Considering that Sony is DEAD LAST in the console wars, and in many cases losing out to its own predecessor the PS2, it’s not surprising that Sony’s big push is to repackage the Playstation 3 not as the triumphant gaming machine monster that gets all the cool games (whoops, that’s the Xbox 360) or as the fun-loving machine with the great and innovative control system (that’s the Wii), but rather as the only machine that will do double duty in your entertainment center as both Blu-Ray player and game system.

And that’s why shelling out six hundred bucks for this ill-conceived monstrosity is actually a good idea, according to Sony, a fact they’re trying desperately to convince you of by issuing some fairly weak sauce bundle offers and new advertising.

Meanwhile, Sony proper claims that nothing is wrong, the Emperor’s clothes look FABULOUS and the building is absolutely NOT on fire and anyone who smells smoke is a lying son of a bitch.  Sony smugly indicates that almost three quarters of all PS3 users have watched at least one Blu-Ray movie on their systems.

Which is an awesome way of saying they’re a graphic failure.  Here’s the breakdown:

Seventy four percent of users have watched at least one disc.

It therefore follows that twenty six percent have never watched ANY.

Of the seventy four percent that have, an unknown percentage has only watched one.

It therefore follows that roughly a third or more of all PS3 owners either never use or barely use their Blu-Ray capability.

Considering that Sony’s total ownership is low to begin with, this leaves them in a really bad position to go into round four of the console wars, a far cry from their Playstation / PS2 dominance.