"Sony's next-gen media storage format cited as one of the reasons for the PS3's apparent astronomical costs

As we all know, the PS3 will be so expensive, you'll have to work extra hours, re-mortgage your house and pimp your granny if you want to get one come its eventual release.

Although rumours of solid gold plating and a free super model sellotaped to every box might not prove to explain the much-discussed inflated cost of Ken Kuturagi's next-gen opus, internet reports are fingering the inclusion of Blu-ray, the Sony-headed proprietary hi-capacity media storage format, as being one of the major culprits.

Unnamed sources quoted on tech site The Inquirer are now suggesting that the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive in every PS3 could cost Sony over USD 100 per unit - an expense which is likely to effect the final pricing of the console when it eventually hits shelves. As a comparison, the Xbox 360's standard DVD player will cost Microsoft significantly less than half that amount.

However, with commentators suggesting that Kuturagi's comments regarding the PS3's price might merely be serving to lure Microsoft into a false sense of security over its USD 399 Xbox 360, there's every reason to hold off planning that casino raid for the moment.

In particular, it's entirely possible that, as with Microsoft's current-gen Xbox, Sony will swallow up at least some of the apparently vast expense of manufacturing the PS3 and sell the console at a loss until manufacturing costs fall and the console gains a footing in the market.

In fact, with the war between Sony's Blu-ray format and Toshiba's HD-DVD heating up, it's equally possible that Sony might decide to suck up all additional expenses levied at the consumer in order to push Blu-ray-enabled machines into homes as quickly as possible, wrestling the attention away from HD-DVD, which is still expected to hit the market before Sony's format.

So yes, Blu-ray = expensive - but the PS3? We'll have to wait and see."