PS3 Will Ship Without HDMI Cable

After shelling out over $600 for a PS3, which is specifically marketed as a high definition system, consumers will also have to buy their own HDMI cable, so they can experience PS3 games and blu-ray DVDs in all their 1080p glory, because the PS3 will ship without an HDMI cable.North American gamers planning to purchase a 60GB PlayStation 3 will need to purchase a HDMI cable if they want to see those fancy graphics at their finest.

That's according to the specs page on the official US PS3 website, which notes: "HDMI cable not included. Additional equipment may be required to use the HDMI connector."

Sony has long promoted the 60GB PS3's HDMI output as a key feature of the machine.It seems a little ridiculous to exclude an HDMI cable in the 60GB PS3, since it's the model that will have HD output (the 20GB model does not), but it actually makes financial sense for Sony, as stevo777 at Slashdot points out:I'm thinking they finally realised that market penetration still isn't that high for 1080p TVs, or any other Hi-defs for that matter. Took a cue from Nintendo, probably. It would be a huge waste of money if you sold 3 million PS3's at an additional loss of the 6 bucks (18 million loss!) for the cable and maybe only 200,000 of those buyers can use them at release. So if they sell those 200,000 cables at a $15 profit, then that's 3 million back in their pockets (a buck for every system sold).I'm sure Sony will, of course, offer "official" HDMI cables at a significant markup, as will retailers. If you're looking to pick one up, though, you can buy one for as little as nine bucks online.

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