Apr 30, 2010 04:39 PM
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There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model. Even worse, the PS3 didn't have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multi-platform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the 360.Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape.
As of November 2007, a "bargain" PlayStation 3 can be had for a mere $400 but that model lacks the ability to play older PS2 games. If that feature is important to you, you'll need to shell out an additional $100 for the"deluxe" 80 GB PlayStation 3 model or if you're lucky enough to find a 60 GB version, the one reviewed here, we'd highly recommend jumping on that as well. While the 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 is currently being phased out of production by Sony, the differences between it and the 80GB model are minimal. Owners of PS2 games may prefer the 60 GB model because of its greater compatibility with that system's games due to its internal hardware emulation instead of the 80 GB's software emulation. In addition to backward compatibility with many PS2 games, the $500 PS3s include more USB ports and a built-in flash media reader.
Unfortunately however, the 60 GB version still suffers from the same problem currently afflicting this entire generation of PlayStation hardware: a dearth of compelling games. While the console offers a handful of great exclusives ( Warhawk, Resistance: Fall of Man , and Heavenly Sword ), it doesn't look like the PS3 will have some real system-sellers until 2008 and beyond, when Metal Gear Solid 4 , Killzone 2 , Gran Turismo 5 , and God of War III eventually arrive. Plenty of excellent third-party titles exist--from Assassin's Creed to Call of Duty 4 --but they're also available on the Xbox 360, which in turn has a cadre of must-have titles ( Halo 3 , Mass Effect , Gears of War ) that aren't on the PS3. Likewise, the Nintendo Wii continues to draw away potential PS3 buyers with its cheaper hardware and more casual and broad-based approach to gaming. Put another way, the PlayStation 3 still feels more like a work in progress than do the rival Wii and Xbox 360. Still, if you want to go beyond the low-res graphics on the Wii and avoid the Xbox 360's notorious red ring of death, the Sony PS3 delivers a full-on Blu-ray player, network media hub, and HD gaming console with a rapidly growing library of impressive titles. Prizefight: Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3
