The problem with doing a 40GB version without blu-ray is that Sony would have to produce versions of PS3 games on DVD-ROM, meaning that you would have the pointless idea of two different formats for one game on the shelves. The main reason why Sony put blu-ray in PS3 is because of the larger data capacity that the format offers. Unfortunately as nice an idea as producing a non-blu-ray PS3 sounds, it would end up costing Sony more money in the long term. At the same time I hope that Sony and other publishers would have the good sense to use DVD-ROM if the games were small enough to fit on - much like some used CD-ROM for PS2 (Disgaea 1, LEGO Star Wars, Half-Life) - and, more importantly, pass the savings in not using blu-ray discs to the consumer. On another note, I really don't think there will be a dominant platform in this generation. I can actually see a large amount of people eventually having all 3 consoles in their household, simply because they're all great systems. However a lot of the PS3's success hinges on whether blu-ray is taken up as the industry standard, but at the same time the PS3 could make or break blu-ray. It's probably the better format than HD-DVD but that doesn't necessarily mean it will win out (look at Betamax and VHS).