PlayStation 3

Sony released the tumultuously-anticipated Playstation 3 console in the UK at midnight, March 23, 2007. Though the US release was four months before, Sony decided to make UK residents wait until spring for the most powerful gaming console ever built. Sony has been criticised relentlessly for the price of the consoles, which are priced at £425 for the 60 gig version whislt the smaller, 20gig version priced slightly more competitively at less than £400.

While American's thronged stores in anticipation for the US release, the turnout in London was much less hectic. The Virgin store reported that only around 120 people turned out before midnight and that instead of having them sleep out on the sidewalk, the store allowed them to camp in the Virgin basement; good ol' Branson! These early enthusiastic gamers were richly rewarded by Sony for their efforts, as each one of them that had signed up in the queue not only received their Playstation but also a free Bravia 46” television; an act of generosity that seems to have renewed some gamers' faith in the recently tarnished Sony name.

The Playstation 3 uses Blu-ray Disc technology for its games which are capable of holding up to about 50 GB of information as opposed to a conventional DVD which can hold upto 8.5 GB. The result is a much larger storage space capable of holding increased levels of graphics and game play that will compliment the immense rise of HD televisions. The Playstation 3 also boasts much more processing power allowing for all of that space made available on its 60 gig hard drive and huge Blu-ray discs to unleash full worlds of game play never before imagined on a video game system.

Sony has invested a great deal into Blu-ray technology with the Playstation 3, but recent statistics show that Europeans have been favoring the competing HD DVD technology. This may be as a result of the Playstation 3's delayed release, because even with its relatively high price tag, many Americans have opted to purchase the game consoles because of its Blu-ray playback capability. With Blu-ray disk players costing at the minimum $1,000, the Playstation 3 no longer seems expensive.

Only time will tell how the Playstation 3 fares in the UK in the game console wars, but with Sony's unending support of the product the PS3 will definitely be one of the largest competitors for some time.