Sony was the undisputed king of the last generation of consoles, selling over 100 million PlayStation 2 systems and a mess of games to go along with it. This happened, ironically, despite the fact that the PS2 was the least capable from a technology perspective. Multiplatform games typically looked better on the XBOX or GameCube. Determined not to have the laggard in this round, Sony threw everything but the kitchen sink into the PlayStation 3, ignoring one of the elements that made the PS2 so compelling in the first place-low cost.

By all accounts, the PlayStation was shipped anywhere from six months to a year late. This not only allowed Microsoft to build up a huge lead in its installed base of XBOX 360 owners, but it forced many game developers to rethink their plans. Games like Assasin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto IV went from being PlayStation exclusives to shipping on the rival 360 as well. The high profile God of War II was shipped for the older PlayStation 2. And Metal Gear Solid 4 still hasn't shipped. Would that situation be different had the PS3 shipped in February 2007 or November 2006? Perhaps.

The PlayStation name still has tremendous cache with developers, so despite a small installed base for PS3s the system still gets considerable software support. And Sony has rewarded its faithful developers of PS3 exclusives with a spate of advertising during this past holiday season. Despite rumors that writing games for the PS3 was considerably more difficult than on the PS2 (or even the 360), most major developers have managed to pull off the same programming tricks that they use on the 360 or on Windows. To this point, in fact, there seems to be more parity between Sony's and Microsoft's systems than in the last generation in terms of raw horsepower. That could change as we reach the end of this cycle, but for now, the question of which console is more powerful is still up for debate.

One of the huge selling points of the PS3 is its included Blu-ray drive. To date, at least five major studios have chosen to support that format over competing HD-DVD, giving Sony an edge over Toshiba in the format war. Unfortunately, adoption of HD television sets has been slower than anticipated, so Sony's gains are still over a pretty small piece of the total pie. And even among HDTV owners, many are still content with standard DVDs, making $300 players and $30 discs a tough sell.

The PlayStation Network continues to grow and expand, and even though its no match for XBOX Live at this point, it could become one if Sony's idea for Home ever comes to fruition. In the meantime, Sony continues to add lots of movie trailers to the PSN, but no movies, a curious omission for a company that controls a movie studio. It's reminiscent of IBM's refusal to sell OS/2 on their own PCs in the 90s. And we all know what happened to OS/2.

Having redesigned and reduced the price on the PS3 a couple of times now, Sony has moved from the high-end, elite space toward the space occupied by Microsoft's 360-hardcore gamers with some cheddar to spend. With fewer exclusive titles so far, the decision between the two boils down to loyalty (i.e. fanboyism) or preference. But it looks like each platform will have the same libraries with a few high-end exclusives on either side.

Like Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony has a second platform in play with the PSP, and yet a third if you count the PS2. The PSP was introduced as a high-end gamer's handheld, offering a level of gaming never before seen in a portable form factor. It also has lots of non-gaming functionality from playing music and video to surfing the web. It was the precursor to the PS3, but it had a price that was palatable to mainstream gamers and MP3 listeners. Despite the fact that the UMD format didn't take off for movies (thanks again to DVD-like pricing), the PSP game library has shaped up nicely. The PS2 continues to sell to new console owners and last-gen holdouts. There hasn't been a PS2 title worthy of envy since God of War II came out.

Will Sony win this generation of the console competition? It seems unlikely. Despite having finally gotten on track with the PS3, the late start has put them way behind their competition, and the gap only gets wider with each passing month. But even if the PS3 doesn't gain the largest installed base, it will continue to attract good games just because of its pedigree. Sony's gambit with Blu-ray drives may still pay off too, which is certainly a nice consolation prize if you can't be on top of the gaming pile.