It seems as though Sony are finally starting to get their act together in regards to the Playstation 3. First and foremost, and in my opinion this is and always will be the most important factor in the console wars, the games are starting to live up to the hype. In the past week we had Gran Turismo 5 Prologue drop and believe me although this is just a taster to what’s to come with the full game it still shows off the kind of power the PS3 can deliver. Oh and just quickly while we are on the subject of GT5 Prologue if you do plan to pick this up, and I recommend you do, then you should also consider one of the many supported force feedback steering wheels. The amount of realism I’m getting by combining the two is frightening and after a long race I’m actually tired, both physically and mentally - awesome ! As well as the cross platform games the PS3 can also expect exclusive titles such as Haze, which I managed to play at last years Games Convention in Germany - again another stellar title.

On top of this Sony are also working hard at making the PS3 live up to its promise of the central hub of entertainment in a home. Just last week the latest firmware was delivered which brought additional features to the movie playback options, including Blue-ray Live, which allows for interactive access to web content. This actually made the PS3 the first to market device to support these features. Of course we now need to wait until some discs are available that support this. Sony have also continued to build up the relationship between the PS3 and the PSP, with many features, such as remote play, already available. In the coming weeks it is rumoured that the next firmware update will support the ability to copy Blue-ray content down to the PSP to view on the move - very cool !

In the coming weeks it looks like Sony are also looking at the user interface with the announcement dropping last night that the next firmware update, expected mid-April, to bring a major overhaul to the Playstation Store. It will no longer use the web browser, and promises a much faster and rich experience for the end user. On top of this we also have the promise of Playstation Home, Sonys supposed updated online experience. Personally I’m not too excited about Home, especially since the initial beta responses were so poor, and since then it seems to have gone under cover. Then again I wouldn’t put it past Sony to deliver something quite special and continue to make 2008 the year of the PS3.

Posted on March 31st, 2008 by nigel