so for an extra $100 you get a bigger hard drive and a $30 game i wouldn't want? so why is this a good deal again? i mean, do they at least include hdmi/componet cables?!? oh wait - that would make sence being an HD console and all.

seriously sony - you have me partially sold on LBP but you need to drop your price not raise it with pointless crap.

@Garcian Smith

Please tell me you aren't serious? Are you trying to dispute me? It's called a job. College students, unless they are dumb, make around $10-$20 bucks an hour. Any standard internship will pay this, as well as waiting tables. At even 12 dollars an hour 12 * 40 = $ 480. Adults make seriously more than this.

Did I mention inflation? I don't think so. I am a business major so it is my job to know about this. Internal and external pressures contribute to increases in the aggregate Consumer Price Index, changes in Unskilled Wage Earnings, Gross Domestic Product Per Capita, I will not go into this and all the complexitities of economics. The inflation rate,(not inflation there is no such thing) is just one of many factors that contribute to increases in the aggregate price level.

So accordingly, $299 when the PS2 was released has the same purchasing power, not value, as ~$430 in today's terms. So shut up and don't try to bash someone you don't know.

For a business major you sure don't know much about the real world unless your just talking about the upperclass.  Many people have these things called Bills and taxes to pay which severely limit how much you actually make.  Also most college students do not work 40 hours a week usually 10-15 depending on how tough your major is etc.  Again $499 might not seeem like much to you maybe aroudn your neck of the woods but is plenty for many people dealing with this tough economy.

pretty good for new comers.

wtf i alredy bought a 80gb model oh mann

I managed to find an MGS4 bundle, so I'm done being pissed at them for releasing more and more gimped models. Now I'm just going to sit back and watch them hang themselves in the barn.

College kid who doesn't know anything about the real world ITT.

First, I dare you to work 40 hours a week and be a full-time student. No, seriously. Try it and tell me how long it takes before you go insane.

Second, what kind of college kid can make $20 an hour, especially when most college kids have zero (or next to zero) real-world job experience and skills? I have a college degree, not to mention experience in a professional school, and I'm lucky if i can make $12/hour working full-time. What jobs have you been working where you make $20/hour as a student, especially in an internship?

Third, you'd expect that a BUSINESS MAJOR would know a little something about a tiny, niggling point called the income tax. Even if a student could make $480/week, $480 gross != $480 net.

Finally, get off it already. Throwing around a bunch of technical terms does not a good argument make. If you want to say you're right, then explain why you're right, and stop acting like we're a bunch of lowly, ignorant plebeians.

@ Garcian Smith

When talking about the "real world" one has to look at the economy as a collective whole, not at a micro level affecting each individual differently. As for making money in college, most students work full time during the summer, which is where I came up with my figures. Internships at the college level pay good money, especially if one displays interest in working for their company in the long term.
Waiting tables in a college town, or bartending also pulls in serious cash.

I did not really want to get into this at all, can we leave it at this. My addition to this forum was to illustrate why I liked this bundle from Sony's marketing point of view, not to get into a debate about economics or individual entitlement and success. I wanted people to look at it from another perspective, not just as a consumer.

I see that I have offended you with my posts, and retract any statements that may have done so. If it's alright with you can we put it to rest.