Nintedo got the price/affordability/features mix right with the Wii, from the market perspective.
Sony’s PS3 is definitely the feature/capability-wise most superior console available right now, but it prices itself out of most people’s pockets.
Sony plans more home media stuff built-in, also keyboard and mouse will be included to ease web-surfing. I’d be very surprised not to see the chip used in other platforms from IBM and perhaps Toshiba (the other developers of the Cell).
I actually downloaded a 700MB iso Linux distro (see, I’m catchin’ the lingo) and burned it (SM — I used MacOS 9.2.1, Disk Copy, and the Adaptec original of Toast, and a USB 1.1 Iomega outboard burner, nyah nyah) onto a CD, because I want to start folding proteins for the cause, and I’ve got, hmm, at least a couple of old wintels setting around. I want to try networking this Gateway, just to get a WFW 3.1 online, may be the last one still running...
I’d like to patch up the iMac as well, but turning into a wall decoration that is also functional, so I’m going to have to find someone who knows some stuff about that bad analog board, also fix up an outboard monitor (maybe I’ll do that KVM). Having an iMac (rev B, 1999) hanging on the wall here and doing nothing but folding proteins would be pretty geeky.
Kind of like Betamax...
Mark
The PS3 is priced in the wheelhouse of the next gen consoles. $399 for a gaming system with a 40 gig drive, built in wireless and a blu-ray player isn’t that bad. It’s cheaper than an Xbox360 with the hard drive and wireless adapter — and that’s without Blu-ray.