Pre-ramble:
As the Sony Playstion 3 (PS3) hit the market, many people who have been sitting on the Xbox vs. Playstation fence are trying to decide if tracking down a PS3 is worth the trouble.  Without a doubt, the anticipation and expectation for the PS3 is high.  Has the PS3 impressed?

With over 100 million PS2's out there, there is no doubt that the Sony faithful will scoop up PS3's as quick as they hit the shelves.  After the initial panic subsides, is anyone going to want one?

The waiting game:
Is it worth the wait or worth the money for a PS3?  Let's look at the basic numbers... all prices are in Canadian dollars.  The 360 Premium comes with a 20GB hard drive, and most stores have bundles with a game included for $499.  I've seen Dell and others have the package on for $399 from time to time.  If you want to play most online games or Xbox 1 games, you need the hard drive, but a 360 Core (no hard drive) is available for less.  Microsoft has just released an HD-DVD player (external) for $199. 

The PS3 is also available in 2 flavours, 20GB version and a 60GB version.  The 60GB version includes IEE 802.11 b/g wireless networking (Wi-Fi) built in.  Both include Gigabit wired Ethernet (1000BASE-T), use Serial ATA hard drives, include 4 USB ports and use Bluetooth wireless for the controllers.  Most importantly, the PS3 uses a Blu-ray optical drive and features an HDMI output that will allow folks with newer HD displays to get immediate use of their technology.

The tentative price for the 20GB PS3 is $499 and the 60GB is $659.  Pricey, but actually cheaper than the 360 if you are trying to get set up for high-definition video (HD or Blu-ray playback).

To high-def, or not to high-def?
Is high-definition that big a deal?  Basically, yes it is.  The majority of LCD and Plasma panel owners out there are watching network signals and DVD quality video.  Nice, and there are more HD channels on the way, but content is a bit thin.  Remember when DVD became cheap and VHS disappeared?  It was about the same time the PS2 came out and put a DVD player in almost every home.  Expect the same thing with PS3 leading the market with Blu-ray.  No, it won't displace the $49 DVD player for a long time, but for at least a year, people are going to gobble up PS3 as fast as they can make them.  When you pair a high-definition player with an HDMI connector to a high-definition display, you've got the optimum setup for the best output the hardware is capable of presenting.  At the time of launch, the PS3 will be the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market - forget the fact it actually plays games.

The Xbox360 did not ship with HDMI connectivity, but does output high-def via component video output.  Most people can't tell the difference in the connections, but HDMI offers the advantage of being digital from start to finish.  Also, HDMI allows each component to 'talk' to each other to determine the playback capabilities and adjust accordingly. 

As this is becoming a marketing issue, Microsoft has announced a new version of the Xbox 360 that will now include an HDMI port.  Old 360 users are out of luck - there is no upgrade path.

The games, the games
There are always going to be platform specific games.  You'll never see Halo on the PS, or Rachet and Clank on the Xbox, and Nintendo will always hold their key characters to themselves.  But, you'll find that many titles are released for both systems.  The exception to this rule is the games that cross-over from Microsoft Windows.  Yes, inside the Xbox 360 is just another PC... it runs the same core graphics and operating system as Windows.  So, a lot of the first-person shooters and RPG's on the Xbox start as PC games and are easily ported to the Xbox.  If that genre of games is your thing, and you like the Xbox live network, then you should weigh the Xbox choice accordingly.

Speed?
The PS3 has its own small set of licenced characters, but its an open platform with no ties to what a consumer would call a PC.  At its heart is a UNIX based operating system driving a new parallel processing called the "Cell Broadband Engine" or just "Cell".  While the Xbox relies on a clockspeed and a 3 core processor approach to performance, the PS3 uses a virtual multi-core processor (7 cores) that communicates with it's 256MB on board RAM and 256MB video RAM.  The Xbox 360 makes due with a 10MB ATI graphics processor.  On paper, a case can be made for each architecture having an advantage, but the verdict seems to be that the PS3 design allows for a substantial jump over the Xbox 360, when the full advantage of the Cell processor is leveraged.  Ok, that means that once PS3 developers figure out the new chip, it should really fly.  Neither system is a dog, but after viewing a lot of video from both systems, you can't deny the PS3 has a more fluid feel to it - while the Xbox 360 carries around the same odd jumpiness that bothered me about the original Xbox.  In either case, expect things to get better as both systems mature. 

Technology
The PS3 has a few distinct advantages here.  The controllers use Bluetooth connectivity, which allows for the potential for all kinds of Bluetooth standard products to work with the PS3.  But, who really needs their cell-phone to talk to their PS3?  The controllers are lighter, more responsive, and last longer on a single charge.  The 360 controllers use a lot of weight for the batteries.  Both support USB connections, both will play your MP3 files, although only the 360 plays WMA files, while the PS3 supports Apple's AAC format.  Both can store video and pictures for showing your friends on the big screen.  The PS3 comes with Blu-ray high-def, which has recently surpassed HD-DVD in media sales.  I think unless Microsoft updates the 360 with HD-DVD built in, the format is going to fade away.  The PS3 uses the newest SATA hard drives, which can be easily upgraded if you need more space.  The PS3 can also be partitioned to run UNIX or LINUX if you want to turn it into a PC.  The PS3 has wireless ethernet right out of the box, and surprisingly it works great.

All of these little technology perks don't mean a thing to me personally, as they seem largely untapped and underused.  The Xbox360 gives up some perks but has a more fluid interface for managing you media, and itegrated with Windows fairly easily.  If you like everything in your house to speak the same language, the 360 has the advantage.

Summary
The Xbox 360 beat Sony to the market by a whole year.  You'll find 360's everywhere although the game selection isn't overwhelming given the headstart they've got.  The Xbox 360 launched with a very small selection and the epic "Halo" still hasn't made it out.  The PS3 was supposed to launch with 50 games, and many are eagerly awaited, such as Gran Turismo.  3 months after release, there are only about 20 games available, and only a few have been getting excellent reviews.  Many of the PS3 games are near clones of their 360 counterparts (NFL, NBA etc).

Right now, the best part of both systems is they play the older generation games.  Both are capable, both have a lot of potential, but my opinion is the PS3 has the hardware to go further, while the 360 has the software and integration with desktop computers to be a true 'home media center'.  Sony is updating the PS3 operating system often, and expect its media integration to mature as well.

Which one should you buy?  If you are a PC-centric house with WMA/MP3, photos you want to share between your desktop and TV, then the 360 is pretty nifty.  If you are willing to bet on the potential for the PS3 to outrun the 360 in terms of hardware, and are mostly interested in high-def movie playback and straight-up game performance, then the PS3 is the better choice.