Ozymandias

"but right now there is basically no rational reason to buy a PlayStation 3 instead of an Xbox 360"

LOL, well then it's a good thing for sony that their fanbase lacks rationality :o)

You know you have a point about the mass media sounding somewhat educated in video games this go around. Really didn't think about it, but now that you mention it, its rather surprising. And its also interesting on how much of the media is singing a similar tune. Except for Fox which is owned by Sony.. but that aside. Things are starting to look up for the video game industry.

Ouch, that's gotta hurt sony. But then again they are still gonna sell out until next summer by which time the PS3 will have stopped getting such a ravaging by mainstream press.

Ha

Sony doesn't own Fox. In fact Bill O'Rielly nicely stated that pretty much stated that gamers are a waste of space and should try the real world some time.

I think the sneaky name they have for TV service is "Sony Pictures Television." They produce some of the content on adult swim."Robot chicken" and "Boondocks" come to mind.

I'd agree with the article on availibility and current game selection but, for a few reasons the Xbox isn't a great media center.

The Wii was given far to little page space considering it is the most sought after console this year.

I'm also a bit concerned about the obvious slant taken by journalism currently on all issues. I suppose if I have to tolearate an opinion, video games, computers and cars, are the places where it does the least harm.

If it was better a bit written I'd assume such a piece came from Ozmandias.

Hahaha, Bill O' Riley is pretty much a waste of space.

"The top version of the 360, however, includes a separate living room-style remote control for watching those movies[/b], while watching films on the PS3 requires using a two-handed controller. (Sony says a separate PS3 movie remote will be available soon.)"

-Isn't this incorrect?  The top version of the 360 no longer includes a 'living room-style remote control'.  That was only the initial launch shipment.  Or am I misunderstanding what he's saying here?

I thought it was spelled fanboi ;)  And here's another vote for Bill O' Riley being a waste of space.  And how did nmq82 figure out where the emoticons are?  http://ozymandias.com/emoticons/emotion-22.gif

@ nmg82 I think the point the writer was trying to put across is that you can buy a 'normal' IR operated remote control that if you felt like it could be replaced by one of the many All-In-One remotes that populate houses in the UK at least with more than one entertainment machine in their living room set up.  It would be a problem with the PS3 however as that uses Bluetooth tech for the remote control.  Bit of a pain if you've got an One-For-All remote for everything in your entertainment centre, and one for your console...

ps3: 600 dollars, hdmi, blu-ray

360: 399+199 dollars, no hdmi, no hdd upgrade, no wifi (+100 dollars)

technically full ps3 experience is cheaper than full 360 experience. Of course, 360 will have price cut which will heavily affect sony.

Ozy, do u know if 360 is CAPABLE of having hdmi cables for my 1080p tv which doesnt support 1080p by component, and it doesnt have a vga port. i really need hdmi!

The 360 can not support hdmi unless they change the motherboard.

I have no doubt that a 360 rev2 is underway to reduce manfacturing costs.At that point adding HDMI support can happen.

There is not much point in adding HDMI however unless they plan to make it a full media center. I doubt this would be done since it would add cost to the console. While the US market has caught up in pricing foreign markets are still getting CHEAP 360's.

I mainly point that out because if I could get an xbox360 premium blue dragon bundle, with game, minis, customized console, controller hard drive and the works for $250; my to buy list would have an extra line.

"ps3: 600 dollars, hdmi, blu-ray

360: 399+199 dollars, no hdmi, no hdd upgrade, no wifi (+100 dollars)"

600+99?

PS3 ships without the HDMI cable. So you can't say HDMI  because it won't work out of the box. If you do say HDMI, add the cost of the cable. Also, the mention of no HDD upgrade is futile, as it is not required for a 'full experience'.

I think both consoles will have the same experience mostly, what it is going to come down to is the software. Currently people are more satisfied with the 360 interface than the PS3 interface (single threaded). Of course this is still a new revision so can't judge it too much.

The point remains though that software is key. Beyond the UI, the games have to be worth it. Most people are getting a 360 right now because there are better/more games available.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/HDMI-HDMI-Cable-Definition-Multimedia-Interface/dp/B0009KS5BM/sr=1-5/qid=1165522987/ref=sr_1_5/203-0134019-7455148?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

hdmi cable £6.99 - do we really need to add few bucks to multi hundred dollar costs??? yea, i was wrong.

HDD upgrade is important, because i dont want to delete other stuff to download movies, trailers etc. why cant i have 100GB laptop hdd and free my worries of when i will have to delete something i wouldnt want to lose, or cant afford to lose (ie exclusive contents that wont ever go onto xbl marketplace)???

I've decided against Microsofts movie download stuff so honestly the 12 gig partition you have is more than enough for the awesome arcade collection and slew of demos I need to store on it and any one given time. Plus ipod meets 360 means i don't need the space for music.  So I would think all depends on the user, an HDMI cable can run you a lot more than that for a nice one.

To this day I can't tell the difference between my DirecTV receiver using HDMI or component like I started out with, Games look even better on component.. so I'm not sure it would provide that well of a boost. Except for not upscaling DVDs through component WHICH SUCKS.. its not a big loss.

I can't state enough my friend has neither HD or a need for an expensive HD-DVD/Blue Ray player.. he is quite happy with Microsoft's add on choice and cheaper price, as am I, it wasn't ready at the time and allowed for more systems to be shipped so I'm all for adding it later and plan to get one.

OK Ozy, You are cherry-picking (like usual)  I know you get the game industry daily mail-out, so it's a pretty sure bet you read this:

"We've got games coming out now where we feel we've hit maybe 20 per cent of the potential of PlayStation 3. We know the power's there, but like any new platform it's going to take us a little bit of time to unleash it.   Was it more complex than we were expecting? Yes, probably; there were some challenges that we didn't expect. We've got tremendous confidence long-term that it's going to be a phenomenal games machine."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21563

It's also a pretty sure bet this post won't see the light of day because it has become apparent to me you carefully manage the well-crafted propaganda machine that your web-site has become.  By this I mean my last post did not make it onto your web-site and quite frankly I don't believe it was due to it's offensive nature, I think it was due to the fact that it offered a serious challenge to the objectivity of your posts and therefore never saw the light of day.  I'll bet there are plenty of other posts that fit into that category too.

The point is, for anyone looking longer term with regards to their gaming investment, a claim that the PS3 is a waste of money compared to the 360/Wii is not just non-technical, it is short-sighted.

My solution?  Own a 360 now (which I do) because I was always going to get one anyway (when Halo 3 comes out).  Then get a PS3 mid/late 2007 because it is a superb piece of kit (see what Anandtech have to say about what they found under the covers: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4908  or isuppli for that matter).  Any serious gamer will likely be missing out on the lions share of next generation gaming if they assume the PS3 does not offer "value" (which is an interesting and subjective term open to significant debate for people who want to apply critical non-biased thinking to the issue)

btw, my view of the 360 is that it is a fantastic machine, and the online service is brilliant, and evolving in positive ways.  I really don't get why MS is so insecure, why can't you just focus on making your own product better instead of constantly dumping on the competition, and in a way that totally lacks integrity (how else can you explain the absence of any posts that seriously challenge your position?)

You are only fooling those people who want to be fooled.

b

Umm Bruce-

I'm the one usually calling bais on stuff here and well

...

The article is from the NEW YORK TIMES. The mother f-ing NY Times. Cherry picked or not the Times is a mainstream source of information.

...

Normally the biased stuff is  poll on a blog with a severe slant. I think the NYT article is biased as all get out but it's mainstream. If you have a problem with it call the times.

Now also this site is a PR move on MS part so expect it to cast a positive light on their products. I am also less than happy that only every 3rd post of mine doesn't make it here but, this is a MS blog written by somone involved on the 360 project.

So now chill out. I don't make games or consoles. I can only assume that you don't either. Listen to what he has to say and what is not said.

I am also perplexed why MS is so insecure about Sony.  

With a launch of less the 400k machines the PS3 is a paper launch. The wii is stealing the show at a point when MS should be locking up this generation of systems.

Bruce said:

"I really don't get why MS is so insecure, why can't you just focus on making your own product better instead of constantly dumping on the competition, and in a way that totally lacks integrity (how else can you explain the absence of any posts that seriously challenge your position?)

You are only fooling those people who want to be fooled."

The problem I have with that is then you expect no negative feedback at all from one competitor to another. Essentially the rule would be "Sony is doing fine!", when they clearly could do a whole lot better. I don't see it as "dumping" on them, its saying they have serious defects.

By stating clearly why you think a competitor can do better it can be constructive criticism, but there is no tolerance of that sort of thing from Sony fans. Sony should be doing much more, much faster. If not, they simply won't catch Microsoft.

Me, I prefer close competition where both sides are working to increase quality while reducing prices. Then the customer wins, and the companies do as well (people would probably buy both systems eventually).

But, simply demanding that people not express a negative opinion is shortsighted.

Re: "Now also this site is a PR move on MS part so expect it to cast a positive light on their products. I am also less than happy that only every 3rd post of mine doesn't make it here but, this is a MS blog written by somone involved on the 360 project."

Hey guys - in all seriousness, there may be an issue here I want to explore. I do not pre-filter comments - just don't have the time. So when you type a comment and submit, it should just appear. Period.

I also do not delete comments unless it's requested (ie, wrong thread), or if it's just offensive (swearing), or spam (link farming). If it's just a comment calling me, my opinions, or Microsoft an idiot they stay - I'm not that thin-skinned. ;)

So please test this - submit comments, say what you want. Have an opinion, and if something doesn't appear *after a few minutes* (the site takes a bit of time to process), please let me know. There's no censoring going on here.

First offr, Kudos to Ozy for atually letting my post through (this time)

Trellium,

who said anything about people not being allowed to express their honest opinion?!?

I thought I was pretty clear.  In *my* opinion Ozy's posts are carefully crafted propoganda designed to make the PS3 look ten times worse than it really is.

Definately, he makes a lot of valid points, but like a good poilitician, he uses those points to project a reality that works strongly in Microsofts favor.  I can't say I blame him for that, although I do think he is ultimately doing MS a disservice by doing so.

His so called review of the PS3 was rediculous and I spent considerable effort pointng out the multitude of flaws and deception in his post, but it never saw the light of day.

Beleive me, I'm not a Sony fan-boy -I own a DVD recorder made by them and that's it.  But about the PS3, I for one am glad that they have hung their balls out and put together a machine that really pushed the boundaries.  It gives the consumers choice.

Joseph,

The source of the article does not, and never should be the arbiter of it's credibility.  If an old drunk tells you to jump off the top of a building you won't do it.  If your Dad or partner tells you to do it I doubt you'd do it either.

My point has nothing to do with where the article came from, although quite frankly I think it was a lazy piece of journalism.  My point was Ozy is in the industry and reads a lot of stuff.  Funny how he picked that one and left a lot of the positive stuff (from credible independent technical sources such as hardware and software professionals) out.  And if you think main-stream media means you get credible reporting you are niave.  For example if you want to know the truth about Iraq you are not going to get an honest picture by just watching CNN.  

Ozy -accepted.