Gamers waiting to get their hands on the first PlayStation 3 bundles might want to start saving now. The prices are out on Play.com in the U.K., and they’re expensive.

From MTV:

Play.com is selling the PlayStation 3 with the 60GB hard drive and three games for 549 pounds, roughly $1,016. The three games included are Warhawk, Formula One 06, and SingStar — perfect for gamers who like air combat, driving, and karaoke games.

That’s a whole lot of cash for a console and a few games. I’m interested in getting a PS3, but ouch. I realize the PS3 will do more than just play games, and that does make it very interesting indeed. But, when all the numbers are added up in bundle pricing, again I say ouch!Another interesting thing to note is the fact Play.com is expecting shortages.

This from the site:

Due to an expected European shortage of the PS3, we are unable to guarantee delivery of your PS3 before Christmas. All pre-orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis and game titles in this package may be changed, subject to availability.

Does this mean the PS3 release is expected to go like the 360’s? If we saw those consoles selling for $10K over Ebay, what does the holiday season hold in store for the PS3? I’m afraid to even venture a guess.

Sony announced its next-gen console will arrive on November 17, but website are sure to begin offering pre-orders for the PlayStation 3. Play.com is already taking pre-orders, charging customers £550 ($1014).

Back in May, Sony said it would release two versions of the new console. The cheaper model will cost $499 and will have a built-in 20 gigabyte hard drive. The other version will be $100 more expansive ($599) and features a 60 gigabyte one.

As expected, due to the high price, the console listed for pre-order is the more expansive model

- CPU: Cell Processor
- GPU: RSX
- Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-based processing)
- Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
- HDD: 2.5″ Serial ATA (60GB)
- I/O: USB 2.0 (x4) – MemoryStick/SD/CompactFlash
- Communication: Ethernet (x1 / 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) – IEEE – - – 802.11 b/g – Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
- Wireless controller (Bluetooth)
- AV Output: Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
- HDMI OUT – (x1 / HDMI NextGen)
- AV MULTI OUT (x1)
- DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) (x1)
- BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only): Maximum Read Speed BD 2x (BD-ROM), DVD 8x (DVD-ROM), CD 24x (CD-ROM)
- Super Audio CD 2x
- Dimensions: Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
- Weight: Approximately 5 kg

However, even with this pre-order customers can’t be sure they’ll be the first ones to get the PlayStation 3. Early rumors about PlayStation 3 shortages seem to be true. The site states:

“Due to an expected European shortage of the PS3, we are unable to guarantee delivery of your PS3 before Christmas. All pre-orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis and game titles in this package may be changed, subject to availability.”

The launch of the PlayStation 3 is expected to stir up quite a fuss on the gaming market and, eventually, to make almost everyone forget about Microsoft’s Xbox 360. While it’s still rather hard to predict a winner between PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, one can’t overlook that the latter console is still losing to PlayStation 2