PS3 finally hits British shores this week, but Sony is facing a far rougher ride than anticipated.

This Friday sees the UK release of the Playstation 3. Powered by the much trumpeted Cell processor, playing host to Sony's Blu-Ray format - touted as the successor to DVD - and controlled with an innovative motion sensitive joypad, it will be the most powerful home console ever created. And if you'd mentioned it 18 months ago, the very thought would have made our brains drool. Why, then, are we feeling so curiously unstirred?

Unfortunately for Sony, this launch co-incides with a sea change in public opinion. Gone is the perception of the Japanese super-corp as gaming's untouchable market leader, and in its wake has come a tidal wave of distrust bad press.

The first thing that wrinkled the world's nose was the price: £425. That's a lot of money. You can buy a wife for that these days. Then there are the publicity gaffes, like the fake viral marketing website supposedly set up by two yoofs - "I is proper want a PSP" - which was swiftly rumbled, forcing an apology. And then there are the games. Besides alien shooter Resistance and Grand Canyon style racer Motorstorm, there's very little to shout about that hasn't already been available on the Xbox 360 for half a year.

And that brings us to the biggest problem by far: Sony's rivals are too damned successful. The X360 has had a headstart of more than 15 months here in the UK, and its popularity is growing, with the online Xbox Live service receiving critical plaudits. Not bad for Microsoft, which, when it announced the original Xbox, was dismissed as a rank outsider meddling where it wasn't wanted. And the Nintendo Wii? Don't even go there. It's still selling out wherever it goes, grabbing headlines and wooing mums, dads, grandads and tiny babies into the murky world of videogames without them even realising. It will conquer the world, and the world will lie back with open arms.

Against this background of thriving competition - competition it once crushed - Sony launches its most criticised console to date, facing an all time low in consumer confidence and an uphill struggle to convince the gaming world it is not in crisis. There's no doubt the machine will sell like very expensive hot cakes, carried along by the ubiquity of the Playstation brand. But it also seems doubtful that Sony expected anything other than a one horse race when it began developing the PS3. Now its got egg on its face and the media baying for blood. It's shaping up to be an interesting year.