Amid a swathe of negative publicity against its Playstation 3 device, Sony fired back late Wednesday, issuing a press-release blasting its competitors as lacking features and value.

In a statement issued last night entitled, Keeping Gaming and Entertainment Simple, Sony has said that with PlayStation 3 you get ten years of value with a future-proof system via firmware updates that offer new services and features.

The company also issued a newly-formulated feature run-down that favorably compares the PS3's value to that of Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, directly calling out competitors who have fewer included features.

A price and feature breakdown by the lowest entry points for each console claimed that the standard 80GB $399 PS3 gets more entertainment value than a souped-up Xbox 360 Arcade and a Nintendo Wii.

The Xbox 360 requires additional money, multiple upgrades and additional external devices, putting a burden on the wallet and adds clutter to the entertainment center, Sony said. And the Wii's lack of enhanced features comes at the expense of a comprehensive entertainment solution.

So as PS3 continues to evolve without the need for additional parts or expenses, expect the competition to continue peddling add-ons in an effort to keep up with the Jones'.

The PS3, trailing Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 consoles, was closing in on the No. 2 Xbox 360, with new games and quarterly sales growth at twice the speed of last year.

Sales fell 19 percent last month however, curbing any gains made during the year. In spite of a general economic slowdown, the rival Xbox 360 saw gains of 8 percent, while the industry leader Wii watched its sales double.

In December Sony announced Tuesday that it would cut 8,000 jobs and shut down several of its manufacturing units which would help it reduce costs by over 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) per year.

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