I think the point thet EVERYONE is missing is this.

Mum and Dad (nice people but utterly clueless on all these consoles) buy the 'latest next gen console' for their kid.

They've seen it on TV so they know they want an Xbox 360 becuase the bloke in the shop, despite his enthusiasm for the PS3, hasn't actually got any PS3s in stock.

So they take the Xbox 360 home... and, even if they realise that all the extras they'll have to buy make it potentially more expensive than the PS3, they'll still go out and buy them.

And for two reasons;

1) You CAN buy them... off the shelf, no pre-order. They are just 'there'.

2) If you've gotten an Xbox 360, you WILL keep on buying the bits for it to bring it up to spec... AND people are far more willing to part with their cash in small lumps than in one massive chunk.

And finally... Let's take that HD DVD drive cost out of the equation as I honestly believe that it's not a 'must have' component.

Unless they start releasing games that need 25Gb of HD DVD space or everyone suddenly switches to releasing DVDs in HD DVD format only, I don't see a need to have one...

Which, sadly, negates the need for Sony to throw in a Blu-ray drive. In fact, how about this... ditch the two different hard drive versions and do me a PS3 without Blu-ray and a PS3 with Blu-ray.

That way there'll be plenty in stock for launch (non-Blu-ray) AND you can sting me for $600 for an add on Blu-ray drive later!

Now THAT'S how you do it.... (jeez, I should be charging Sony for this advice)