Hey folks....  I don't post much, more I just chuckle at the flaming/trolling threads that get lobbed about.

In any event, I'm seeing many many posts from members who postulate that the PS3 is going to see a significant uptick in sales in the 4th quarter of 2008 because people will want to buy the PS3 for its blu-ray capabilities this Christmas Season.

Personally, I think that the PS3 has already received the bump.  Once Toshiba pulled the plug on HD-DVD, and there was no competition for the next gen DVD market, the prices of Blu-Ray players stopped (essentially) dropping.

That meant that for the first 2 quarters of 2008 if you wanted a Blu-Ray player, the best, and least expensive, Blu-Ray players was the PS3.  While Sony definatley had some big gaming hits (i.e. MGS4), I suspect that the balance of the bump at the start of the years was not from the game library that Sony had Developed, but rather from people looking for a Blu-Ray player.

Now as we approach the 4th quarter of 2008, Sony has reduced the price on its own Blu-Ray 2.0 capable player down to $300.00.   Second party players are likely to be at or even below $200.00.

Yep, for those who want a next gen player, and "must" now have a Blu-Ray player, the PS3 is still going to bubble to the the top of the list.

But the reality is that consumers will be able to buy both a Blu-Ray player and an Xbox 360 Arcade for the same price as a PS3.   Additionally, anyone who doesn't care about games is now less likely to pay a premium for the PS3, when they can purchase a Sony Badged played for at least $100.00 less.

Thoughts?

Who wouldnt want to watch the dark knight on blu-ray?

$400+ is still an expensive pill to swallow for most people. Not to mention the economy is slowing the purchasing of expensive large screen TVs.

I think your right but you get the added benefit of a gaming machine and blu ray player so you can kill two birds with one stone.

I think my original thoughts are coming home to roost.

Blu-ray players are now less than $200.00. The "advantage" that the PS3 had over the 360 been neutralized. Fewer people are looking at the PS3 for JUST blu-ray (something that 6 months ago, plenty of people did).

Blu-Ray, and it's bump in the cost to produce the PS3 is now HURTING sales of the PS3.

The PS3 has definitely lost all if it's advantage in that regards, but did non-gamers buying it for blu-ray only really help the PS3 anyways? However it still helps when you have someone like me who either wants a PS3 or X360, but also wants a Blu-ray player. I only got the PS3 cause I wanted a player that was $300, but ended up getting the PS3 for $300.

I used to recommend the PS3 to my parents (only so I could play over their house), but now I'm switching to Sony's blu-ray player since it is $100 cheaper, and they will never play games.

But yes, putting the blu-ray drive in the PS3 did hurt the PS3 in the long run, even if only for the monsterous $600 price tag to start with.