We are almost sure you've heard by now that the new Sony Playstation will be released in November 17th. In fact, the news channels are already predicting the end of the universe when the system is released due to the scarcity of the product. And with only 400,000 units shipping in the United States and 100,000 units in Japan, the Playstation 3 will no doubt be extremely hard to find. But what's with the hype?

For starters, the Sony Playstation 3 packs a megaton of a punch. It is powered by a 3.2GHz Cell Processor, a 550MHz NVIDIA RSX Graphics Card along with 512MB of RAM. This means the Sony Playstation 3 will be capable of pushing polygons, millions of them, with relative ease. Coupled with the fact that the console can perform all sorts of graphics enhancements in its sleep, you get gorgeous looking games like Motorstorm and Resistance Fall of Man ? games that push the boundaries of how video games should look and sound.

The console also features free online play, although Sony has not yet revealed what their online service will look or feel like. Sony did announce that you will be able to download Playstation and Playstation 2 games through its online service. Like the Nintendo Wii, the Playstation 3 will also support independent developers by allowing them to create games for the Sony Playstation online service.

Unlike the Nintendo Wii which can sense the controller in 3D space, the Playstation 3 SIXAXIS controller only introduces tilt control. Some people swear by the Dual Shock Playstation 2 controller, but after the Nintendo Wii and the XBOX 360 controller, the SIXAXIS just doesn't feel as ergonomic as you would expect from a next generation console.

What do we really like about the Playstation 3? Believe it or not it's the fact that you can play blu-ray movies. That means that for $599 (or $499 for the basic version of the Playstation 3) you can play 1080p blu-ray movies in your 1080p high-definition television. If you look at it that way, you get an extremely powerful console for $399 and a pretty good blu-ray disc player for $200. That's not a bad deal specially when you take into consideration that it will probably be a couple of years before blu-ray DVD players retail for $200 dollars anyway.

I think both the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii can share your living room. The Playstation 3 will no doubt feature gorgeous looking games that play the "old way", while the Nintendo Wii will feature a completely new way to experience gaming. Why pass out on either one of those?