I think a few must-haves would be an IR sensor so that universal remotes such as Logitech's Harmony remote will work with it, good launch titles that would ecompass the entire first year, and the biggest by far: PRICE.
I personally have not purchased a Sony gaming system since PS1. For the most part, I skipped the generation that included PS2, and Halo lured me away from PC and into the Xbox world. The 360 came out before the PS3, and with my Elder Scrolls addiction, it was a must buy for me at that time. I have contemplated picking up a PS3 as well, however, until slim, it's price simply was too high for me to justify a purchase. I do not have enough time to play the games that I already own, so it's main selling point to me is bluray, but with the costs of bluray movies being so stupidly high, it just isn't right for me.
That said, I will say that I picked up a Wii once it came out. Had I thought about it further, after the costs of buying 3 additional controllers nunchucks a memory card, I would've been better off purchasing a PS3 instead; oh well. If the next system comes out with some compelling games and a good price point before I've already sunk entirely too much scratch into other systems, then, for gamers like myself, that will be the "right" formula.
