And there lies the biggest mistake sony made this generation. Forcing bluray adoption at the expense of its playstation franchise. Bluray wasn't necessary for gaming and is inferior to DVDs for gaming in all regards except space. It astounds me that people actually argue bluray adds value when the only reason it was put in the ps3 is to push sony's agenda. Forcing consumers that don't care for bluray to fork over the extra several hundred for the PS3.

The simple answer for me is no.

Also I bought the PS3 for bluray (primarily) so it will have gained some customers due to the extra difference from the 360. The problem with adding bluray wasn't the only issue of price that hurt the PS3, it was the long delay it took getting the console to the market.

Instead of trying to make their product appear better value for money, Sony have just looked desperate with this form of argument IMO.

I´m agree with article. Some people simply don´t care about some things, that PS3 offer. For example, me.

In past year, I watched about three movies on DVD. Do you really think, that I need Blu-Ray? Well, I still haven´t stand-alone DVD player, in the past, I used PS2 DVD player, now I´m using X360 DVD player. For me, it´s enough.
Even Wi-Fi for me is useless, I´m using Cable connection for both my PC and X360.
What PS3 have next? Web browser? I have PC...

Only HDD is good for me, and in this case, I think, that every Xbox shoul have one. And even if not, X360 should be able to use every HDD available, like PS3.
But still, there definitely some people, who don´t need HDD, that for sure.

Simply, PS3 have best value, only if you actually using these extra features. If not, you pay for nothing.

yes

Without even getting into the detail arguments, the value proposition holds up.

The key is that line in the article "whenever NPD sales figures are made public, the Xbox 360 is winning in a big way".

But that is true only in America.

If the value proposition didn't hold up at all, it would be true everywhere. And it isn't.

I really do wish my Xbox 360 had Wi-fi installed. Its one of the things that should be in consoles, no excuses. I don't want to pay $99 for it either. Also, I don't like paying for online either. I don't have to on superior online services, like Steam, either.

As far as Blu-ray, Star Ocean 4 for me is direct proof that a bigger storage is needed for gaming. Hell, we didn't need CDs because floppies were good enough, and we didn't need DVDs because CDs were good enough. However, when I need to put in a different disc to go back to some worlds of the game, that draws the line for me.

I don't need wi-fi, I don't watch blu-ray movies and I have a SD TV. The only thing that "added value" means to me is a higher price.

value does not imply "essentials". Take your spin elsewhere.

also, although BR isn't essential this gen, and the benefits are minimal, it will have more benefits next gen.

BR players will obviously be in the next sony console as well, although this time the read speeds will greatly exceed dvd9, it will be a lot cheaper, and will hold even more data. BR, though not now essential to gamers, will be essential in just a couple years. Having them out now drives down production costs and forced adoption and won the HD market. If they had used BR in the next generation and not this one, they would still have to deal with high production costs, a market where HDDVD won, and as a format that would have almost been exclusively playstation. Instead of potential deals with other companies.

It doesn't hold value for people who don't care about the features. Like blu-ray as an example.
The person who doesn't care about blu-ray will see the PS3 as way too expansive.

Being that Sony has to constantly lose money selling the PS3 to make it appealing to customers, and even then its sales level can be described as mediocre, I think we have enough real world evidence that the "Value" argument that Sony makes is flawed.

Combining two products together is only adds value to the end product when there is a synergy between the two products, and the new product's value is greater than the sum of its parts.