While I don't think the PS3 sucks, I also don't think it is great. I was shocked as the size and weight of the thing.
I plan on putting it out of sight. Not just because it's hideous, but it's annoyingly noisy too.
Gameplay is pretty much the same as the PS2 on the games I have played - they just look way better. The only real improvement in gameplay is the addition of the online content aspect, and larger and more detailed maps. In the grand scheme of things, that stuff is really just standard improvements for a new gen console. The PS3 does not have a "gotta have it" feature that the ps1 and ps2 had.
Well when you play a game like GTA IV, it's just a much more complete and enjoyable game than it was on the PS2. The graphics in GTA IV are not overly impressive, but the level detail in the world is.
A game like Race Driver GRID is simply the most sensational racing game I ever played. Mostly because of the great gameplay. Maybe the PS2 would be capable of running the physics engine, but with this type of game the graphics do add to the magic.
The only thing that the PS3 offers over the Xbox is the blu ray movie player and 1080p. For most people, both of those features are not draw points.
In the US this might be true, but in Europe I think full HD and Blu-Ray is more important. On the other hand the US market is probably by far the biggest of the world.
Oddly enough, the PS3 has been outselling the Xbox 360 for the last 6 months though
It also seems that most of the exclusive games are FPS games. I personally like the Xbox controllers MUCH better for FPS. I really think Sony should have tweaked and redesigned the controller if they were going to concentrate so much on FPS games.
Indeed, I forgot how bad the playstation controllers were. I gave my PS2 away years ago, but now picking up a PS3, the controllers are amazingly bad. Not sure if they are too small for my hands or something? The joysticks feel overly sensitive too (or maybe that's just because of the 2 games I played)