[05/04/2008]   Thanks to a hefty tax refund, I was all set this week to pick up a PS3. In all honesty, I wanted one of the 60gig machines that have full, hardware-emulated backwards compatibility, but after hearing that the software emulation was actually pretty good, I was willing to settle for the 80gig machine. But what do I find when I go to pick one up? The 80gig sku has been discontinued! The only one left is the 40gig machine that has absolutely no backwards compatibility whatsoever!

It hasn't even been a year and a half, yet Sony has already gone through 4 PS3 skus, and each successive one is an inferior machine to the ones that came before. Is it just me, or are they deliberately trying to irritate their customers? Needless to say, I did not buy a PS3 this week, and I won't be buying one until a sku with backwards compatibility is rereleased. If that never happens, well, I'll never own one. And I sincerely doubt I'm alone in that sentiment. I honestly don't see how people can continue to defend it. It's software library is still horrible, it's still the most expensive console on the market save for the elite Xbox 360 package, and Sony keeps on making questionable — nay, outright horrible — business decisions in regards to it.

I've heard tell that Sony is preparing a new sku of the PS3 to replace the now defunct 80gig model, but what that sku will entail is still up in the air. I've heard from some that it will follow the 40gig model's example and lack backwards compatibility, while others say that it will be bringing back the emotion chip from the initial production run. Hopefully it's the latter, but who can say.

Anyways, enough venting. Today we have reviews for .hack//Mutation, Gurumin, Crisis Core, and Wild ARMs XF. Enjoy!