Actually we're starting to see profile 2.0 stand alones, which just shows even more that not nearly as many PS3s are being sold as players as you think.

This is all very beguiling... so long as you don't look at sales numbers. PS3 doesn't have the same install base as the 360, yet DMC4 has sold only 10,000 more copies on the 360 than on the PS3. A 50/50 ratio where the install base ration is 62/38. This exact same situation applies to Burnout Paradise. Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty 4 aren't so startinlgly out of line: 60/40 and 66/34, in favor of the 360, respectively.

When you look at numbers, it becomes evident that your argument is nothing but wishful thinking BS.  Except in the case of Call of Duty 4, every PS3 sold has generated more money for all of these games than every 360 has.

Profile 2.0 stand alones have been announced (and not released), and they are both Sony-made. They will be $300 at the cheapest, I believe. From what I understand, the PS3 is the only player currently out that will support Profile 2.0, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I'd stll like to know what those online features entail because if you ask me 50 gigs should be enough for special features and trailers, but maybe that's just me. I agree that not many people are buying the PS3 just for a blu-ray player. I think there are over 100,000,000 gamers out there and most of them watch movies, therefore they see the PS3 has a nice dual-purpose purchase. I thought of it that way at launch and was lucky that Blu-ray won (although I thought it had the advantage). If you look at Blu-ray disc sales versus stand-alone players, you'll realize PS3 owners have been buying Blu-rays already, but not at the same rate as stand-alone owners (this is known because Toshiba used to argue that their stand-alone attach ratio was better and yet Blu-ray consistently outsold HD DVD. That indicates PS3 owners bought movies). To me, that shows they are buying both movies and games (like me) because the game attach ratio is quite good, as the poster above me points out with nice stats. Edit: and that poster is phil. Nice post.

The mistake is assuming BluRay was Sony's goal. It wasn't. It's just another step. Their next step will be to release yet another console (in 3-5 years) that further increases home entertainment capabilities. The same will be true of the next XBox.

A few quick notes.

While I think DJMeister made some good points, I use my Xbox as a DVD player. The PS2 does not work as well and there are some things it will not play. So to say that the PS2 was the only DVD player is not true. ... What is true is that it was the only unit that could play DVDs without any additional purchases. (Remember, the Xbox remote was separate and the system would not function without it). Of course, there are various remotes for various PS2s ... but that's another story.

I was in Wal-Mart today, the lone BR player was only about $20 less than the PS3 (40GB). I didn't check to see if it was upgradable though. But if you talk to a sales drones at game/electronics stores, they will tell you that many of their PS3 sales are for movie playback only and the potential to sell game software has not yet emerged.

(This sounds in some ways like the Nuon -- it was a line of DVD players that had extra gaming elements to them. There was four special versions of movies and a handful of games released for it, such as Tempest 3000 by Jeff Minter. But they fell by the wayside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuon )

So the cost and technology arguement appears to hold true -- at least for right now. It is the same thing that spurred early PS2 sales in Japan when for over a year it was the least expensive DVD player available in that market. Whether or not though those purchasers of the unit for AV purposes in NA will become gamers (as they appeareed to become -- or maybe always were -- in Japan) is the big Sony software questions. Early indiciations are that many will not ... though that could change.

Mike from Morgantown

Even though I'm repeating myself here: PS3 owners have contributed to blu-ray disc sales because hd dvd attach ratios for stand-alone players were higher and yet blu-ray outsold them an entire year by about 3 to 2. Meanwhile, the software attach ratio the last several months is better than the Wii and 360, so the games are selling as well. Concusion: PS3 owners are buying movies and games. Most game players like movies. People are going to buy the PS3 because it has great games and it's a Blu-ray player.

I read this quote from Steinberg, VP of SCEA Product Marketing, and it made me think of this thread: