Why Sony's Slimmer PS3 Makes a Great Holiday Gift: Gift Guide

• gaming
• Sony
• PlayStation
• Upgrade
• Blu-ray

Sony's PS3 just took a cut in price and size—it's now a third slimmer, uses a third less power and costs $100 less than earlier versions. Great, but the real reason this may be the time to get a PS3, three years after it was first released, is that it's the most future-proof of the current-generation home consoles. It packs more power under its hood than either the Nintendo Wii or the Xbox 360—a fact that is just now becoming apparent with the release of new PS3-exclusive titles (such as the superb Uncharted 2: Among Thieves) that seem to be beyond the technological capabilities of other consoles. And unlike the Xbox, which charges users $8 or so per month to access its Xbox Live Gold online gaming service, the PS3 players can shoot it out against each other in online games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for free. The PS3 also streams Netflix Watch Instantly movies for free (using a free DVD, and with a Netflix subscription), whereas the Xbox requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Finally, the PS3 is also one of the most future-proof Blu-ray players on the market. Unlike many models, its online capabilities allow it to update easily and take on new functionality as the still-developing Blu-ray standard advances.

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