The Blu-ray 'excels' on the PS3
After a decade at the top with two consoles that were all but unassailable in their market ownership and having seen off industry stalwarts SEGA and Nintendo with apparent indifferent ease, Sony is starting to look a bit wobbly on top of its pedestal.
Arriving in Europe with a higher price tag and four months later than planned, it's easy to get caught up in the wave of Sony-bashing currently gripping the media, but now that the world's most powerful games console is here - is it worth buying one?
Out of its box, the PS3 is heavy, bigger than you'd expect and very shiny indeed.
"Compared with the excellent Xbox 360 controller, the PS3's is an inexcusable weakling."
It also comes with a joypad that looks a lot like the PS2's, except it's wireless, hilariously lightweight, has no vibration function (which detracts from the experience more than you might imagine) and adds the ability to tilt the pad to control selected games.
Compared with the excellent Xbox 360 controller, it's an inexcusable weakling.
The other interesting thing about the hardware is its Blu-ray DVD player, Sony's answer to HD-DVD.
In this it excels, supplying the cheapest available Blu-ray machine in the world, and one that more than competes with standalone players.
