Some hardware sales in France

I wonder why the 360 is behind. Is the Playstation brand big in Europe?

 

Yes, it is. In terms of Xbox market penetration in the last gen, think about half-way between the U.S. and Japan (i.e., half of the U.S. ). Initially you can expect this to be similar in Europe. Also, expect an explosioin in Playstation 3 sales as soon as either PES7 or FIFA 2008 hits the stores.

 

Yes. Europe is PS3...I'd say UK is 360 at the mo though. We like to be different

 

Those are impressive numbers for Nintendo. Microsoft needs to drop the price ASAP and start a good marketing campaign in Europe.

 

Yup. But don't forget PS3 launched Q1.

 

I see, I don't know much about Europe gaming. I just assumed it trends like North America.

 

Aren't those going to the 360 as well?...

 

Doubt that. Your average fifa player is more casual, doubt you'll see them shifting 700+ euro (console, game, extra controller) for their soccer game wich they can also play on pc/x360 or wii for alot less.

 

people are used to ps pads here (edit: when you talk about football games).
and personally i have to get ps3 (edit: i meant ps3 version, i will still get 360 console ) because 360 dpads are awful at controls (edit: in pes)

 

Yes, but I don't know how the market will go. Arwin's suggesting, I think, and I can see he may be right, something along the lines of customers who want the footy games also want PS3's, and the footy games will be the title to push them into adoption. The high price of PS3 is such that unless there's something you really want for it, it's not going to be a purchase, on the whole. So I expect there's quite a few would-be buyers waiting for those killer apps. I can cite a friend as exactly in that boat. The PS3 has appeal, but he's not going to buy it until there's games he wants. A proper next-gen footy game will be one of those titles.

Now the flip-side is IF the footy gamers are such casual console owners that they'll go the cheapest route to have their gaming fix. The cheapest possible solution would be about £200. If MS introduced a price drop, they may well pick up some new customers just from this title.

 

I don't get on the XB360 controllers. The D-pad is certainly smelly, hitting the angles all the time. On PS2 the D-pad is oft used for menus nicely. In Marvel UA it's way to common to move onto other tabs in the character stat sheets. And secondly, the idea is to have the thumbsticks and buttons in most used positions, but as often as not (especially shooters) the right thumb is on the analogue stick as opposed to the buttons, so you're still reaching over. I definitely prefer the symmetry of the DS - I don't find their position any bother. XB360's triggers are nice though. Haven't tried sixaxis' yet.

 

I dont really use the D-pad on the X360, but i agree on it being sucky.

I did see some people fixing this thought, by taking a knife and "cutting" out a bigger whole around the D-pad, enabling it to move more freely.

X360 controller does feel much much better than anything else i've held from a console in my hands tho. It just feels "right"

 

Having said that about D-pads, it shouldn't have any bearing on PS3 sales and footy games. If the next-gen games are still fixed to 8 directional motion instead of allowing any angles, I'll be bitterly disappointed! Too many times I've wanted to duck inwards slightly and had my player head 45 degrees instead, straight into an opponent!

 

have you guys tried the madcats pad. its cheaper. and the dpad is slightly better aswell as the triggers. but i dont like the bumpers and the face buttons are flat. the start and back buttons are more on top so you dont accidently touch them. but my problem with it is it dosent work fully with the microsoft headphones making a buzzing sound. and it has turbo and a auto invert button.

 

I like both the 360 and Sixaxis controllers for different reasons, neither is perfect or prefered.

The Sixaxis has a better D-pad and normal buttons, while the 360 has better triggers and slightly better analog sticks. The shape of the 360 controller (big palm thingies) sometimes fatigues my hands after a while, so the light lofty feel of the sixaxis is nice in an ergonomic way. I switch back and forth and they are both good, but neither is perfect. I'm not sure why people make arguments for or against a controller based on the size of their hands, you don't really grip like a hammer - it's all in the fingers IMO.

 

I'm pretty sure the cheapest route would be a £99 PS2...

Funny...

My girlfriend has been telling me the same thing...

 

I'll take the Dpad and analog pressure feel of the PS2 controller swapped into the 360 controller for my version of the perfect one.

No idea why MS is hell bent on keep that horrible dpad design.

 

What I don't usderstand is why this ring surrounding the dpad in 360 controller is so thick in newer model, after it was discovered that this is main reason of its inaccuracy. I peeled it a little bit and now it's much more responsive.

Sixaxis is definitely much better than dualshock, but I still don't like its general layout - shape and analogue sticks position are still wrong. Also triggers don't feel perfectly.