Okay, credit where credit's due. I thought this Kotaku article about the online strategy for the PS3 really drove home the smart, innovative things Sony is doing with their console.

I think including a hard drive in every console was absolutely the right decision (Microsoft, what were you thinking?), and it will allow for much more complex downloadable games than we'll ever see on the 360.

Of course, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is apparently coming to Xbox Live Marketplace as downloadable episodic content, so maybe Microsoft is just going to conveniently 'forget' that it sells the putrid Core system.

But back to Sony, I also think the gradual release of full triple-A titles for download, as well as purchase on a physical disc, is bringing to fruition some of the hopes gamers have about ditching physical media altogether.

Of course, it's a little odd that Sony is so aggressively pushing downloadable games, because the PS3 is built almost entirely around the notion that physical media (Blu-ray, in this case) is critical to next-gen gaming.

Still, kudos to Sony.