I've already done a full review of the base PlayStation 3, if you're curious about how it compares with the Wii and Xbox 360. This review is specifically about the 80 gig hard drive model of the PS3, and notes about it has held up over the past year of release.

First, we've had all 3 game systems since they released, and are able to play them all quite regularly. We had very high hopes for the PS3, as we love many Sony-specific game lines (Final Fantasy etc). We have been very disappointed over the past year with the support and games released for the PS3. If you look on Amazon's rankings, you have to get down to #21 before you hit a PS3 game, and that is simply a duplicate of a higher ranked Xbox 360 game. Over the past months we have rarely turned on the PS3, and that only to watch BluRay movies. Yes, the PS3 makes an excellent high-def movie player! But that's hardly the main reason we bought the unit.

You would think with this upgrade to an 80 gig hard drive and a HDMI output that the PS3 would finally have a huge edge over its competition. Unfortunately, no. We already have an Xbox 360 Elite that has a 120 gig hard drive plus HDMI. So the PS3 is still "behind" in that sense. We have tons of fun on Xbox Live with Halo 3, Ace Combat 6, etc. but there just isn't that same atmosphere on the PS3. When friends come over they all want to play the Xbox 360 games; few ever look through the game selection on the PS3 side.

A key selling point of the PS3 has always been the HUGE volume of games that you could play from the PS1 and PS2. There are fantastically fun games that are just as fun now as when they released. It was a key reason that many people I knew bought the PS3. However, with this 80 gig release, they've even damaged that angle! As part of their hardware rearranging with the 80 gig model, they no longer support backwards compatibility as fully. That seems like a *huge* mistake to me.

I really want the PS3 to succeed. To be honest, I'm surprised that they're now in this catch-up mode, given how wildly successful the PS2 was. They really need to press forward with PS3-specific games that are must-have buys. They also really need the full backwards compatibility so all the old games play properly on the new system. Until they get those issues resolved, I don't see the PS3 getting turned on very often in the near future.