Munich - The history of Sony's Playstation 3 (PS3) is littered with bad luck, bankruptcies and a series of glitches. But there is new hope that the worst days are behind with clear sailing ahead. European gamers had to wait more than a year for the console to hit markets - until March 2007 - because problems with the blue laser diodes in the system's Blu-ray drive forced multiple launch delays. The lull let competitors snap up Sony's customers.
But those days seem to be in the past.
"The Playstation seems to have found solid footing, especially during the last Christmas season," says Markus Schwerdtel, chief editor of GamePro, a German gaming magazine. Indeed, according to Sony Computer Entertainment's German operations, 8.5 million of the consoles have been sold in Europe so far.
Additionally, 1,100 games have been produced for the PS3 - 20 per cent by Sony directly, the rest by third parties.
The PS3 has let Sony focus more on its core market of young, tech-savvy men, says Schwerdtel. That's why the manufacturer worked hard to make it so high-tech. The heart of the PS3 is a multi-core cell processor developed jointly by IBM and Toshiba.
That processor makes the PS3 faster than modern PCs in some ways. On top of that, the Blu-ray drive lets the PS3 double as a home entertainment centre.
"For a long time, the PS3 was the most affordable Blu-ray player on the market," says Schwerdtel. However, cheaper stand-alone versions have hit markets in recent years.
But the PS3 is about more than games and watching movies. Thanks to interfaces for digital cameras and MP3 players, the console can be used for showing pictures or playing music.
The current model has an 80-gigabyte hard drive. That follows earlier versions with capacities of 60 and 40 gigabytes, neither of which is produced any more, reports Sony Europe. If they are available at all, it would be as individual units, the company says. A 160-gigabyte version - a limited edition -is no longer available either.
Technology like this comes at a price. Currently, a PS3 goes for about 400 euros (572 dollars). That's still down from the original price of 599 euros.
"That makes it the most expensive console," says Schwerdtel. And while the PS3 might be technologically more advanced than its competitors, game programmers rarely ever test it to its limits
The PS3's full potential is only put on full display by games made exclusively for it, like Gran Turismo, say some. "Most titles are produced for multiple consoles simultaneously," says Schwerdtel. Before, there were more exclusive Sony games produced.
The high price isn't the only stumbling block for customers. The gaming industry creates its own hurdles. For example, Activision Blizzard, one of the world's biggest game producers, made 32 per cent of its 2008 profits on games for Nintendo's Wii, but only 19 per cent of its profits on PS3 games, reported the Bloomberg news agency
Experts assume that means the industry will soon exert pressure for the PS3's price to drop. It is speculation Sony denies.
Rumours persist of the eventual release of a slimmed-down version of the PS3. It would be significantly smaller and cost less than contemporary models. Internet speculation on the topic is rife.
Sony did take a similar step with the PS3's predecessor, the Playstation 2. Nonetheless, Sony didn't hint at this option at June's Los Angeles Electronic Entertainment Expo, one of the most important annual industry events.
Instead, Sony announced plans for the release early next year of a motion-sensitive controller consisting of a stick with a red, lighted point and multiple buttons that allows players to guide play with their movements.
Schwerdtel says he expects more advances in the system's online services, an area where he sees significant potential. For example, Sony recently launched VidZone, a call-up music service that lets users store thousands of music videos on their PS3.
