Playstation 3 80 GB Bundle
By Travis Meacham
Christmas is a great time to be a gamer on the receiving end of holiday generosity. November and December are always loaded with game releases, but this year in particular will see the release of many long-awaited titles across all consoles. And with the console war still raging, vendors keep trying ever harder to lure shoppers into their grasps. Sony's bid for your Christmas dollar is the Playstation 3 80 GB bundle. Considering that the Nintendo Wii is still in short supply and the Xbox 360 already lurks in many gaming households, Sony's new PS3 bundle is worth a look.
Same sleek looks, but more storage inside, with more things to do with it than ever before.
When the PS3 was first released about a year ago, its high price and lack of a solid launch lineup forced a lot of consumers into wait-and-see mode. One year later, Sony is marketing the PS3 as more than a gaming console with its multimedia support and Blu-ray player. This latest PS3 comes packaged with a larger hard drive than the original configuration (with its 60 GB drive) and includes the racing game MotorStorm. Sometimes games packaged with systems succumb to "mediocre" to "bad" ratings; by happy contrast, MotorStorm is an excellent game to showcase the incredible graphics power of the Playstation 3.
The PS3 launch line-up didn't blow anyone away, but the last year has witnessed a number of great games released exclusively for this system, with several more big titles coming soon. The multiplayer shooter Warhawk, the action-adventure title Heavenly Sword, and the 3D platform game Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, are only a few of the quality PS3-only titles available right now. Within the next year, give or take, the PS3 will enjoy the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Gran Turismo HD, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Killzone 2, and eventually Final Fantasy XIII. In addition to these exclusive offerings, the PS3 library also includes games like Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the EA Sports lineup, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, and a host of other big-name titles.
If $499 seems a tad steep for a game console - even one that includes a game - remember that the PS3 also functions as a Blu-ray player. Blu-ray is one of two competing high-definition DVD formats, and more and more movies are being released on Blu-ray every month. The HD DVD formats are a step up from standard DVDs in video quality, audio fidelity, and the capacity for special features. The library was still looking thin in 2006, but like the PS3 games, Blu-ray movies have come a long way in the last year.
Sony's Playstation 3 is arguably the most powerful console on the market today, and with the added value of a Blu-ray player, a larger hard drive for downloading content and storing photos, and the inclusion of MotorStorm in this bundle, it should make any gamer's Christmas morning a pleasant one.
