Mikey Boom

With a launch list of lack luster games and a selling price double that of the previous PS1 and PS2 models, Sony’s new gaming behemoth, the PlayStation3, has been repeatedly been a target of negative press. One could argue that never before has Sony had to face such harsh competition. PS1 and 2 ran along side Sega Saturn or Dreamcast but these were consoles with indisputably far less capabilities. The Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360 are far more superior opponents, the likes of which the PlayStation systems have never encountered. But help is on its way for the PS3. A steady flow of upgrades to their free online network in conjunction with the addition of classic downloadable games should keep the masses content until big title debuts such as Final Fantasy XIII, Motortorm, Killzone2, Devil May Cry 4, and Virtual Fighter 5 are ready for unveiling. The biggest question here is: Will Sony have ready a big title debut to compete against the much anticipated competitor titles like Halo 3 on the Xbox360 or Mario Galaxy on the Nintendo Wii? Game critics speculate the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 to be the PS3 best hope of competing against big name titles on competitor’s systems and furthermore may ultimately help against the negative press the system has received thus far. No release date has yet been established for PS3’s Metal Gear Solid 4. Sony has sold 1.26 million PS3s, Nintendo has sold 4.4 million Wii systems and Microsoft has sold 10.4 Xbox360s. Without a doubt, Sony is gearing up for strong comeback. In a recent interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine the director of sales for Sony Computer Entertainment Americas (SCEA), John Tretton, said the short term goals of Sony PS3 are “…to get as many good games to the market as quickly as possible-games that differentiate our platform and really show what our platform can do”.