If one were to stack up the coverage of the PlayStation 3 since the weekend you could be forgiven for thinking that Sony has shipped the 4 million units they want to by March, instead of the 80,000 or so that have gone to Japan.

It's console launch week alright, and blanket headlines are screaming PS3 This, PS3 That With Accompanying Pictures of Cats For Comparison. Of course the most amusing thing about all of this is watching the looks on peoples faces when they realise that the next-gen, which apparently must be starting now, isn't actually the Orgasm ina Box they might have been promised previously.

The big complaint about the PS3 from the off this week is back compatibility. It's a selling point for Sony, who laughed at Microsoft's attempts for bridging the Xbox and 360; and now it turns out that big titles such as Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo are not working properly on the PS3, and there could be as many as 200 titles which won't see the light of day on Sony's "backwards compatible" console. Of course Sony are apologetic about the whole thing; though they didn't bother to tell anyone about the problem until it was pointed out by users. Is that my cynic sense activating?

Not even Wikipedia, bastion of worthwhile knowledge and the pursuit of human happiness through Comma Nazism and pedantry, has escaped the hardships of this console war. Apparently the vandals have been at it and the moderators have had to come in with their big sticks of revert edits and lock the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii articles away for their own protection. For shame, console fanboys.

In case anyone was wondering, I meanwhile continue to read my good book. Schott's Almanac 2007, if you must know. Cost me €22.99 (that's €23); I didn't spend weeks excitedly circle jerking with random people online in anticipation of its publication; and I'm quite possibly a better person for being able to tell you that last year 81 people were reported as having been struck by lightning in the UK and, curiously considering the abundance of lightning compared to volcanoes, 86 people were treated for injuries relating to the latter.