E3: Enter the PlayStation 3

Sony has finally dropped “da bomb” about the PS3 at E3 2006, only it’s generated a lot of negativity against Sony for some reason. Ok so the price may have something to do with it, as Sony has priced the PS3 at a whopping 500 USD (which is nearly 23,000 INR). This by the way is the 20 GB base version that comes bundled with… not much actually, as this package will lack support for Memory Sticks, Flash cards, no in-built Wi-fi and no HDMI output (which means you won’t be able to play the games in a 1080 resolution). The 600$ version will have an additional 40 gigs and all the above-mentioned features. Since Sony received a lot of flack for the previous model of the PS3 controller (some did compare it to a pleasurable device), they went back to the drawing board and came up with a brand new controller; which basically is the PS2 dual shock controller; only it’s wireless and will offer gyroscopic movement (huzzah for originality). The PlayStation 3 will launch in Japan on 11 November and in America on 17 November. Sony reps claim that nearly two million units will be available by December 2006. I’m pretty surprised at all the anti-Sony sentiments floating around. Maybe it’s got something to do with the exorbitant pricing, or the fact that the console was delayed or the fact that many of the games shown at Sony’s conference didn’t truly look next-gen (except for Final Fantasy XIII).