Slimmer PS3, Slimmer Price

So the Playstation 3's price has dropped $100 (to $299), and they're releasing a 120GB new slim-design in September. You can get the current 80GB model for $299 on amazon.com and places like Gamestop, though I think Sony will soon stop producing those.



As for the new slim design, I see what others mean when they call it ugly, but I can't say that I care. For $300 you get a next generation console with 120GB of space, a built-in Blu-Ray player, AND it plays xvid and h264 files off of a USB drive. My old roommates PS3 provides some of the best DVD to HD up-conversion I've ever seen--a big bonus if you have a HDTV and a large DVD collection.

In the video above, SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton explains (as I already knew) that the PS3 is on a 10-year plan, of which they're on year 3. In three years they've cut the price in half, though they have dropped Playstation 2 compatibility along the way, as well as reduced the number of USB ports from 4 to 2.

I wonder what other changes will occur over the next 7 years. I see something akin to a laptop--no, something that actually is a laptop, with it's own screen for personal playing on the go plus HDMI. Much easier for LAN parties and system links. Of course, that's how I play most of my games now--on a laptop, with the option of using HDMI out.

I wonder how many more generations of consoles we will have. Actually, I don't even know why we still have consoles. Why isn't everyone PC gamers? PC gaming has all the benefits of console gaming and more. My laptop can plug into a tv via S-Video or HDMI, I can use a Xbox 360 controller if I wanted to, I can play online, I have a fully-capable browser, and when not gaming I can play every audio and video codec I can think of, unlike with the 360 and PS3. I can take my laptop anywhere--from my room to the living room couch or with me on vacation. Possible with a console, I suppose, but not as practical. I do understand why everyone doesn't game on PCs. My laptop was expensive, computers are sometimes fussy and when a game won't play sometimes it requires hours of searching online to find out why. But that's a rarity. Ever since I've gotten Windows 7 running properly, I haven't had a problem gaming on it.

That said, a lot of games that are PS3 exclusive do make it tempting--that's right, despite being a PS3 cheerleader I don't own one. Like I said my old roommate had one. I've only been in a PS3-less house for a couple months, and part of the reason I haven't bought one yet it because I heard a lot of people at E3 predicting an impending price drop. Now I will buy one--and yes, one of the new slim ones. But if I have a choice between buying a game on PC or PS3, I'll buy it for PC. Obviously.

David