Sony's PlayStation 3: Mouth watering, but not mind blowing

Sony's PlayStation 3: Mouth watering, but not mind blowing

The sole attraction at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles is Sony's next-generation games console, PlayStation 3. Journalists, gaming geeks and industry analysts all flocked to the "booth" of Sony Computer Entertainment at the E3 yesterday. Their verdict? Yes, PlayStation is all that it is billed to be, but not what gamers are hoping it would be. In other words, it is a mouth-watering console, but not a mind-blowing concept.

The initial games on offer were Heavenly Sword developed by Ninja Theory, God of War and Ubisoft's Prince of Persia. The console is fast enough, the cinematic experience is great and it is generally an exceptional device. Bust as mentioned the oomph was missing. Perhaps the anticipation got the better of us and the product failed to meet the expectations. However, Sony can be sure that they have a winner on their hands.

Analysts say that Sony is lacking in the innovations department and hence the lukewarm reception to PS3. "Sony is really good at pretending to be innovative by taking things that other companies have done," said Jeff Kalles of mobile games developer Mobliss. In contrast Nintendo's Wii seems to have kept up with the demands and that is why everyone was going gaga over it.

The PS3 is set to retail for $499 and is due for release on November 17 in what could trigger a three-way contest between Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft in the holiday season. “We make no apologies for the PlayStation 3 being the best game system around,” says Phil Harrison, head of Sony's game studios worldwide, when asked about the high price. “But it's more than that – it's a Blu-ray disk player, it's a media hub and a network platform, so there are a number of additional benefits that significantly increase the value proposition.”