Using PS3 as a Blu-Ray source?

[L.J.]

I'm not sure of the specs on the PS3, but I surely plan on getting one for gaming. The Blu-Ray and other features are gonna be a huge plus. There seems to an advantage if the PS3 is priced at $399.


Does anybody see a problem with this?

[robert393]

Sounds to me like it would work. At least I can't see why it wouldn't. What is projected release date for PS3? Then we just wait for some movie titles.
Robert

[L.J.]

Sounds to me like it would work. At least I can't see why it wouldn't. What is projected release date for PS3? Then we just wait for some movie titles.
Robert

Spring, unless a more precise date has been announced. I may wait a couple of months before grabbing one, once they hit the shelves. I don't feel like getting in lines or having to fight youngsters for that last unit.

[Woochifer]

Already been a few threads on this topic, and to me it's a really tight squeeze all the way around. One of the rationales behind these HD video disc formats is to reestablish the high profit margins that disappeared with the DVD format. On another thread, I saw that Samsung will come out with a Blu-ray player in May costing $1,000. Not all that different from when the DVD format first came out.

However, the PS3 puts a wrinkle into the entire scheme of things because it has to come out soon and it has to compete on price with the Xbox 360. If you got the PS3 coming into the market in "the spring" that means that either the high margin early adoptor pricing for the Blu-ray format won't hold up too long, or the PS3 will be introduced at a very high price point. Either way, it's a dilemma for the Blu-ray format because a competitively priced PS3 could seed the Blu-ray market while simultaneously cannibalizing it, while a high margin early adoptor priced PS3 would basically hand the video game market over to the Xbox 360.

This is a very different situation than when the PS2 came out after the DVD format had already been on the market for three years, and helped to complement the DVD format by adding value to it. At that time the PS3 cost $300, while DVD players were around the $200 price point. That price point greatly benefited the DVD format because it sold millions of consumers on buying a DVD player and adding PS2 gaming for "only $100 more."

If the PS3 comes out for the rumored price of $500, then I think Sony will sell millions of consoles (which also include SACD playback). I might even buy one of them! But, it will also push the price points on the Blu-ray format down right from the outset, which is a situation that the hardware manufacturers were trying to avoid this time around.