PS3 Pricing presented with the “clear black“ Model

The Electronics Entertainment Expo has begun and so have the PlayStation 3 concessions. I don't know about you but I've been waiting for them. The big news is the North American price per unit along with some other goodies was announced via Sony press release yesterday.

Just like Xbox360, PS3 will be released in two versions. The premium version includes a 60GB HDD for $599 US Dollars and a budget model with a 20GB HDD for $499 US Dollars. Do you remember the PS3 faithful bitching about the 360 being released in two versions? I could be mistaken there.

Scanning the press release it seems that the size of the HDD isn't the only difference. The $500 unit (or the cheap one as some people are calling it) won't even have an HDMI port. This leads me to question what kind of Blu-ray support either system will have. No HDMI on the budget version means the video output won't support the full definition of Blu-ray movie disks. Blu-ray movies played through component video connectors (which is what the non-HDMI $500 version of PS3 will have to use) will only be able to display HD movies at a grand total of 540P. Far cry from the 1080P - Blu-ray Sony first announced last year.

So, to summarize the $500 version won't be a real Blu-ray player. The cheap PS3 won't read flash memory. The cheapie won't have an 802.11b/g wi-fi adaptor either. Wi-fi and flash compatibility might be something you can add on later, not sure at this point.

Cut through Sony's marketing bull with Sony Says: i say

Sony Says: i say

• PS3 "Clear Black" launched in Nov 11th in Japan as part of a worldwide simultaneous release: Some lucky Japanese will get their PS3 by Christmas, if you live anywhere else, don't hold your breath.
• $599 60Gig HDD / $499 20Gig HDD: Let's face it, including an HDD on both versions is a great gig. Too bad Microsoft didn't think so.
• $599 version Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash compatible: $499 version, not so much memory. I forget why I care.
• $599 version gets HDMI NextGen x1: No HDMI on $499 makes me wonder if the $599 will even do native 1080P in the first place.
• $599/$499 are subsidized by Sony to price it competitively: Xbox360 retails at $400 and Nintendo Wiii will retail at $250.
• PS3 wireless Bluetooth controller with six axis sensing system: Still not as cool as Nintendo Wiii's full motion sensing controller. PS3 gets no Force Feedback ie no shaky.

The killer is the lack of HDMI on the cheaper version. This means the cheaper one won't do 1080P. HD movies on Blu-ray will be downrezzed to go through component video outputs because of restrictions from the AACS (Advanced Access Content Systems). This doesn't bode well for the 1080P resolution presented by the more expensive one either. If the HDMI port was considered expendable, can we really expect that the more $600 model can actually do native 1080P?

All I can say about the North American price per unit is this. Wow, a $600 dollar Blu-ray player by Christmas '06 will be an impressive feat if Sony can pull it off. That is if the $600 version can actually do 1080P from a Blu-ray disc.

The other thing I'd say about this is… $600 FOR A VIDEO GAME CONSOLE! HOLY SNARKFRITTERS! Talk about alienating the FinalFantasyMCMIV kiddies. It's your core audience Sony, what's up with that?!?

The bourgeois pricing of PS3 is going to sell a lot of Nintendo Wiii at $250 a pop.

Edit 5/10:

To clarify the 1080P video from a Blu-ray disk through analogue cables (component). The ITC Flag is imposed by the AACS. The ITC Flag is a piece of code designed to downrez your high definition video through analogue video cables.

The AACS is the governing body of the standard of high definition disk content protection. Its aim is to protect the content of the movie studios whether they're on Blu-ray or HD DVD. 

Currently the ITC Flag is not active on your high def disk media. So, as of today you can playback HD DVD (and Blu-ray when it arrives) on displays that are not HDMI compliant. This means if the PS3 were released today you'd be able to playback 1080i video resolution on the $500 (budget) model. As long as the AACS doesn't activate the ITC Flag the downrez to 540P through non-HDMI video outputs won't happen.

Will the AACS activate the ITC Flag?

Nobody knows but they reserve the right to do so. The more threatened the movie studios feel about rampant piracy the more chance they will.