On May 16, 2005, the Sony PlayStation 3 was introduced to the public. Games around the world rejoiced at the best PlayStation console ever. Despite the high price on November 17, 2006, the official release date in the United States, the units sold out in less than 24 hours and were the most popular item on EBay for Christmas.
Sony PlayStation 3 has many great features to satisfy the wants and needs of any hardcore gamer. One of the new innovations was the built-in hard drive. This brought the console to a whole new level with no memory cards required and computer-like functionality. Sony also added Ethernet connections, USB ports, and on some models, Bluetooth capabilities. All of these features combine to create a gaming console that many say is not only great to start with, but also has potential that has yet to be realized. Even naysayers who complain about the lack of compelling game titles will agree that the PlayStation 3 has enormous potential.
Personally, as a parent, I think one of the best aspects of the PlayStation 3 is the ability for the player to download and play game demos. It used to be that you could buy a disc with multiple demos, but then you were left with a worthless disc and spent several bucks in the process, with the new feature once you’ve played the demo and decided if you want to buy the game. then you can delete it and not miss out on a red penny.
The PlayStation 3 comes in a variety of hard drive sizes, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Let’s see the different sizes and their functionality:
– 20 gigabytes: This was one of the originally released sizes, it is no longer available at retail. The 20 has 4 USB ports and backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 2. The unit is no longer in production.
– 40 gigabytes – This drive came in a greater variety of colors; piano black, ceramic white, lead gray and satin silver. On this model they cut the USB ports down to 2 but added wifi and lost compatibility with the PS2.
– 60 gigabytes – Probably the cream of the crop, as this drive had it all. 4 USB, WiFi, flash card readers, SACD for superior audio, and PS2 compatibility. As with the 20, this unit is no longer in production. If you can find one you’ll likely pay dearly for it, however if you’re a PlayStation fan and own a lot of the PS2 games then this is probably the drive for you.
– 80 gigabytes: There is some confusion on this model, as the initial release had all the same capabilities as the 60, but later releases were scaled down. If you find an 80 gig with 4 USB ports, it will have all the great features of the 60 mentioned above. On the other hand, if you have only 2 USB ports, you lose compatibility with WiFi, SADC and earlier.
– 160 gigabytes: This is the latest installation for the PlayStation 3 family and is expected to launch during the holidays this year. You’ll have 2 USB and Wifi capabilities to go along with the monster-sized hard drive; one can only assume that there are some serious updates warranting the production of this console.
PlayStation fans will not be disappointed with this console. In addition to the Internet, the internal hard drives and Blu-ray players are disconnected with the wireless controller capability that is standard on all models.
