendo in Japan, Microsoft in North America and the UK and expect to succeed this gen.

They have to improve worldwide. I think they can and they are showing signs, but 2008 needs to be a big improvement for them. Winning the Blu-ray movie war is not going to be enough.

Based on what? I'll bite. The numbers right now according to VGChartz (rounded up):

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360: 16.5m
PS3: 9.5m
========

Now lets say the 360 sells, on average, a modest 200,000 a month for the next 24 months. That is a gain of 4.8m (round to 5m). So at the end of this 2 year period the 360 has sold 21.5 million.

So in that same time frame, just to catch up and tie the 360 the PS3 would have to make up a 12 million deficit(7m existing + 5m gain). That means they would have to average 500,000 PS3s a month from here on out.

Essentially the PS3 would have to turn into an overnight Wii-like success. They would have to more than double the sales of the 360 every month from here on out just to break even. How many months has the PS3 outsold the 360 in its 13 month lifespan? None? What were they bragging about, 1 week? Barring a huge fuck-up by MS(like announcing the 720 too early) I don't see it happening.

2008 is do or die for the PS3. Like darside said, they can't just ignore Nintendo. Sure the 360 is a non-factor in Japan but do they really want to concede their homeland to a competitor? As for the 360, it's the system to own and they still haven't even had a serious price drop yet. So thinking PS3 will easily overtake the 360 in the next 2 years seems a bit naive and coming from blind loyalty.

I'm surprised that Sony sold that many PS3s. Particularly given the console's pricing and lack of quality games.

I have a hunch that the end of the hidef disc format war will draw more attention to the PS3. As a total package, I am thoroughly enjoying my PS3, even WITH the weaker set of games available. But I don't see the PS3 easily overtaking the 360 in 2 years. It wouldn't surprise me if it eventually does, but there's going to have to be many fantastic games for it as there are for the 360.

Yeah, now we have to look at the amount of games sold for the PS3. I'm sure a majority of the people are just using it for a Blu-Ray player.

Well looks like UT 3 won't be out for the 360 anytime soon, that is a leg up in my opinion.

The numbers aren't that surprising when you break them out:

PS3 Sales:
1.79M Japan
3.59M America
3.84M Others

Xbox360 Sales:
0.56M Japan
10.52M America
5.40M Others

It has a lot, a LOT, of ground to cover in the US. But on the whole, it is doing decently.

I'm enjoying UT3 on the PS3 despite somewhat lackluster controls (I never realized just how slow you turned on console shooters, even with it fully accelerated.) And I think it will remain the better version of the game (I don't see MS being cooperative with user-made mods.) I like the Gamespy-style game joining, it's one game that really needs that.

Those numbers are especially good seeing as the 360 has been out for 2 years now and the PS3 only 1.

Side note....my brother is getting a PS3 soon, and he has the Onkyo 605 receiver...it will be hooked up via HDMI in -> HDMI OUT to TV.

What audio setting do I use on the PS3? Linear PCM/Bitstream?

From what I understand after dealing with my optical audio out issue this weekend, you should be just fine with the default PCM.