So I was in Walmart the other day picking up a few things, and I happen to pass by the electronics department. I glance over and see a Blu-Ray DVD player priced at $900. I didn't think anything of it until I got home. I'm wondering why Blu-Ray players are still so expensive even now that Blu-Ray defeated HD DVD in the high definition DVD war. What makes this even more curious is the price of Sony's PlayStation 3. You can go out to the store now and get a 40GB PlayStation 3 for $399.99. The PS3 is Sony's next generation game system but it also acts as a Blu-Ray DVD player, and a good one at that. It plays Blu-Ray and does a pretty good job upscaling regular DVDs as well. I'm just curious what makes standalone Blu-Ray players cost more than the PS3. The PS3 is an advanced game console with more hardware, and more expensive hardware than a simple Blu-Ray player would need. And unlike some players, the PS3 can use firmware updates to allow the everchanging Blu-Ray spec to be fully compatible and playable on the PS3, something that is definitely something to think about with the semi-regular updates to Blu-Ray.

So far I can really only think of one reason for this significant price difference:  Sony's need to keep the price of their game console more in line with that of the XBOX 360 and the Wii. And $900 would probably alienate a chunk of their PlayStation base. So they bring the price of the PS3 down but keep the other Blu-Ray players up in price to help their bottom line.

So in other words, if you want to get a Blu-Ray player, even if you're not a gamer, the PS3 might be the better option unless of course you have the money to spend or you can wait for the prices to inevitably go down (whenever that may be).