In Wake of Price Drops, Further PS3 Doubts 424
Sony fans undoubtedly cheered the news of a $100 drop in price for the 60GB PS3, but even with the price drop there are several issues surrounding the console. 1up reports that the 80GB PS3 is following the lead of the EU-released PS3s by removing the Emotion engine and relying on software emulation for backwards compatibility. In an effort to decrease costs Sony continues to reduce features and develop their product. Meanwhile, Konami executive Kazumi Kitaue doesn't see much impact from the cut ... and in fact told Reuters that they're seriously considering a multi-platform release for Metal Gear Solid 4. "Kitaue said Konami may need to expand the target hardware for its blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid, which has so far been developed for Sony's PlayStation machines, to other consoles in the future to recoup development costs ... The release of the latest version of Metal Gear Solid series is expected to help lure hard-core gamers to the PS3 and alleviate concerns over scarcity of strong PS3 titles. Underscoring sluggish PS3 sales and robust demand for the Wii, Nintendo shot past Sony in market value last month and bumped the Tokyo-based electronics conglomerate off the list of Japan's 10 most valuable companies."
No (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Platform Longevity (Score:2, Interesting)
Developers will come to know the power of the PS3, true, but they'll also come to know its limitations. And in these days of tightening deadlines and limited budgets, it is unlikely that many developers will even complete the learning process.
The console death spiral: gamers aren't buying, so developers hold back. Devs hold back, so gamers hold back even more. And so on...
The PS3 has begun its descent already. It will take a lot of time, money, effort and random luck for Sony to dig it out. It's not impossible, but it's also unlikely. Good luck...
Too much concentration on the testosterone market (Score:2, Interesting)
This is why Nintendo is winning this war, folks. Sony and Microsoft have narrowed their focus to the testosterone-junkie market, leaving all the little kids, old folks, and females to be served by the DS and Wii.
My wife is the big gamer in our house. She owns almost console ever made. Yet until Ratchet & Clank comes out, there won't be anything on the PS3 to grab her attention.
------RM
Re:Lately? (Score:2, Interesting)
*My Fifth(!) broken ps2
*Minidisc
*UMD
*"People will work two jobs to buy a ps3"
*Uncertain future
*Home (seriously, wtf, go play second life)
*Exploding batteries
Yeah yeah yeah, now all the Sony apologists will say that Microsoft has the same problems. Yeah, and? Are you saying that we shouldn't take either of these companies to task for their crappy business practices? I won't buy a x360 until they stop getting the red ring of death, and I won't buy a ps3 until sony gives me a reason to buy the damn system. Sony HAS harmed me on several occasions (unknown rootkits, and broken ps2's, DVD's that won't play due to Copy Protection) while I haven't had a problem with MS (I avoid things like Playsforsure and Zzune, guess i've been lucky), So ME PERSONALLY, I don't trust sony from the crap I'VE experienced. I hear about the bad things MS does too, but I've never had any experience of it. My original xbox works like a charm, and still gets played frequently. I can't say that about my fried ps2.
Re:You forget... Nintendo owns Pokemon... (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately, Sony has been hemorrhaging money for the last few years. Remember a couple years ago when they slashed some divisions, like the AIBO group? Investor's are reacting to this, especially since the PS3 & Blu-ray were touted to be the saviors of the company.
Re:Foot, meet Mr. Shotgun (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Foot, meet Mr. Shotgun (Score:3, Interesting)
Define "much better". That term is pretty ambiguous as given, especially considering that both consoles support 1080p.
2) If you play online games the PS3 is much cheaper over several years.
This is somewhat true, but I wouldn't consider Sony's service to be comparable. Xbox Live is, for now, just a better experience and worth the money.
3) Cross platform games are better on the PS3.
Again, you're way too ambiguous. How are they better? Do they have better graphics? Do the controls feel better? From what I've seen of comparisons, the Xbox 360 has actually come out ahead in terms of image quality with games like Armored Core 4. And, D-pad aside, I don't see how anyone can call the SIXAXIS a better controller than the 360's. The analog sticks have about as much tension as a narcoleptic on muscle relaxants, the analog triggers feel like mush and have no travel, and the controller itself has no heft.
4) PS3 games have much more to work with aka a HDD, more processing power etc.
The HDD statement is true, but the comment about processing power is disingenuous. They're both running at comparable clock speeds using a similar architecture. The major difference is that the PS3 has its power distributed over more cores, which can be as much of a liability as an advantage-- thread management becomes more difficult; and because some of the cores aren't general purpose, you can't necessarily take advantage of all the CPU cycles available to you. Then there's the RAM architectures: the PS3 and the 360 have the same amount of RAM, but on the PS3 CPU and GPU memory segregated; whereas on the 360 they use a shared pool. This has a couple of potential advantages: the developer has the ability to allocate RAM in a manner that best suits their game, and the CPU can directly affect texture memory for things like procedural generation.
6) Up scaling DVD's
The 360 does this when connected via VGA or HDMI.
9) The PS3 has a longer lifespan.
That's a mighty nice crystal ball you have there, sir. Do you read palms too?
Re:Foot, meet Mr. Shotgun (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm sure that Nintendo will have some Wii original offerings in their store eventually, but right now they've got none.