Ozymandias

I'm interested in the Wii, but I'm waiting until it drop s to $100 range. I'm not paying more than that for something that I probably only pull out of the closet when people are over.

I think the saddest part of these articles is that Sony will take forever and a day to fix these issues and it won't matter a bit to anyone.

Do you notice, however, how a lot of the press has negative reactions to the ps3, but you don't hear too many fans saying anything about their experience?  I'd imagine if the ps3 were "all that" then the people who owned them would be talking about it.

dont you mean PLAYSTATION 3

I think we will hear more news about people's experiences when they actually have one... right now, how many are out? a few hundred thousand? I know no one with one (and a lot of people that want/wanted one).

Maynard,

These issues matter to me ... I've owned two PS/1's, two PS/2 and a PSP... out of all of that, only have 1 PS/2 left ..  Currently also own 3 DS's and two 360's ...

And I'll be skipping the PS/3 for quite a while to come ...

So hearing where the PS/3 fails confirms my suspicion that it's only "half baked" ...

Oh yea, I played the Motorstorm demo yesterday in a local Circuit City ... two thoughts..

1.  Thank GOD I didn't waste close to a $1,000 for that game... what a disappointment...

2.  If the PS/3 is so lusted after, why was no one playing it when I got there and why did no one play it after I left (and wondered around the store for 30 mins)?

Nice to see that you like Wii.

I regretfully got the PS3.  

The PS3 is far from being a complete system ready for Prime Time.

Sony knowing this and sold it with false pretenses has left a bad taste in my mouth.

I have no choice now but hope that firmware updates are released to fix the numerous problems.  Some are bigger issues than others but all in all what a dissapointment so far.  Thanks Sony for my great next gen experience.

Kudos, well written.

I'm more or less on the same limb. As much as I would to have the shiny console collecting fingerprints in my home, I'm still waiting for the games to hit. It's exclusives like MGS4 and Final Fantasy: Visual Orgy Edition that are going to justify missing a mortgage payment.

Dude, I've got to throw a card.Everyone knows that systems come out with bugs, glitches, and missing crap. I honestly didn't have faith in sony to match live, for one its free, so they dont have the motivation to do it right, and second, they shat on Ps2's online SO BAD. Anyway, I look at my PS2 And My huge Library of great, fun, and unique games. Im torn.But I do have a little hope.Ps3 is upgradeable, they can fix crap they missed, And If they continue to put out quality games like they have been, then I dont see what could touch it. I am a PS fanboy, Have been all my life, But Im torn between 360 and PS3.Ima give PS3 Sometime to get itself together before I make a decision.But Dude this launch is horrendous.

First off I think your posting this as a MS fanboy. But being a gamer who likes all systems lemme tell you Ozy, the Ps3 will sell more units than the 360 over its lifetime, mark my words. The only real problem with the PS3 is that it is too expensive. But lets look at the positives that make it a more next-gen system than the 360 and thats why you guys are whining. First it has a next gen DVD format in the system, the system is quieter, the HDD is bigger (or theres an option for a bigger one), it has HDMI outputs, it does 1080p via HDMI and the 360 can't, You can use any bluetooth headset for a wireless headset/ you don't have to pay more for 360 licensed accesories for wireless.

The only problem Sony has is the price. I have a Nintendo Wii if you look at the overall scores of the Wii vs. the Ps3 the Ps3 actually recieved a higher score for its launch lineup than the Wii. I'm very wary of how the Wii will perform since the gamecube seemed to have large periods where there weren't any good titles out. Sony will better than the 360 and the Wii becuase they will produce software games in a quantity and quality that put the two competitors to shame. Microsoft won't be able to stop this unless they buy Japanese game companies, at least 3 more. Nintendo can't do a thing about it unless it starts telling the 3rd parties to make games as good as the first party quality titles we've known to expect from Nintendo. Somehow I think you guys already know the PS3 will beat you guys yet again and your just taunting them til that day cause you guys have a head start and when it happens you won't say anything, cause I was right.

Defensive, there are some things that they cant fix with firmware, like the lack of rumble/feedback (possibly the dumbest exclusion of any feature i've ever seen), or their lack of 720p upscale. Those are hardware driven.

Some of the stuff they can fix, but will they? And if so, when?

I also suspect that there are some severe development issues with the console as well. Gundam not only looks bad, but performs terribly.

Gran Turismo HD was flat out cancelled- that one is really odd.

Number 01: Another mindless sony fanboy rant, go waste your keystrokes somewhere else please.

Aside from that i don't think alot of people realise how even this generation of console gaming will be, every console this generation has there ups and downs and developers are very confused as to which console to support.

Its alot more interesting when one console isn't  dominating the competition.

Philly Rampage, you CheapoMan.  I love you.

It's amazing.  I felt the same way about my 360 at launch.  MS put a ton of work in to get it to where it is now, and I think it's a bit ridiculous to point the finger elsewhere when there are still plenty of issues to fix with the 360. Especially considering the Red Rings of Death, the patches that are bricking consoles & the micro-rapings that MS is allowing over XBLM.  MS & Sony are both in glass houses, and I wish you'd both shut up and stop throwing stones.  Sony needs to get it together, and MS needs to realize that their way isn't the only way.  

You guys didn't invent the car, you decided to make cup holders & a nicer stereo standard.  Maybe Sony is content to focus on a flashier paint job and more trunk space.  That makes you the salesman pointing at their low quality stereo, but dismissing the fact that you're still patching a flat tire.  And kind of a *** for doing it.

I don't ask the waiter at the Olive Garden how the food is at Applebee's, and I wouldn't expect an impartial answer if I did.  

PS2 has exclusives. That was the biggest reason for its demand, now we have PS3. PS3 should have some great games come in the next little while, but right now they just arent that good to justify buying a $600 console.

What Im seeing though is that Japanese gaming companies are starting to shift focus and may move to Wii. Why? Innovation and cheaper development. Sure, PS3 and 360 have great graphics. But PS3 games are costlier to produce and 360 is weak in Japan. Primarily we can see SquareEnix beginning to shift focus from Sony console to distributing their software widely (although less 360 diverted).

We also have a company like EA who is beginning to see benefits of supporting Wii, UbiSOft jumpmed aboard early and many others. Then we have nintendo first party titles that cant be beaten  (Super Smash Bros.)

360 on the other hand has Gears of Ware (awesome!)and Halo. They also have a great aspect of the regular ports in HD. This works very well in North America because of Live and high amount of sales already.

Then we have ps3. They are going to try to get back the success of PS2 and win the Gaming and Media market. Thats though to do. Id say PS3's concept should have been released a year or two latter fow lower prices and better production rates.

i heard this somewher before:

xbox360: great online play if u have many friends with 360

ps3: great for media centre purposes and some exclusives

wii: games that are fun to play together or alone

my impression of 'Impartial':

WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!   Stop saying bad things about Playstation! WAAAAAHHH! Even though I could easily ignore opinions that I don't agree with, instead I'll tell you to shut up! I need a diaper change!

Wow. Just wow.

It's funny that just because he's a Microsoft employee, everyone here sees fit to bash his opinion as a gamer.

Were there problems similar to those posted here on the Xbox 360 launch? Yes there were. Does it still have the same problems? No, but they're constantly being updated.

Something that everyone here seems no not pay attention to is that even though all the consoles are labeled "Next-Gen", they all focus on different audiences.

The way I see it, as a gamer, his opinion is just as relevant as any of ours, so why go on bashing him for his beliefs when it comes to his own money?

Relax and play what you enjoy. Ozymandias is already doing that, give it a try ;).

The way I see it is every consoles has its good points and bad points.  For one the Xbox 360 and the Xbox have been known for first person shooters (Halo, etc.).  Playstation has been known for games like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Shadow of the Collasoues (I know I spelled horribly wrong).  Nintendo well you have Mario, Zelda, Mario Cart, Smash Bros.  Anyway my point is that all of these consoles have given me great gaming experiences and if any of these companies were to stop making these consoles we are all at a loss.  I couldn't imagine never being able to play the Metal Gear Solid series or the Halo series or even the Resident Evil series.  Thats why I don't care who wins whatever console war that exists I just want to play good games no matter what system there on.  I eventually end up getting all of them anyways because each one offers something that the other one doesn't.  To sum it all up if one company were to completly dominate this market I think developers would lose the ability to be creativitely free and the quality of games will dwindle.  So lets all hope that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo survive this generation and continue to make games and consoles or we all are going to be stuck playing horribly boring and mundane titles that appeal to the masses for the sake of a development company to stay profitable.

SquirrelPhister,

Are you 11?  I said that Sony & MS BOTH need to shut up already.  I don't own a PS2 anymore, or a PS3, though I don't need to qualify my right to have an opinion of corporate shilling by their blog writing employees.  I've probably been a gamer longer than you've been on the planet, and this console war crap has gotten to a level that is just stupid.  It's bad enough that fanboys from all sides duke it out daily on message boards.  But the fact that we've got the preacher here telling the choir that God is good, the devil is bad, and Buddah's an alright guy (and a blast at parties!), it's just sad.  

It's sad.  When I was young, we played videogames because they were fun, not because of what system they were on.  Now people spend more time arguing why their chosen system is better than they actually play on it.  And predictible banter like this blog entry just keeps adding fuel to the fire.

Microsoft is a very unethical company (anti-trust, anyone?) and Sony only lies when their mouth is open (Killzone 2 trailer is realtime?  Come again?).  Most people get over that and play games.  Others (like you) come & read stories like this to affirm that you made the right choice & have acceptance into some sort of community.

And seriously...you get that defensive about my opinion about game consoles & their respective companies?  When I say that's pathetic, I mean that's really pathetic.

Realistically how many of us have a single game console?  I was never a Sony fangirl, but from experience I know not to buy the initial run of a game system.  The PS2 had problems initially at launch so I can't say I'm all that surprised that the PS3 has problems.  To get the system for the blue ray seems silly because the new dvd standard hasn't been decided yet.  Remember the Beta and Laser Disks, those never took off.  

Hey Defensive, I understand where you're coming from. I personally LOVE the PS2 library myself. I'm a huge fan. And I want a system that's going to have that huge library of fun, unique experiences.

I guess what I'm saying is that library comes from market domination, not from anything Sony is exclusivly able to do. The PS3 is actually a pretty bad system from the standpoint of creating a business model for 3rd party developers for that type of stuff, that said, if the PS3 can maintain their current dominance...there's not much of a choice, is there?

And that's the question, really. Will Sony be able to do that? I think most people have doubts. They are having serious production issues, and sales of 20GB units are starting to slow (which gives the impression of poor mainstream interest).

Unless you're a core Sony gamer, and live for the next Gran Turismo or SOCOM, I'd suggest holding off until you see how the situation develops.

And don't be surprised if that for that library, you're going to have to learn motion control.

I don't get buying PS3 for Blu-ray. I don't get why there even exists a $1000 form of a stand-alone Blu-ray player anyway if Sony can put out a $600 version. Isn't HD-DVD already at the $500 price point? Putting out a one-device-does-all has a long storied history of failure. I mean I wouldn't mind combining a few devices in an ideal world, but right now I have a PDA, cell phone, iPod, DS, etc. and I'm not all that frustrated with it. At least I got to choose best-in-class for each device, or at least best-for-me. And it's about me anyway.

PS3 may eventually be great, but I suggest ignoring the "home entertainment" part of the equation. I don't think most people thought they needed that when they went out to buy a video game machine. They should have stuck to what they were good at, and just been damn good at it.

My main point is that it seems really dumb for Sony to screw up a golden opporutunity to blow 360 and Wii away (they hardly flexed and PS3 got HUGE press.) They screwed it up with bad software, and slow hardware manufacturing, both because they took their eyes off the ball. Their goal should've been to be the best gaming device out there, bring along their 10,000 exclusive software titles, and totally wipe out the other consoles. Not to be a microwave oven/FAX machine. Imagine if they shaved $100 or more off the price of the PS3, but didn't have Blu-ray? Wouldn't that be a killer, a PS3 at $400 or $350?

That said, I'm a Wii fan, mostly because I played Doom and Quake for many years and got my fill ... but also because I have kids now and play games with the family. PS2 and 360 do very little to address family gaming, and Nintendo makes it fun like it was when I was a kid.

Alright, here I go.

I am not a fanboy of any system whatsoever, seeing as I have owned just about everyone. We all know that the price of the PS3 is just ridiculous. I'm going to stop right now and just give you a link to a video that will tell you the truth. http://youtube.com/watch?v=feTh6QWs-Xo

go there and make your own opinion about the ps3 by watching

If the PS3 didnt have the blue ray drive and all the other media features it wouldnt command an upgrade from the PS2..

The PS2 can still churn out some great games... like God of War..

Where as the Wii is an innovation in how you play the games.. 2 different systems.. If the PS3s media features were a lot better you could almost justify owning both systems.

THE SOLUTION,

    That video you linked too is hilariously uncredible.  It's some amateur power point style slide show which contains a ton of misspellings.  The one that made me laugh was when the guy spelled Mr. Kojima the creator of metal gear "Mr. Koshima".  Now answer me this...that video is supposed to convince me not to buy a PS3?  All that video does is show me how loserish people will go to sabotage the reputation of the Playstation brand for the simple fact that for some reason they are scared of the PS3, and because they want to say to the world, "Oh you see I told you I was right, the Xbox 360 is the best blah blah blah."  I mean like I said earlier all three consoles will have great games and i'm not going to be a fan boy and say oh I won't play that console or get that console because I’m a fan of this console or the other.  Ahh ignorance is the plight of this world.

Buy what you want if your wallet allows for it and your mind (or girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/dog/cat/toaster oven) doesn't tell you to sleep on it another night. In the end, if you're happy with the system you chose it's been the right choice for you.

I'm happy with my 360, hope to be happy with my Wii (not yet released here), and maybe once the PS3 has dropped in price I'll get one of those also.

Just one question; besides the last "last gen" games, do you really play old games on your next gen consoles? Besides giving Halo 2 a go, I've yet to play a single Xbox game on my 360, and nobody I know wants to look at the low(er) quality games now that they're used to the 360's games' quality -- we might just be weird and not the standard gamers though. So how important is it really that you can play old Xbox games on your 360 and PS2 games on your PS3?

I have spent sometime on the PS3. Im not embarresed to say I was a Sony Fanboy, till December 05 LOL

This link: http://www.destructoid.com/ridge-racer-6-7-comparisons-27828.phtml

Basically does it for me. RR7 is the most bought game in Japan for the PS3, and RR6 looks SIGNIFICANTLY better on a year old system.,... so much for being the hardware giant hey sony!

Plus all the pronbs with HDTV not upscaling.. infact they downscale!

PS3 is ahead of its time.. already the PS3 has had MORE firmwire updated then the 360 has!!! Aint even been out for a month!

In the UK (where im from) i still have many friends who want a PS3, but have seen nothing on the system and have no clue about what the 360 CURRENTLY is doing!  If Microsoft want to be the true "next gen" winner, it has to show the casual market that the PS3 is just expensive hardware... not a gaming machine which is what we all want.. isnt it?

<i>Microsoft is a very unethical company (anti-trust, anyone?)</i>

Government fanboy.  Every single company is guilty of

breaking anti-trust legislation.

If you sell cheaper than your competitors, you are engaging in "predatory pricing".

If you sell the same price, it is "collusion".

If you sell at a higher price, it is "profiteering".

The EU auditors went over the books and said that 95% of the budget could not be justified and massive accounting irregularities were the norm.  The EU was not happy and reduced the auditing staff.

To take one example in the US, the US Federal Department of Education has never passed an audit.  A couple of years ago they had no idea where 50% of their multi trillion dollars budget went.  And of the 50% they accounted for, a large chunk was going towards things they shouldn't have been such as money allocated for textbooks being spent on building houses for relatives.

These are the same group of people that fines companies for not accounting for every single paper clip.

So excuse me if I don't accept their word that Microsoft is unethical.

My, my my, such vitriol and rabidity! (in the comments) - I'm shocked.  I don't really understand the religious nature of the whole ps3 vs xbox360 nerd slap fest.  I'm basically a gamer, and I want to play the best games regardless of the platform they release on.  If Sony can bring a great game to the ps3, I'm there for it, if the same game is 'better' on the 360, that's where I buy.  Right now, the 360 has better titles, more titles, and a  vastly better interface but if that changes I won't go into a nerd rage and make a _scathing_ powerpoint presentation. I do have to say, I got my 360 at launch and really thought MS put out a pretty decent product, but you'd hope someone that's core business was *** (human user interface) could do a really good *** out of the box. Sony has always had issues with interfaces and they are hidebound by some pretty bad thinking back at corporate Japan (SCEA not so much).

"When I was young, we played videogames because they were fun, not because of what system they were on"

Depending on your defnition of young, there weren't too many choices.

Though I remember this same thing going on when the NES and Sega were out. Albeit not as strong.

This kind of thing will always happen, it's not just video game consoles, it's everything. Cars, stereos, TVs, etc.

I think this is also a guy thing. ;)

The only point I would like to make is... Sony fans have ragged on the 360 since its announcement.

Ragged on it during its launch and after.

Why is it unfair to hold Sony up to certain expected standards?

Why is it wrong to rag on Sony?

You guys can dish it out but you can't take it?

Facts are in, PS3 MAY someday be a better system.  Right now it sounds like high priced crap to me.  When the fact that the system is a Blue Ray player is more of a selling point than the GAMES...  Then yeah.

I don't understand why people take such offense to the "console wars".  I mean, if it's fun for those of us who do find it interesting, then who the hell is anyone to tell us we're idiots for taking part.

I mean, why do those people even come here if they're not in some way looking to join the war?  I don't say to myself, "I'm going to visit a Lexus vs. BMW website to tell everyone how stupid they are for arguing over which car is better."  Let us be nerds and have our little battles... what does it matter to you?  Whether any of it makes a difference at the end of the day is rather inconsequential - innit?

That guy comes on here, reads the whole story about PS3 being unfinished, and then oddly decides to post something about how we're all juvenile for trashing this or that.  Does that make NO sense to anyone but me?

i think the Xbox360 has the edge right now, I think PS3 will have the edge in the future.  Everyone loves throwing the price thing around, but just keep in mind that the PS3 has the Blu-Ray Player (which now that it uses the proper codecs) compares with HD-DVD perfectly.  Take a 60GB PS3 vs an XBOX 360 Premium and the price is identical if you want the HD-DVD, (Which many people will).  The blu-ray used for games WILL improve the games later IF the developers actually utilize that feature (but that remains to be seen).

Again, WITH the blu-ray and HD-DVD for both consoles, the price is IDENTICAL.  (Keep in mind that the PS3 still includes a larger hard drive AND built in Wi Fi, while the Xbox 360 includes HD cables and headset).

So I wish people would quit focusing on the PRICE of the consoles.  

I personally have both systems, I think the Xbox360 has the edge for the most part, I think Motorstorm looks great and Resistance looks amazing (as does Gears of War).  I DO think that the PS3 has the greater future potential as it has the franchises I like, MGS and Final Fantasy, plus the tech involved.  I think next year you MAY see differences between the consoles like you saw with Xbox / PS2 (except PS3 will be like Xbox), where a reviewer will say for a title that is in BOTH consoles, "if you have a chance, pick up the PS3 version, but if not, Xbox 360 version is pretty good".

"Facts are in, PS3 MAY someday be a better system.  Right now it sounds like high priced crap to me.  When the fact that the system is a Blue Ray player is more of a selling point than the GAMES...  Then yeah."

Keep in mind the PS2's big selling point at the beginning was that it was a DVD player too, didn't have any real strong games.  Very similar

Maynard- Huh and I though people came here to hear what in influential member of the gaming world has to say on games in an intellegent discourse.

The two linked articles are fairly balanced. They seemed positive to me.The Gi article seems to be dealing with the fact that he is accessing Japanese and North American servers from Europe. I'd imagine the latency was killer.

The background downloading needs to be fixed. That seems to be the main issue people have right now.

My favoriate quote

'The sound is out of sync and the visuals are choppier than a coked up samurai.'

If only somone would make that into a videogame.

I just don't understand why liking one thing has to equal hating all other competing things..

John-Paul

The attitude is American and human.

A study was done where people who earn $ 8 dollars an hour were given 2 options.

They can earn $10 an hour and a fellow employee gets a raise to$12 an hour.

-OR-

They get $9 an hour and the fellow employee still gets his $8.

People chose to earn less just to have superiority over others.

People choose not what is best for them but what is worst for others. That is the true and sad nugget at the core of fanboy arguments.

When cross platform games come out in the future, the general public will side with the Xbox version, NOT the PS3 version. It's already happening now, in fact.  The main reason is that the PS3 does not and will not have an achievements system.  I know a lot of people feel the same way. I will not give up potential achievement points just to play the same game on the PS3, unless there was some awesome exclusive stuff that I just had to play.

Joseph, I know and I agree with you, I guess you just didn't see it as much before the net came around.

haha, it's almost like that saying "the grass is always greener on the other side" except instead it would be "my grass is always greener, stupid noob" lol.

@ Joseph

WOW! People accually chose the second option. Thats just plain stupid. I though America was all about the $$$.

Anyway, PS3 vs. 360. Too early to tell who the winner is.

Wii has already won on its own. Gets all usually first party games, additional support from third party like its never had before. Affordable for most. So... Just Buy a Wii for now.

Then let others decide whether PS3 or 360 is better and go out and buy the better console in late 2007 pocket some cash. And enjoy from the whole library thats already out.

Or best suggestion if you intend to only play GoW and Halo3 on 360 just rent the console from Rogers Video for $19.99 for 1 week with Game, 2 controllers and some other stuff (Canada Only). Blockbuster may have a deal like that in US not sure.

And PS3 can be done the same way. Just Buy Wii.

"Again, WITH the blu-ray and HD-DVD for both consoles, the price is IDENTICAL."

They are not at all identical. Not in any manner. Firstly, the 360 makes the addition of HD DVD an option, Sony forces it on everyone. Not everyone wants Bluray, nor HD DVD. If all you want is to play games, you are set.

Secondly, the price of 360 changes based on sales you can get. This is also true for the HD DVD, which can easily be had for $160 (Circuit City). So, the retail price might be similar for fully loaded 360 vs PS3, but the street price is not similar in any way at all. Perhaps we should compare eBay prices with that as well?

The 360 lets you buy the console, and then add on HD DVD later. That means its easier on the pocketbook.

So, other than the flexibility of purchasing, the design philosophy and respect for the customer, the fact that Bluray and HD DVD are mutually exclusive of each others formats, and the street price, I can see that they are "identical".

You seem to be one of those odd people who thinks that apples are identical to oranges since they are both vaguely round.