Five Reasons to Get Dad a PS3

It's been a year and a half since Sony launched the PS3 with lots of hype, only to have Nintendo and its scrappy Wii system steal most of the thunder with its "casual" games and motion-control system. Even Microsoft had a better year with high-profile games like Halo 3 getting people excited about the Xbox 360.

If you thought the PS3 was dead in the water, it might be time to reconsider that assumption. We've had a chance to re-look at the PS3, and now feel that while Sony might not be king of the hill just yet, they're at least back on the mountain ready to take on the other two contenders. Here are five reasons we think you should take another look at the PS3 if you're a home gaming console fan. While others are scrambling to still find Nintendo Wii systems for Father's Day, you can march in and grab a PS3 right off the shelf and know that you may have just gotten a better gift.

1) Finally, Some Good PS3 Games

It does take some time for video game makers to come out with games that make you go, "Wow, I really want to buy the system for that game." With the exception of a few games (we're really high on Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction), the PS3 hasn't had that game that you've wanted to run out and get just for that system. Most of the "must have" games over the past year have been available on one or other two systems, including games like Guitar Hero III, Rock Band and Call of Duty 4. Even the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV will be available on the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

But the exclusive release of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue means that if you're a fan of this racing series, you'll have to buy a PS3 in order to play it. With more franchise games coming down the pike (including Metal Gear Solid 4, the next Final Fantasy chapter and eventually God of War 3), there are more opportunities for gamers to rediscover the technology advantages of the PS3 over the other systems. Couple the games with the new DualShock 3 controller (which incorporates both rumble and SIXAXIS motion sensitivity technology), and you have a gaming experience with the potential to exceed anything else on the market. (See more great titles for the gamer dad)

2) Blu-Ray's Win Gives Sony an Edge.

While most still consider the PS3 and Xbox 360 primarily as a video game system, the inclusion of network connectivity and the capability to play music or videos and view photos means that they're becoming more of a home entertainment console. Sony's inclusion of a Blu-Ray high-definition drive gives customers the option of experiencing the next-generation of DVD without having to buy a separate player.

The recent win of Blu-Ray over HD-DVD in the "format wars" means that PS3 owners won't have to worry about compatibility, unlike people who bought the add-on HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 (fortunately, the HD-DVD drive wasn't integrated into the Xbox 360, so Microsoft can save face with owners by selling an add-on Blu-Ray drive). The Sony PS3 is likely going to drive Blu-Ray DVD equipment sales for the near future, as people jump into the fray -- if you're really interested in Blu-Ray, why not also buy a system that can play games? It's also worth noting that, because of its built-in network connectivity and hard disk, the PS3 is one of the few players on the market capable of upgrading to Blu-ray BD-Live Profile 2.0. Due to its robust hardware configuration, the PS3 is considered by many to be the premier Blu-ray player on the market today. It also now supports DTS-HD output; if you're an audiophile, you're likely to appreciate this.

Affordability

3) PS3 is "More Affordable" Than Before.

When the PS3 launched in 2006, the $600 price tag (compared with $250 for the Nintendo Wii and $350 for the Xbox 360) took a lot of potential buyers out of the market. While Sony tried to say the price tag was worth it for the technology in the system, it was a hard sell considering the lack of good games and the uncertainty of the high-def drive.

Sony then dropped the price of the PS3 to a more reasonable $400 (for the 40GB model), while the newest 80GB model sells for $499 (each package includes some kind of software title with a controller; i.e. Spider-Man 3 *cringe*). With better features on the higher-capacity 80GB model, including flash card support, PS2 compatibility and more USB 2.0 ports, most gamers should consider this version.

4) Sony's Online Network has Improved Greatly.

When the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 launched their devices in 2006, the general consensus was that Microsoft's Xbox Live service (in which owners needed to pay $50 per year for the "gold" level, the only useful level) was far superior to Sony's PlayStation Network (which was free, but didn't have lots of features and was tediously frustrating to use). Sony has since dramatically improved the online service, and allows users to access the network without having to pay for a yearly service.

The system is now quick, elegant, and highly intuitive. Currently, the store includes software for PS3 and PSP (including a variety of free trailers), online-only games, movie trailers, and some very cool things programmers are starting to do with the PlayStation Eye. There are a variety of other features available as well.

5) Owners Can Help a Good Cause

If any of the other reasons don't convince you to reconsider the PS3 as one of your video game console choices, consider that the PS3 can act as a client for Stanford University's http://folding.stanford.edu/ project, a distributed computing project aimed at understanding protein folding, misfolding and related diseases.

PS3 owners with the client software installed can leave their devices powered on and connected to the network, and "donate" their device's powerful Cell processors to the distributed computing project. You may also join with friends, rivals, or complete strangers to form a "mini-collective", and focus your combined cell processors on a single task.

Since launching the PS3 client in May 2007, hundreds of thousands of systems have added their processing power to the project. In September 2007, the project received a Guinness World Record for achieving a computing power of 1 petaflop (1 quadrillion floating point operations per second).

So if playing video games can lead to breakthroughs in diseases like Alzheimer's Disease, that should make you feel a whole lot better about powering up the console.