Sony PlayStation 3
Gadgets Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Things aren’t looking so good for Sony. After an impressive display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2005, the industry favorite has lost a lot of ground since revealing the final price of their PlayStation 3 next-gen console. Many already believing that the system could cost upwards of $700, the press release wasn’t very surprising, especially since the PS3 will also feature a Blu-Ray drive, of which currently cost around $1000. The problem with this, of course, is that while they’re offering consumers a great combo deal that includes a new video games system and a Blu-Ray drive, the chances of Blu-Ray triumphing as the standard HD-DVD format are about 50/50. This means that, in just under a year, PS3 owners could very well have paid a couple hundred dollars for dead technology. That’s simply not a chance most people are willing to take, and it’s going to hurt Sony in the long run.
The PS3 doesn’t really offer anything different from the current-gen PlayStation 2 system except the promise of better graphics. The company tried to push a new controller prototype (dubbed “the boomerang”) at last year’s E3 conference, but it received so much bad press that they eventually returned to the popular DualShock 2 model. There have been a few changes made – like wireless capabilities and the inclusion of a gyroscopic sensor (which Sony been criticized of for stealing from Nintendo) – but nothing major.
The Japanese gaming company has also revealed plans to launch an online service similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Live, but if the rumors are true, and the service will indeed be free, it’s hard to imagine that gamers will enjoy as smooth of an experience as they do while playing on Live. It costs money to maintain servers, people, and unless Sony is willing to take another big loss, this rumor is sure to change by launch time.
The system itself contains some pretty intense hardware, including a 3.2 GHz Cell processor, 256 MB Rambus XDR DRAM and 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM, a pre-installed 20/60 GB hard drive (depending on which package you purchase), Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and SD/MMC card readers, four USB 2.0 ports, and Bluetooth 2.0.
Games: Sony has been showing off some of its big guns for over a year now, and gamers can’t wait to get their hands on titles like “Assassin’s Creed” and “I-8,” as well as sequels to popular franchises like “Killzone,” “Metal Gear Solid,” “Final Fantasy” and “Tekken.”
Release Date: Fall 2006
Price: $500-600 (depending on which package you purchase)
Official Site: http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3
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