PS3 Fanboy

Here are some images to check out from Sega's famous brawler which is due out next year. The aesthetics are shaping up to that next-gen feel, especially with the environments. Apparently gamers will be able to deck these characters out in different clothes and accessories purchased from an in-game shop. Makes you wonder if they plan on adding any support for micro-transactions over the internet as well.

Some people just like to hear their own voice. If you're the next aspiring American Idol, you may find this worth checking out. Last week some new My SingStar images surfaced showing off the next-gen karaoke game for PlayStation 3. It gives off a quirky vibe to those who may not be keen on this type of game, but we could be seeing some really sweet applications thanks to the PS3 hardware.

With secret weapons emerging, hardware of the like could provide a fresh angle on a song-driven game like this. Though you can only push an EyeToy or camera so far for a karaoke title. However there's always the possibility of downloading all kinds of new songs over their network platform too. And what about the chance of downloading user-created content as well? Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but hey... it could happen!

As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)

So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.

HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.

[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]