Sony PlayStation 3 (20GB)

Reviewed by David Carnoy

David Rudden
Review date: 9/27/06
Release date: 11/17/06

Even by the considerable standards of past next-generation consoles, the Sony PlayStation 3 has been subject to almost ludicrous levels of prerelease hype and hyperbole. The system was unveiled at E3 2005, where it faced derision for having a glut of unsubstantiated CGI demos of games that weren't running on any specific hardware. Information trickled out over the course of the next year until the company's press conference at E3 2006, where Sony presented the system's final design, release date and price, and first wave of titles--to once again face derision. The PlayStation 3 is due out November 17, 2006 in North America (Japan gets it about a week earlier, while Europe and Australia won't see it until March 2007) in two different configurations: a $600 model with a 60GB hard drive and built-in wireless networking and a $500 version with a 20GB hard drive but no Wi-Fi--HDMI was originally absent from this model but was added in September. Based on the PS3's launch details and our own hands-on experience with the console, we've collected the positive and negative points for Sony's third stab at console dominance.

Upside: Like the PS2 did for DVDs, the PS3 hopes to give a boost to the nascent Blu-ray movie format, going so far as to include the Blu-ray version of the Will Ferrell comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby as an add-in. The console's built-in Blu-ray drive allows it to double as a high-def movie player, making its otherwise hefty $500-to-$600 price tag seem like a bargain compared to that of dedicated stand-alone Blu-ray players, which bottom out at $1,000. Every PlayStation 3 will come with an HDMI port, which guarantees high-def playback of Blu-Ray movies and PS3 games, though the system will not ship with an HDMI cable. Blu-ray will be the format of choice for PS3 games, and the high-density discs offer much more storage space than those of Sony's competitors; Blu-ray discs max out at 50GB and can theoretically go to 100GB or 200GB, while the Microsoft Xbox 360 and (as far as we can determine) Nintendo Wii use standard DVDs, which top out at a comparatively cramped 8.5GB. The end result? The PS3 has the potential to offer more expansive games, with better graphical textures, more full-motion HD video, and plenty of extra content. Sony is also planning to do away with region coding for games, partly because multiterritory releases (with region-specific languages, for instance) will fit all the versions on one disc. In addition to the ramped-up disc storage, every PlayStation 3 will incorporate a hard drive, which means that developers are free to create games that utilize it, unlike the Xbox 360 which made the hard drive optional.

The PlayStation 3 will be the first commercial device powered by the ballyhooed Cell processor, a 3.2GHz chip that Sony developed with help from IBM and Toshiba. The chip's seven synergistic processing elements (SPEs) will work in parallel to churn out a staggering 218 gigaflops, or 218 billion floating point operations per second. In practice, that should make the PS3 especially adept at such processor-intensive activities as upconverting video and emulating past PlayStation games. You'll be able to play your PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, right out of the box, on the PlayStation 3. Even though it seems as though every household on the planet owns a PS1 or PS2, it's still a pretty big coup for the system to have such an extensive backlog available from the start; comparatively, the Xbox 360's backward-compatibility list is being built from the ground up in a piecemeal fashion, and Nintendo is offering GameCube disc playback but will likely charge for downloading games from the company's earlier consoles, including the Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo systems. Unlike the Xbox 360, you won't have to re-buy your last-gen games, as Sony will be releasing a $15 PS3 Memory Card Adapter that allows you to use PS1 and PS2 memory cards in your PS3.

Like the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 supports multiple wireless controllers. The PS3 controller, called the SixAxis, will be included with the system and will also be available separately for $50. Sony gets props for supporting up to seven simultaneous gamepads, as well as the Bluetooth wireless standard; the controllers will likely employ an internal battery that can be charged via mini-USB cable. The controllers use the same Dual Shock design as the company's customary PS1 and PS2 controllers, with a few notable differences--the PS3 controllers utilize motion-sensitive movement in six directions as a method of control, hence the name. The controller does not require any sensor devices like the Nintendo Wii, but it does lack the "rumble" effect of the first party Xbox 360 and Wii controllers. Sony gets props for supporting as many as seven simultaneous gamepads, as well as the Bluetooth wireless standard; the controllers will likely employ an internal battery that can be charged via mini-USB cable. Despite initial misgivings, it seems as though other companies besides Sony are beginning to make novel use of the SixAxis's control method. 2K Sports' NBA 2K7 has you recreating the free-throw shot motion with the controller in order to sink a shot, while Activision's Tony Hawk's Project 8 allows you to use the controller for all skateboard movement. There will be some connectivity between the PS3 and Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld system via USB (and possible Wi-Fi). While we've heard a bit about content transfer between the two systems, we're more enthusiastic about the use of the portable as another control method, as shown in F1 06, a racing title in which the PSP acted as an external real-time rearview mirror.

Downside: As great as a price of $500 or $600 will be for a Blu-ray player, it's awfully high for a console. It's twice the price that the PS2 was at launch in 2000, and it's $200 more than the core and high-end Xbox 360 models. Another pricing flub that Sony's been fleeced for was the decision to include a neutered PS3 for $500. While the company originally explained the difference as a simple memory disparity, further research has uncovered that the $500 model will lack built-in Wi-Fi and a built-in flash-memory reader. Microsoft caught some flak for releasing a bare-bones Xbox 360 Core System, a version that was easily upgradable to the exact same specs as the more expensive deluxe version with the purchase of a few expensive accessories. The PS3 should be able to do the same, though the upgrade path for the hard drive, the flash-memory reader, and Wi-Fi compatibility remains vague.

While the six-direction motion sensitivity of the PS3 controller worked well when we tried it, it pales in comparison to the Wii's more fully realized 3D motion control. It probably didn't help that Sony announced the PS3's new controller the day before the Wii's playable debut. Moreover, Sony's Warhawk was the only motion-based game on display at its E3 booth, compared to the two dozen or so Nintendo games that utilized the Wii remote.

The PS3 games shown at E3 2006 looked really good, but quite frankly, we expected better. Perhaps it's a case of the overambitious prerendered videos from last year's show coming back to haunt the company, but none of the dozen or so PS3 games showcased looked much better than second-generation Xbox 360 titles. Granted, that system is hitting its stride while this one's still incubating, and the PS3 should be capable of much better visuals further down the line.

With nearly all of the specs and release info nailed down, Sony's been relatively quiet about the PS3's online functionality, specifically the available downloadable content. Sony will be joining Nintendo and Microsoft in the microtransaction market, but the company's entire backlog is already playable on the system in its current form. Nintendo's Virtual Console has garnered an unprecedented amount of hype, and the Xbox Live Marketplace is one of the surprise success stories of the Xbox 360. If Sony's last in implementing it, the company may have a difficult time establishing an online economy. Another area in which Sony may not match the competition is the user interface. While the UI seems intuitive, it's also a bit too familiar, borrowing liberally from the PSP's "cross-bar" menu. In comparison, the Xbox 360's dashboard seems more cohesive, and the Wii's channel system has the possibility of becoming another new and exciting facet of the system .On the plus side, unlike Microsoft, Sony has indicated that its online service will be free for online competition, though extra content in games will still have to be paid for (Xbox Live requires a $50-per-year fee for Gold membership to play games head-to-head).

The PlayStation 3's launch lineup doesn't seem to have the same punch as its competitors'. While the Xbox 360 had a fair amount of exclusives, and with the Wii delivering a new Zelda title, the 21 PlayStation 3 games due out during the holidays seems largely comprised of multiconsole ports. Besides the potential Halo-killer Resistance: Fall of Man, the rest of Sony's internally-produced software lineup consists of next-gen sequels to underperforming PSP and PS2 titles such as Untold Legends, Genji, and NBA 06, with the highly-touted Warhawk slipping to 2007. While the unopposed PS2 launched six years ago with a similarly subpar slate, the PS3's lackluster lineup is much more glaring in the face of competition. Thankfully, the PS3's titles won't sell for any more than the competition's, as Sony and other third-party companies seem to be adhering to the $60 price cap on next-gen games.

Once again, launch allocations will be a major problem for a Sony console launch. The company set a precedent by chopping initial shipments of the PlayStation 2 in half roughly a month before the console's release, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 faced similar shortages. Sony's PlayStation 3 debut looks to be on par with both botched launches, as the company drastically reduced launch quantities of the PlayStation 3 to 400,000 units. Even more distressing is the attitude Sony has taken post-E3. In what may be the worst case of damage control ever, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi has made many a distressing prognostication regarding the PS3--one of the more poorly received ones being that he believes the system will undergo evolving specifications. Other execs haven't been immune either; Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO David Reeves claimed that the PS3 will sell out on brand recognition alone, and Sony CEO Howard Stringer assured gamers that their $600 was "paying for potential." This odd blend of bizarre business practices and cockiness in the face of tough competition could sour the public's image of the current king of console development.

Outlook: Last time around, the original Xbox came out later than the PS2 and, thus, wielded a significant hardware advantage. This time, the PS3 seems to have the technological edge, but the Xbox 360 will have a 12-month head start in the marketplace, not to mention a competing console in the form of the Nintendo Wii, due out two days later. The company didn't do itself any favors by drawing undue comparisons with the half-as-expensive Wii when it incorporated less impressive motion-sensitive technology in the controller. But the release dates, gigahertz comparisons, controller controversy, and Blu-ray boasts will likely take a backseat to the two most important factors: games and pricing. The Xbox 360 is slowly but surely amassing a roster of impressive titles and will have even more when the PS3 becomes available. Furthermore, the 360 will also be priced at least $200 less than the high-end PS3. The burden is now on Sony to justify the massive price tag (for a gaming console) while it captures an exclusive, must-have freshman title that sells the system. For now, Sony's betting that hard-core gamers--and high-def fanatics looking for a sub-$1,000 Blu-ray player--will be happy to run up their credit card debt come November 17. But for parents searching for a holiday gift, the cheaper Xbox 360 and Wii will be tough competition, indeed.

Editors' Note:Sony has since ceased production of the 20GB PlayStation 3. Specific reasons for the discontinuation of the model have not been publicized.