Sony's most ambitious video games machine is here, and with it comes the world's cheapest Blu-ray player – the secret ingredient in the PS3 formula. More PS3s have been shifted in Japan than they sold games – proof that many PS3s are being used exclusively as Blu-ray players? Well, perhaps.
On paper, PS3 beats established rival console Xbox 360 in terms of processor speed, memory and pretty much every spec you can think of. However, with a year's worth of getting to grips with the machine, developers are now churning out great results on the Xbox 360, and by the look of PS3's launch games, giving the ‘more powerful' console a run for its money. Look at cross-platform games such as Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Call of Duty 3, and it can be argued the Xbox versions look and play better.
Meanwhile, Xbox Live, the online service from Microsoft, was honed on the original Xbox and now runs like a dream, delivering game demos, trailers, online play with other users and, in a recent addition, the ability to download full HD movies and TV shows. By comparison, Sony's first steps offer online play within games, and an online ‘Store' that looks barren by comparison. It's early days, certainly, but Xbox's ability to download content in the background while playing games, or browsing further content puts PS3's online experience to shame.
But there's one area in which PS3 clearly excels – built into every PS3 is a Blu-ray disc drive and an HDMI output. PS3 is ready, out of the box, to play Blu-ray movies at resolutions up to 1080p (if your screen can handle it). By comparison, Xbox 360 has a standard DVD drive, and requires a $250 add-on drive to play HD-DVD.
