The State of the PS3

Sony better start doing some damage control, and soon. The problem with this thing we call the Internet is that news spreads faster than wildfire. With Merrill Lynch releasing a report that the PS3 is going to cost Sony around $900 to produce and that there is all likely-hood that the console will be delayed until 2007 for technical reasons is concerning. As someone who loves all consoles (I'm more about the games than the hardware) my concern is that certain titles that are slated for release on the XBox 360 and PS3 for say the fall or upcoming holiday season will get delayed until the PS3 is ready, leaving gamers in the cold. Is Sony really going to release an online system that will rival XBox Live? While it's possible, they have a lot of catching up to do and spent a lot of time during the life of the PS2 claiming that Microsoft has the whole business model wrong. Though I'm not a big Microsoft fan, XBox Live is something they have done right and they have proved (as they usually do) that they keep banging away at something until they get it right. The first XBox Live was 'ok' but the current setup is pretty awesome and I've found myself in the 'Marketplace' more than I ever dreamed I would. The year ahead is going to be interesting. I keep thinking about this 360 vs. PS3 talk that goes on, the Revolution quietly sneaking around in the background for the Nintendo fanboys (yeah, I'll be getting one!) but does any of this result in 'next generation games'? So far, I haven't seen anything to prove that. As usual, time will tell.