The jury’s still out on whether the PS3 will sink or swim, but a long-time gamer would probably say that it doesn’t look too good for Sony, who continues to bet the proverbial farm on their iffy Blu-Ray technology, and insist their console cost $200 more than the already-popular and already-expensive XBox 360.

Well, yesterday Sony revealed what they’ll have available for the PS3 at launch, which includes 21 games (not a bad number for a launch) and a free Blu-Ray HD-DVD of a movie nobody liked when it was in theaters. We’ll see how it goes.

Sony is seeking to heighten the anticipation for the PlayStation 3, a console that it hopes will validate its dominance in the console market in the face of growing competition.

“With the PlayStation 3, we have taken our legacy, we have taken our vision, to build a product really from the ground up that is going to lay the foundation for the next 10 years in digital entertainment,” said Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Dan Hsu, editor in chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly, said the presentation showed how clearly Sony was focused on Microsoft. He said Sony executives, without naming Microsoft, asserted repeatedly that PlayStation was superior to the competition, from heralding the relatively more powerful internal processor to the relatively small and space-saving AC power adapter.

Sony appeared to be saying, “We’re going to have to take back control of the console war,” Mr. Hsu said.

EDIT: A list of PS3’s launch titles if you’re interested.

General, Video Games