A few words from a professional procrastinator

Undeniably, the PS3 is gaining momentum despite it’s slow start to the next gen console wars. Sony has suffered a humiliating defeat against Nintendo and Microsoft after entering the next gen market as the number one console only to end up last.

But there is hope and the color is blu.

Unlike the Xbox who packaged their HD player separately, Sony’s delays in releasing the once sought out console was blamed on it’s famed blu-ray capabilities. All games to be released on the PS3 has to be on blu-ray. The next generation of DVDs had to be in blu-ray. It was all part of Sony’s grand plan in taking control.

Fast forward to today, where Blu-Ray finally sent HD-DVD to the grave and games are finally coming out. But is it enough?

The longevity of the PS3 is entirely based on the it’s blu-ray player capability. But most owners don’t even know that you can play blu-ray discs on it let alone know what blu-ray is.

The hardware seems robust enough compared to the other two. But just in case I went for the extended warranty that Best Buy has so I’m good. In any case, the plastic on the PS3 doesn’t feel like the cheap stuff that was on the PS1 let alone the PS2. It’s the largest and heaviest of all 3 consoles and is the only one with the DIY hard drive replacement instructions (you could technically swap out the hard drive from the current 40GB for a much larger 500GB if you wanted to that is).

AAA games are only starting to trickle out for the PS3 and some exclusives are already out such as Heavenly Sword and Uncharted. The most awaited ones such as Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo and Little Big Planet are just about to come out but it’s still a long wait for many. Most of what were exclusive to the Playstation went over to the Xbox such Bandai Konami’s Ace Combat and Katamari, Capcom’s Devil May Cry and Resident Evil (which also went to Nintendo). Most if not all EA games are available on both consoles and Guitar Hero and Rock Band went for all platforms.

The connectivity of the PSP to the PS3 is unique to Sony. Nintendo has announced plans in bringing the DS closer to the Wii but no real date yet on when this would be possible. Now that the PSP is coming on strong, it is only now that Sony’s gaming plan is coming to focus.

I think the PS3 has legs to stand on for a while and to stretch. I do believe this would be the console to last for the next seven years than the Xbox. This generation of the console war will drag itself out. I bet that Sony engineers today figuring out how to bring the PS2 to the handheld (after all they took out the hardware for backward compatibility out of the PS3) and making the PS3 as the center of your home entertainment system.

The PS3 may have had a slow start but things seem to be looking up for Sony.