This is an open letter to the suckers. Who are the suckers? They are those fools you see lined up in the front of your local Target or Best Buy store waiting to get a Play Station 3 (PS3) being released.
Some have been there for days; some have quit their jobs to wait in line; most are planning on selling their purchases on eBay for thousands and not one of them are going to get a PS3. Not a single one of them.
I should firstly state that I am a PlayStation 2 owner and lover. I also owned and loved my first PlayStation more than life itself, so I am not an unbiased person when it comes to this subject, but even I have no plans to purchase this new evolution in home gaming technology.
There really does come a point where enough is enough and these new systems have just leapt past that spot. I mean, the graphics of the Xbox or PS2 were light years beyond the Intellivision I grew up with, yet the game play remained fairly the same.
It is still running, driving, shooting, and saving things. It is just a matter of how graphically intense the images are. I personally prefer the cartoonish appearance of video game violence over photo-realism.
For me the PS2 is perfection, but that is just me so why am I calling these PS3 dreamers suckers today? Well, because they simply are. The PS3 has too many issues to be "THE" system worthy of everything one must put up with.
The first problem with the PS3 (and the Xbox 360) is simply the format it uses for its DVD player. As most people do not know, there are two competing formats for the next-gen DVDs: Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ken Edwards
Great op-ed! I just have one thing to add. The Xbox 360 is not shoving HD-DVD in your face, which is what Sony is doing with Blu-ray.
The HD-DVD player is a $200 add-on, if you want it. It would have been much better if the PS3 handled Blu-ray in this same way, I feel.
But seeing as most BD and HD-DVD are going for $30, I am not at all interested.
2 - Stefan Hanotin
I believe this article is completely pointless and hypocritical. I also am a SONY fanboy till the day I die, I have the original Playstation, Playstation 2 and PSP. However I believe sony is doing the right thing here. They are giving you a system that is far more powerful and far more versitile (not sure if I spelt that right!) than an xbox 360 and at the same price as the xbox if you buy its HD-DVD player which is external and ugly! Brad is a Playstation and Playstation 2 owner as well. DO you remeber the original price of the Playstation 2 when it was released, I guessed not. Here in Ireland it was the equivalent of $617 US dollars. So in America it was probably a hundred dollars or so cheaper. And saying that the graphic capabilities that these new consoles produce is far beyond the television you gre up with is again a pointless statement as Sony and Microsoft do not live in the past they try to better the graphics capabilities all of the time. Thats the whole point behind the PS3 and xbox360, to produce an almost realistic feel. I would appreciate if you did not call these people suckers as I will be waiting in line in March when the PS3 launches in Europe. People need to understand that technology changes, just because someone grew up with a cathode-ray tube TV, doesnt mean the rest of the world is going to live with it. People want new technology and SONY are providing that at a reasonable price. People, This is Living!!!
3 - LondonSufi
Thanks for a great read. I too am a Playstation fan and have been following the PS3 show since first mention of it way back when.
You make some very good points. However, living in London, Europe does have its advantages. Not getting the PS3 until March next year means we have a while to wait and see how the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD pans out.
Either way I like the idea of the PS3 because of it's multi media functionality: games, music, photos, movies, and even internet browsing. these will give the PS3 the advantage whatever happens between the dvd formats. I believe the PS3 will win out in the long run. having one device to do everything in the living room is a real advantage over a stack of metal boxes and a handful of remote controls
4 - McWilliams
Good article. Hit most of the main points.
I would, however, mention one that most people forgot or fail to mention:
The PS3 is no more powerful than the 360. Both CPU's are built by IBM only real difference is in the GPU (which is negligible) and the CPU and Memory implementation.
Saying that... It makes you wonder why Sony had to delay their machine a whole year. Maybe it was to get that psychological advantage of coming out a year later than your next competitor. But that vanishes when you realize that 360 owners have been playing the PS3 launch games for months (psst...and they look better too - and we paid less for our systems!).
Beyond that, Sony's non-seamless on-line offering leaves much to be desired (at least in my eyes). Leaving it up to developers to come up with their own on-line strategy and not provide a one-stop-shop for developers to plug into is a bad move and will only further frustrate those people that want a one sign-on service across all games. Sony could have delayed another year and still not match the level of service that Xbox Live offers. It's all tacked on.
BD is obviously the culprit here and Sony's going to pay for it - not to mention all the other suckers out there.
Whatever...to each their own. I will tell you this...there are much greener pastures out there.
5 - Hzlgrl
I've owned just about every game system from the Atari to XBOX 360. I waited in line for the PS2, pre-ordered the XBOX and XBOX 360, so that we could have the systems on the first day. All three systems were launch day systems and all three had to be sent in for repair within the first year. My first point is launch day systems are notorious for breaking. Unlike Microsoft, Sony doesn't offer extended warranty plans. we had to spend a $125 plus shipping to send the PS2 in for repairs (the first time, we ended up having to send it back 4 more times, before getting one that worked), after one phone call Microsoft is sending a box with prepaid shipping. By the way, PS3 was launched in America on Friday and by Saturday, there was already a report of one breaking.
When comparing the two systems and the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray, PS3 not only forces you to buy a format that may or may not last it also doesn't allow for change. On the other hand, Microsoft offers the HD-DVD drive as an add on, if you want it buy it, if you don't Microsoft isn't forcing you, and if Blu-Ray does succeed over HD-DVD Microsoft can make an external Blu-Ray drive for the 360 just like it has done for the HD-DVD. So regardless of which format wins you will still be able to watch movies on the 360 system.
My last point is the packaging of the PS3. The power supply, Hard drive, and the wireless card are all built into the system, which not only makes it big and heavy, but gives it a much higher rate of over heating. If any one of those goes bad you have to replace the whole system. XBOX 360 on the other hand has an external power supply, detachable hard drive, and optional wireless adapter, and if one breaks you will only have to replace that one piece which is a lot cheaper than replacing the entire system.
I'm not saying that I will never own one, but there are many things to watch and consider before making a decision.
6 - Dave Nalle
Shouldn't the first tip be to wear some body armor?
Dave
7 - Ken Edwards
Stefan - The PS2 cost me $300 USD on Day 1, half the cost of the PS3. Oh and throwing in the 'This is Living' slogan cracked me up.
LondonSufi - I think it will be years, sadly, until either BD or HD-DVD is crowned a winner. I would like to point out that the Xbox 360 does games, music, photos, movies, just not web browsing - something I am pretty sure is going to suck on a TV (even an HDTV).
McWilliams - Great point! Now that the PS3 software is out, we can see that it is no better or worse than the Xbox 360. A lot of people (myself included) have speculated as much, but the proof is in the launch titles.
Give the PS3 a year, and see if they have something comparable to Gears of War.
Hzlgrl - I am always worried that my launch system is going to brake down. Until I just sold it, my launch PS2 still worked just fine (save for blue bottom games), my Xbox never gave me problems, and my Xbox 360 has been error free after a few DRE problems at the very beginning. *nocks on wood* i hope the same can be said for my PS3!
8 - Ken Edwards
How true Dave. There were guns involved in the 360 launch, but nothing to the extent this time around!
9 - Brad Schader
I find this product to me more hype than substance. Bluray is the format I am going to guess is going to die which makes PS3 useless as a DVD player. Since the games are also going to be Bluray they are not going to last very long either. Blueray is just too expensive to create when compared to HD-DVD. It is VHS/ Beta all over again.
10 - Cameron Anderson
I think you are mistaken sir. Though I don't disagree that the people waiting out for days and paying $3,000 on eBay are "suckers". It's only because launch hardware usually sucks, and they could get a better working version at the regular price in a few months.
I'm personally tired of people crying about the price of the PS3. Haven't any of you people purchased a new computer recently? The Playstation is astonishingly cheap for the amount of technology you get. I'm tired of people counting out Blu-ray just becuase "all Sony formats fail". Give me a break. The list of Blu-ray backing companies continues to grow, and it's already huge (http://www.blu-raydisc.com/). The differences between the two formats are negligible and the price difference only temporary (not to mention minor, ranging from $5 to non-existent), so I find it curious why people believe the format with a larger capacity and an automatic installed player base would lose.
Anyways, getting back to the systems. Here's a short list of why the Playstation 3 is worth it:
-Open Platform (http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html) Sony has officially recognized and embraced the console modding phenomenon. There are already reports of various versions of Linux running pleasantly on PS3 systems as it would on a new computer after nothing more than a software installation and re-formatting of the PS3's hard-drive. Why buy a new computer?
-Blu-ray: Believe it or not, games are already beginning to outgrow the DVD format (anyone play Half-Life 2?). Who told you games were getting smaller? On top of that, like I noted before, Blu-ray is no Betamax. It's a superior format with significant third-party backing, good marketing, and a guaranteed installed player base in the PS3 (all things Beta lacked and needed). You may not own an HDTV now, but won't it be nice to have a Blu-ray player (capable of 1080p output) when broadcast HDTV becomes standard in 2009 and Hi-Def equipment becomes the rule rather than the exception (and cheaper still)? It's called an investment.
-Playstation Network: Simply put, it makes paying for XBoxLive look painfully not free. Sony seems to have borrowed heavily from online distribution platforms like VALVe's Steam. This is a good thing. People are already downloading updates, demos, and videos and playing against up to 39 online opponents in Resistance.
-Exculsive titles: Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear, God of War and new comers like Resistance: Fall of Man (set to be another great series). You say Sony doesn't have any exclusive titles just because GTA has gone cross-platform? I fail to understand how a PS2 fan could have missed so many huge and entirely exclusive titles in the Sony line-up.
-Controllers: Wireless, motion sensitive, and rechargeable via USB. They do it all, and you can expect to see some really great new gameplay elements as a result.
It's true the 360 has a one year head-start, but need I remind you that it has missed every single sales goal Microsoft set for it? Let's also not forget that it is a system which has already sold to all of it's easy buyers (I.E. upgrading XBox fans). Now it is competing with Sony's new system. The third generation of the two most successful gaming consoles in history. Market analysts are already saying the PS3 could surpass the 360 in overall sales as early as next Christmas. I would also like you to note the Microsofts attempt at dampening the PS3 launch by making a Halo 3 announcement days before merely resulted in them getting drowned out with Playstation 3 chatter.
I'm sorry, there is far to much evidence pointing in the opposite direction for me to agree with you that the Playstation 3 is not a good buy and not perfectly capable of being "THE" system of the next generation.
11 - Jack Daniel
Common folks, you have to take inflation in play. Were looking at a system that is 10 years ahead of its time, each system sony is selling they are loosing around $300 US because it is the fastest and highest end computer in the world, for gaming. When the Playstation came out its was around 350 bucks i do recall, Now Five years later that 350 bucks is around 500 US, The value of money has decreased, and This 500 US price for the PS3 is totally reasonable. And for the ps2 games that arent working now, they will work as soon as sony gets things sorted out. With any system that gets released, the first ones always have some problems. They way Sony released these systems is absolutly PERFECT. They are creating way more hype than the xbox 360 ever did. They release 200,000 at 400 and 500 US and penetrate the market with HUGE DEMAND and little supply. Everyone has in there head "If I can find a system for $500 in stores it is an absolute STEAL OF A DEAL" because they are going for 1000-5000 on ebay. There is sooo much hype from the little supply everyone in the world will own one of these in the next 10 years. Amazing job Sony!!!!!
12 - lmaow00t
i got a ps3 and only had to wait 6 hours if any of you wanna buy one limme know
13 - none
THe PS3 's graphics hardware is equivalent to last year's video card. With the new generation of graphics card released on the PC you d have much better graphics on the PC if you know what you are buying.
Besides, much of the next-gen console games are PC ports so far
14 - Ken Edwards
This is fun, and I hope it continues.
But when basic numbers are off mark, that really shows a lack of knowledge. The PS2 cost $300 at retail, not $350. And the PS3 costs $500 and $600, not $400 and $500.
15 - mc
graphically the ps3 is far superior to 360...i have just seen them head to head playing many of the same titles....no contest on this one
As for Blue-Ray, it is my opinion that the ps3's penetration in the market will in fact force this to become the accepted hd format....hddvd have no equivalent method of market penetration and gonna tank big time.
16 - JW
Just buy a computer. They were running Unreal 3 engine demos off some "old" hardware years ago.
17 - SolitoN
I agree, and am also a Playstation fan. The PS3 is not AMAZING; it's just good, and because of that, anyone who pays the price Sony is asking at this point is getting ripped off.
For what the PS3 is offering, it's worth between $300-400 MAX. The only reason it's priced so high is because of blu-ray, which there's really no advantage in owning, since most people DON'T have an HDTV (and they're expensive), games will NEVER utilize anywhere near the maximum storage capacity blu-ray offers (development costs and time are too high -- and just look at PC games; they look as good as PS3, and all it takes is 10 GB). Sony's being misleading by telling us we're going to get a gaming advantage from the high capacity of blu-ray -- it's just not possible at this point. Maybe by the time PS4 rolls around, and then it won't matter.
Another reason not to own blu-ray is that the format war is not over; companies are developing hardware that can play both formats (HD-DVD and blu-ray), and one company in the U.K. even developed a low cost triple-layer disc that can hold THREE formats (DVD, HD-DVD and blu-ray).
The only advantage in YOU owning blu-ray is Sony's; they get their new player into peoples homes, while the people get no real advantage from owning it, and best of all, Sony gets chumps who'll believe the hype to PAY to distribute blu-ray for them. Sound jaded? Nope, that's corporate thinking for you (and pretty clever, though you can out-think them, control your desires and NOT BUY, yet).
If you buy into Sony's hype, you're in for a suckers deal; it's disappointing, but it's the truth.
18 - Pop~A~Skank
i just wanna mention that the motion sensors on the ps3 controllers suck d i c k the motion sensored controllers for the wii are ten times better
19 - luis
hey dude,sony never ever made a mistake on ps3.so u like ps2 better than anything,that does't mean everybody has 2.by the way xbox 360 is nothing compared to ps3,ps3 is the best game system ever.i don't mind if u like something else,unlike mr.playstation 2 up there
20 - Stefan Hanotin
Ken, that was almost 6 years ago since the PS2 was launched which taking inflation rates doesn't make it much cheaper. Grow the F*** up and live with the fact that you cant afford a 600 dollar console and that people now have HD tv's.
21 - Ken Edwards
Stefan, the only reason it is $600 is because the market is willing to pay that much.
I have a PS3 and have a HDTV, but that is besides the point here. It has nothing to do with what I can afford and what I cannot.
For an extra $200 over the Xbox 360 I expected a lot more out of the system than just a Blu-ray drive. As it turns out, it isn't any more or less than what the Xbox 360 was, last year.
Inflation also has nothing to do with the cost, it has to do with what the market will pay for, and Sony decided that $600 was the magic number for them.
Remember how the low end model had no HDMI, and the market bitched about it? Sony put an HDMI port on the low end model.
If all of a sudden they were not selling any of the "premium" $600 model, which is obviously not the case, Sony would have to adjust the price.
And why do people have to resort to vulgarities? Lets be civil here. Thanks.
22 - Torpedo
The price thing is kinda ridiculous. I got my PS2 a little after it came out, and it cost me about 450 Eurs (that's more then $500). I bought it 5 years ago. The PS3 is selling at the same price, with the diference that 5 years have passed and the money value has decreased, so I have to conclude that the PS3 is infact cheaper then the PS2 was. The problem is that people got used to the low PS2 price, and now expect that a new and better machine to be sold at the same price. Where is the logic in this?
23 - brad schader
Computer prices have remained fairly consistant for the last 20 years. If anything, they are going down not up. The Apple IIe my parents bought me in the 80's cost $2000. The computer I bought last year cost about the same. As technology increases price remains constant. That is the principle rule of computer technology and they advance every 18 months. Sony is giving you not very much more for more than twice the original price. Think about that. For an unproven Bluray system....
24 - JDuran
PS3 developers may not soon 'max out' the capacity of Blu-Ray disks for game content, but at least the DVD's capacity limit won't be a limitation anymore. I don't intend to replace my DVD collection with BD, and I don't think that it was Sony's only intention with it. If HD-DVD 'wins' the HD format war, it will be that Sony's BD format will become a proprietary 'Game only' format. I see no problem in this: until the WII, Nintendo used a proprietary format of game media, and no one complained. Fortunately, and finally, nintendo has utilized a standard media in the WII (DVD), and it is backward compatible with at least gamecube titles... Unfortunately, the WII and the XBox360, although supposedly Next-Gen consoles, still use the DVD format, and are in my opinion, severely limited because of it.
25 - Stefan Hanotin
Ken, come on, how can you say its not any more or less powerful than the xbox360. It produces double the processing power of floating point calculations, measured in Gigaflop. xbox around 160, ps3 around 350! Also Sony are making a loss on the PS3 of about 250 dollars per console. Listen its not 200 dollars extra because the xbox has no HD-DVD drive. What can the xbox do the ps3 can't?.... Exactly, nothing. What can the ps3 do the xbox can't...Too much to mention!!! In the end, the ps3 is tecnology for men, the xbox 360 is technology for boys.