Sony Playstation - a tough market

After dominating the last two generations of gaming in the early 2000s with the Playstation and Playstation 2, Sony have found themselves in the unfamiliar 'last position' behind the Xbox 360 and the runaway Nintendo Wii in the current battle for game console supremacy. Why the slip? The Sony Playstation is a great gaming system, for sure. But Sony was late to market, exorbitantly expensive at launch (A$1000) and failed to secure enough Ëœmust have exclusive titles in the early months.

Playstation 3 rebirth

This has been changing in the last 12 months, with increased software support, a massive price drop at the controversial expense of backwards compatibility (the ability to play PS2 and PS1 games on the console) and a very recent redesign, the PS3Slim (retailing at $500).

PS3 technology

While the console has been overshadowed by the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii in terms of sales, there is no mistaking that it is certainly not overshadowed when it comes to the technology inside the box. Apart from having a built in Blu-ray player - which displays games in the highest picture and sound quality and allows you to play Blu-ray DVDs - the PS3 has numerous impressive features that make it highly versatile and take game playing to a place it has never been before.

Gaming is about more than just playing the latest titles. There are now many more options open to users. The Playstation 3 is a prime example of this. Take for example it's version of the XrossMediaBar, which gives you the option of choosing from nine categories: Users, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, Network, PlayStation Network, and Friends. This means you can explore photos, manage user profiles, play movies and music; it also allows you to be able to attach a storage device such as USB, Flash card or optical disc. You can use these devices to copy audio tracks or to play files from them.

Multimedia – out off the box

The PS3 has genuine vigorous multimedia capabilities, including connectivity with the Playstation Portable (PSP). Also the console has Giga-bit Ethernet installed, and comes with a pre-installed hard disk drive (HDD). It is thanks to these features that players can download a variety of content as well as gain access to online games and services over a network.

This free online service has been improving in stages since the initial slightly clunky release. The online service is similar in many ways to the leading Xbox Live service, although it's still not quite as seamless in terms of integration. Despite this, the system has been offering some genuinely interesting downloadable games that have belied categorisation, such as the dreamlike 'Flower' and the frankly weird flow.

Controllers and PS3 games

While controllers are wireless, the Sony PS3 has joined Xbox in trying to compete with the innovative Wii controller. Xbox is planning to release their hands-free 'Ëœcontroller' system in 2010, while Playstation have announced (and demonstrated) a wand-like controller, also due in 2010.

Sony's Playstation 3 features some great exclusive game titles, including Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, the Motorstorm series and the Resistance series. Also, Sony's Singstar series is a genuine money spinner that neither of its rivals has a serious competitor for (The Xbox Lips game is mostly a joke).

The future for the Sony Playstation 3

The next year or two is crucial for Sony. Once the cool kid of the gaming industry, the Playstation brand has taken a bit of a pounding at the hands of the Wii and Xbox recently. Sony is a great company, though, and the PS3 is a very fine console.