What is the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)?
Blu-Ray Player, Playstation Network, Exclusive Games & Tips
Jun 26, 2009
The Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) was nearly the last entry into this generation's console market, being released on November 17th, 2006 – the Nintendo Wii being released into the North American market only two days following.
Utilizing the Blu-ray high definition optical disc as the medium for both games and for film watching, the PS3 was a large favourite to dominate the console scene, given both it's increased functionality with a unified online gaming service (Playstation Network) and it's dominance in the previous console generation.
Price Drops and Price Point Concerns, Sony's Economic Woes
If there is any negative news to share about the Playstation 3's fortunes, it surely rests in the still large price tag attached to the machine, with a MSRP of $399.99 for the 80 gb model and $519.99 for the 160 gb model.
During a time of economic uncertainty and a very spendthrift consumer base, the PS3 has suffered a great deal under this pressure, given that the company still takes a loss on the high-tech hardware even at this rather substantial price point. A price drop might be necessary to spur on purchases of the system to increase attach rates, but at this point such a drop may not be in the cards.
The division of Sony responsible for gaming, Sony Computer Entertainment, has been forced to lay off thousands of employees since the launch of the Playstation 3, which has remained in last place amongst it's competitors for the entirety of this console generation – though it appears to be gaining a second wind as of late.
The Bright Side : Blu-ray Wins Format War, Great Exclusive Games
The Playstation 3 has benefitted from a few strings of great luck in that their chosen format, the Blu-ray high definition disc, eventually survived the format war against it's primary competitor, HD-DVD – a format also promoted by Microsoft and the Xbox 360.
Blu-ray was the victor of this contest and has been successful in cultivating a moderately profitable market, although in recent economic times a large portion of the consumer base has been purchasing DVD, and simply ignoring the perceived upgrade to Blu-ray.
The Blu-ray player functionality of the PS3 is also highly rated by all consumer standards, being one of the first Blu-ray 2.0 compliant machines on the market. Load times are substantially less noticable when playing discs on the PS3, and audio / visual delivery is crisp and rich.
The PS3 also has a great selection of exclusive titles that can only be found on the Sony console. Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots, Lair, Killzone 2, Infamous, Little Big Planet, Resistance : Fall of Man, Uncharted : Drake's Fortune, and Motorstorm – amongst countless other cross platform releases that the Playstation 3 shares with the Xbox 360 and PC.
The Sony Playstation 3 remains an excellent choice for those looking to expand into the Blu-ray format, as well as for those who would use the console as a multimedia home entertainment system. Well-constructed hardware with a decent library of games can be very attractive to those looking to step their home theatre systems up to the next level, and the PS3 fills that niche with ease and finesse.
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