Well an announce date has officially been broadcasted throughout Australia, so on the 17th of November the Sony PlayStation 3 will hit shelves. Many gaming franchises out there are already taking pre-orders. It seems that Australia will only be getting the "Premium" pack (i.e. 60 gig with all the bells and whilstles), so its really a case of all-or-nothing for the aussies. But Sony's official PS3 website refutes that, claiming the 20 gig configuration is available for a little less, but I don't think any resellers are even interested in it at all. For a $170AUD difference, what's the point? You may as well pop for the premium one.

Anyway, clocking in at $999AUD (or $699AUD if you trade in your PS2 and 25 games) it is now officially the most expensive gaming machine by far; which we all knew it would be. Despite all the negative publicity, the experts around Oz still expect that the machine could sell to shortages... so anyone who is anyone in the world of PS3 will have to bite the bullet now and lay down some money for a deposit to make sure they grab one. Mind you, I think the experts have got it wrong, plenty PS3's will be hanging around after launch :-).

Though I am not a Sony fanboy, I am a still Sony fan; with a huge library of PSX and PS2 games that I don't want to have to walk away from. In fact, I'd rather build on them. So seeing as I am a little better off financially then a lot of 21-year-olds I can afford to take a bit of a gamble on this. So I'm hesitantly going to give it a go and hope it lives up to its potential.

So any other stories revolving around PS3 pre-ordering??

well good for the Australians then, sigh.

My birthdays coming up; an awesome present would be a PS3 pre-order but I'm poor and I want the Samurai Champloo box set more. ^_^

My birthdays coming up; an awesome present would be a PS3 pre-order but I'm poor and I want the Samurai Champloo box set more. ^_^

Samurai Champloo > PS3

$999AUD (or $699AUD if you trade in your PS2 and 25 games)

hahaha!

hahaha!

Yeah, that's absolutely ridiculous. Mind you there was a similar offer in place for the XBox 360 here in Oz too. An XBox console and 15 games, to bring the price down, I believe $200AUD. Its crazy, I can't think of anyone taking up on these offers... they are an absolute rip-off.

yesss! I cant wait...

Mr. Bunniesworth, as much as I would like to say that I would like to join you and your merry group of PS3 buyers, I just can't bring myself to do so. Obviously, the price is a bit steep, and I feel that my money would be better on another gaming console, if I were to get any of them. Most likely, I would probably get the XBOX-360 since the only games I play are sporting games, so I'd just get the systems that is the most graphically powerful and cost effective. If the Nintendo Wii comes with a hard drive and is priced the same as a 360 with a hard drive, then I may go with that, but then it would be a case of getting the Mario Galaxy game or the Smackdown 2007 game with enhanced graphics on the 360. If CM Punk is in that game, the 360 would definitely be my choice, but if not, it's a 50/50 proposition at best. Still, I eventually plan to get a PS3 even if I end up getting another console before it, but I would have to wait until the price drops to around $400 before I could actually bring myself to part with so much of my dollar bills to get a box with stuff in it that is not candy. Of course, if Suikoden VI ends up coming out for the PS3 quite early, my hand may be forced and I may cough up more than I'd want to for a PS3, but only for Suikoden VI. ONLY FOR THAT GAME.

And I really haven't heard any word on the production of VI, so I shouldn't have problems. Heck, for all I know Nintendo or Microsoft could end up getting Suikoden VI, AND I WOULD HAVE TO GET THAT SYSTEM.

I hope you understand why I can't join you and your PS3 Land Whateversy. I hope this does not make me a light bulb, because that would be bad. Dang, though, that Super Mario 64 was pretty good and I think Mario Galaxy can do like OMG so maybe I have to get the Wii now. But dang Madden 2007 with the XBox dang man that is a hard choice and then Smackdown 2007 with XBOX360 oh my. And then PS3 DANG MAN I WOULD BE COOL IF I HAD THAT BECAUSE IT COSTS SO MUCH. COOL!

Even if you are a Sony fan, there is basically no point in getting the console at or near launch date. Sony has been incredibly silent on details surrounding the PS3 and its games since E3, so as far as I can tell, you could wait a few months and you wouldn't miss much since I don't see any good games launching with it. And the fact that you need to trade in 25 games to bring the price down doesn't surprise me at all. I mean, it's Sony, they do a bunch of crazy and insane bullshit to try and make it look like their offer is of value. Nintendo should do the same kind of deal, trade in a prior console and some games to bring down the price...oh wait, it's already cheap enough as is.

The stores offer the deals, not Sony.(See: Xbox deal bunniesworth mentioned) They'll probably have tradein offers for the Wii too.

And if you can afford it easily enough and happen to want to play one of the launch games, then it's kind of unnecessary to delay your entertainment for several months.

HERE IS A PLAYSTATION 2 AND 25 COPIES OF X-FORCE... NO I DID NOT JUST GO AROUND TO EVERY USED GAME STORE AND BUY THEM EACH FOR A DOLLAR