by Ian Black

Created on: January 07, 2009   Last Updated: January 10, 2011

It's the 21st century. Everything about today's society is about making money. And the Playstation 3 does just that.

Technology is advancing. That much is clear. Companies are thinking and constantly pondering through mind-maps about how to make the next generation of gaming consoles better than their predecessors. In order to gain public interest, there has to be a uniqueness about the new console; something different, and something that people will WANT in that console.

Unfortunately, the Playstation 3 has one major downside to its world wide success: cost. (I'm not entirely sure what the differentiations as to the pricing from Scotland to American currency is), but in Scotland, the Playstation 3 is a phenomenal 299.99 - but that's just the normal standard price for the machine itself. In order to gain media attention and public attention, companies need to think about pricing. Yes, making money is essential to every day life, but people want to be able to afford it, not go into bankruptcy.

Having just finished a contract working with GAME - one of Europe's most well-known game retailers - realization struck me! Sony's Playstation 3, also appropriately abbreviated as "PS3", rose to worrying levels - in some cases...the Manager Special's deals were going in to the four hundred pound mark; even though some of the accessories were pretty good, I couldn't see myself purchasing something as heavily priced as that. A brief example: Manager Special's Deal - An 80GB PS3+ A choice of one game (about 40)+An Extra Dualshock Controller (39.99)+ An HDMI Cable+ 2 Years Breakdown Cover (this protected the console and any of the equipment against any damage done over the course of two years), but looking at these worrying prices, you'd think people would take in the simple question: Can I really afford this? and "Is it really worth it?"

However, putting the price of the PS3 aside for one moment, it does have its advantages. PS3 allows people free Net access. This is one major advantage to Microsoft's X-Box 360. In order to gain Net access on the X-Box 360, people have to purchase an item called "a Gold Membership". This costs about 39.99 in retail stores, but can vary. PS3 has Blu-ray imprinted into its hardware, granting the usage of Blu-ray formatted DVDs to be played on the console. One drastic disadvantage to the this console - and I think most people will agree - it cannot be compatible with Playstation 2 games. Playstation fans will be extremely disappointed with this

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