Sony’s Playstation 3 Arrives Friday

Microsoft’s XBox 360 faces tough competion this weekend as it’s competitors release their newest generation of Video Game Systems: Sony’s Playstation 3 hits stores this Friday (albeit in limited quantities) and Nintendo’s Wii hits shelves this coming Sunday.

The Playstation 3 will retail for $499 for the core model and $599 for the premium model.

The system includes:

a 2xBD/8xDVD/24xCD-ROM drive, letting it play everything from Music CD’s to Blu-Ray Discs and Games (plus old Playstation and Playstation 2 games)
an Ethernet connection port
a BlueTooth port for connecting a wireless controller
256MB RAM and VRAM
4 USB Connection Ports that can be used for Memory Cards (which also read flash memory cards on premium model)
a WiFi Connection to connect to your home wireless network or PSP (premium model)
a HDMI Out, AV Multi Out and a Digital Optical Out for connecting to a HDTV and external sound system
and your choice of a 20GB (core model) or 60GB (premium model) Hard Drive

Whoa. Either version is more powerful than my old Dell laptop, that’s for sure.

But, despite the incredible amount of power coming with this thing, who out there would wait in line for 48 hours + to (possibly) own one?

Apparently, more people than you’d think, as lines begin forming Tuesday for the PS3 (which doesn’t arrive in stores until Friday - and then only in limited quantites). These people are there for the long haul, camping out in tents and sleeping bags in front of Best Buy, Circuit City, and other electronics dealers.

And just think - some of those people may be waiting for nothing, as Friday will only bring a limited release of the PS3 - possibly even as low as 5-10 per store.

But, not everyone is there just to own one…many are there just to be able to turn around and sell their PS3 on eBay.com, where prices are expected to shoot into the thousands.

How ridiculous is that? Is anyone out there really planning on shelling out thousands of dollars for this system, when they would be able to pick one up in a couple of months for about $500? That says something about our economy, since some people are obviously sitting around with more money than they know what to do with.

For the rest of us who are going to wait for the price to drop down a bit lower ($250 or $300 would be nice - and that day probably isn’t that far distant), we can point and laugh at the people who are spending these exorbinate amounts of money for this thing - but don’t we all wish we had that kind of money to throw around?

Until the day comes when the PS3 drops more into my price range, I’ll be more than content with my PS2..and I’ll watch in amusement as PS3 Mania erupts this Friday.