You're forgetting that Blu-Ray won't be the standard format in 2009. DVD won't die in the next couple of months. The jump from DVD to Blu-Ray is far less noticeable than VHS to DVD.

- VHS to DVD : Better quality, no rewinding, chapter navigation, multiple language tracks, extras/bonuses

- DVD to Blu-Ray : Better quality (if you have a HD-TV that is)

1) Yes, I'm willing to bet that Apex Digital (or a similar company) will have a $100 Blu-Ray player by the end of 2009 ... Through most of 2010 this will mean that you will have the choice between a $100 Blu-Ray player or a $300 PS3. When the PS3 (finally) drops to $200 I wouldn't be surprised to see big named Blu-Ray players for $100 with companies like Apex Digital offering their Blu-Ray players for $50 to $75.

2) From the sales of the PS3 about all you can say is that the PS3's marketing has driven away most PS2 owners because they see it as an expensive device with little value added over the PS2 or Wii.

No, I believe Blu-ray is either the next physical media standard or DVD will ultimately reign.  I don't see a new competitor anytime soon.

However, last time I checked, the PS3 wasn't just a Blu-ray player... it is also a game machine.  It's entirely possible that a future gen gaming console will be released in the next 2-5 years that be generation ahead of the PS3, and which will use Blu-ray for media.  Considering Sony doesn't control Blu-ray (they can't refuse licensing to 3rd parties), it's entirely possible that the PS3 will not be the most powerful console in a few years.

But it's also possible that developers will start squeezing out more from the PS3, which will give comparable graphics to the Wii 2and perhaps also the Xbox 720.

Yeah...from a crappy brand that will break easily.

This is quite possibly the most delusional thread I've ever seen.

Here are 10 more reasons -

1) At $500 & $600 for 6 months of FY 2008, and $400 & $500 for the second 6 months of the year ending March 31, 2008, Sony shipped 9.24m PS3s to retailers worldwide. At $400 for most of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 - and thats assuming no further price cuts that Sony may have planned - PS3 is projected to ship 10m the 12 months ending March 31, 2009.

2) Wii has already outsold GC. Think about that. Where did those users come from? Xbox? Atari 2600? Not likely. Odds are they are from the PS2. That means more people are picking Nintendo's console as their primary machine.

3) For some context: NES, released in the west in 1985-1987, shipped 9m in the USA in one year (multiple sources have this figure). It sold 7m in the USA for over three years. Shipments worldwide topped out at 12m or so worldwide. If Sony meets its projections with PS3 and then sees an increase next year as expected, it would likely do similar numbers - 11-14m in a fiscal year. Guess what? The NES was supported for 10 years+ too. It shipped over a million units just in Japan after 1993, a decade after it released. NES topped out at 62m worldwide.  NES was a monopoly, and had a similar peak, and lifespan to PS1 & PS2. There isn't much reason to expect PS3 to perform similarly or to outperform it except for the fact that the European market is triple the size it was back then  (you know, the Berlin Wall and all).

4) The comparison to DS is interesting too. If a platform is going to explode to a late peak there is usually evidence of it. Compare DS & PS3 shipments through the end of each fiscal year from launch (12 months ending March 31). You'll notice that DS exploded without price drops. PS3 shows almost no growth in Sony's forecast despite the avg. PS3 price being lower than last fiscal year.

The DS exploded in Japan, then the Americas, and now Europe. PS3 is holding steady despite measures to improve the value, the acceptance of blu ray, and a much better line up of games. Italics are company projections

5) Why is number 4 relevant? Do the math: Add FY1 to FY5 together for DS and you get 98m.  PS3 has to have numbers even better than DS sometime soon to be on track to get anywhere near 150m in 10 years. In fact, if they're under  40m by the end of  FY4 you can pretty much bank that it won't happen.

6) Sony has a lot of world class internal studios now, but there isn't a whole lot of evidence to suggest that they can carry the platform and differentiate it. PS3's top hits have largely been multiplatform or third party exclusives. FFXIII? Multi. GTAIV, DMC4, RE5, GH, Rockband, etc - Multi. Exclusive...MGS4, Gran Turismo. But the rest of the stuff is relatively small in comparison.

7) Its more profitable to support DS, PSP, PS2, Wii, and Xbox 360 at the moment, because all of those platforms have bigger user bases and lower development costs than PS3.

8) PS2 isn't at 140m shipped worldwide. I keep saying it: its a misquote. Remember when Kotaku quoted Sega as saying Mario & Sonic was at 10m and then last week Sega's financials revealed it was at 7m shipped. Accounting for the change in production shipments to shipments to retailers, according to David Reeves, PS2 was at 127m as of Dec 31 2007 . If you go to their investor's website, they've shipped another 3.9m since - they've sold 130.9m PS3s. I'm certain he meant they passed 130m not 140m. PS2 probably won't get to 150m shipped worldwide. If they meet projections, they'll be at 138.4m PS3s by the March 31 2009.

9) Odds are, PS3 will have a wide peak: the normal '3rd full year worldwide' peak that almost all platforms enjoy, and then similar numbers after that when it becomes $200 on average. However, those two things are not going to occur at the same time, as the third full year is next year, and PS3 is not going to be $200 on average next year. I can see it doing 35m in its three best years, but thats way off what PS2 (50m), PS1 (~45m), DS (~71m), Wii (unknown but >50m) did in their three best years.

10) I'll say it again: Blu Ray isn't as important as DVD was. Personally, I never bought DVDs anyway, but with services like N Youtube, Flurl, and all the illegal stuff as well...whats the point of owning a DVD or Blu Ray player anymore? Hell even the 360 deal with Netflix is a factor here in harming blu ray.

Your PC monitor outputs higher quality images then your TV anyway, so once Blu Ray gets pirated you'll be able to get it on your PC and the "blu ray advantage" goes for naught. Again, I know everyone isn't that way, but you have to remember that high speed internet penetration rates were pretty low until 2003 or so, and that helped DVDs establish themselves as a highly useful medium. Internet is much more widely used to view movies, tv shows, video clips, etc. now and thats a major limitation on Blu Ray.

The plan is all for nothing.

@ all blu-ray skeptics: look at the sales data which show a 300% increase in blu-ray sales from last year.

Sony will not abandon the 10 year plan. Not after making it out to the grand strategy of this generation.

In 6 years time, when the wii 3 and xbox 1080 are out, sonys PR will be in overdrive.

'We are still going strong! Sales are up 100% this week from 2 consoles sold to 4 consoles sold! The PS3 userbase far exceeds the userbase of these two consoles which only launched last week! Oh man we rock!'

The well-wishing of people (who coincidentally always seem to have either Solid Snake, Cloud/Sephiroth or Fighting Game characters for their Avatars) really knows no bounds.

I don't know if this is just the Sony fandom trying to convince themselves things will turn out all right for their beloved PS3 or if this is in fact Viral Marketers.

Face it, you people only create these far fetched threads in hopes of recieving support from other members to help support your own wavering belief that such a thing will work. You're just trying to supplement your faith in the PS3 vicariously through a community mentality of preaching to the choir.

These support group threads are getting old.