In this age of hypercompetitiveness, it’s ever more crucial to have an angle, or an edge, to hang your hat on. Wii launched with their unique control schemes, which was clearly an edge. The 360 is banking most of its success on its online capabilities, which has proven quite popular with the gamer’s set. One thing that has troubled industry observers is that it lacked a similar edge — until now: PS3 is the console that will cure cancer.

TOKYO: People who buy Sony’s new PlayStation 3 console, which hit U.S. stores Friday, could help search for a cure to diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s by connecting their machines to the Internet.

The new PS3 machines are as powerful as supercomputers and can help Stanford University researchers speed up analysis of complex human protein structures, according to Nanako Kato of Sony’s gaming arm, Sony Computer Entertainment.

When the program — dubbed Cure@PLAYSTATION 3 — is launched, PS3 owners can contribute by registering their machines with Stanford, downloading specially designed software and leaving their machines online to process data when they’re not playing.

Okay, I’m being facetious, and this program is very similar to those who have existed on the PC for years, including but not limited to the classic SETI@Home. (As a side note, has any of them ever generated anything of value?)

That being said, one does wonder if the promise might be one that makes it just that much easier to help the kids convince mom to spend $600+ for a new game machine.