The neo geo was NOT WORTH $699.99

The ps3 IS WORTH $699.99, there's a huge difference their.

Neo Geo sort of completes the analogy, but the games on PS3 are too reasonably-priced, and the price difference with 360 isn't quite as big.  Still, it's true that both machines were/are overpriced.

The big problem with the analogy is that Super Nintendo played along with Sega's strategy of selling consoles with more power, while Wii is working on a totally different angle that is meant to attract a different demographic.

Ultimately, I think Super NES came out ahead because Nintendo worked long and hard at beating Sega at its own game - better graphics (DK Country) and marketing towards teens (Play it Loud campaign) - plus Nintendo had a good reputation and Sega made a few mistakes (costly add-ons).

Wii is coming out ahead because Nintendo has a totally different business strategy from the competition. Wii isn't judged on the same criteria as 360 or PS3 at all, and that's what makes it so unpredictable.

Whether people want to admit it or not there are a lot of parallels between the PS3 and the Sega Saturn, N64, and Neo Geo. The Saturn and N64 favoured performance over ease of development, the Saturn and Neo Geo pushed the limits on system price, and the N64 choose an unconventional game medium which offered a lot of benefits but was detrimental to the platform.

This isn't to say that the results are going to be similar, but many of the problems with the PS3 could have been prevented from understanding the failings of past consoles.

There is a massive difference between "The PS3 is worth $699" and "The PS3 is worth $699 for you" ...

In my opinion this is a case of "The PS3 is worth $699 for you"

Hmmm... I think 360/PS3 is more like GEN/SNES. 360 launched earlier, has a little less horsepower and is very popular in the US, while it lacks succes in Japan, where the PS3 has more units sold.

The Wii? Oh, that's more like a alien super-force invading the peacefull world of small-scaled Console Wars;)

 PS3 is totally more worth the price tag.

More worth it, sure, but I think the hardware sales for PS3 speak for themselves. They aren't terrible, but they're nowhere near as good as Wii or 360.

 Nissan and Toyota sell much more cars than SAAB or Volvo? Sales aren't everything.

If we don't use sales to tell if something is overpriced, then what do we use?  We could use profits or we could compare it to the price of other products on the market, and PS3 is failing in both of those areas too.  More to the point, if you fail to sell hardware, you have a harder time selling software, which is where all the real money is in this industry.

I'm not saying PS3 is a bad system - for over 4 million people like you, it was worth the price.  But for the general public, PS3 is overpriced by any objective measure: it costs more than every other system on the market, it sells worse than every other system on the market, and it's not making any profit either.

it's not a parrallel because the Wii has already outsold 360 worldwide...

Interesting reading. Thanks for posting Sullla. After reading I wondered why you go so far back in time to draw parallels. Why not just use examples from the last generation? Perhaps something like Wii/PS2, Xbox360/Xbox, PS3/NGC. Or using the generation before that might be something like Wii/PS1, Xbox360/N64, PS3/DC. Perhaps those types of comparisons didn't fit your model. Food for thought.