"It's not debatable whether $600 is expensive or not to Americans, because when you get right down to it, at least 80% of gamers are 20 years old or less, meaning getting money WILL be a hassle, since you have to still pay for your lodging, food, taxes, bills, a car, and other things. $600 isn't just something that you can easily save up in 2 months of work while still paying all those other bills. I especially feel sorry for those children who'd like a PS3, because i'm very sure the total amount gained of 2 years of birthdays and christmas's won't amount to anywhere near the beginner cost of buying a PS3, another controller, and 2 or so games. Whether or not you feel $600 is expensive or not is questionable. I can understand that you would certainly pay $600 over $1000 for a console, but you should still feel that $600 dollars is rather expensive, no matter the console construction costs. I also feel sorry that you may have to pay $1000 for a PS3 in South Africa, but you still shouldn't be ignorant of the general age-group gamers reside in, and their restrictions on making money." THE ABOVE STATEMENT IS A QUOTE __________________________________ THIS IS MY RESPONSE: The "to bills to pay" statement has been used so many times by people who favor the 360. Stop. PS3 is not something people need to live. People who have that many bills to pay are not going to buy a PS3 nor a 360. 360 is not cheap. It is only $100 dollars cheaper than the PS3 core (PS3 core is the same as 360 premium in terms of hard drive space and network capability). Being a hundred dollars less does not make the 360 affordable. That arguement does not work. The supposed people you talk about won't even think of the 360 if their financial situation is really that bad. If those people can afford a 360 with bills to pay, they can certainly afford a PS3. The premium PS3 is not a requirement for gaming. Main point of my post? The people interested in the PS3 are not the only ones who have bills to pay.

jdhoff....what? You did not understand my point at all. If you are going to compare two systems you have to consider the differences between the two. You can't say the 360 does the same things the PS3 does because it needs those optional "add-ons" to do so. 360 is only $200 dollars less than the premium and a $100 less than the core. The core PS3 is still a better value than the premium 360.

I am surprised at the people who claim that the 360 can do everything the PS3 can do. Let me ask you guys this, can it do that out of the box? No, it can't. PS3 can play HD games and movies. Xbox 360 can play HD games, but not HD movies and how long will the DVD9 format help the 360 for HD games? 8.5GB is not a lot of space. PS3 has the advantage there and you get all that for paying one price of $600 dollars. PS3 (premium) will have wireless, wired connections out of the box. Xbox 360 (premium) requires you to get wireless separate. The Wireless Adapter alone is going to cost you $99 dollars (Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B6MLV4/103-5402968-4919822?v=glance&n=468642) That brings up the price of the 360 (premium) to $499.99. Buying the wireless adapter you only allow your 360 to do one thing the PS3 does, not everything. To get the most of out of your 360 people will have to buy the HD-DVD add-on which is going to cost $199.99 That will bring up the price of the premium to $699.99, which is more than what the PS3 costs and does all that out of the box. In graphics PS3 will be better than the 360, some of you argue that it won't be leaps ahead of the 360 in graphics, which may turn out to be true but people will still get more for their money from the PS3 because they don't need to buy add-ons to do what the 360 owners are going to have to do. You may argue that Microsoft made it an option so you don't have to get those but my answer to that is you shouldn't compare the 360 to the PS3 then, don't claim the 360 can do everything the PS3 can because it can't without the "optional" add-ons which will bring the price to $699.99. I only listed a few optional add-ons you need for the 360 to get the same experience. So the 360 price will end up being more with everything you need to get the same experience as PS3 users will.