The Final Words from IGN

[standing ovation]

I'm talking about mainstream perception (and adoption), not messy proportions!

PlayStation's Achilles Heel is its forward-looking technology. Sony's media hub is built to work with next-gen gadgetry which, for the foreseeable future, is an expensive cast of components.

Assuming the average Jo (or Jo Ann) can squeeze it in their budget, PlayStation 3, paired with the typical SDTV set, is unlikely to yield a utility befitting of its price. :neutral:

 

[TheChefO]

PlayStation's Achilles Heel is its forward-looking technology. . :neutral:

ahh very true sir. They could always gut unneeded components later though if they play their cards right. If not they will forever be forced to be more expensive than the competition. (and perhaps never hit the <$150 price range)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

PlayStation's Achilles Heel is its forward-looking technology.

That's an excellent statement; wonderfully ironic. Not saying I agree or disagree, but the idea of being forward-thinking as being a liability, pursuing progress ruins your chances, implies that everyone ought to stand still and progress nothing. Boo to technology!

 

[cthellis42]

Oh yeah that of course. But after GOW2, it'd be stupid for Sony to work hard on the PS2 with the 360 game lineup and Wii's low entry price.

SONY'S game developers won't try as hard, but the PS2 will be developed for for quite a while yet, and I'm sure Sony will freely enjoy the licensing and continuing unit sales, since they'll need some offsetting of the PS3 costs, eh?

 

[TheChefO]

That's an excellent statement; wonderfully ironic. Not saying I agree or disagree, but the idea of being forward-thinking as being a liability, pursuing progress ruins your chances, implies that everyone ought to stand still and progress nothing. Boo to technology!

Technology is great - but not technology for technologies sake. There were many arguments here regarding how useful the embedded ram was in 360 and how some would rather they used the die space for more pixel/vertex shader power. I say you could apply the same logic to bluray. As a gamer, would you rather they spent that budget on more ram? (perhaps bumped to 1gb?) or two cell processors. 256bit graphics bus? you could go on and on with this. Personally as a gamer, I'd rather they spent that budget on making ps3 a better games machine. Otherwise hit a lower price point and give me the option for bluray.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As a gamer, would you rather they spent that budget on more ram? (perhaps bumped to 1gb?) or two cell processors. 256bit graphics bus? you could go on and on with this. Personally as a gamer, I'd rather they spent that budget on making ps3 a better games machine. Otherwise hit a lower price point and give me the option for bluray.

As a gamer, BRD might be overkill - depends on whether we see any returns or not. But as an entertainment device, which is after all what the PS3 is supposed to be, I'm happy it's got BRD. There'll be plenty of early adopters likewise happy who would have had to spend a lot more cash on an alternative (at least, until MS suggested a cheapo-HDDVD addon, but that wasn't something Sony had to consider back then.)

 

[TheChefO]

As a gamer, BRD might be overkill - depends on whether we see any returns or not. But as an entertainment device, which is after all what the PS3 is supposed to be, I'm happy it's got BRD. There'll be plenty of early adopters likewise happy who would have had to spend a lot more cash on an alternative (at least, until MS suggested a cheapo-HDDVD addon, but that wasn't something Sony had to consider back then.)

sure bluray is useful as a part of an entertainment device (which is how sony are attempting to market it i know) but the vast majority of people look at "playstation" as a games machine that happens to play other things too. My point is I think they're about 3 years too soon with putting this tech in a games box. But hd-dvd forced their hand to "bring out the big guns" and integrate it in ps3. Which is good for Sony as it completes their agenda but forces those THAT WANT A PS3, to pay for tech that they MAY not want.

But they are in a controlling position at this point in the games market so they believe they can take that risk.

 

[blakjedi]

There may be a fight... but if anyone believes that momentum has SWUNG away from PS dominance... they are fooling themselves. Even at $600 Sony hasnt priced themselves out of the market. What they have done instead is priced themselves into two markets (1 BRD, 1 console). Anyone who doesnt think the PS3 version of a Blu ray player wont be better than most standalones, also forgot that most standalones wont have a cell chip within it or internet connectivity. Really powerful convergence there... and in the future the games will only get better and the console will only get cheaper... *shrug*

 

[mckmas8808]

I'm talking about mainstream perception (and adoption), not messy proportions!

PlayStation's Achilles Heel is its forward-looking technology. Sony's media hub is built to work with next-gen gadgetry which, for the foreseeable future, is an expensive cast of components.

Assuming the average Jo (or Jo Ann) can squeeze it in their budget, PlayStation 3, paired with the typical SDTV set, is unlikely to yield a utility befitting of its price. :neutral:

But Standing O how can you say it's an achilles heel when we haven't even seen what the people thinking about it (with their wallets of course).

Is it not reasonable to think that Sony may actually win this war of the consoles because of their forward thinking?

 

[Arwin]

What I would like to know is what people would say if BluRay would just be seen as an uber-capable, high-level games format. You know, like this:

360 vs PS3
$399 / $499
512mb RAM / 512mb RAM
3.2Ghz / 3.2Gh Processor
20Gb / 20Gb HDD
Fast Graphix TM 720p / Ditto 1080p
7.4Gb / 54Gb Game Storage Format
100mbit / 1000mbit Ethernet
Etc.

Sure, nice that it can play HD movies too, but what if it couldn't? How long would it take before the 54gb pays off in games? The 1080p browsing?

 

[a688]

There may be a fight... but if anyone believes that momentum has SWUNG away from PS dominance... they are fooling themselves. Even at $600 Sony hasnt priced themselves out of the market. What they have done instead is priced themselves into two markets (1 BRD, 1 console). Anyone who doesnt think the PS3 version of a Blu ray player wont be better than most standalones, also forgot that most standalones wont have a cell chip within it or internet connectivity. Really powerful convergence there... and in the future the games will only get better and the console will only get cheaper... *shrug*

Its like doublespeak.

 

[mckmas8808]

What I would like to know is what people would say if BluRay would just be seen as an uber-capable, high-level games format. You know, like this:

360 vs PS3
$399 / $499
512mb RAM / 512mb RAM
3.2Ghz / 3.2Gh Processor
20Gb / 20Gb HDD
Fast Graphix TM 720p / Ditto 1080p
9Gb / 54Gb Game Storage Format
10mbit / 1000mbit Ethernet
Etc.

Sure, nice that it can play HD movies too, but what if it couldn't? How long would it take before the 54gb pays off in games? The 1080p browing?

You have a few things wrong. The 360's Disc space should be 7.4 GBs and their LAN connection should be upped to 100Mbs.

 

[TheChefO]

What I would like to know is what people would say if BluRay would just be seen as an uber-capable, high-level games format. You know, like this:

360 vs PS3
$399 / $499
512mb RAM / 512mb RAM
3.2Ghz / 3.2Gh Processor
20Gb / 20Gb HDD
Fast Graphix TM 720p / Ditto 1080p
9Gb / 54Gb Game Storage Format
10mbit / 1000mbit Ethernet
Etc.

Sure, nice that it can play HD movies too, but what if it couldn't? How long would it take before the 54gb pays off in games? The 1080p browing?

This comparison is very fair and I agree (aside from the 10mbit part but I assume its a typo... and 1080p is a bit misleading but I digress) - the only thing wrong with it is as we move along more and more people are made aware of and are tempted by next gen people will want to "jump in". especially with the ads of new games that will be coming this xmas. When the masses start looking into and becoming tempted by next gen I think the <$300 core will become more of a factor. The fact that they can drop <$300 (-games of course) and be playing next gen is a factor that will play into this xmas buying season. Especially true for those that may want to buy a ps3 but are unable to purchse because of shortages and may then get a wii or 360 core to "tide them over" till ps3 is cheaper and more readily available.

 

[blakjedi]

Its like doublespeak.

I dont understand what you mean.

 

[Sis]

Anyone who doesnt think the PS3 version of a Blu ray player wont be better than most standalones, also forgot that most standalones wont have a cell chip within it or internet connectivity.

The Xbox 360 has decent DVD playback, but it's still worse then my $60 toshiba DVD player. In fact, on a few discs it is absolutely horrific.

I see no reason why the PS3 will be exempt from this.

 

[mckmas8808]

The Xbox 360 has decent DVD playback, but it's still worse then my $60 toshiba DVD player. In fact, on a few discs it is absolutely horrific.

I see no reason why the PS3 will be exempt from this.

Well supposely Sony is making sure that Blu-ray playback is optimal. In a way it makes sense for them to do that, if the PS3 is really a trojan horse.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Well supposely Sony is making sure that Blu-ray playback is optimal. In a way it makes sense for them to do that, if the PS3 is really a trojan horse.

Because you expect them to say otherwise?

I would say anyone expecting identical quality from a $500 PS3 as a $1000 standalone player should keep sleeping, cause they're dreaming.

It's not really the quality that concerns me, as I doubt 99.99% of people will be able to tell the difference between various HD players. It's reliability, robustness and longevity that worry me the most about have PS3 as my HD player. I just have no faith in consoels as standalone players, and neither should anyone else who bought a PS2 or XBOX as a primary DVD player.

 

[Arwin]

I just have no faith in consoels as standalone players, and neither should anyone else who bought a PS2 or XBOX as a primary DVD player.

I have never used anything but my PS2 for DVD play. I'm very happy with it, works just fine! The only downside I could find is that the sound is sometimes a bit soft, which isn't really an issue though, and my girlfriend's DVD player is actually worse! But my remote never runs out of batteries ...

I don't only use my PS2 for DVD play obviously. But I don't have another player either.

The Cell has some great advantages. The HDMI is digital, so no improvement by gold-plated cables. Cell being powerful enough and very suited for software decoding, they can endlessly update the firmware of the PS3 to increase the quality and features of BluRay playback.

If you look, you'll see that the quality of the PS2's DVD player was actually rated quite well when it was released.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I have never used anything but my PS2 for DVD play. I'm very happy with it, works just fine! The only downside I could find is that the sound is sometimes a bit soft, which isn't really an issue though, and my girlfriend's DVD player is actually worse! But my remote never runs out of batteries ...

You are certainly in the minority. The vast majority of people I know who used PS2 heavily as a DVD player experience the exact same symptoms: System stopped reading DVD's would only play games, after a while, it wouldn't read games either. I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard that story.