that im not 100% sure on but i could have sworn that the PS3 reformats the drive or that demo files/etc are all encrypted/different file type.

Oh I don't know then. I think that would be a huge advantage if you could do that, but I'm kind of doubting that it's possible.

Mandatory hard drive installs are not a good thing. It defeats the purpose of having a console. Things like this are why neither the 360 or PS3 will catch up to the Wii. Console gaming is supposed to be a simple plug can play experience. Taking two of the biggest annoyances from PC gaming, HDD installs and patches, is not a good thing no matter how you try to spin it.

 like I said im not 100% sure. if its just for the media files then a 100GB external would be perfect. Thats even cheaper. Probably like $60 now. OR heck, jsut upgrade the internal drive to the 320GB on.  Thats $180.

If this nonsense continues, I might be selling my PS3. This really pisses me off, I'm a console gamer for a reason, but oh well, back to PC I guess.

Maybe PS3 should have used DVDs so they could have faster disc-read speeds....

 but the ability to add new content for free and make multiplayer games more balanced is a good thing. Your point on storage media is actually a weakeness for the Wii to as you can download games off the virtual console and soon WiiWare. Plus I could have sworn there was a few 3rd party games like Guitar Hero 3 that was patched. The Wii will run into the same problems as the PS3/360 owners will with storage space. So basically all 3 consoles suck for the general untechnical consumer. 

Unless developers did a terrible job with testing their game, patches are good in that you can get things fixed quickly (depending on the developers) and get more things added and such.

Steam is a good example. Pair that with a game like Team Fortress 2 and you can get your patches and added content quickly and instantly.

Something like Live wouldn't be touted as this amazing thing if it didn't start to offer experiences closer to the PC.

Heck, I recall people saying that the Wii even needs a larger hard drive (mainly for VC games though).

 wouldnt have soolved the problems with add-on content, patches, console firmware updates, and downloadable games. They would still take up HDD space. Disc read speeds dont matter all that much.

Why is it 5 gigs? I am just curious if that is an arbitrary number. I know in the past on the Xbox when games run off the hardrive they did not require this much space. I mean how much space do you need cache data? Funny thing is people thought the 360 would have needed the hardrive by now but look who beat it to the punch. 3 years for the 360 and only the FF MMO and most recently burnout need a hardrive and is not 5 gigs. So much much for future proof theory lol :)