Sony's new games console the Playstation 3 or more commonly known as the PS3 was finally released across the European Union and Australia as well as the other PAL region 2 compatible countries on Friday 23rd March. With up to 300,000 units available at launch it was unlikely that the PS3, which had already been available in Japan and US from November last year, was going to be an overnight sell out. Even now as I write this review they are still available in the stores. Disappointed ebay sellers, who had hoped to make a bit of profit from pre-order sales riding on the launches of Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PSP, are well and truly kicking themselves now as the average price of the auctions finish at the £400 mark meaning unless they bought them in a job lot they lost some considerable amounts of money. I think for once Sony got it right.

With the PS3 (60GB) you are getting a similar package to the mighty 360, and a bit more besides. The heavier console may share similar performance specifications to Microsoft's baby but the PS3 certainly in the long term appears to have more potential. First of all the PS3 has a Blu-Ray (BD) drive and supports 25gb single layer and 50gb dual layer discs, as well as Super Audio CD's (SACD) as well as your standard DVD's and CD's. Like the 360 you also get internet access and although not quite as well polished, has similar options like downloadable demos and trailers. Added bonuses of the internet access is that you get a web browser, online multiplayer for no extra cost and the 60gb model has built in wireless.

I am not going to sit here and crunch numbers because the most part they do not mean anything. The most obvious platform to compare to is the 360, but if I was to say to you that technically on paper the 360 seems to have the edge, you will all be cursing me right now telling me I am talking through my bottom. However I am not going to chastise or be biased to either console since I believe that they both have their fair share of ups and downs. Like everything that Sony release there has to be some new technology which in reality is no different to what you get in most high end PC's or games consoles. Integrated into the PS3 is the new 'Broadband Cell' processor which promises all sorts of weird and wonderful graphical delights like no other graphics processor. I get tired of Sony 'bigging' up their technology by giving it a fancy name but in reality is no different to anything else already produced. Remember the 'emotion engine' anyone? Now at an impressive 3.2 GHz it is not a slow processor and coupled with the impressive chip sit I am sure will be able to churn out some incredible sites. Now RAM wise the 360 wins having double the PS3, however at only 500 MHz the PS3's 256mb seems slightly better running at 3200 MHz, but then surely more RAM is better than how quick the RAM is? Well this is where the Blu-Ray comes in. With a capacity of up to 50gb and with a fast drive it means that RAM is not all that important since developments in software coding means that now game producers have the power to physically stream uncompressed textures and information directly into real-time from the Blu-ray media. The PS3 also has a big 60 GB hard drive which means that a lot of the gaming information can be permanently stored on the hard drive to reduce loading and buffering and you still have room for all your personal stuff. At the moment we have no real test for the PS3, since most of the games on the console at the moment are straight ports from the 360, and even some of them are not so good mainly because of the difference in how the PS3 processes its data. Since the integral hardware in the PS3 has so many different ways to code, it means simple ports are not really that simple. Take Call Of Duty 3 for instance, on the 360 it runs at a much smoother frame rate and has slightly more texture detail but slows down more, however on the PS3 the effects are much clearer and more prominent and of cause you have the integration of the motion sensor controller. Call of Duty 3 is a RAM reliant game and requires some data to be loaded on the hard drive of the PS3 to run, but after all it is a 360 game and was built for the hardware, so the PS3 is restricted to how the software is coded. It will be a while before we actually see the benefits of the PS3's intense architecture but I am sure when we do see it, it will be most impressive. Gran Turismo HD and Motor Storm are two such games that are PS3 specific and are very impressive looking and running indeed and hint of what the PS3 can do that the 360 would struggle with, however even on the HDTV it is still not quite breath taking, but it is sure as hell close. Talking of HDTV, the PS3 also benefits from HDMI connectivity and has some superb sound processing technology up to 7.1 channels, again another feature to secure the future.

I have not involved the Wii in this review because in my opinion as much as a good machine it is, especially for the kids, I do not consider it next generation and more of a done up Gamecube with internet access, a fancy motion sensor controller and better media storage.