When the PS3 was released in 2006, I thought the console was a $700 paperweight. It looked good and showed many promising features such as having Blu-ray technology and 20, 60 and now 80GB versions. Plus Wi-fi capabilities and built in memory.

There was a lot of positive buzz before the console released but, once the day came, Sony had to deal with many problems.

First off, the price was way too high, considering the Xbox 360 was half the price. Secondly, there weren’t enough PS3’s to go around which had some people who waited overnight at some stores walking away with nothing but their hands in their pockets, kicking rocks as they sulked home.

Third, most of the first consoles released had bugs which meant your sparkling, brand new piece of gaming jewelry had to be sent back for repairs. Lastly, The XBOX 360 had already been out for a year and had built a good customer base; it had quite few good games in its roster not to mention the Xbox Live.

Sony had no blockbuster games to release with its PS3, which had me wondering why Sony hadn’t planned their console launch better. Although Sony does offer free online play, it isn’t as user friendly or extensive as Xbox Live. Not only did Sony have to now share its customers with Microsoft, but Nintendo had released the Wii a couple of months earlier.

In 2007, sales were dwindling. Consoles sat on shelves and Sony had laid off a bunch of employees. There was a war between HD DVDs and Blue Ray DVDs and the once Sony-exclusive games were now also developing games for the XBOX 360 as well.

I really began to wonder what Sony was doing when they released God of War II in March 13, 2007, onto its older console, the PS2. The first God of War was one of Sony’s biggest games, so to release the new version on the old console had me scratching my head. I was starting to think that this was the beginning of the end for Sony in the console wars.

Just as I began to lose hope in this once gaming colossus, Sony suddenly dropped the price of their PS3 console in half to match the price of the Xbox 360. Blu-Ray was declared the victor over HD DVD’s. Sony has also upgraded their online store interface which looks slicker and more user friendly.

Finally Sony has some decent games are on the horizon. The first game which is out now, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. The Gran Turismo series is and always has been a Sony exclusive. Next big game is of course, GTA IV. Sadly, for Sony, they now have to share this market with Microsoft. But since Sony had the previous GTA games to itself, they have built a devoted audience that haven’t and won’t switch to XBOX 360. After the dust settles from GTA IV, Sony will have a couple more games up its sleeve. The highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4, (releasing June 12) and Killzone 2, (releasing September).

Sony needs to keep building their games catalogue and keep upgrading their online services to stay on track. Blu-ray alone is a big selling feature now, since you can buy a Blu-ray player by itself for around the same price.

I don’t think anyone can state that Sony will be the console war winner but they are definitely are on the right track to be the gaming giant they once were.