To many teenage males around the country, few things are valued as highly as having the latest and greatest video game system. This is true on college campuses as well. You can probably find some sort of video game system in every male dorm on Quinnipiac’s campus.

Last November, Microsoft released Xbox 360. It was the highly anticipated follow up to the regular Xbox system. To say it was a hit was an understatement. Video game retailers nationwide filled their pre-orders months before the system debuted. It was impossible to find one before the holidays, so if a system wasn’t pre-ordered in May, then little Johnny probably wasn’t going to be seeing an Xbox 360 under the Christmas tree.

Flash forward to this November. It is finally time for Sony to release its own “next generation” system with the introduction of Playstation 3.

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are available in two models, the more expensive model having substantially more hard drive space. Xbox 360 is available in either a $299 or $399 model whereas PS3’s base model is $499.

The “premium” model, is $599. Add in another controller for $50 and a few games at $60 each and one can potentially be looking at a thousand dollar investment to play the video games of the future.

This begs the question: what could Sony possibly be offering that would warrant such an exorbitant price tag?

Sony’s main selling point is that Playstation 3 is much more than a video game system.

First and foremost, the PS3 will be Blu-ray capable. Blu-ray is being thought of as the next generation of optical disc technology.

The discs are reportedly capable of handling five times the amount of media found on a typical DVD. All this extra space will allow for the storing of movies in High Definition. Will it be the next big thing in movies? Maybe. With a basic Blu-ray player running around $1,000, Sony hopes that a lot of consumers will look to their Playstation 3 as a much cheaper alternative.

Also, access to online game play will be free of charge. Microsoft charges a $50 yearly fee for Xbox Live service. Of the 22 games Sony will have available on launch day, 19 of them will contain free online play.

Sony’s flagship series, Grand Theft Auto, is expecting a fourth release in the fall of 2007. Not surprisingly, this is also when Microsoft plans to release the highly anticipated Halo 3.

So with the already proven success of Xbox 360, how does the price tag of a brand new Playstation 3 sound to Quinnipiac students? Senior public relations major John Canale doesn’t plan on buying one in the near future. “It makes no sense to buy one now. In two years the price will probably be down like 150 bucks.”

Evan Predom, a junior business management major, would like to get one, but doesn’t have the money right now.

“I’d definitely get a Playstation 3 if I had an extra $600 to spend just so I could play the new Grand Theft Auto,” Predom said.

Junior political science major Charlie Gottlieb has no desire to buy one. “There’s a lot more things I can do with $600,” he said. Gottlieb seems to be in the majority on this issue.

It doesn’t look like many PS3’s will be in the Quinnipiac dorms in the years to come unless there is a dramatic decrease in the price.