PlayStation3 (Sony) $399.99

When Playstation3 (PS3) first hit the market back in 2006, is was widely and rightly regarded as an over-priced, over-engineered, over-reaching, underperforming, unfocused system that appealed to no one but ardent Sony loyalists. The system struggled mightily and floundered in third place under the better systems, Nintendo's quirky Wii and Microsoft's second-generation console, the Xbox 360.

But is seems one only needs to kick Sony in the teeth so many times before it realizes a better vision for its otherwise better console. So it follows that mid-2008 saw PlayStation3 stage a comeback.

This past summer, Sony revamped and repositioned the PlayStation3 as, of all things, a videogame console -- an appropriately priced console at that.

Stripped of several superfluous (and costly) whistles and bells like multimedia card readers and often-touted, rarely-used "backward compatibility" with previous generation game discs, a leaner, meaner PlayStation3 came to market at a tantalizing $399.

Better still, a string of bona fide smash hit games have been gracing the PlayStation3 for a while now, sometimes exclusively so if not simply matching the quality of the same titles also available on Xbox 360.

And it's a diverse selection of games, too. The "hardcore" crowd is still best attended with the likes of Resistance 2 and Call of Duty: World at War, but there's also family friendly gems like Little Big Planet, fake band jammers like Guitar Hero, house party enablers like SingStar (karaoke) and Buzz TV Trivia, plus casual enticements available on the cheap and more online social/community/multi-media than you can cram into day, week, month... for free.

Today, there is little reason not to buy a PlayStation3... save for the fact that the competition has been offering something similar all along, has established itself in the collective consumer consciousness, and has lowered the bar on "reasonably priced" consoles. Oh yeah, that.

Sony's ace, of course, is the PlayStation3's Blu-ray movie playback, the only high definition format you'll find at retail and rental outlets these days. Considering a stand-alone Blu-ray movie player is worth at least $250 on its own, buying a PlayStation3 has "value proposition" written all over it; it's two pieces of high tech entertainment in one. More specifically, the PS3 console is comparable to an Xbox 360 Elite, but throws in the Blu-ray movie player and $100 worth of Wi-Fi connectivity for free.

All told, a PlayStation3 is easily worth every penny if you can spare that many pennies.

Buy this for the older teen or the adult technophile who appreciates top-of-the-line gear -- and especially if there's an HDTV in the house, where the PS3 can really strut its high-def stuff.

The Goods:
+ State-of-the-art, high powered, high definition gaming, hardcore for core gamers
+ Wired and wireless network enabled out of the box, no "sold separately" gear needed
+ All online functions (downloads, multiplayer, etc.) are free, no subscription required
+ All components internalized in neo-retro housing, runs cool and quiet
+ Has made significant inroads into family friendly, casual and social gaming
+ Blu-ray movie playback (the only high-def movie format you'll find at your video store)

The Grief:
- The priciest of the console bunch
- Still only a few killer games that aren’t also available on other systems
- No longer backward compatible with old PlayStation2
- Online functionality still not as slick as the competition (but hey, free.)
- Blu-ray still isn't mainstream, adoption rate slower than expected