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Playstation 3 In the Works
Kredal writes "The Independent is running a story about Sony's work on a new console, being built around online games, such as Everquest Adventures and Final Fantasy 11. No word on backwards compatability, but expect it to be the X-Box killer if it is."
FF11 already has me lusting.
why can't people play on the systems that are out already and get on with their gaming lives.
... yeah, in about 2 years! What are you going to do until then, keep playing your N64?
Speculation like this killed the Dreamcast. Oh.. the PS2's gonna be sooo good.
Then you get lame kiddies saying stuff like "I don't want an Xbox. I'm getting a PS3, it will wipe the floor with the Xshite"
Eventually people nned to buy a current system. The best time to do so is now. Once a console has been released and then discounted (to rip off the earlier adopters) it's worth buying.
I rate the Xbox as better than the PS2, but not enough software is out there yet. People are still going nuts for MGS2 on the PS2, but it takes like a day to finish it on your first time out.
Buy an Xbox/PS2 and be done with it.
The news of the PS3 is cool, but christ, don't wait for it!
It darn well better be backwards compatible, or they'll piss off a lot of developers. And the majority of the world that doesn't have broadband . . .
...companies around the world work on new products, and many focused on the same market as previous products. More news on this odd occurance as we get more.
But seriosuly, if noone expected Sony to do anything to move to the PS3 some day, they don't understand buisness much. And online is the future by what everyone is saying, so makes sense.
With more and more gamers playing consoles, expect some expectations of faster upgrades and such to start occuring.
I sure hope that Sony continues to make systems that are backwards compatable. I think that really gave Sony a major edge over the Nintendo Game Cube. Games are really expensive and it's nice to be able to continue playing the games on newer systems. Otherwise you either don't play the older games anymore or you have several systems connected in a giant mess to your TV. It might prevent Sony from using media that has more data on it, but I think they would be more successful keeping with a backwards compatable system.
FoonDog
I've heard people say that, "not many people have broadband." However, the people buying these systems most often do. I suspect that the percentage of Xbox owners with broadband is much higher than average.
Also, the issue of backward compatability? It's cool, but if you're going to make a new gaming system, don't worry about the old stuff. If the gaming world has taught people anything it's, "don't worry, I'll buy anything just to play that." How many people have bought new graphics cards because of ONE game?
Sure, a developer would love to see their PS2 games run on the PS?, but would they rather do more with their new titles? You betcha. Game developers love their work, and seeing it fully realized is a better feeling than knowing that it is more compatable, but you had to sacrifice the vision of the game. Remember, we're not making a word processor here.
Cheers.
- Sighuh?
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Also maybe Sony should take their time and develope a quality console that will meet the needs of the gaming public, even if it takes a few extra months to a year. They have already demonstrated their market dominence over the superior (hardware wise) machines of their competition. Points to consider, make it easier to program, anti-aliasing (!!!), ditch the 2 controller model (multi taps suck, four controller ports on board is great), for that matter peripherals on a console suck.
I look forward to the PS3, but please, take you time and give me something remotely worth the ammount money I am going to have to drop on this thing (and the ammount of time I am going to have to spend in line to get the damn thing on launch day)...
Note to self: No more arguing with the faithful.
How much will MS have to spend to develop the XBox2? Well, let's see...
You seem to suggest that Microsoft won't have to spend much to develop the next XBox, because they can just use off-the-shelf PC components. I'm afraid if they take that approach then they really will be a failure.
Using off the shelf components to create Personal Computers has been the norm up until now. But the domestic product market is different. Firstly, in this kind of business it is really important to keep the cost per unit down as low as possible. Really really low. You're talking about selling tens of millions of units, which are all identical. That often means custom built chips and boards. Secondly, how the unit itself looks is really important. This is something that Microsoft has yet to learn. It may not be a deciding factor in the US if a domestic product is big and ugly, but it is in the rest of the world, and it certainly is in Japan. Finally, system stablity is really important with domestic products. PC users are used to the things screwing up, but domestic users aren't. Microsoft has already discovered the expense of trivial problems with domestic products with CDs being scratched. I'm sure Microsoft aren't used to people returning their products to stores and demanding refunds. With domestic goods, that happens, and it's extremely costly.
So if Microsoft doesn't heavily invest in developing XBox2 then they won't be in the consumer appliance market very long. Different rules apply there.
Do you know who the world's largest consumer electronics maker is? Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Sony are second to them (although rapidly catching up). And my point is? The consumer electronics market is different to the software market. Substantially different. And the XBox is a consumer electronics product. Microsoft has entered a whole different arena than where they are used to playing. They have already made some serious mistakes with the XBox, and don't seem to understand the consumer electronics market when they declare things like the next version of the XBox will be the centre of entertainment in a home. The big electronics manufacturers learnt long ago that combining different functions into a single consumer product (e.g. TV with integrated DVD, combined TV and Hi-fi) isn't as sensible an idea as it sounds.
I'm not saying that Microsoft won't make it. They might. But their solid track record in the software world isn't going the help them much in this battle.
Supposedly we'll see a significant price drop in the US PS2 after E3 at the end of May. This is still just a rumor, but it seems plausible. I would wait to see.
PS2 has enough good games out now to justify buying one, and more are on the way. Plus there are many games available used. That makes it a wise buy.
Wait for PS3? Why not wait for PS4 while you're at it? IMHO, it's better to wait until after the first price cut for a console, then jump on board.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
A pentagon implies a 2 dimensional shape.
It is a GameCube, not a GameSquare, thus GamePentagon would not be the natural progression.
Honestly, my vote would be for GameSphere. Boxy shapes are so 2001... or so 2002 for you Europeans who are always a year behind the times.
-gerbik