The big black console has spent a year getting pushed in two different directions by Sony. As a Blu-ray player it has been caught in a two-way fight for a nascent high-def disc format marketplace. As a game console it's been caught in a three-way fight for market share between an online-heavy Microsoft console with a year head start and a stable of mature and strong software offerings and an out-of-nowhere Nintendo console redefining what a home console can be and grabbing the limelight unlike almost any other console in history. While the Blu-ray side of the PS3 has gone reasonably well, the games side of the PS3 has been stung with game delays and a nearly complete lack of marketing ability.

Much hay has been made about slow sales numbers but they apparently track the Xbox 360's first year very closely even though the two systems launched into completely different markets. The Xbox 360 had no competition for its first year and supply side challenges, and the PS3 launched into a market with two simultaneous competitors, one of which features an entirely unexpected hardware and control redesign and a bargain-basement price. With the most recent price cut and redesign of the system coupled with the rollout of high-profile and well-reviewed titles it can be argued that the PS3 is poised to take off.

As the software production delays seem to be working themselves out, development teams like Infinity Ward are demonstrating how to do simultaneous cross-platform development right for both the 360 and PS3. Sony's own software brands are starting to come on strong with some new IP and existing franchises joining some high-quality games like Rainbow Six Vegas, Motorstorm, and Resistance to deliver a great experience online and off. Marketing is now picking up with a new slate of ads highlighting actual gameplay. The PS3 almost looks like it's being aggressively re-launched this fall.

That's not to say all conditions are right for the big black box. PlayStation Home was delayed into the spring. The Orange Box is still MIA. Unreal Tournament 3, originally slated to be a November 2006 launch will only just this month reach its primary market on the PC and may hit the PS3 in December. Metal Gear Solid 4 has moved farther out into mid 2008.

While end-users have enjoyed a raft of new features in the PS3 firmware, a few key demands haven't yet been met. As Xbox Live turns 5 years old this month Sony is still working on getting in-game XMB support onto their system. It's another "coming soon" aspect of the PS3.

All of these demands underscore a critical problem that has faced the PS3 from the outset even as Sony makes tough choices to try and stay in the console race. It's the problem of context. The PS3 has been judged extremely harshly not because of what it is, but because of what it is up against. The SIXAXIS motion control is looked down on by Wii owners. The lack of a cross-game chat and messaging system is looked down on by Xbox 360 owners. But looked at from the point of view of last-generation console owners the PS3 doesn't look quite like it does to others.

This holiday season will give us some solid numbers to try and guess if Sony's latest attempts at making the PS3 more competitive are good enough, but the real story won't be told until we're well into 2008. The Xbox 360 came into its own in its second year despite incredibly high hardware failure rates because it was backed by a strong stable of software. The PS3 could very well do the same, and with the system still having a rock-solid reliability record and some showcase titles already demonstrating what it is capable of it has a lot to build on.

Time has been running out for Sony to have a good showing this generation from the moment the system launched. With the price finally in respectable, current-generation console territory it's time for much more of the great content we're seeing ramp up now to hit the system and generate more sales. Is there enough of a user base of last-generation systems out there left to take notice of Sony's console given its high brand recognition and move it forward, or have too many people picked up a 360 or Wii? Will developers and publishers keep the wheels turning smoothly into the system's second year? Will Sony deliver some big surprises with Home or any other initiatives into a marketplace that has been demanding parity with the Xbox 360 instead of innovation?

We'll have to see, but in the meantime I still have lots to play with Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm, Oblivion, Folklore, Rainbow Six Vegas, Heavenly Sword, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, The Simpsons Game, and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Care to join me?

http://www.aeropause.com/archives/2007/11/happy_first_birthday_ps3.php

I would join you. It was a rather rough year for the PS3. But it was its first year. They can fix it in the next few years. Congrats PS3!!!