As my less than subtle headline suggests, I have now entered the Next Generation of console gaming and purchased a PS3. The news that Australia would be yelling "See ya" to the 60GB model, and adding a "G'day" to a lesser 40GB model (sans backwards compatibility; 2 USB ports and the multi-card reader) sent shockwaves across a fragile nation. Well, maybe not shockwaves so much of murmurs of outrage from the fan community, many of whom went out and emptied the already low-stocked shelves of 60Gb models over the weekend. I was lucky enough on Monday, after trying about half-a-dozen large chains in my local super mall (and being laughed at by at least one of them) to pick up one of the last of four PS3s being held by a Large Retailer. Naturally, I still haggled over price, but my desperation was probably showing through. In the end, I'm now a proud member of the Living Generation. Or something like that.

Now, this is all well and good for me. As a Sony Drone - with a PS2; two Sony cameras (a Cybershot and an Alpha); a VAIO and an MP3 player - I may as well just name my first-born Sony at this point. I like that all my cards and things will work in this new Beast. The big plus was also the Blu-ray player, which will be included in the new model, but it's nice to have that little extra oomph in your shiny thing and a back-up if my PS2 ever decides to brick it. What about those other folk, the ones that haven't invested yet? While my PS2 library is quite small, with only a dozen titles or so, it is nice to be able to run them off the one machine. People are being very quick to dismiss the lack of backwards compatibility as something not really needed, but think of it this way: if you have a library - even a small library - of PS2 titles, and your PS2 has given up the ghost, what possible incentive do you now have for upgrading to a 40GB model? You'd be relying solely on the new titles coming out. Although they are amping up a bit, and include some major names, the rate is nowhere near the sheer number available for competitors (who I won't mention for fear of starting an additional console v console debate). I'm cautiously optimistic. Or warmly ambivalent. Or something like that.

So far I'm impressed anyway. As a long-time writer for DVD Bits, it's great to be able to upscale some of the DVDs I presently own to something that my HDTV will deign to love. The Pixar animated films look especially good. Playing games in hi-def with surround sound (I've got my PS3 hooked up to the TV via HDMI and through my DVD Recorder/Receiver via a digital optical cable) is something of a revelation. Ninja Gaiden Sigma was my first choice, and while that may mean I'm exhibiting some masochistic tendencies, it's also fun to smack the snot out of things. (No doubt, Oblivion will get a look-in at some stage, but again with the short-term snot bashing. Post-Zelda: Twilight Princess, I'm not ready to commit to another adventure just yet. This begs another question: should an emotionally fragile gamer be allowed to buy a new console so soon?). My Wii-Widow of a girlfriend was just starting to enjoy some of the co-op play on the Wii, but she is a now a gaming widow once again. A PS3dow perhaps? Or something like that.

Despite my entering the digital age, and throwing my hat in with the Blu-ray crowd, I still have to wonder if this is all going to matter in a few years. With digital downloads on the increase, and broadband ever so slowly getting better here in Australia and around the world, it's only a matter of time before we start seeing an end to these kind of disc-based wars. I believe that there is a place for more that a handful of competing formats, and that they can live together and drink lemonade on a quiet Sunday afternoon. I dream of a future, where man and squirrel are bound together in unholy harmony. Where people with cocktail sausages for fingers can just as easily play a console game as the more ably-fingered. I see a time when worn-out 360 owners will gently cradle their beloved PS3 partners as they drift off to sleep, their free arm still zapping a motion controlled Link as he trains with his crossbow. Yes, brothers and sisters, I speak of a Gaming Utopia, where console prejudice holds no sway in the love between a person and a small woodland animal.

Or something like that.