I know I've posted a lot on PS3 recently, but I've just finished a fun stint working on the Official PlayStation Magazine so I've been thinking of little else recently. Plus, there are always so many juicy and intriguingly contradictory stories...
So, a quick round-up. 'Semi-official' PS3 blog Three Speech is sticking with its theory that Sony will announce the European launch on January 23 and that the magic date will be March 23. The previously touted price of GBP425 for the 60gig model appears to be holding - forget 20gig units, they'll be non-existent for months.
Three Speech has also been on-hand to deal with a scurrilous piece of gossip emanating from Rumor Reporter. The site hinted that a high-profile PS3 title had been canned due to in-fighting among the dev team.
It didn't take visitors long to figure out the game in question was War Hawk. The piece goes on to suggest - via that old tabloid favourite 'an anonymous source' - that the important launch shooter may now only appear as a mini-download, a la GT HD.
Joystiq toys with the rumour, pushing readers toward two denials from, of all people, God of War creator David Jaffe. Three Speech, meanwhile, goes for a straight denial.
Finally, IGN has confounded expectation and named PS3 its Best New Console of 2006. by way of justification:
"...from a hardware perspective, the PS3 is by far the more interesting console. Though the launch software hasn't blown anyone away, the 360's launch titles were equally unimpressive, and the system will certainly mature. Sony's embrace of the PS3 as a computer rather than just a console, and the availability of supported Linux distributions for the console will also develop and will likely bear entirely unexpected fruit in future."
Hmm, while the Linux support could indeed lead to great things in the future, the future categorically isn't 2006. In that year, Wii clearly ruled. It ruled in terms of innovation, in terms of success, in terms of re-defining the hardware war and the very meaning of technological progress. PS3 did not have a good 2006. But this is what awards should be about - messing with people's expectations (unless it involves awarding Dances With Wolves a best picture Oscar over Goodfellas).
So, in making this decision, has IGN marked itself out as a mainstream reactionary or a brave deviant, backing the underdog in sea of Wii apologists?
