Playstation 3 - Cool Gadget or Expensive Toy?

Three letters; Wii.

The only console I've ever owned was one with a pong-like tennis game and other stick graphic games. Very entertaining and kept us going for hours at a time.. 25 or more years ago..

I don't care :)

I tend to wait until the later revisions of the consoles.

I'll get a XBox 360 around revision h or 8. Same for the playstation 3.

Of course I should have waithed for revision i of the ps2, inbuild infra-red... but never mind

Sony blew it with the PS3. No great launch titles and a whopping price tag that's worse in Ireland than the rest of Europe.

Paul - Is it that good?

Donncha - Sounds like fun :)

Anthony - I've heard that complaint elsewhere as well

Anthony: Regarding PS3's launch titles - when it launches here, it will be launching with TWENTY-SEVEN games available. And although they're not all stellar ('sup, Gundam?), there are some terrific games in there. Like Motorstorm. And Virtua Fighter 5.

I'm not a Sony fanboy, but I'd say that pronouncing the PS3 a 'failure' right now is more than a little premature.

I'd pronounce it a failure in terms of what it's done in the US and Japan. Sony were the golden boys of the console era but now are finding themselves in third behind Microsoft and Nintendo. I don't think you'd anyone who could have predicted that. It's sad because a lot of people will buy it in blind faith as the Playstation brand has become so strong over the years. Lets hope I'm proven wrong.

I enjoyed the Wii, Michele. It brought back the fun I remember from the original Nintendo days. If you have a family then it is even better as everyone can have a go and you get really involved in it. I guess I have grown out of wanting to kill hordes of perfectly-rendered 3D aliens/monsters and just want a half-hour or hour of fun, light-hearted entertainment. If you are into games and take them a bit seriously though then I reckon the XBox 360 or PS3 is a better bet. For the rest of us, the Wii rocks.

Anthony - True, the PlayStation 3's sales so far have been lacklustre, but despite the high price, they're selling out almost as fast as they can make them. And look at the other two: Microsoft had a full year's head start on the PlayStation 3 and failed to properly capitalize on that. It is doing very little business in Japan and, outside of Ireland and England, isn't doing great in Europe either. To make matters worse, it is firmly stuck in the 'hardcore' market. The Wii... well, it certainly captured a lot of mindshare, especially in the blogosphere, but the level of support for this platform is abysmal and there are still only two truly great games available. And this doesn't look to change anytime soon.

A couple of weeks ago, Sony showed us where they were going with Home and 'Little Big Planet' (which is the most exciting thing I've seen in games since I first saw a Wii), and I can say that I'm more excited about Sony's offering now than I was three months ago. I still have no plans (read: funds) to buy one yet, but I still think it's too early to declare a 'winner', or a 'loser', in the next-gen wars.