PS3 will never be that low =(

Are you sure you aren't Rock-On?  You have the same avatar and you ask exactly the same type of question as he always poses. 

@topic

I believe the world we live in is a world of balance. To obtain something one must sacrifice something else. For this scenario to play out accordingly Sony will have had to make serious concessions in the area of their library to achieve that price point. While the other players will have had ample time and incentive to use their resources in other areas. That means while the PS3 may have more hardware functionality the other consoles would probably have libraries that were far superior. So much so the PS3 would look like it lacked support.

Speaking as a gamer by that point I doubt the PS3 would be anything remotely close to a viable platform. Microsoft and Nintendo might be making handsome profits, but Sony gaming would be a gutted hulk. The cost cutting, and the selling off of acquisitions to fuel these price cuts would leave the division a shell of its former self. Which would in turn bode ill for the future of the brand. Which of coarse brings into question the potential for backward compatibility in a future console, because I would seriously not believe there would be a new Playstation.

The other two are reasonably possible, and would be affordable for both Microsoft and Nintendo. However for Sony to get at that point would mean that Sony would literally have to scourge just about everything else out of the equation. The games would suffer, the online service would suffer, the future prospects would be on life support.

@Final-Fan

Microsoft made the right call when it came to connectivity. While Wi-fi may be convenient for some. The reality is that the majority of consumers do not yet have this capacity within their homes. Which means Microsoft saved more consumers money. More importantly it meant that everyone who bought their console that had internet access could go online immediately.

That has to be the priority about such things. What functions for the majority of consumers, and what ensures that all of them can use the function. I found this generation the Wii is perhaps the console with the worst connectivity. Out of the box I was told hey you have to go spend another forty dollars on a dongle to play me online. The entire thing was kind of idiotic. What a three dollar jack on the back of the console was too expensive for Nintendo. While a wireless option was cost effective. That made absolutely no sense.

Will wireless eventually make sense probably, but that is still four or five years down the line. When the technology is more reliable, and the majority of our hardware comes enabled. When the modem box your broadband provider comes automatically enabled to do so. That is not right now though. Right now its still lines, and will be until wireless becomes a standard rather then a luxury.

My point is actually not that the 360 doesn't have wireless but that MS charges you out the ass if you need to ADD wireless.

P.S. "When the technology is more reliable"? You don't think that wireless technology is mature in terms of reliability?

P.P.S. "world of balance" I'm not looking forward to the World of Ruin.

No wireless is not reliable there are still too many issues with data loss, connectivity loss, and issues with environmental interference. I know a number of wireless users that still have issues. The technology is most assuredly not full proof yet. Until you have heard someone online go totally filthy, because of intermittent connection, lag, or someone turning on that damned microwave oven you haven't lived. I know people that have had top of the line setups dump them and go back to good old cord. I am talking four hundred and five hundred dollar setups on top of high speed lines. So pardon me if your sarcastic response doesn't sell me on reliability. I listened to someone take a knife to a power cable the other night.

You do not like Microsoft's device that is cool I agree it is overpriced. However there are third party alternatives. Here is an example of one such device for less then half the price. On par with what a dongle for the Wii will run you.

http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wireless-B-Game-Adapter-WGA11B/dp/B0002M4HXC/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in

Any sarcasm you saw was put there by you.

I was asking a serious question: it seems to me that wireless has been around long enough that there is not likely to be any dramatic jump in reliability (which is what I meant by "mature technology"); but I haven't studied the subject, so I put the question to you.

Speaking of which, you have made a good case that wireless is considerably less reliable than a wired setup, which I knew already, but have said nothing to indicate that the situation will improve as you said you think it will. Maybe the coming improvements are obvious to you but I have not paid attention to wireless development.

P.S. And if by sarcasm you were somehow referring to "world of ruin", that was purely a joke capitalizing on FFVI and your use of the phrase "world of balance". It had nothing to do with anything else.

ps3 because it will have BC and be a bluray player aswell.