Hey everyone,

In my last thread I asked you what was the *strongest* reason you bought a PS3. So far the clear majority is for the exclusive games (120 votes - 43.80%) or at least the promise of exclusive games with FFXIII, MGS4 and GoW being mentioned quite a lot.

Blu-ray on the other hand is currently much less with 30 votes (10.95%) .

But what if the PS3 had no blu-ray, but instead had a DVD drive similarly to the PS2? How do you think this would have effected the sales right from the start of its launch until now?

A few interesting points I'd like to raise:

1. HD-DVD may have won the HD disc format war which was backed up by Microsoft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_HD_DVD_Player

2. Large games that otherwise fit on one Blu-ray disc would be sold on multiple discs ie. FFXIII, MGS4.

3. The launch price of the PS3 would of possibly have been much less.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/746/746482p1.html

4. Leading on from 3. Hypothetically speaking, if the PS3 had sold better from the beginning from the lower price point, it may not have lost as many third-party exclusives as it has. However there are a few other factors that come into play there for example Microsoft's money, difficult/more expensive platform to develop for a cell processor and Sony didn't seal exclusivity deals.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/07/sonys-lost-excl/

5. Games that have needed mandatory installs (GTA IV, Devil May Cry 4) would have not needed them.
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/04/01/the-mystery-behind-playstation-3s-sometimes-mandatory-installations-as-far-as-we-know/

6. Having won the HD disc format war Blu-ray is a major benefit to Sony and the PS3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP0ejSBfUk

Personally I reckon the Blu-rayless PS3 wouldn't have been able to stop the juggernaut that is the Wii, but with that lower inital price point and potentially the keeping of  the many (timed)  third-party exclusives it's unfortunately lost, it would be in 2nd place right now. That is not to say I wouldn't want it to have blu-ray. I love Blu-ray! :D But then again, for most of you it isn't the strongest reason you bought a PS3, remember?

So what if the PS3 had no Blu-ray? Would it be winning?

The main reason would be this : The ps3 would be cheaper, by atleast a $100. That would atleast put it 10-15million units ahead of what it currently is.

Wii would be still probably first but not by so huge margin. With DVD drive Sony could have launched PS3 half year earlier and maybe with price point similar to X360. PS3 would have crushed X360 in sales. That is sure.

Blu-ray is not the problem. The only way it would be winning the console war if the price of the PS3 is $299.99 and tif the console was launched with better and popular titles.

Doesn't really matter, however i must say some games benefit from it, like the really big ones such as SO4: i, its all on 1 disc instead of 3, which means quite abit for this game.

It's a benefit, minor as it may be.

No Blu-Ray would counter the cheaper price so it would sell either the same or less.

PS3 would have launched earlier, at a lower price. It's also possible that Sony wouldn't have gone the way of the Cell, seeing as that much power wouldn't be as necessary without Blu-Ray. It might be doing better, but would probably have been sold at a pretty big loss at first and would probably only just have broken even now.

I think it would without a doubt. People seem to forget the PS3 was delayed because of Blu ray diode shortage. Had it not been for those shortages they would have launched 6 months sooner at a much cheaper price and beaten the Wii to market.

@greyian, The Cell was produced 2 years before the PS3 even came to market. Sony knew all along they were going to be using it. The two really have nothing to do with each other though , and in many ways its the Blu ray that is holding PS3 back in many games. It's single speed and just cannot keep up which is why some games have 5 gig installs.
They could have just went with DVD, included a bigger HD and just had people install games like they are doing now.

I do agree with one point of yours, it would have been sold at a loss. Just like the PS3 and all their other consoles were, however without the high development costs of blu ray the system would have been much cheaper overall and would have broken even long ago at its current price rates

I bought it over a 360 mainly because of Blu Ray. And there are a lot of people out there who bought it only as a blu ray player.

The main reason I finally bought one was because it was a blu ray player.