Ever think you made the wrong choice...

of consoles? I bought my PS3 for some exclusive titles that i would play more than other games available on both platforms. Seemed pretty good idea at the time. Now the new FF game is on xbox360. The new tomb raider game is getting exclusive content for the microsoft console only.

To further my choice, even though it was a small point, i was expecting the graphics to be greater. So, i'm pretty much deflated about the whole thing. I should have went for the 360 i think. Anyone other PS3 owners feel the same?

This little piggy went Wii Wii Wii, all the way home. I wouldn't mind borrowing a 360 to play Braid tho.

I would say the 360 is generally considered "The Gamers Choice", Microsoft has done a much better job of making it as easy as possible for developers to get good games onto their console and squeeze out every bit of performance they can from it. Microsoft has also invested heavily to make sure they have the best selection of games available for the 360.

The PS3's "secret weapon" Blu Ray has turned out to be a bit of a bust so instead you have an expensive console with not enough good games and generally inferior in-game graphics and features.

I wrote a piece about my console choices a while ago here. The only two major updates to that article are that RROD problems certainly seem to be solved now or at least greatly reduced and Microsoft has pledged 1 billon dollars to making sure no customer loses out through RROD. Blu Ray is now the only HD format but has yet to really take off as a real replacement for DVD and could end up being another Laserdisc.

One good thing is that with the Xbox 360 price cuts you can probably Ebay your PS3 and buy a new Premium or Elite console without spending any more money.

Darkheart

i love my 360 even though the only game that is specifically for it is Halo3, i like the emulation of the old titles, it does a good job, something a ps3 doesn't. plus there's xna. there have been times though, were the wii was more fun. bu i got both so i'm happy. oh and the demos off live are fun too.

360 is by far the better console between it and the ps3 in terms of actual all round use.

My 360 is great, but my big beef with it is that microsoft seem to have abandoned splitscreen as a multiplayer option, in favour of not having to degrade the graphics during multiplayer. I was trying to find a good new splitscreen game recently to play with my flatmates (so no CoD 4) and I just couldn't find one.

I love my 360. I love the ease of use of xbox live, the games on the whole are cheaper than PS3 games (in the UK) and there's a larger range to choose from.
]
I've going to try out XNA development on it in the next few months too. Oh, and it plays most of my old xbox games.

I know PS3 has blu-ray, but I honestly do see much of a difference between DVD and high-def on my 37" LCD TV at 720p.

Warpy,

I have a quite a few games I can think of straight away that do split-screen:

Halo 3
Forza 2
Party Animals

There probably are a lot more games that do it but those are the only ones that come to mind.

I don't think it's a Microsoft edict, it's mostly up to the developers.

There is also Xbox 360 Link which is quite nice where you can play both play locally on your own screens.

One of the features I really like about the 360 is the ability to just plug in a USB stick and play music from it and this will automatically replace the music track (but not the sound effects) of whatever game I'm playing. For games like Paradise City this is almost an essential feature (the music track isn't that bad, it's just limited).

Darkheart

I'd have considered a PS3 purely for BD-ROM video playback, were it not so woefully inefficient (in terms of Wattage) as such, and now overtaken in terms of pricing, compared to standalone players.

The PS3 has nothing compelling about it. I can't think of a single interesting feature. Six-axis, sorry, not exactly a big feature when all the games I'd play wouldn't make use of it (or would only offer as a novel control option).

I'm happy with my DS, which at the moment is my only gaming machine (not counting my laptop). When I eventually mount a 37" FullHD TV at the foot of my bed, I'm sure I'll grab a 360 again.

The six-axis is very fiddly to control things with. On nearly every game i've played using it, the sticks are a far better method of control.

I might ebay my PS3 actually, and see if i can pick up a xbox360. I'm very disappointed in the PS3...

I've said it before and I'll say it again! As soon as they make a games console that actually looks attractive I might buy one... I don't understand why they can't make something that looks good. I'm not going to have a PS3 or 360 sullying the attractiveness of my lounge.

I like my Wii, and wouldn't trade it for either of those other two consoles. I've thought about picking up a PS3 since my DVD player (an old one) is starting to die on me, and I might want a Blu-ray player, but I think I'd rather spend the same amount of money on a standalone player to give less money to Sony (or save some money and just get an upconverting DVD player).

What Rob said. I mean it's cool if you're 14 and all, but once you grow up, you really should put aside childish things.

I like my PS3.

Jeff,

This is my DVD player and upscales wonderfully.


http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=113&Title=DVD89+HDMI+DVD+Player

And this kinda accentuates me point with attractiveness.

It's a shame then Rob, that Sony don't bring out a PS3 version of the PSX machine they brought out in japan for the PS2.

Why, that's an ugly grey plastic box? That wouldn't go near my lounge either.

The PS3 will come into its own when the next-gen Japanese RPGs start turning up. These typically require long development times, though. I reckon that the PS3 will "win" this round of the "console wars" - but not for a few years yet.

I've owned a Wii (gimmicky controller - underpowered - terrible third party support), an Xbox360 (decent but it suffers from a lack of Japanese games) and a PS3 (no better or worse than the Xbox360, but it has a brighter future in terms of Japanese games). The only one that I've kept is the PS3.

Never thought i made the wrong decision buying a console before, i love my Wii and all the older consoles i have. The wiimote controler is a great device and brings some fresh air to game play. The Wii is small and skilfully devised compared to a PS3 or a 360.
In my own opinion there is nothing childish about owning a video game system. I used to hear the same a long time ago from PC owners showing their scorn at people playing games on a console.

Well, I read somewhere that the PS3 stands up very well as a Blu Ray player, even up against standalone players of the same price. So, I guess even if you give up on the PS3 games you've still got yourself a nifty Blu Ray player.

As for Blu Ray failing as a standard, I doubt it. Prices of players and disks will inevitably come down in price and become more and more atractive as people upgrade their TV's to flatscreen HD sets. They'll want to get the most out of them. Plus, Blu Ray players can play regular DVDs, too.

I don't think that was the point Mikkel (or myself) were making. It's the fact that they look like a child's toy rather than something an adult would buy.

Maybe it's just me but I'd pay an extra £100 for one if it looked decent.

The main problem Blu Ray has though is that it is only a small incremental upgrade to DVD not a hugely superior product (which DVD was VHS).

I have yet to buy a Blu ray disk despite the fact I do have the capability to play Blu Ray movies. I have rented a few and been quite unimpressed when comapred to a good upscaled DVD (they are almost indistinguishable while watching). This is on a good 40" LCD screen.

I don't think MOST people with a PS3 are using it as a Blu Ray player, they are not really the target demographic anyway.

Blu Ray could still fail; particulalry as direct HD downloads gain popularity and are cheaper and more convienent.

I don't think owning a games console is childish, I've been playing games my whole life and don't see why I should stop just because I'm 33. I also think the Xbox 360 Elite (the black one) looks fine it blends in with my other Enterainment equipment (Upscaling DVD Home Cinema and SKY HD box).

However this is all drifiting rather off the point, the problem with the PS3 is that:

It simply hasn't got enough good games.
Those it does have are generally slightly inferior to the 360 versions.
It doesn't have a good community/sales channel like Xbox Live.
It doesn't have XNA.
Most people buy a games console to play games, everything else is a long way second and 360 is the best gaming choice.

The autumn/winter season is going to be great for the 360 with (what should be) some really amazing games coming out for it. The PS3 has pretty much shot it's bolt with MSG.

Darkheart

Rob Farley wrote:

Ah, if only Apple made game consoles - they'd look lovely but they'd feature 16bit processors, ten year old graphics chips and cost £2000.

The only wrong thing i bought so far in this respect is my GBA due to the bad display.

LOL, true.

If Apple made a game console it would be big and plastic and shiny and colorful and feature a big apple logo. ;)

No-one is saying it is.
I think SKY HD boxes are ugly as poo too.
You're probably right, and I'd not buy that either! I pay for design and quality, both the PS3 and xbox have quality, it's just the design is woeful.

apple already did with the bandi pippin

agreed they would look better if they looked like they belonged under the telly with the rest of the home entertainment system, but some people even keep those under wraps (must play merry hell on the remote controlls let alone wireless play)

I'll probably get BluRay since I can rent them at no extra cost from netflix, and I never buy movies since I rarely watch them more than once. Once you know what happens and there are no surprises the magic is lost.

I Bought the LOTR special editions with 3-4 DVD's of extras, which are all I own.

I plan on getting a 360 (JUST for playing Hexic HD - lol) once I'm certain the price isn't going to go down again :D

Wii is great atm though.

Plash: The prices will always go down. Just make sure you get one with a hard drive. Can't do XNA coding without one.

I'm still waiting for 360 to get bluray, if when that happens, I'll get one. I loved my old Xbox, most of the best games I ever played were on that.

I don't really play games these days blu ray is pretty important to me, I never liked Japanese games, RPG or otherwise making PS3 a waste of time. Same with WII which mainly seems to target the casual gaming market and has the same flavour crummy first party games as always.

Unless it looks like it was manufactured by Fischer Price. I didn't say owning a console was childish. There are plenty childish looking "gamer" PC cases as well. The difference is if you want a case that better integrates your stylish A/V setup, you can buy one of those instead. Not so much for the XBox 360.

Yeah. Well the joke's on them, because these days, that's where all the "cool" games (like Gears of War 2) go to hang out.

Actually I'm seriously considering getting one for Little Big Planet, aesthetics be damned! However a friend of mine who has one say the cooler is rediculously loud. Can anyone confirm?

No louder than the 360 exterior cooler if that helps

I've only noticed the fan when running that Folding@home thing while the TV was off, and even then it wasn't very loud.
But given than no games are using more than about 65% of the processor yet, perhaps it's too early to say what it'll be like when it gets a good thrashing.

I'm perfectly happy with my Wii and XBox360.

I've never considered the PS3 as anything other than a waste of space and money. I don't consider Blu-Ray a viable alternative to DVD - the quality jump isn't as good as from VHS to DVD, so I won't buy it for that, and as a games console it offers nothing that I truly want to play. To me there just aren't any killer apps.

I'm not anti-Sony or even anti-Playstation, I have both PS1 and PS2 (which I still use regularly, despite it being an original phat model from day one) - the PS3 just offers nothing I want at this moment in time. I probably will get one at some point, but I'll wait for something that's worth buying it for first.

Nope, mine is almost silent. A tiny fraction of the noise my XBox 360 makes. Not sure if my XBox 360 has a fault or if that's just the way they are, but it makes a noise like a jumbo jet taking off. Again, I'm not sure if it's an issue, but my PS3 is lying down and my 360 is standing up.

My PS3 is standing and is also a fraction of the noise my brother's 360 elite makes (the DVD-ROM drive in it makes a racket alone).

Never felt like I made the wrong decision here, but my tastes in gaming may also differ. Also, for the case a 360 game that comes out that I do want, in my case, a PC port is always made available eventually so I'm covered regardless.

I quite love my PS3, albeit Sony is still a little behind in unifying their online system and making it easier to game with people on your friends list, but future updates may fix that.

Anyways, it's all about the games, if the 360 has all you want (or all the 'exclusive' content you have to pay for) or the games you primarily want get shafted on the PS3 port, then it you may as well go for the system if there's nothing in the future line-up of PS3 exclusives that interests you.

Yeah, most of the best games for 360 end up on PC too within 6 months to a year. Including flameducks gears of war franchise, which was actually better on the PC, not that the game was much good to begin with.

Gears is not a bad game, but it could have been so much better. The worst offender (IMHO) for taking a great game idea and ruining it has to be Dead Rising - a game with so much potential, let down by some criminally poor design decisions.

And I agree - it's ALL about the games. It doesn't matter what a platform can do if it hasn't got any games that you want to play.

And PS3 is indeed a lot quieter than XBox 360 - although as has been mentioned, the 360 is at its loudest when running a DVD game. It's not as bad as some make it out to be, but it is loud, however when engrossed in a game, I don't really notice it.

i work under a blast chiller unit
i only really notice it when it switches itself off

cant hear my pc fans at the mo either, normally only when i switch on i can but thats about it (fingers crossed that they are working)

if any im getting the 360 elite and perhaps that extra fan gizmo that game sell if its needed, dont care how ugly it looks its still better looking than the classic
the only good looking console was the PSone (with matching toilet seat lcd) compared to the original and the ps2 fat and thin its ok on the eyes

Subjective to taste.


Wrong.


It has Linux.


Subjective to taste.


Having looked up numerous noise issues online to try and see if anyone helse has experienced mine I can tell you that no two models are the same. My cooler is practically silent (I can only assume it is working) - in fact the only time my PS3 makes noise is when it boots (and when you quit out of) FF12. Terrible horrible drive-crunching-like buzz sound. It works fine and the noise 'only' lasts 5 secs or so. Any other PS1, PS2 or PS3 game plays normally.

But you will undoubtedly hear a differing story from each and every PS3 owner. =]

I find the PS3 to be ALOT quiter than the xbox360. I'm just sick of Sony Europes lack of ability to release DLC, and the xbox getting PS3 exclusives, and getting, what used to be a PS exclusive game Tomb Raider, WITH EXCLUSIVE add on levels.

What is Sony doing?

I wish I could find one in a store to buy :(

You in the UK Gary? If so, are they STILL sold out?

No, USA. Can't find a Wii in the stores around me.

Check in the middle of the week. Most US retailers (like Toys-R-Us and even Target) get their shipments on Wednesdays... by the weekend (when most people shop) they are sold out.

..no complaining for PS3 i have..working fine, and games i have played so far are excellent..

They just turned Folding@Home into Life with Playstation. Oooh.

The PS3 has been a bit of a disappointment. Most games aren't exclusive and as happened with every system since the 16-bit era, cross platform games are made for the lowest common denominator so you might as well have bought a 360 in the first place. One thing I will ask though is what are these great games for the 360 that "show off graphics as good as anything the PS3 can do"? I saw Metal Gear Solid 4 round at a friend's house and I can say I've never seen graphics as good as those on a 360 game so I'm wondering what I should take a look at that rivals or beats it on the 360.

aye developers tend to just average out their engines between the two beasts and ignor what the other is capable of
so what if the ps3 can do bla bla bla they arnt interested in makeing two games just the one that they can ship on both and if one cripples the other then who cares?

yes the amiga did display more colours than the st but how many games did your amiga get fed that made it look like you were expecting the gem bee to show up at any minute

and true the blu-ray holds more than a dvd but can they honestly justify filling it with nothing more than an unskippable movie?

years ago two guys in the house had different systems one a ps2 and the other an xbox
both had bmx XXX (really they should have just called it bmXXX) and they found when playing 2 player on the playstation the xbox owner found it to be slightly different in parts, one noticably the colours others too subtle to remember
but in the end it was a case of "anything you can do i can do the same, even though i could do it better, but im not"

i think this is more of a vhs/betamax issue than blu-ray/hddvd was as no home video seemed to be different no matter which tape it was shipped in

Fable 2 is out on the 24th october... but at £37 plus 130 for a 360 console its a tad pricey.

well if you were buying a 360 anyway the price shouldnt be part of that equation
if you were buying a console just for one game then perhaps you should think hard if its worth it if you own a ps3 already

me ive ummed and erred about when i get my 360 for so long that the elite came out and is now old, im not waiting for the price to drop or owt, just time and incliination to play one, but most of the games i probably would have bought id be lucky to find in the 2nd hand rack and if i did it would be scratched to hell no doubt

blah... I have to conclude that all you guys saying that blu ray offers little when compared to up scaled DVD don't know what your talking about.... no offense meant :) but it's true! most likely you are viewing on a HD set that *doesn't* have native 1080p resolution... or you've looked at only DVD and concluded "hey, that's pretty good" this would be a very unfair and inaccurate comparison.

I repeat, for one to say that an up scaled 480p pixel resolution looks the same as a 1080p picture resolution is crazy!

I had a good up scaling DVD player before I bought a PS3 (just for blu ray) and blu ray BLOWS away up scaled DVD!

as you can see from the information below, bluray has 6 times the information that DVD has while DVD has 2.18 times the information that vhs had or only 1.29 times the information of a s-vhs. so it's clear not a small incremental upgrade when view on proper hardware.

media	h	v	pixels		vhs	s-vhs	dvd	bluray
vhs	330	480	158400		1.00	0.59	0.46	0.08
s-vhs	560	480	268800		1.70	1.00	0.78	0.13
dvd	720	480	345600		2.18	1.29	1.00	0.17
bluray	1920	1080	2073600		13.09	7.71	6.00	1.00

while upscaling may look like it adds more but all it does is blend... your lines are not thin.

Now, my set is 52" so maybe it's easier to see the extra resolution but I don't buy that because I have seen blu ray on a 40" too. Maybe, I just have better eyes :) but I doubt that.

In my experience, generally, people who make this claim are not viewing on a full HD set. usually, they are viewing on a 1080i *capable* set that has a native pixel resolution of around 768 or something.... that is a FAR cry from 1080p!! I must add, I've brought people over who use to claim this very thing and they themselves immediately changed their position.

it's very frustrating hearing this over and over and....

I've found that CGI shows off Blu-Ray the best.
For example, I have Cars on DVD and Blu-Ray, and have watched both on the same 40" 1080p TV. The Blu-Ray version has such lush, crisp visuals... far, far superior to DVD. But then, if you are going to render your graphics at 1920x1080, what do you expect ;-)

For Film-based movies, I think the difference is less obvious. Sure, you'll get some enhanced detail, but it's nowhere near as clear-cut as you'll see with rendered wares.

Anyhoo, this is just a subjective opinion, and everyone else is entitled to think whatever they like :-)

I'll agree with that but there is a lot of CGI in movies these days.
maybe for close up character scenes but not for anything where the camera shows more than a few people talking.

actually no, the quality aspect really isn't... the perceived value on the other hand is completely subjective and that's why it's often wrong! ;)

Well, I have the three consoles, and I definately use the PS3 the most.
Whenever a cross platform game comes out, I always opt for the PS3 version. The reason is that the 360's fan sounds like a small helicopter taking off in my living room!! The graphics are mostly similar. However, any way you slice it, the PS3 is technologically superior to the 360... When developers will start to take advantage of that power is another debate. :-(

Also, the PS3 has free online multiplayer. Granted the 360 has a much better system for that, if you only casually play one or two games online, it's hard to justify a paid subscription...

Blu-Ray is unquestionably better than DVD. I agree that it's more noticable in CGI movies, but so far I've only seen old Pixar movies upscaled - I bet that full Blu-Ray is waaay better.

Even if Microsoft comes out with a Blu-Ray add on, it will be nearly impossible to match the price of a PS3. Plus, since all PS3 games are on Blu-Ray Disc, there is the potential for storing nearly 10 times more data.. As more developers learn how to use the PS3's incredible hardware, Microsoft will rapidly lose ground, graphics-wise.

Even if you're only interested in Blu-Ray movies, the PS3 is the best player on the market. It costs the same as a low-end dedicated player, plus it has one of the highest rated upscalers around. You can also use Blu-Ray Live with a wired or wireless internet connection, plus firmware updates.

I'm not sure why people think it's ugly though... :-)

I have a very nice 40" TV that supports 1080P very nicely and I've run blu ray movies vs upscaled DVDs and in my opinion there is very little noticeable difference while you are watching the moive.

Now certainly if you pause the film and go an look at it close up you can see the the upscaled DVD is much more blurred than the crisp Blu Ray picture but when it's playing you just don't notice it very much, if it all.

For games, it is more noticeable, playing Ninja Gaiden II or Assasin's Creed you can just boggle at the pixel perfect scenes but in movies (unless its a VERY boring film) you just won't be doing that. I spent quite a bit of time in Assasin's Creed climbing huge towers just so I could enjoy the view, and even going right up to the screen to look at details right in front of my charecter, you would never do that in a film. So for most people I think, yes a Blu Ray player is very much not needed right now. You can enjoy almost the same experience with barely any noticeable difference and DVD's are much cheaper and more availble than Blu Ray movies are.

Imagine if the PS3 came with a laserdisc player, would that be worth it? Blu Ray is still quite in danger of becoming the next laserdisc.

There are 90,000 DVD movies on release right now, vs 772 Blu Ray titles. Most DVDs cost from £3-£15 vs Blu Ray coming in at £35 + Blu Ray have all that horrible DRM.

DVD WAS a MASSIVE improvement on VHS, I can only assume you did not have to use VHS for any length of time to not appreciate it's drawbacks.

DVD's do not use sequential access VHS did.
VHS quality rapidly detoriated, cared for properly DVD does not.
DVD's allowed menus and additional features to be layered into the film, VHS did not.
DVD's are small and light, VHS was big and heavy.
DVD's allowed better video quality.
To use DVDs you only needed a DVD player to get most of the benefits.

The very few new things Blu Ray has over DVD is:

Incrementally improoved visual quality, (requiring, 50" 1080P HDTV to really be noticeable).
Slightly improoved audio quailty (for people with the latest high end sound systems only).

Haven't you heard of the law of diminishing returns? The more pixels you have the less the number of pixels matters...

Darkheart

ok, you got me on those.... very true.


it depends on where you start.... anyway, then why do you even have a HD set?

I really don't want to argue but I just find the difference between bluray and up scaled DVD so different that I just can't see how anybody can dismiss it so.

I heard an advert for xbox360 saying that you can download films (which you need a hard drive addition for).. I wonder what the rez of those films are then, HD apparently... And fable 2 looks very impressive.

The Elite and Premium versions of the console come with a HD, (I would go for the Elite as it has 120GB). Most of the films are 720P, there are a few in 1080i but mostly it's 720P. The 360 itself support resolutions up to 1080P and most games support (and perform well) at this resolution. The only noteable exception seems to be GTA IV but I'm not sure what is up with that game, the PS3 seems to suffer even worse on the GFX front with GTA IV, maybe the much delayed DLC will solve the problem.

Personally I much prefer my DVD/Game Rental deal to direct downloads from Microsoft.

Dakheart

im the same but retail not rental, buy the time i buy em they are about the price i would have paid for a night or two anyways

and being on mobile broadband where i have a set data limit id never dl a movie, not unless it was mp4 assuming they work ok on high res as ive only ever encountered mobile phone clips, it would eat into my data credit at a very bad £/mb ratio making dvd purchaces a bargain

most average home users have cable of some kind getting 20mb or such like (i know alot get shafted with the up to x and traffic shaping) but if they started introducing weekly or monthly data caps that would all but kill video on demand before its proved itself

this file is x mb large, that will be £x please

Considering Sony has a track record of making electronics that either fail or explode due to over-heating, I'd probably be a little disturbed if I didn't hear some sort of cooling fan running in ANY processor heavy electronic device manufactured by them.

I'd lie your 360 down on it's side if I were you. Not to improve noise, but it's been pretty well documented that an upright 360 will scratch your media.


I've heard speculation that it'll be around for 5 years at best before something else attempts to take over the market. Then again, I think there was a similar mindset about DVD when that was introduced.


Rumor has the so-called BRD add on in the $100-$150 area. Considering the low-end XBox is less expensive than the Wii, an extra $100.. or even $150 still makes it a bit less expensive than a PS3.

Microsoft is already working on the successor to the 360. By the time PS3 gains momentum and becomes the "winner", Microsoft will have a new console out that will over shadow their success. Just like they did with XB360 over PS2. And considering it's worked out pretty well for them, I'm surprised Sony isn't taking it more seriously.

If I were Sony, I'd have some sort of conversion kit that can upgrade your PS3 to a PS4 for a fraction of the price of a new console when Microsoft pulls out their new one. It would be a surprise out of left field that would put them on top again...

HVD is probably going to be next to hit the market - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc

It only! stores 3.9Tb of data, so I'm sure it'll be superceded pretty quickly :P

This is a myth, I checked into this one thoroughly before buying a 360 and it has been debunked.

There was an earlier brand of DVD player that Microsoft used in a relatively small number of the early Xbox 360's that could have a fault which caused the player to scratch media when it was inserted. This player has since been discontinued and Microsoft will replace the drive of any 360 that has this problem. Generally your 360 will either scratch discs (if you bought an older machine in the above group and for some reason it has been refitted) or it won't.

It is possible to get the drive to scratch discs but only if you move the console while it's operating or have it tilted at an angle. Both of these things you are clearly advised not to do in the manual and you could probably get any DVD player to scratch a disk under those conditions.

There are still a small number of people who claim they never moved their 360 while it was running and were found to still have problems but this was a small sample, based on people with problems and hasn't been replicated on any large scale. We don't know what happened to their 360's before testing and nobody has come forward with problems like that out of the box.

If you run your 360 flat rather than stood up you are very unlikely to have any problems, if only because you are less likely for it to get knocked over.

Darkheart

Two reasons : Ken's original vision was that the PS3 wouldn't need another gen iteration. Not getting into how or why since it's all just hypothetical now.

Now, Sony doesn't see the PS as their way forward. Also, nobody there actually understands how the thing works anymore.


Not too far off of Ken's vision methinks. But I wouldn't be surprised if the PS3 was Sonys last foray into the console market for some time (I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't tho, either).

Remember though, the xbox was supposed to surpass the PS2 in terms of power and grunt, and it failed. It took a next generation console to get rid of the PS2, and it is actually still selling. Don't know where they went wrong with the PS3 though ;o)

I want DLC!!!

How could they have a 'conversion kit' for PS3-PS4??
You would basically have to rip apart your console and replace its internal components, then rewire everything! I doubt that this proposed 'some assembly required' version would cost much less then a new, mass assembled PS4, and tech support would be a nighmare... :-( Interesting idea though.

The lowest-end XBox costs $299. Add $100-$150 and that's a minimum of $399. The low end PS3 costs $399. So at best, it could match the price of its rival. But I doubt that there would be any XBox games on Blu-Ray, so it still wouldn't have the same capabilities.

Microsoft will most likely release the XBox 720 before the PS4, but the PS3 will already be established, and I doubt it could match the PS3's price point by then. Add in all the great games being developed/released for PS3 and it looks like Sony has the upper hand for now...

Also, I keep reading about DLC for PS3 games...
In GameInformer mag earlier this year they had a blurb about a massive DLC release for Burnout Paradise (awesome game!!) that would add a new nighttime city. And I read on GI's website some time ago that there were several new tracks and vehicles for Motorstorm being released online as DLC.

I have no clue as to how to get the DLC!!! I searched up and down Sony's website, and found nothing!!! Anyone know how to do this??

PS3 is loosing so much right now, that on September even on Japan the XBox360 outselled it for the first time!

Combine the PS3 price, with the well known difficulty to program for it, with the lack of tools to help development... and you can begin to understand why the PS3 is a failure.

Not really. Remember that the Cell processor is designed to be networkable and expandable. You really only need to hook up another one and it's twice as powerful. I guess theoretically there's no reason it has to be the same amount of power either.


My PS3 is not (yet) networked, but I guess you open the PSN store. If it's available, it should presumably be there.

So now I'd have two PS3 sized boxes networked in my entertainment center? I think that'd be cool!!! However I'm not sure how Sony could sell average consumers on that. Plus, that would negate any savings against the next XBox, unless it was very low powered. And in that case I wouldn't see much reason for it, unless games start requiring it... And then you have another PR issue...

On the subject of its networkability, I read about someone hooking up 6 PS3s to create a supercomputer... And there's the whole Folding@Home network going on... So I'm wondering how I could maybe harness that power to render stuff with Blender?? Blender works on Linux too. Couldn't someone write a program that networks the PS3 to your computer?
Computer sends scene to PS3, PS3 renders and sends image/movie to computer.
Then my computer would be free to do other things instead of being maxed on all resources when rendering!!! Has anyone done this??

My PS3 is networked, but I havn't signed up for PSN (I'm not an online gamer)... Plus I thought the DLC was all free, so I reasoned it ought to be somewhere else... Hmm.

Well I may be wrong, but I think there are many free times in the PSN store as well as paid-for items. It certainly works that way with the XBoxLive Store.

I imagine that it's thoeretically possible to setup a PS3 render farm using Blender, and it would probably suit the cell's architecture. No idea if anyone has tried though.

I don't know that it would necessarily be another box as big and expensive as a PS3. I'm just saying the feature is there, perhaps they have ideas for using it.

Wallpapers and themes are usually free and patches. Demos too. Don't buy any of the old PSX games. You will ruin any good memory you had of them!

The Europe PSN store is really pathetic TBH. The US and JP stores are FAR more content. That's my main gripe. It would cost them next to bugger all to put these items on the europe store.

Forward thinking could have you design the PS3 in a way such that all you need to do is plug something in...


Depends on the game/publishers. Most DLC you get charged for. Some are free. A lot of games with free DLC will also have charge-for packs which are bigger etc. Folklore for example managed to squeeze an extra $40 or so out of me, but it was worth it =]


When practically the whole of Japan already has a PS2/PS3, how many more PS3s would the same people want to buy?!?


What if the requirement for something like Final Fantasy 16/Gran Turismo 7 was 'two PS3s'? =] Assuming the PS3 doesn't get -any- hardware upgrades, the price at that point would be rather compelling.