PS3

$500600, PlayStation 3

Teaches: a game console

CTR Rating: 86%

CTR Review

Twenty times more powerful than the PS2, Sony's new console will run all your current PS2 games in addition to a handful of new HDTV titles designed to use the console's clear high definition output. Sony created this console to be a digital Swiss Army Knife for the home. The disk drive can read music CDs, DVDs or the new 25-50 GB Blu-ray format. There will also be ports for Ethernet, USB, Memory Sticks, SD RAM and Compact Flash. The console will be able to read PSOne and PS2 titles, with future games that will incorporate PSP content, either through the wireless connection or via the memory stick. Plugging a PS3 into a regular TV would be like hooking up a lawn sprinkler to a fire hose. It will work, but the PS3 is designed to delight your eyes and ears, with High Definition TV output options (1920 by 1080 pixels) and Dolby audio. The Bluetooth wireless controller looks exactly like the familiar PS2 controller, minus the rumble feature. It is also lighter. A new motion detection scheme permits six degrees of motion while floating in 3D space; so you can fly an airplane by leaning left or right, or flip a duck in the air, like a pancake. A limitation compared to the Wii controller is that the PS3 controller is designed to be held by two hands. The Wii is designed for independent hand motion, permitting games like tennis. Sony�s "Connected Console strategy" will give the PS3 access to �over 15,000 titles.� But based on the E3 demos, Sony�s first priority is the hard-core gamer, with titles like the graphically-impressive Gran Turismo HD. Titles of interest to children include Afrika (Working Title), Eye Of Judgement (an EyeToy card trading game), Gran Turismo HD (racing), Marvel Ultimate Alliance (Activision) and World Soccer 2. Most Sony kids' titles run on the older PS2 already.