Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ashamed. Even Rothbart’s gotta admit, there’s been a LOT to bash on. Poor game selection, broken promises, ridiculous executive quotes… a virtual buffet of filleted silliness, mine to devour.

But today, I saw something that literally shut me up.

Can you tell the difference between these two pictures?
Here’s a hint. One is a screenshot from Gran Turismo 5 on the Ps3. The other is an actual photo. I won’t give away the surprise. Head over to this site to take the full quiz, and test your eye.

Now I’m not trying to insinuate that a screenshot means the world, or is any indication of the quality of the gameplay. What I am insinuating, hell I’m just telling you, is that if Sony’s developers can find a way to harness the power of the PS3, in this manner, Microsoft may just have a battle ahead of them.

It’s not just the major PS3 titles that are starting to turn heads. A downloadable game called “Everyday Shooter” is getting incredible reviews from Kotaku to Joystiq. It’s ten bucks from the PS Store.

I am beginning to come around to the opinion that the PS3 is like Betty Jarkovitz from my 6th grade English class.

Betty had braces, was a bookworm, smelled like cat food, never spoke, and had hair that looked like Ramen Noodles. Kids made fun of her, teased her, and pretty much made her life hell. (Yours truly not included in that crowd. I was pretty much a dead ringer for Betty, only male.)

Well one day Betty moved away. She came back our senior year, having blossomed into a hot little bombshell, in every way imaginable. (I wish this had a storybook ending, but Betty eventually became a snob and hung out with the kids that made fun of her.)

That’s how I’m starting to see the PS3. Sure, it’s still got a long way to go, but what if, all this time, we’ve been teasing something that turns out to be the hottest console in history?

It certainly has the spec sheet to be that console. Who knows? Maybe with the right leadership, proper investments into solid IP’s, and a little luck, the PS3 will waltz into the “Console Prom” looking like the chick from Transformers. I just hope, when that happens, I don’t choke on that plateful of crow that I’ll be eating.