I doubt the PS3 is really targeted for casual players at the current price... Unlike the Arcade, which is the price you're using. I'd say Arcade suffices mostly for casual players. Pro would be better for comparison... Though Arcade versus Wii could do it.

Anyway, it's all about games (and whether you want to pay for playing online). Of course it's worth it if the other platform doesn't have the games you want. And if there's no difference or the 360 has the games... Well, then you'll get the 360 I suppose.

All I know is that if Sony had worked on the 80 20 rule when including its components it would of walked off with all the acolades, but it did not.

That leaves us with the 20% telling the 80% how wonderfull it is and how worth it it is.

The worst of it is, both consoles do the gaming thing well on both platforms. One is cheaper the other not so.

+1

Also add MGS4 to the list... it is better than all hardware!

I obviously cannot answer all the replies but in general all the folks who have the PS3 think it is worth the price so fair enough I suppose.

I know some people mentioned various features such as wireless etc etc as justification for the higher price tag.

Yet I seem to remember when the PS3 launched at the higher price it did not include dual shock control.

Now for me that would be more important than wireless as I have my cable going in to the router and it works just fine.

Also on the live thing, you only pay if you want to play on-line a feature which does not bother me personally.

I do concede the price I quoted was the arcade but you can pick up a 20 gig HD for little or nothing these days.

Fair enough, but for me, it is worth it ^^

Its definately expensive for average customer (like myself) for who gaming is a part of life but not that big to spend so much money on a console. But im not sure about overpriced, Blu Ray is probably the most expensive thing about it.

It's not over priced for what you get. It's the only HD movie capable console. When you add in just a few basic peripherals necessary for full online usage and just 'one' full year of online service, buying a controller charge kit, it amounts to essentially
something like $20 extra to get a PS3 with Blu-Ray instead?

The choice is obvious. How many 360 games would you feasibly miss out on if you didn't own a 360? But instead had a solid PC/PS3/Wii? Only a few and most of the 'best' games I would still have the ability to play. If I didn't own a PS3, I would have missed out on every PS3 exclusive this generation. (LBP, KZ2, MGS4, GT5, GoWIII, Uncharted, Uncharted II, etc).



So, HD movie playing capability, Free Online (Which across a lifespan of a console easily adds hundreds of dollars to the bottomline and requires other accessories to the cheapest 360 model in order to fully enjoy.), Most 'High Quality' Exclusive games ONLY available by owning a PS3, Included WiFi (Just in case I'm with my PS3 in a location without a pure wired connection.) and lastly, far more reliable than the 360.

Is the PS3 worth it? If you look at the big picture? Definitely.

If you're one of those people who don't have a decent PC, don't care at all about movies (Maybe don't own an HD movie to care about these movies?), don't need wireless and don't care to download or play against people online? Then the PS3 probably isn't for you at all.

i think it's well worth it. i like how sony does their consoles. Just having a plain gaming system is a thing of the past. Today's consoles offer more than just gaming, need it or not. Thats why i thing the ps3 is worth every penny and more. Just look at cell phones nowadays. they offer more than just making a call. text, pictures, mp3, video, email, surf the web, the list goes on. it's the way technology works. so yeah the ps3 its very worth it.

The ps3 is worth every penny imo. It has to be cause sony were selling it at a loss. I personally use all the features it offers so its perfect for me. And i don't buy the arguement that the wifi is useless cause only x% of gamers play online, cause it has a good web browser too, so in the end its still worth it. Anyway don't most households have wifi anyway?

About the dual shock: yes, there was no dual shock at launch. Actually, the dual shock 3 only came in existence something like 18 months ago - because Sony had a patent suit issue in the air I think. But nowadays that's the controller you get when you buy your PS3.

As for everything else like wireless, BluRay and free internet gaming, it's about what you want and need that makes the value for you. For example I am in an even smaller subgroup leaning towards the PS3 because I also wanted to be able to easily swap out the HDD for a _big_ one and install Linux on a second partition to run my emulators (project still ongoing, btw, but next weekend I hope to be able to play FFVI from my couch)