PlayStation 3 launch details

Today was Sony Gamer's Day, and SCEE announced a bunch o' stuff about the PlayStation 3 launch.

The shots across the Microsoft Xbox 360 bow include Sony's online service being free, 21 titles available at launch, and a special $15 memory card adapter that will let you transfer game saves from PSOne and PS2 memory cards onto the hard drive of the PS3 (Which is better than what Microsoft, but that doesn't necessarily mean all PSO and PS2 games will be backwards compatible, though).

The "we can do that, too" movement from Sony is the Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Blu-ray disc pack-in (Microsoft's HD-DVD drive will have Peter Jackson's King Kong). Honestly, this is an area in which Sony should excel, because of the studio connection.

The "mheh"-ness in the launch comes from a delayed PS3 EU launch that lets Microsoft get further entrenched (if they can get their act together in that region), Sony calling their single online ID the "PlayStation profile" (Uh, the "Gamer tag" moniker wins), downloadable games being "under $15" ($15 is expensive compared to Xbox Live Arcade), and sub-par and/or old games that other gamers have enjoyed for some time (Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII; Fight Night Round 3; The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; F.E.A.R.) that aren't as compelling as new or console-exclusive titles. Seriously, even thought the sports titles will likely be better than Xbox 360's in the same genre, those titles are available on every other system.

It does look like Sony will avoid the "crappier-on-next-gen" titles (like from Activision) with which the Xbox 360 was saddled (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Project 8 look to be really solid titles from that company this round, but are also available on the other systems).

Here's the full list of PS3 launch titles:

1. Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (Ubisoft)
2. Call of Duty 3 (Activision)
3. Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)
4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
5. F.E.A.R. (Vivendi Universal Games)
6. Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Sega)
7. Genji: Days of the Blade (Sony)
8. Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts)
9. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision)
10. Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (Namco Bandai Games)
11. NBA 07 (Sony)
12. NBA 2K7 (2K Sports)
13. Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts)
14. NHL 2K7 (2K Sports)
15. Resistance: Fall of Man (Sony)
16. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco Bandai)
17. Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)
18. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts)
19. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft)
20. Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision)
21. Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (Sony Online Entertainment)

"Let the games begin!"

(Separated by a year and without equal footing in all territories.)