Gadgetopia

I share your joy (and not happily as I'm a PS1/PS2 owner). But Sony started chasing the polygon count and hardware crackpipe that the PC went down years ago.

The best things that have happened on the PS platform in the last 3 years are Guitar Hero and Katamari Damacy. Sony forgot that GAMEPLAY is the reason people buy GAMES.

Polygon counts are for hard core GAMERZ and not normal people who just want to have some fun - it's the video game equivalent of the big, stupid summer blockbuster action movie that is all CGI and no story, no heart.

Sony is selling PS3 at a loss; base unit retail prices are $499 and $599, while production costs are estimated at $805 and $840. The more money Sony loses on PS3 sales, the BETTER they are doing.

The big discount is driven by two factors. First, it is relatively standard to sell new gaming consoles at a loss (many analysts estimate that Microsoft's initial retail price for the X-box 360 was 20% below cost) and make it up on game sales. Razors and printers operate on the same business model.

Probably more important to Sony than the games is Blu-Ray. The PS3 is much cheaper than other Blu-Ray players on the market (Best Buy online lists three at $799, $999, and $1,199), and should expand that market. It gives Blu-Ray a huge advantage over HD-DVD, and that is what Sony is really after.