Hello there!
I read this post and I was impressed! If you come to think Brazil is the biggest country in Latin America, our GDP in 2006 was 1.655 trillion dollars, that was back in 2006!
Sao Paulo is the 2nd biggest CITY in the world, with 10.231 million people (http://www.citymayors.com/features/largest_cities1.html), the state of Sao Paulo has more than 33 million people, and Sao Paulo is responsible for almost 90% of the whole Brazilian GDP.
In here (Sao Paulo), some people live better than 1st world country, although the vast majority of the population is very poor, the money distribution is bad, probably 5% to 10% of the popularion is responsible for 95% of the GDP, and trust me, most of then live in Sao Paulo. Middle and high classes have big houses and condos, with something like 400 to 1000 meters squared sometimes even more! My parents live in house with 1200 meters squared, I can give you the google earh info if you want to...
I do not want to show off, but most all of my friends have 1 or 2 new game consoles, including PS3, XBOX 360 and Nintendo Wii... I have a PS3, hooked in a 60" Pioneer Kuro Plasma Full HD, with B&W Speakers, Rotel Processors and Powers. A few people in here can afford this luxury but A LOT of people I know have very very high end cars, boats, electronics and much much more.
Brazil is a poor country for sure, the money distribution is very bad. Piracy is a big issue here, we have this so called "Brazilian way" so even people who can actually afford to buy original software and games, buy fake and non-original or bootleg copies, simply because it is cheaper.
I am not really sure if a lot of people would buy PS3, because most of the people who could, potentialy, buy it, already bought it. Those who want will simply import, or buy during travels (I bought mine on Nov 17 2007, when I went to Japan).
Please do not assume, that we live in swaps! Trust me, a lot of people in Sao Paulo, have much more buying power than most of the avarage and middle class americans.
