Based on the inventory this past weekend (even yesterday) and the complete lack of quality software, I’m going to have to declare the PS3 the turd of 2006. Yes, it gets the Turd of the Year award for a totally flubbed product launch. Quality control issues, zero availability, lame software releases, and lack of innovation are the likely suspects on this unpolished turd.

I went into Best Buy yesterday and there was a stack of 60GB units, just sitting there. A guy was guarding them, but looked really bored. Nobody was buying them, zero interest on the floor. I asked if they had any Wiis in stock — nope. So much for the PS3 and the overhyped launch. I guess people are still happy with their PS2 console (I know we played ours over the weekend).

Maybe they’ll get it right in a couple of years, or maybe they will just end up eating a lot of expense to make it a usable system. Right now, I see zero attraction to get one and I really wanted one when I heard about it. Now I’m just like, meh, what’s the use.

Sony released a few updates yesterday on the upcoming Playstation 3 release as well as a few new add-ons coming for the PSP. It seems the PS3 will be coming in November (probably LATE November) at a cost to manufacture of at least $385. I’m guessing a $499 retail launch for a base system with a decked-out rig approaching $699. We’ll see what happens, but dual 1080p display outputs can’t be cheap!

On the other hand, the PSP is getting a video camera (USB), a GPS (USB), and some video/voice over IP software to make video VoIP calls from your PSP. No word on what network, how it will work, etc. but I can bet it isn’t Skype. It would be nice to see a homebrew version of Skype, but considering the position of Homebrew on the PSP, it’s not likely. Skype is too big-time to support something like that now.

No word on new games, but it is clear that Sony is positioning the PSP to be more than a gaming handheld. It’s a great platform, gorgeous screen (indoors anyway) and powerful processor, so it’s no wonder they want to take advantage of it. The rumor of a 4GB version of the PSP for storing music/videos is still just that — a rumor. But we’ll see if that becomes more than a rumor later this year.