Why PS3 bashers need to be patient.

[DrRay11]

Just four months after the release of the PlayStation 3, people are calling for its head to be delivered on a silver platter. The main reasons for this are: the high price tag, the low amount of good games, and the shoddy online service (when compared to Xbox Live). So, I'm going to do a little writeup on why all three of these are relatively moot when looking at the big picture.

A) The High Price Tag: The PlayStation 3 20 GB model, as you all probably know, retails at 499 while the 60 GB media monster retails at $599. Now, both of these models have two things: free online service and gameplay as well as BluRay playback. Now, let's take a look at the 360. Let's compare the high-end 360 with the low-end PS3. The premium 360 does not come with HD-DVD playback, nor does it come with free online play. Factor in two years of online play, and you're already looking at what is essentially a $499 system. If you keep playing online, you're looking at an investment of $600 dollars plus for the low-end 360 model. NOT TO MENTION: If you have a 1080p capable TV and want to make the best use of it with your 360, you'll be buying the $200 HD-DVD add on, which, if you're an online player, will push you towards a thousand dollars for a 360 that has everything that the low-end ($500) PS3 offers. Now, it's a given that not everyone plays Xbox Live or has/wants to use their 1080p HDTV, it's still only a $100 difference between the similar system. Furthermore, if Sony wished to include a PS3 without a hard drive or HDMI capability, it would probably be offered at the same price as the premium 360 or less (keep in mind the accumulative price of Xbox Live). Sony is absolutely offering the PS3 at the right (even bargain) price when compared to its services and the 360's. They merely didn't feel that they needed to cater to the offline/nonHDMI crowd as the 360s did, and that has cost them some customers at this point.

I will not include the cost of the Wii in this discussion, seeing as the technologies are incredibly different in terms of processing and development costs.

B) The Lack of Good Games: Hello, world. Every console has a lack of good games out of the gate. It happened with the 360, it happened with the PS2, it happened with the Wii (Zelda and... uhh WarioWare minigames!). Why people are raving that the Wii is so much better at this point is beyond me. Once you get past the good couple of games, it is in the same situation as the PS3 outside of the advanced motion capture capabilites. Also, an awful lot of people seem to think that the PS3 does not have any good exclusives coming out either. Let's take a look at the exclusives worth mentioning that the 360 has out right now or has coming out in the next year or two:

Gears of War
Dead Rising
Halo 3
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Splinter Cell (I think)
Viva Pinata
Fable 2
Forza 2
Project Gotham 3
Lost Planet (almost not worth mentioning)

OK, so that's quite a few good games, but only about half of them are currently out, and the rest we are judging on potential. It is not as if the 360 has boatloads of grandeur exclusivity. Now, let's look at what the PS3 has and will have coming out within the next couple of years:

Resistance: Fall of Man
Metal Gear Solid 4
Heavenly Sword
Devil May Cry 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Killzone
God of War III (I think as of yet unannounced, but probably inevitable)
Resistance 2 (ditto)
LittleBigPlanet (Viva Pinata?)
Gran Turismo
Lair
Ratchet & Clank: Future

So, while only one of those games are out now, the rest really do have a hell of a lot of potential (I do think Mass Effect will kick the most ass, however). I may have missed some here and there, but I think I got a lot of them. There is one thing the 360 is missing and probably will continue to miss: a great RPG.

As far as the Wii goes, I really haven't looked into it all that much, as this debate is centered around the 360 and PS3. From what I've seen, it looks to be like a lot of first party titles (good since it's Nintendo), some quirky shit here and there, and a slew of mediocre-looking games that might get gimmicky with the Wiimote (see: the Prince of Persia: Rival Swords). As far as games go, the Wii right now looks like it might be Gamecube II. Once again, this is speaking merely in terms of games, a place where the Wii has excellent potential given some good third party games. That controller just has so much potential, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's a bit hard to implement in all the games.

C) The Online Play: While the 360 is undoubtedly the leader at this point, the PS3 may have just taken a huge step in the right direction with its announcement of its online world, "Home." It is a world in which you supposedly be able to run around to different places to buy/download different things for your PS3. I believe the current functionalities will be maintained for those that do not wish to partake in this "Home." Admittedly, the PS3 right now is a few steps behind the 360 with its weak Accomplishments and somewhat shoddy online support for lots of games. Sony should make it mandatory for game developers to include online play for any game containing multiplayer, a la 360. There are other problems, too, but they should be reasonably easy for Sony to flesh out with upcoming updates. "Home" is looking to be a giant leap for Sony-mankind.

I also hear many people bashing the PS3's web browser, many of whom are 360 owners. Hello, dumbasses. The 360 doesn't even have one (this is coming from a 360 owner).

I know nothing of the Wii's online functionality, and although I hear its web browser is heads and shoulders above PS3's, I also hear the competitive aspect of online play is largely missing at this point. We'll have to wait and see how that develops as well.

So, you can see my points--While the PS3's launch may have been slow, the pieces are becoming apparent. Now it's time for Sony and gamers everywhere to put them together.

[Daviticus 2.39]

B) The Lack of Good Games: Hello, world. Every console has a lack of good games out of the gate. It happened with the 360, it happened with the PS2, it happened with the Wii (Zelda and... uhh WarioWare minigames!). Why people are raving that the Wii is so much better at this point is beyond me. Once you get past the good couple of games, it is in the same situation as the PS3 outside of the advanced motion capture capabilites. Also, an awful lot of people seem to think that the PS3 does not have any good exclusives coming out either. Let's take a look at the exclusives worth mentioning that the 360 has out right now or has coming out in the next year or two:

Gears of War
Dead Rising
Halo 3
Bioshock
Mass Effect
Splinter Cell (I think)
Viva Pinata
Fable 2
Forza 2
Lost Planet (almost not worth mentioning)

You didn't even mention some of the best games the 360 has to offer here:
Rainbow Six: Vegas
GRAW
GRAW2
NBA 2K7 (best basketball game I've ever played.)
Test Drive Unlimited
Project Gotham 3

And check the rest of the games coming next fall...


And lost planet blows, worst game ever, just looks good.

[DrRay11]

Exclusives. GRAW2, Rainbow Six: Vegas are coming to PS3. To your credit, I did forget Project Gotham. Don't know about Test Drive for sure.

[Daviticus 2.39]

Exclusives. GRAW2, Rainbow Six: Vegas are coming to PS3. To your credit, I did forget Project Gotham. Don't know about Test Drive for sure.

My bad, I didn't know those games were set to debut on the PS3.

[Black Dynamite]

Damn good post E-ray. I'm definitely waiting until fall to get a next gen system and will be interested to see how PS3 looks with time under its belt. The one thing about it is that it has more upside than the 360 for where it can eventually go once people learn its limits, while 360 is just about at its own limits with less room for how much better it'll get. But potential doesnt sale systems, so they gotta execute on it in order to pick up sales this fall.

[bangpow]

Exclusives. GRAW2, Rainbow Six: Vegas are coming to PS3. To your credit, I did forget Project Gotham. Don't know about Test Drive for sure.

Actually, e-ray, Sony is losing the Metal Gear and GTA exclusive licenses. In fact, Sony has been providing weak ass support to the developers and they are getting pissed.

As far as the 360 goes, the HD-DVD is only going to be used to play movies, there are no plans to use it for games, but I don't really care. The 360 is actually about to drop in price, has better support, better online service, and the developers are getting behind it more than ever.

Sony is in a world of hurt over the PS3.

[DrRay11]

I thought Guns of the Patriots was a PS3 exclusive.. I knew about GTA.

I also know Sony is in a world of hurt right now over the PS3. The point remains, there are still some very promising games coming out reasonably soon. Sony continues to offer updates, is making an attempt at a brilliant online service with "Home," and from the sounds of it, Microsoft's support isn't leaps and bounds ahead of Sony. The one experience I had with Sony was very pleasant. When my PS2 was having disc read errors, I phoned them and they fixed it for free. I shipped it out, and I'm not shitting you, no more than a week later I got it back. I've heard nothing about a forthcoming price drop, but forgive me there.

As far as HD-DVD goes, you refuse to acknowledge my point that, comparitively, the PS3 is at the right price or less. I said nothing about it playing HD-DVD games, and merely said if a 360 owner wanted to add HD-DVD, it's another 200 fat ones. Don't try to take what I said out of context.

[bangpow]

I thought Guns of the Patriots was a PS3 exclusive.. I knew about GTA.

I also know Sony is in a world of hurt right now over the PS3. The point remains, there are still some very promising games coming out reasonably soon. Sony continues to offer updates, is making an attempt at a brilliant online service with "Home," and from the sounds of it, Microsoft's support isn't leaps and bounds ahead of Sony. The one experience I had with Sony was very pleasant. When my PS2 was having disc read errors, I phoned them and they fixed it for free. I shipped it out, and I'm not shitting you, no more than a week later I got it back. I've heard nothing about a forthcoming price drop, but forgive me there.

As far as HD-DVD goes, you refuse to acknowledge my point that, comparitively, the PS3 is at the right price or less. I said nothing about it playing HD-DVD games, and merely said if a 360 owner wanted to add HD-DVD, it's another 200 fat ones. Don't try to take what I said out of context.

Yeah, the PS3 is the right price if you want to watch Blu Ray DVD's, but it's still new technology that's future is still unclear. Plus, it's a video game system, first and foremost. Kids want to play video games, not watch Blue Ray movies, so parents can't justify the extra price tag.

The 360 is far more feature laden, minus the Blu Ray, than the PS3. The mere fact that you can integrate it with your PC, download movies and TV shows right to it, and rip CD's to it if you wanted to has the PS3 beat.

Yes, XBOX Live costs $50 a year, but I would rather pay for that quality and have ONE friends list, than not pay and have a different friends list for each game that I play. Not to mention, I think MS definitely has the upper hand when it comes to online utilities and how to program stuff for use with the internet. It's friggin' Microsoft for christ's sake!

[DrRay11]

I mentioned pretty much all of that besides the ability to rip movies/CD's to the Xbox. I said PS3 is behind Xbox in terms of online capabilities/services at this point. I also said the PS3 was the right price in the context of technology, and I said they are losing customers right now because they didn't offer a stripped down version. I don't understand what you're arguing when I basically already said that.

[DrRay11]

Update: The PS3 takes a hit. Devil May Cry 4 is going multiplatform (PC and 360).