Sony Corp Chairman, Howard Stringer, has admitted that they’ve taken a bit of a gamble on the pricing of the Playstation 3. The next-gen console will knock you back £424.99 in the U.K, although many retailers will only be offering the 60GB console as part of a game’s package meaning that we’ll probably need to spend closer to £550 per unit.

In Sony’s latest press conference Stringer said, “Obviously, it's a higher-risk strategy -- as all new inventions are -- but if the PS3 lives up to its total potential, then I don't think anyone will be worried about Nintendo or Xbox's cheaper price.

Stringer continued to defend the high price by re-iterating the importance of Blu-ray and stating that movie developers are beginning to see the importance of larger storage space on Blu-ray discs, as opposed to HD.

"The price of the PS3 is high, but you're paying for potential...Do you go for a cheaper transitional [product], or do you take a chance on future-proof, higher technology which will keep you going for many, many years?"

Sony Computer Entertainment's UK operation manager, Ray Maguire has also recently spoken out about the price of the PS3 by saying that it is 'not one intended to appeal to the mass market but was more geared toward early adopters.'

If Sony do deliver on all the promises they have made, and the shelf life of the console is as long as they suggest, then perhaps the price isn't that high after all.