Even before Sony's big unveil earlier this month at Cologne GamesCom, it felt like we already knew the PlayStation 3 Slim quite intimately. A leak from back in May gave us a glimpse of every angle of the hardware's exterior, and even the final retail box. At that point, we didn't know what to make of it, and the change in logo font definitely threw us off. Three months, thirty seconds of video, and a dash of legal paperwork later, and we're looking at that very same leaked device, now taking up space adjacent to our hefty 60GB "Classic" model from launch day. Unquestionably, it's smaller and lighter, but how else has Sony's Blu-ray-playing console evolved -- or regressed -- over these past few years?

Volumetrically, the 120GB PS3 Slim takes up approximately 33 percent less space than its counterpart, and at 7.05 pounds it's about 36 percent lighter, too. Let's be honest, a 11 pound console was absolutely ridiculous, and we welcome the console now joining its competitors in a more reasonable weight class -- though it's far from the utterly dramatic size reduction we saw in the PS2 slimline. You can pick up a stand for $24, a bit steep since it should just come bundled, but even without the console sits vertically with what appears to be relatively good stability. Connectivity-wise, we're looking at the same setup as the most recent PS3 iterations, including just two USB 2.0 ports and 802.11b/g -- no Draft-N, which is a shame.

The good news about the BD-ROM drive? It still keeps your discs safe in the event the console gets moved about -- and if you've ever accidentally tapped your Xbox 360 the wrong way and found that slotted copy of Fallout 3 has now been rendered unusable by scratches, you know exactly how appreciated this feature is. The bad news? It's still just 2x speed, and none of this changes the fundamental use of PS3, meaning all those hassles of installing games while your Xbox 360-owning friends get to jump right in are still there. The AC cord has lost its ground pin and is actually the exact same, quasi-standardized cable that works with the PS2 and many laptop batteries, and just like the PS2 fat-to-slimline transition, the physical on-off switch on the backside has been made redundant and subsequently ousted.

X-Box 360 Elite System

In Package: Black 360 unit with HDMI port, power cord and block, HD/AV/HDMI cables, black wireless controller, 120 GB hard drive, black wired headset, Ethernet connectivity cable.

Advantages: A larger hard drive means far more storage capacity for arcade games, game saves, profiles and all other forms of downloadable content. HDMI port and cable mean you are preset for the best possible picture straight out of the box. This is assuming of course your TV is capable.

Downfalls: Though the 100 gb of extra space is nice, as is the inclusion of the HDMI cables/port, the extra expense is only worth it if you must have HDMI or you can confidently say you will need that much memory. And this system also lacks a memory unit.