"Shiny, sleek, heavy... worth it?"

The Playstation three is Sony's newest system, taking the PSP's menu system up to a whole new level, with a Playstation network, store, and buddies, you have tons of things to do, before even playing a game. But does it live up to all the hype, or will it crash and burn.

Appearance: 7/10

The PS3 is a confusing piece of equipment at first glance. On the one hand, it's sleek, shiny, dark, and just screams badass. On the other hand, well, that hand got crushed because of it's enormous size and weight.

Games: 10/10

Unlike the Xbox 360, this game started off with more than just first person shooters, a nice little starting line up, mixed with sports, FPS and some platformers. The 80GB and 60GB can play PS2 games, unfortunately the 40GB lacks that ability. So if you're buying this and are a PS2 vet, you may want to try and hunt down a 60GB. The quality of the games is excellent, and the Xbox 360 ports, are visually better, and the 1080p graphics are well worth the HDMI, but don't go out and buy a huge TV just for this.

Features:8/10

The two most noticeable features are the Blue-ray, and the PSN store, one of which is visually stunning, and one of which has tons of content . the Blue-ray is great, and Dvds will work no matter what version you have, so no need to break the bank buying Blue-rays of your classics. The PSN network; however has promised us more than they were able to handle. Playstation home, similar to the Wii's Mii's was supposed to be a launch application, which sadly, still hasn't come out, disappointing hundreds, however, it still has an amazing amount of content. You can download demos of games, even full games, movies, PSP games, and wall papers and themes. Both these features are fun, but the PSN store makes you want more.

Menu: 9/10

The PS3 Menu is a step up from the PSP menu, adding a few things, like the PSN store, buddies, and the ability to update your PS3 with a "life with Playstation" feature. Which I haven't downloaded so I won't be able to explain. As far as the menu goes, it's pretty hard to improve upon perfection, so no need to try.

Controller: 10/10

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." This applies here the only thing they changed was the L2 and R2 buttons go farther in than they did before, and they dropped the cord, and the charge lasts hours, and only takes about an hour to charge. The placement of the buttons feels great, natural for a veteran gamer, and each button has a use. the "Analog" button has been replaced with the "PS" button, which lets you turn on the system, or turn it off, and enter the game menu in-game.

Design: 9/10

Well, the design is essentially the same as the menu, perfect, sleek, new, and for the system, it couldn't fit better. You can customize background colors, styles, and pictures. In my opinion, it's the most stylish system around, the options don't take up the whole screen, and it's smooth moving.

Graphics:10/10

1080p almost guarantees the best graphics out there, but even without it, the PS3 has the sharpest clearest picture, in movies, games, and pictures. The graphics couldn't be better, and until we meet the next generation, this is the best picture we have. The PS3 also has lineups of some of the most prestigious game creators lined up, like Insomniac and Square enix. Who graphically have beautiful designs, it's safe to say it has the best graphics out there, some of the games like Ratchet and Clank, have been compared to playing inside a Pixar movie.

Game Lineup: 9/10

Well the PS3 has more than just FPS, and with Square Enix and Insomniac, we have games like Resistance Two and FFXIII coming out solely for this system. It's a great lineup of all game styles, RPG's, FPS' Tactics, and every variety of game imaginable, the lineup we have now, and that's soon to come, is bright.

Internet: 8/10

That's right, you can surf the web on this, although without the USB keyboard, this gets to be a bit of a hassle, however, unlike the 360, you don't have to pay a monthly fee to use the internet, go on for as long as you like, all you need is a wireless internet connection, or an Ethernet cable, both of which you can get for under $80. You can watch Youtube on the PS3, but other video sites have a bit of trouble loading, sites such as GameFAQs are not so great to be on, unless you don't have an account, because typing, is again, a nightmare, it does have a predictive text dictionary, but you still have to scroll down through it to find the correct word.

Price:7/10

Well, the 80GB is $500, the 40GB is $400, and the upcoming 100GB is supposed to be $600, for the space in the hard-drive, the Blue-ray capability, the game lineup, the graphics, and the PSN, I'd say that the 40GB is well priced, and $100 for 40 GB seems almost reasonable, if not a little out of range, but another $100 for just 20GB? That goes a little far. So the first two are fairly priced, but from what I understand, that may change.

Overall: 9/10

Yes, the PS3 has it's flaws, but it doesn't have quite as many as the 360, it has no "red ring of death" and can't even be compared to the Wii. (It could, but they're so different they're two different game styles.) Think what you want, this is my opinion, and I understand that 360 bias people will disregard this review, but those who aren't sure which to buy, please take this review as an honest, non-bias statement, and read more reviews.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 12/02/08

Game Release: PlayStation 3 (US, 11/17/06)

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