Remember when we all thought the PS3 was going to be this unstoppable behemoth? Remember when it seemed like Mircosoft's console was going to remain in that number two spot? And Nintendo well... we weren't sure what the hell Nintendo was doing. And then came E3 '06. It changed everything. Sony was receiving flak from all sides, Microsoft just kept shooting out news and games at a machine gun pace and the Wii line was the longest line ever in the history of the universe. Then came launch day. Sony had like what, 7 PS3s for sale? It seemed like it anyway. And the Wii sold like hotcakes, too. A couple months after, the Wii kept selling and you could see PS3s on the shelves. But, the PS2 had launch troubles too so just like the PS2, the PS3 should kick into full gear soon, right? I was thinking the same thing but the play field is different now.

When the PS2 hit our shores, it had a whole year to itself. No other competition, just the PS2. It had a year to build up its fanbase, a year to get games ready. A year to essentially rule the market. Then came the Xbox. Then came the GameCube. By then, great games started coming out for the PS2 and it was in full swing. And it had an entire year by itself to do it.

For the PS3, it's way, way different. It jumped into the competition with a competitor already in it (360) and the Wii was right behind it. It didn't have a year for itself. It didn't have a year to build up the base all by itself. Now, in the midst of the all the competition, the Wii is still selling at an insane rate (Wii outsold the PS3 in Japan by 6:1? Day-um.) and Microsoft is still doing really well with some big games coming down the pipeline. Not only that but I don't think Sony's consoles have ever been hit by so much bad press. It's like every other day it's something while they sing praises for the Wii at the same time.

And the exclusives. Ace Combat 6 -- exclusive for the time being. VF5 -- coming to the 360 with online support. Burn. GTA IV -- 360's getting episodic exclusives. Who would've thought Sony would let that go? Sony still has some aces up its sleeve but it's such a different play field than before I don't know how Sony's going to climb back up. There's just too many great games for the 360 to pass up on and the Wii has struck a cord with the casual audience (which, to be honest, thought I'd never ever see). MGS4 can't come soon enough. FFXIII can't come soon enough. But I wonder if it'll be too late by then. MGS4 probably isn't going to make it by the end of this year and FFXIII isn't coming out until Spring, at the earliest.

GDC '07 did spark some hope for Sony and this E3 they have to hit a grand slam. Killzone 2 has to blow everyone's minds. Heavenly Sword has to show that it's more than the greatest demo ever made. And LittleBigPlanet has to inspire the world to come together and make up. The price drop is a step in the right direction, though. It used to be that Sony didn't need to pull so many punches to try to draw in an audience. Now, however? Dang.

It's just different.