SCE Australia boss Michael Ephraim explains why he thinks the PS3 is in a different league to the Wii and 360.

Some might say that Sony are feeling the strain from competitors Microsoft and Nintendo. The Wii is receiving critical acclaim, and is also selling rather well in Japan, whilst the Xbox360 is maintaining a strong userbase in Europe and the Americas.

One criticism that has surrounded Sony is their hefty price point, especially as the Wii is a great deal cheaper than Sony's machine.

"We think PS3 is not a product to be compared with Wii, it is a completely different product. This is a digital hub, that is a games console," says SCE Australia boss Michael Ephraim.

"To maximise Xbox 360, you need Media Centre, you need a PC. And now if you want to play high-definition movies (and we can argue which format is going to win) you have to spend another AUD $249 [EUR 150]. Xbox is significantly dearer than PS3 for what it can do straight out of the box."

The PS3 may be a digital hub, but isn't it also a games console? We were under the impression that you could run Playstation 3 games on the system, but obviously we were wrong.

Nintendo have distanced themselves from its competitors, by going for the innovative and mainstream approach to the market. However, is Sony trying to do the same by calling their machine an all-in-one digital hub? Do consumers really want that? Leave your thoughts and opinions below.