$500 for Sony PlayStation 3?

We should have expected the new Sony product to be expensive, considering the list of impressive technical specifications that will be available. However, according to Joystiq.com, the latest rumors regarding PlayStation 3 say that the price at which it will be available is of about 400-500 USD, thus becoming the most expensive gaming console of the last period.

Sony has not yet confirmed these rumors regarding PS3, and it’s hard to make an assessment at this time, considering the fact that the console includes components not yet available on the market. Among these, we can mention the Blu-Ray technology which "simply" comes to complete the configuration consisting of a Cell processor, dedicated Nvidia RSX video card, HDMI connectors and 6 USB ports. Considering all these components, Sony will definitely have high requirements for the tests.

Sony hopes that PS3 will represent one of the main engines that will propel Blu-Ray technology in the leading position of the DVD format wars, leaving behind Toshiba’s HD-DVD.

Not so long ago, J. Allard, vice president of Microsoft Corporation announced that the estimate price for the future XboX 360 console will be of about 300 USD, not so different from the original XBox. The new Microsoft console will be also built using expensive technologies, as for example the triple-core processor from IBM and a state of the art ATI card. In spite of this, Xbox’s main disadvantage will be its incompatibility with the next generation of DVDs.