Slashdot Mirror
PlayStation 2 Outselling Xbox 360 in U.S.
Aviran Mordo writes to mention an Ars Technica article about the sales struggle between the PS2 and Xbox 360. Since the launch, the PS2 has managed to maintain the lead. April was the first month Microsoft's new console eeked out Sony's old one, possibly as a result of the ramp-up in production. From the article: "I should note that we caution against putting too much weight on these sales estimates, especially in a comparative sense. The PS2 and the Xbox 360 are at opposite ends of their 'console lifecycles,' and the two are priced quite far apart as well (e.g., $129 vs. $299, PS2, Xbox 360 Core respectively). We are impressed, however, by the PS2's continually strong sales, even as many gamers turn their eyes towards the next-generation. These sales will help keep Sony strong and stable, even in the face of a disappointing PlayStation 3 launch, should fate take that turn." These sales may be bolstered as the year moves on by the releases of God of War 2, Final Fantasy XII, and Okami, all of which are for the PS2.
Well, if you're spending $129 then $600, you're spending $729 total. Perhaps you didn't mean to use the adverb then, which indicates that one follows the other in succession. Either way, where in the world did you pull that $600 figure from? Even the Premium version of the 360 "only" costs $399.
This guy's the limit!
1. Fucked up graphics system
The 360 has a 480p graphics system that Microsoft is forcing developers to try to get their games to run at 720p. The 360 only has 10megs of EDRAM which is exactly the right amount to run a 4xAA framebuffer at 480p. So developers are forced to either run their games without AA or using performance draining tile rendering which is a pain in the ass for a developer to have to deal with. And even games that aren't using tiling are having trouble running at a decent framerate. Large numbers of 360 games have v-sync turned off due to inability to run at an acceptable frame rate leading to screen tearing all over the place. And lets not even go into texture filtering on the 360...
Something went wrong, very wrong between ATI and Microsoft with the 360 hardware. When a low poly overly normal mapped game like Gears of War is the big title 360 owners are looking forward to for their system, something disastrous happened in the hardware design for the console.
2. Same old, same old
All the talk of how many billions Microsoft has to throw around and they failed to land even one new big name exclusive for their system. Not one. Every big name title that Nintendo fans bought GameCubes for is still on Nintendo systems and every big name title Sony fans bought PS2s for is still on Sony's systems. Not one. Boggle.
3. Red ring of death
I think people are finally waking up to the magnitude of the disaster Microsoft has on their hands with the dead/dying 360s. I hear 360 owners talking about how they are happy with their system since they have only had to replace their 360 once or twice. And that their system 'hardly ever crashes' No one outside of the most hardcore Xbox fans is going to put up with that shit.
4. Bye bye backwards compatibility
Microsoft has finally come out and stated that they are pretty much giving up on BC and that they should never have promised to have it in the first place. It looks like there will be a trickle of games they will put out every quarter - some of which might actually be playable - but it appears this is at most a token effort.
5. Too expensive
Ignoring the worthless 299 360 system, you are paying somewhere in the 700+ dollar range for a 360 with the 50 bucks a year for four or five years you are forced pay if you want to play online games. And the ridiculous prices Microsoft is charging for accessories.
What a mess. And what is even more embarrassing for Microsoft is Sony is yet to make the big cut to 99 bucks that so many people are waiting for to finally pick up a PS2...