PS3 600 dollars? Sony is on crack

[trancejeremy]

Well, the articles I read were by non-Nintendo-fanboys (some who claimed to only like PS, for example), who actually tried the controllers in FPS situations.

Regardless, the claim that one can't play serious games with that controller certainly does not have a solid basis.

I disagree - try a simple experiment - pick up your mouse and move it around like you would normally use it (but keep it up in the air). How long can you do that before your arm gets tired? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?

This is not even a fitness issue. It's hard to keep your arm up for more than 10 minutes or so.

There is a reason that game controllers have evolved to a certain design (the PS3 & 360 controllers will be very very similar with each company copying the good bits from each other). Not only are they easy to use, they allow prolong game play without too much trouble because you can still using them while resting it on your lap (or whatever).

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I had the impression the SNES controllers would work too, but I'm not sure.

Would doubt that...considering how old the SNES is and the fact that the GCN controller can pretty much be used for SNES games just fine.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Nintendo release an SNES style controller for the Wii.

Oh, haven't seen you post in a while. How's the art?

I've been around...mostly lurking lately. Art is insane at the moment. Working with a friend to get a webcomic started by the end of the year. Will revive my art thread when my scanner starts working again, too.

 

[Jdvn1]

I disagree - try a simple experiment - pick up your mouse and move it around like you would normally use it (but keep it up in the air). How long can you do that before your arm gets tired? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?

Remember that I can use an armrest, still. I don't have to hold my arm out, it can be at rest (or on my lap or whatever).

 

[Jdvn1]

Would doubt that...considering how old the SNES is and the fact that the GCN controller can pretty much be used for SNES games just fine.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Nintendo release an SNES style controller for the Wii.

I remember articles saying that the Wii is backwards-compatible for controllers, but they didn't specify Gamecube controllers. Since the Gamecube controllers were met with some friction, I wouldn't be surprised to see SNES-controller compatibility.

I've been around...mostly lurking lately. Art is insane at the moment. Working with a friend to get a webcomic started by the end of the year. Will revive my art thread when my scanner starts working again, too.

Hey, and don't forget to link us to the webcomic when it goes up. There was a thread looking for Jedi art, and we didn't have our resident SW artist around.

 

[Arnwyn]

I remember articles saying that the Wii is backwards-compatible for controllers, but they didn't specify Gamecube controllers. Since the Gamecube controllers were met with some friction, I wouldn't be surprised to see SNES-controller compatibility.

At E3, Nintendo showed off their 3 controllers:

- the Wii-mote + nunchuk
- the lightgun controller (attaches to the Wii-mote), called the "zapper"
- a "retro" controller (looks like a cross between the GCN controller and a SNES controller, complete with dual-analog sticks)

Also: the GCN controller is indeed compatible (and specified by Nintendo on their "Wii Fact Sheet" at E3).

 

[John Crichton]

Except that the last thing I want is a Blue Ray DVD player (or HD DVD for that matter).

That means that the system, at the moment, is not for you. Do you have a setup that can take a HD signal? If not then of course you couldn't care less about this feature. To offer a counterpoint, I am already budgeting for a 1080p TV sometime in the next 2 years even though my current 720p/1080i model will still make the 360/PS3 graphics pop off the screen, which they will and are are doing currently.

Saying that it has a Blue Ray player makes it a bargain is like the Mafia telling me "sure we broke your arm and you're paying us 50 bucks a week but at least your store didn't burn down".

No, it like someone saying they need a new car, living on a $0,000 salary and walking around the BMW lot and saying the cars are a rip off. Duh, of course they are. They don't need one. Not right now. You just need a car and you can afford a good one, but you don't need the BMW, which is what the PS3 is right now - especially with no confirmed launch games that are "must have."

Blue Ray is just a scam as far as I've seen. They want the upgrade dough and they want more DRM. Yay, just what I need, another DRM scam.

Check yourself, mang. Better lump HD-DVD in there as well. The companies backing both formats are basically even. BR may have a slight edge at the moment but it changes so much that I've given up on following it.

And when you compare the two models, if the 500 dollar PS2 is just as good as the 400 dollar X-Box, that still doesn't wow me, especially when developers are worrying (in one of the links I provided) about the fact that these games might need to be 60-80 bucks to be profitable.

Just... blech.

Bah,I say. Some games will be $60 a pop, just like the 360. Others will be $50. Probably 1st party games, just like the MS stuff. What are you worried about? The high price? It won't stay there forever. By the time that the library is big enough to really matter to the general population you'll be able to get one(maybe not the true HD version) for about $400 which is more than reasonable for the tech. And still, the bottom line is that it is all about the games. If they are good, the system will sell. If they stink, it won't.

I think Sony is pure genius for this move, as I've said before. The initial launch will sell out easily, especially in Japan even if the launch titles stink (which will probably be the case). Sony doesn't need to sell the first batch of PS3s at a cheap price, people will scoop them up. Then after they have a few good games floating around (8-14 months after launch) then they drop the price by $100 for each system and there will be tons of BR titles out there and even more households with HDTVs (they are selling *very* well and the intall base is growing like wildfire). So, Blu-Ray does matter. People who can get the quality out of the higher capacity discs will enjoy a superior picture and sound. They will pay through the nose to get it but the option is there. Developers will make games that take advantage of it.

Good times, all around I forsee. All the Wii has to do is release 6-10 really good games a year like Sony & Microsoft will and people will get their games at the price point they are comfy with. I'm more concerned with Nintendo holding up their end of the bargain. With the exception of a few games per year outside their first party games, the last two Nintendo systems have stunk. 2-3 first rate games per year like the GC & N64 won't cut it this time just like the last 2 gens.

 

[John Crichton]

I'm certainly not a hardcore console gamer, and so I have ZERO interest in the PS3, and the biggest factors in that are a price I am not remotely interested in paying even half of, and grand new features that I am not interested in having (and I agree that push for Blue Ray is the waste of Betamax all over again). So, when they are easily available, I'm planning on picking up a Wii, but mostly because I'm finding fewer and fewer games for my current Gamecube.

You and the rest of us.

One long term drawback to Sony's strategy is the potential that people like me might be a significant portion of the market.

Wait a sec, you are not a target for their launch. You are not a hardcore gamer, there it is. There are 6 million people they are aiming at for the launch. It's the crazies that will blow the $600 on the system, like me (maybe - there has to be at least one game that I want from the launch). They spent WAY more than the $300 tag on the PS2. The shortage lasted nearly 7 months. And that was with games that were, by comparison, sub-par.

You see, not only am I going to make a single purchase of a Wii instead of a PS3, but I am a dad with kids who are now getting really into video games. Although my wife and I originally started with a Playstation, for the next generation we bought a Gamecube, and with this next wave, we're going with a Wii. Both of those decisions have been largely due to price, because like a lot of families, we have to thrifty with things like that.

Systems don't matter. Games do.

Therefore, my young little consumers are being raised strictly on Nintendo consoles, not Sony or Microsoft, and the price and lack of unnecessary (to us) feature bloats are the biggest factors in this. So, I don't doubt that Sony and Microsoft will keep capturing the current hardcore console gamers, but Nintendo is gearing itself up much more for wider appeal and with that, families and the the young consumers who will be buying their own consoles in 10-15 years.

Bah again. I was raised on Atari, Nintendo & Sega. There is one remaining still making consoles and they are easily the weakest in terms of games selection from the current generation of consoles. Loyalty to a console/company is silly if you are looking to play the best games. You are painting yourself into a corner. People go where the games are. Look back a few years and imagine that GTA3 & Final Fantasy VII came out on a Nintendo console (or just pick any other blockbuster/groundbreaking title that came out on the PS2). Sony would be considered a player but not compared to Nintendo.

I would never knock Nintendo's first party stuff. Unless the Wii blows the doors off the industry I wish they will just concentrate on making good games and not on crappy consoles.

There's nothing wrong with Sony's move towards targetting a smaller and smaller niche of hardcore console gamers with deeper and deeper pockets, after all, that's the best way to get the most cutting edge technology developed. I just wonder if that's really a sustainable business model in the long run, especially when they are trying to push a new Betamax.

The Betamax comparison is flat-out silly. Sony is not the only major player in the market supporting BR. Check the facts for both formats (one will win, I hope):

http://www.blu-ray.com/faq/#hddvd

http://www.cd-writer.com/blu_ray_faq.html

http://www.digital-digest.com/highdefdvd/faq.html#faq400

Saying that BR is the next Betamax and not bashing HD-DVD is essentially saying that HD-DVD has already won the format war. Yeah the players are cheaper, but still $500. You'll be able to watch BR flicks and play games for a little more than that price this fall, plus all the PS1/2 games. That's if yoy are planning on doing the HD thing.

This is a different age and people who want to know what to buy and what the tech is will do just that. Honestly, I think that dual-players will probably be the next thing and that in 5 years DVDs will start to be an afterthought except for those who are the very last to adopt. The first DVD players were really expensive (~ $500) so the early adopters have to pay to play. Big time.

Don't let Sony's aggressiveness fool you. If you want the best selectoin of games you'll own a PS3 somewhere down the line (and/or a 360). Maybe you'll even play a few movies on it to view on your new HDTV that the kids will be clammoring for.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I wouldn't buy a Sony product due to their unethical behavior as a compnay, and spending 500-600 bucks on a console is insane. I'm going to pick a Wii up. It will be my first console since the Sega Genesis.

 

[Ranger REG]

All the reviewers I read are whitewashing this but I think Sony is making a HUGE mistake. A PS3 for 600 dollars, when the X-box 360 sells for 400 (and when even Sony only claims the graphics will be 5% better) is like saying "hey Microsoft, want some marketshare? you do? thanks!"

And you have to love their excuse that well, Blue Ray DVD players are expensive. So I hate Blue Ray anyway, since their goal seems to be another Betamax-VHS war and a way to sell me my entire DVD collection AGAIN, then they pile on with a 600 dollar PS3 and are saying the games "won't be 100 dollars".

Aww really, thanks Sony! You guys are tooooo nice.

They will, reportedly, be about 80 though. Oh and the reason? Blue Ray technology is more expensive than the DVD based tech they use now.

Meh. Still cheaper than a gaming PC.

And let's face it, we're due for a 2nd-gen DVD format. While the 1st-gen didn't have a format war like the old videocassette, eventually it's gonna happen. And Sony wants to be a front-runner. They're gonna be exposing their Blu-Ray format to as many customers as they can through their products.

 

[Captain Tagon]

So what do you guys think of the news coming out about Sony's 2000 patent regarding making it where the PS3 won't be able to play rented, borrowed, or preowned games?