No consumer is impressed by how much the parts cost, and the Blu-ray is not much of a selling point given the slim picking available, for a console as well as anything else (and God only knows how this next-gen DVD content war is going to pan out, no one wants to be stuck with a twenty-first century betamax). it's all about what you provide the consumer with now, not in the future.
I'm willing to hedge my bets. I'm willing to wait it out, see what happens. I'll probably end up caving in and picking up an Apple TV anyway, but I want Sony to succeed because I want to see all my shiny things working together. That seems to be the vision that Sony is selling. It's a shame that so far, it's just a vision.
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Article comments
1 - some guy
I couldnt have put what i feel about the ps3 in words better than you just did.
2 - waco2austin
Sorry, I just couldn't get past the first two sentences...
"Last week I traded in some of my games and systems and walked out of the local GameStop with a new PS3. It was a risky venture, especially since I traded in my Wii and my 360 to do it."
At that point I was already convinced that this guy will be shooting up his school any day now.
3 - Gideon
I did certainly get a lot of crazy comments from my friends. But, it really comes down to value. There are some 1st party games coming out on the 360 and Wii I want, sure, but there are some on the PS3 as well and the third party games, the bulk of what I generally play, are everywhere anyway.
So, for me to do this was really a decision about the extras - and as extras go, the PS3 wins. The Xbox has some nice features, if you have Windows Media Edition or one of the vista versions that support it - but I have a mac. I don't have a lot of hope in Microsoft making the Xbox friendly to the Mac (or even most windows users) but I can simply attach a small portable drive to my PS3 and watch whatever I like.
So, from my point of view I got the most poweful gaming system, a blu-ray DVD player, and a media center in exchange for two other gaming systems I wasn't using much. No big loss.
4 - Rudy
When Sony years ago make public that they were going to sell a new Playstation I was very excited...
Monday in the afternoon, I was in a Mall and I made a bet with my wife... You'll never buy me a PS3... She did !!! After 30 minutes she came back with the box... And you know what... I didn't fell excited at all... I don't know why, but I took the box and ask for reimbursement... It is maybe what you have told us... It was 600 euros - 10% reduction(540 euros) and even I asked for my money... I don't see anything int. buying a PS3...
It was maybe too late on the market...
5 - Me
Browser fails to load? Mine works fine (and yes, it's wireless and recieves the signal from my other house out the backyard). Sure it's a bit slower than my PC but I like it more that Internet Explorer. The real downside to the browser is that you can't download to the hard drive. All pages load for me. The zoom level? You do know R2 and L2 increase and decrease it right? I agree with you for most other things though.
6 - waco2austin
I'm sure I'll get one eventually, but I'll have to 1) wait for a significant price drop, at least $200. 2) wait until there are a decent selection of games to play. Right now nothing really stands out to me other than Resistance or maybe Motorstorm. 3) wait to see if Bluray actually catches on or if I will prefer HD-DVD or just dump both formats altogether and just download all my hi-def movies.
7 - Gideon
@Rudy- Actually, I felt very similar. Usually I can't contain my excitement, but I was pretty stoic about it all. I'm not feeling buyers remorse, which I usually get with everything, but.. I do understand your point. I'm certainly not suggesting other people go get them. If Sony lives up to itself, I don't think anyone will need urging. But they have to do that first.
@Me - it's usually pages with any sort of flash content. And yes, I do know about the zoom options and use them - it is just that they seem to be pretty extreme (too far and too close) and just leave lots of blank space on the sides of my screen.
8 - adk
Quite amusing - you say you spent a year being angry about Sony's arrogance, then drop every other system you have to reward them and match their price point?
Without even checking their claims, i.e., "I had heard that Sony was touting the PS3 as a media center, the hub of a media home, etc."?
Sounds like you are Sony's dream customer. I realize this will seem like a personal attack. That is not my intention, simply trying to illustrate that this is precisely where Sony gets their arrogance and disregard for customers' rights / needs.
I truly want 1080p gaming myself, I do feel you on that - its just tought to read you complain about about them then turn around and reward their crap practices.
9 - Gideon
Well, it's selfishness - my other systems weren't doing anything for me either, and as bad as Sony is - Microsoft is still the worst of the lot and Nintendo hasn't produced a large number of good games on a system in ages - the decision was between the 360 and the PS3. Also, I wasn't totally unaware of the setup, but I was not as aware as I should have been. It was a spur of the moment decision, really.
But, that being said... A week later, and while I'm not thrilled that I cannot stream video (and, honestly, I've figured out ways to do so since then - though, admittedly, not well), I am thrilled that I can drop in a DVD-R or external hard drive and watch anything I like in mp4 format.
I'm not going to buy or not buy something, however, just because I think Sony has been a bunch of jerks. I have far more contempt for say... Atari or Hasbro, and they still get my money from time to time. My abstracted opinion of them relative to my desire for "x" doesn't equate. I think the whole iPods/iTunes/Drm situation (as it was previously, not where it is going - though still there regarding video) is real crap too, but I'd choose my iPod over any other mp3 player out there.
The price point, however, became moot in the sense that I wasn't spending "cash" I was trading in other things. I'd have never, ever spent that money on buying it outright, but the way I did.... I'm okay with. And while I must admit I occasionally miss my 360, I enjoy watching content I've downloaded on my television much more.
Oddly enough, I've no real buyers remorse. It's a damn nice system, and I'm getting more use out of it than I ever did the other two.
Given my 360 bricked TWICE due to MS's sheer incompetence, I'm especially happy with my ps3.