Sony PS3 With No Blu-ray: Would you?
By: Peter Chubb | October 16, 2008
The Sony PS3 got off to a very slow start when it was first launched, a few price cuts later and things are looking better for the next-gen games console. Consumers have attacked Sony and asked that the price should be reduced even further: however Sony maintains that they already make a loss on the machine.
Gamers have argued that the price of the Sony PS3 should be more in line with the Xbox 360, but Sony have always said that they cannot do that as they make a loss on the PS3 as it is. The reason they say is because of the hardware inside, mainly the Blu-ray player.
So we have hit on a good point, if the PS3 did not have a Blu-ray player it would then be cheaper to purchase. Would having a PlayStation 3 with no Blu-ray player bother anyone. I have had a PS3 for 6 months now, and in that time i have only played a Blu-ray movie twice.
If you had the choice to have a cheaper PS3, and did not come with a Blu-ray player, would you buy that console?
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Lol all versions of the ps3 have hdmi what a wanker
I would have bought it either way because I am a fan of the franchise games like MGS and Ratchet & Clank but I probably wouldn’t have invested in a blu-ray player as of yet if the PS3 did not include it. The new hd gaming system was great and the blu-ray was a nice little bonus.
The PS3 wouldn’t be possible with out Blu Ray because of the way the Cell processor works. The Cell needs a disc with massive storage because everything is coded to a particular thread and can’t be multi tasked like a normal gaming processor. A regular game that would take 9 gigs on a standard compressed DVD actually takes 13 to 20 gigs to work with the Cell.
People don’t get this but it’s true, Sony HAD to include Blu Ray.
Ps3 is a great product. having blu-ray is a real experience, it delivers much more than xbox360. developers just don’t use that for some reason. games like mgs4 used blurays full power, i mean they can do that with plenty of games. xbox360 has only two banging ass games that people love, thay are Gears of war and halo thats all they got. but i think killzone 2 and Ressistance 2 will boost the ps3 prices and take full advantage of the bluray technology. so ps3 not having blu-ray would be a lost of technology, when home comes out i bet it’s going to boost the ps3 price and we all will be happy with the ps3’s technology.
@GEeezzyyyyyy
I’m sorry but I couldn’t understand one thing you wrote. Do you really write like that? Please tell me English is not your first language. Sorry guys… I couldn’t help it.
not only do you not play blu-ray movies on your ps3, but apparently you don’t play ps3 games either. If you want to play playstation games without blu-ray, save ~$300 and buy a ps2 since those are the only games you’d be able to play on a ps3 without blu-ray anyway
Sony won the format war actually without the PS3s help. In recent months Sony has seen some improvement in PS3 sales but its still in last place. Last I checked Nintendo’s Wii was in first place, and Microsoft’s XBox 360 in second with the Sony PS3 dead last at third place. So to suggest Sony would have lost the format war without putting a Blu Ray drive in the PS3 sounds utterly ridiculous — Blu Ray won without the PS3’s help at all.
For what its worth as a consumer I championed HD DVD for its lower level of DRM. Also consider HD DVD was cheaper to manufacture and sold at cheaper prices which lead to a price war between the two formats and since Blu Ray is more expensive every time Sony has had to reduce the cost of the PS3 they take another loss. Granted Blu Ray did win unfortunately in my opinion for consumers — it is a bad thing, it did so without any help from the PS3. Contrary to the belief Sony had that adding Blu Ray to the PS3 would help the format it didn’t yet Blu Ray won and the reason it won was because more movie studios signed on to exclusively release content on Blu Ray versus HD DVD.
Consumers didn’t really affect the outcome of the format war — it would seem the studios decided in favor of Blu Ray and Blu Ray won. For consumers who were interested in HD DVD there was not enough selection of titles — HD DVD content was limited as more studios chose Blu Ray exclusively — instead of letting the consumer decide the format they wanted the studio dictated which format would get the best content.
It’s always a question of cost of dependent on what you want from your console.
I have a PS3 and I have an XBox call me greedy but I enjoy the fact that I never have to worry about exclusivity of games so the cost for me is worth it.
The question of cost between the consoles is also relative – sure my XBox cost half of what my PS3 did but then again my savings were quickly diminished by an addon Wireless adapter, and my subscription to xbox live and if I wanted a Hi Def player that’s another cost.
So it’s not the cost of the console we should compare but the inclusion of the hidden costs and then ask yourself – Is the PS3 that expensive. The cheapest Hi Definition future proof player on the market, a built in Wifi adapter and free Network – no contest really.
Jason – Great post. I don’t own a 360 and don’t want one but I think people need to look closely at the total cost of both consoles. Sure the PS3 is more money but the only thing you have to buy extra is an HDMI cable if you have an HDTV. I don’t yet and used my PS2 component cable. The PS3 is fine as is. Anyone complaining about the cost of the PS3 hasn’t been a gamer that long or hasn’t paid for their consoles. The cost hasn’t gone up much over the years. Why is that? I think as technology keeps getting better and better we’ll have to pay more. Either that or don’t bring out new consoles. You just can’t build new consoles with new technology and take a huge loss. If the new consoles don’t use new technology though we won’t get five or more years out of them. I’m all for paying more for a console in order to get more years from it. Would people rather buy a new console every three years or five years?
THE PS3 WOULD BE USELESS WITHOUT BLU-RAY. THE FRICKEN GAMES ARE BLU-RAY. IF YOU DIDNT HAVE A BLU-RAY DRIVE IN THE PS3, U COULDNT PLAY PS3 GAMES