Slashdot Mirror
Other Game Bundles For the Cost of the PS3
ImaNumber writes "When Sony announced the price of the PS3 many people were left dumbfounded at how expensive it was going to be. Microsoft joked that people would get the Xbox360 and the Wii instead. Brittlefish has taken this a step further and put together a list of some other gaming 'bundles' that you could buy instead of just getting one PS3. You might be surprised at what you can get for that kind of money."
This would be perfect for those common families that make up so much of America with two kids... the two DSs will keep them from constantly saying "Are we there yet?" in the car, and that Wii will keep them entertained at home. And you get all that for the same price of a PS3...
"You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test." - President George W. Bush
That's the second article in a row (on my home page) dedicated to bashing Sony and the PlayStation 3. Even the New York Post does a better job of hiding its biases than Zonk does.
If you're personally offended by the very thought of someone, somewhere buying a PS3, you need to calm down. People blow their money on ostentatious things all the time -- let them! Must you make the world's purchasing decisions based on 100% rational thinking?
Isn't Zonk going a bit overboard with the anti-PS3 stories? I mean, this one doesn't even have much thought behind it. "Stuff that matters", remember? There are a lot of legitimate gripes regarding the PS3 release; don't insult intelligent commentary with fanboy tripe like this.
I know people are ranting and raving about the fact the PS3 is so expensive, but isn't Sony also trying to advertise the fact it is a media centre as well as just a console? I suppose if you remember that Sony are trying this angle too, the price seems more reasonable.
Then again, the Xbox and Xbox 360 are both capable of playing DVDs and CDs just fine and they never had such a steep price tag...
If we can hit that bull's-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards... Checkmate.
By my calculations, if you spend $20 a month on MMO subscriptions then you can spend $600 on two-and-a-half years (30 months) of MMO playing. Granted, $20 a month is a bit more than most subscriptions are today, but we can assume that this will include paying for the game in the first place and the inevetiable inflation.
So which would you pick: one PS3 or two-and-a-half years of playing WOW?
0*0
00*
***
You assume that the MMO won't have any impact on grades or love/social life. If the user in question has one to begin with, of course.
This is the THIRD FUD article about the Sony PS3 today! THIRD! What I want to know is who is paying for this? Any suggestions? The Slashdot FUDmeisters seem to only slam Sony, but consistently praise the XBox 360 and Nintendo. Are they being paid by MS AND Nintendo for this crap-ola? Could the Slashdot editors really be this stupid without being paid?
I had just posted this same rant in the last anti-PS3 article less than an hour ago. I then proceeded to register at digg. Then I came back out of pure habit, and here it is again!
Am I going crazy, or are the editors here getting geometrically worse over time?
$250 for (orig) Xbox and racing games to race online since PC online racing SUCKS ;)
$50 for live
$100 for something i forgot for Xbox
$200 BEER to make it look like a 360/PS3
Mandatory: Bash Bash Bash Sony Sony Sony
Yep. You see, it's already started. This is EXACTLY what they were able to do to kill the Dreamcast. The Sony advert machine seems to have that "thing" where they can somehow get enough people to buy into their marketing hype to allow them to sweep their competitors into a corner. Then they come out with a key title or two, and BAM! Down for the count.
Wow, that almost sounds like a Tekken combo or something. Coincidence??? Hmmm...
Example:
The "I love Sony Anyway" Bundle: ~$586 Prices are from BestBuy.com unless otherwise noted.PS2 ($130)
Extra controller ($25)
Guitar Hero ($70)
God of War ($20)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence ($30)
GTA: Vice City and San Andreas ($40)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 ($15)
Resident Evil 4 ($40)
NFL 2006 (even though arguably earlier versions are better and cheaper) ($30)
Shadow of the Collossus ($40)
Final Fantasy X ($20)
Burnout 3: Takedown ($20)
Virtua Fighter 4 ($4 used from Gamestop.com)
Devil May Cry ($10 used from Gamestop.com)
World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 Int'l ($20 used from Gamestop.com)
Gran Turismo 4 ($20)
NHL 2002 ($2 used from Gamestop.com)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance ($25 used from Gamestop.com)
Soul Calibur 2 ($15)
Shipping if buying from gamestop.com ($10+)
So you can get a collection of outstanding games across all genres instead of a PS3. Of course, if you're already a PS2 owner and own most if not all the games above (and more), then well this won't apply. And don't get me wrong, I don't particuarly love Sony. I actually own mostly Nintendo systems. But I'm suprised there were no current-gen bundles at all. I guess that takes too much effort for a professional web journalist!Buying an XBox 360: $400
Buying a Wii: $250
Watching Sony's entire marketing department get sacked: Priceless.
Tell me something...it's still "We, the people"... right?
The Base PS3 is $500, not $600. It's pretty easy to tell where your head is at, you have a bad case of Hopeless Fanboyism.
It's pretty obvious what you can vbuy with other systems for $500 plus games on the PS3. Yet many people, includig myself, will do so. I'll probably ALSO get a Wii. Doesn't that just blow your mind? How could someone get a PS3 and anything else? After all they must be a mindless Sony slave!
I don't have a 360 only because they have no games that appeal to me at the moment, but all it will take is ONE game like ICO on the PS3 and that will be money well spent. Given the japanese support it will enjoy it's a pretty good duess I'll get some things of that calibur.
In short, if you simply use reason you can see there are many reasons to buy a PS3 even though that money COULD be used to buy other systems.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
They only compare to the High End PS3 price with its support of HDMI.
Neither of the other boxen have HDMI, so the only fair comparison would be to the $100 cheaper non-HDMI version. The more expensive PS3 also has a larger hard-drive, but even the low end one has a 20gig harddrive.
PS3 will likely be Linux compatible straight out of the box without modding. How could Slashdotters not go ape for this console?
Two less capable machines do not add up to the same value as one more powerful machine if it does what you want. The HD-DVD player was the most ludicrous example of all to throw in the article. They even envoked the Betamax comparison (when in my opinion HD-DVD will likely be the really Betamax redux). The whole thing smacked of trying to stop Sony momentum from building. This is not a pure news article, but mostly a paid for stealth ad. The thing I don't get is why Slashdot would post it as legitimate news.
Ever since the Sony root-kit episode, Slashdot seems to be gunning for Sony. I'm not happy about the root-kit stuff either, but get over it already, they're not still doing it.
A great many Slashdotters brag about their overclocked custom gaming rigs costing thousands of dollars. Too expensive for some, sure, but every consumer good is too expensive for someone. One sure way to keep the Sony price high is to keep initial sales low so the price comes down less slowly. No doubt that is the real indirect aim of this article.
I myself am looking forward to a $500 dollar blue ray player that plays games and hooks up to my 1080p NEC 1350.
Letter To Iran
However, Zonk sure does seem to be getting a lot of free "review copies" of XBox 360 games.
Honestly, it really is quite a bit of money. I, for one, will probably wait until the bugs are worked out before considering it. If the PS3 can really become a Media Center, then I will gladly pay $600 for it. But I have pretty high standards for what a Media Center needs to be in my house.
See, I have about every electronic toy I have ever wanted. My cell phone is a PPC-6700 PDA phone with unlimited EV-DO (higher speed internet). I own several laptops. I have a PSP which I game with and also a couple of GP2X's. I usually carry around a Sharp Zaurus and since I do the conversions for Dynamism, I have every model released in the past 3 years. I have a GameCube, but it is mostly for my daughter's use. I have multiple Palm and WinCE PDAs and HPCs. I am a typical geek with a pretty tightly integrated household. For me, a true Media Center would need to integrate with not only my TV, but most of my devices on-and-off the road.
I should be able to tap into it with my phone, laptop or any Internet based device to watch movies or TV when on the road or even on the can [think slingbox]. It should be able to record TV for viewing and transfer them to any media device (PDA, Laptop, PSP, etc...). I should be able to plug any media card or svideo device so I can view pictures and movies without needing to worry about interfacing my camera, camcorder, etc... hell, just give me a USB port that will accept a card reader! I should be able to game with great graphics, play older games, chat with other players/people via voice or text and never need to leave the console. It should have the ability to do VOIP with optional video. I should be able to check the weather, or any web page, without getting off the couch. In other words, it should be the center of my home AND all my devices.
Some people may think these requirements are a bit too steep for one console, but they aren't. You can easily build a small form factor computer that will do all this for under $600. It may not have Blue-Ray or the gaming ability of the PS3, but it will be a media center. With Sony buying in high quantities with the vast amount of programmers at their disposal, the PS3 should/may be.
My point?! They have the hardware to do all of these things, but will they program it to? I believe that the PS3 may be what I am looking for, but I am pretty sure that many features will be missing at launch. Sony will use the PS3 to try and pimp some of their proprietary formats, but they will improve it over time. Will it interface with many of the devices in my home? I really don't know the answer, but it will need to in order to be a media center in my house. And it could be! If it is, then I will pay $600 for it... easily!
LD
Comment removed based on user account deletion
~$600-$700 for the 60 gig model is a lot for a video game console but how much did you expect the first gen Blue Ray player to cost anyway? The 1st 2 HD-DVD players were $500 & $900+. I'd call that a decent price for a Blue Ray player with an awesome video game console thrown in.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
Used N64 and 10 games: $50
TV for the kids to play N64 on: $100
Lock for the kid's room: $20
Gamecube: $70
Three decent adult Gamecube games: $100
Beer and chips: $60
Earrings to shut the wife up: $200
So, how about you post them here? Seriously, I can't think of a single thing that the Sony has done right with the PS3. I'm doing fairly well coming up with a list of things that Sony's done wrong, but I really can't think of anything positive about the PS3.
So please enlighten us. Give us some good news about the PS3.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
You've just given me an idea of my criteria for buying a PS3:
In short, if they want to market it as a Linux computer, then it had better be a Linux computer.
And even if they give me all that, I'm still going to wait a bit to either see some amazing Qemu speed, or to see enough good, cheap games for the PS3 to make me want to get it instead of upgrades for my desktop. After all, for $500, you can still get quite a lot of computer, especially as an upgrade.
And of course, remember, Halo 3 and Zelda are pretty compelling reasons not to buy a PS3, even if you are a hardcore console gamer.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
It's probably somewhere around 38 degrees.
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
If I want to spend $600 on something that's more than a console I'll just upgrade my PC thank you very much.
"it's just that the PS3 really is doing that badly."
The PS3 doesn't exist dicknuts. Its not doing anything. All we know about it is that its going to be more powerful than its competition. Zonk posting his anti sony bullshit all day every day is not because sony is doing anything, its because Zonk is a shitmonkey.
So yes, you can buy a ps3 and a wii, or a ps3 and a 360. Personally, I'm fairly certain that within 3 years, I'll own all 3. However, most people aren't like you, and it's the majority, not the minority you fall into, that determines which console is most successful. And the most successful console gets the most games. So while articles like this may not influence your decision, it's clearly telling on what the majority will be looking at when they make their buying decisions this holiday season. And if the majority thinks the ps3 is not worth the price, you may find in a year or two that that ps3 you paid a premium for isn't all that much fun anymore.
just some guy
But that was the most pointless article I've ever seen. And you know what, i wasn't suprised at all with what they said you could get for that money!
Would have liked to see them tell you what current generation stuff you could get, or even retro. I imagine you could probably get a Mega Drive with about 500 games for the price of the PS3!
It's not easy to tell, all preorder ads I've seen only say 599€
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
XBox used - ~$100
T ARI...etc - FREE
Apple Mod chip - $15
300 gb hd - ~$85
Evox bios/XBMC/DVD2Xbox/emulators:roms:NES:SNES:MAME:A
160 Xbox game Rentals - $400
3 years to play it all till next gen matches above price and hackability....
It's pretty east to tell, as Sony as already stated publicly the launch price! Pre-ordering is not required to get a console.
If you were just going to measure a console price by the price it sold for on average in the first week the XBox 360 would weigh in at somewhere aorund $800, thanks to eBay.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
How about in stead of a Wii and five games, or an Xbox2 and two games, or any other combination that comes out at $600, you just buy what you want and then save the rest?
Yes, actually, it does. Who has $800 to blow on game consoles, before buying games and controllers, plus the 32" HDMI TV to JUSTIFY buying a 1080p HDMI console? I'll tell you: a very small subset of the richest people in the world. You're not middle class if you can justify all this. I'm sorry, but you no longer belong in this catagory. There's nothing wrong with being an upper-class citizen, but you're not where most of the market is. I was born in a village where people had to hunt and fish just to get enough food to eat. Excuse me if I don't share your misery at not having an HDMI compatable console.
*waiting for a response trying to explain just how poor he really is, and for everyone to feel sorry for him*
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
Yes, actually, it does. Who has $800 to blow on game consoles, before buying games and controllers, plus the 32" HDMI TV to JUSTIFY buying a 1080p HDMI console?
I do. And I don't need a new TV, I use a projector that can't display 1080p but even at ower resolutions is much better than a normal TV. Why do you think you absolutley have to have the latest TV to work with the newer consoles, they are going to look much better even on a normal TV.
As for cost... how much do you spend on alcohol a year? I don't drink. I don't even drink soda anymore, preferring water. Hell I don't even subscribe to more than basic cable (and that only because it makes my internet bill cheaper) and I also have a cell phone plan that costs around $15 every three months.
Who has 2k+ a year to spend on drinks, or cable, or fancy cell phones? Lots of people do apparently. I simply choose to spend my money in other ways, and even with $800+ for game consoles spend a lot less than people spend on other things - and remember my console costs are one-time costs, and they last for years. I still have and use my PS2 that I bought at launch. You have much to learn and will never be well off financially if you can't understand the difference between one time and recurring costs.
I'll tell you: a very small subset of the richest people in the world.
See drinks section above. I'll bet you spend more per year in flavored drinks than I am planning to spend on consoles. Are you among the "super rich"? We should race yachts someday!
You're not middle class if you can justify all this. I'm sorry, but you no longer belong in this catagory. There's nothing wrong with being an upper-class citizen, but you're not where most of the market is. I was born in a village where people had to hunt and fish just to get enough food to eat. Excuse me if I don't share your misery at not having an HDMI compatable console.
Good grief, I'm upper class because I spend $800. I guess I'd better go figure out how to play golf now.
You have lost touch man! I was not born in a village but we were poor enough at one point that I had to personally pay our families electrical bills from a local job I took while in high school! My first car cost $100 and had been stored in a field for two years - I had to rebuild the engine myself because I could not afford a mechanic. So don't give me any sob stories buddy, I've been there and through hard work and intelligence come out of it under my own power, not because my family was well off.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"I admit it, buying a PS3 is an irrational decision due to its extremely high price tag..."
"... but to actually SAY so is biased."
There you have it: Conclusions, due the possibility of ruling one thing better than another, are fundamentally biased. Tell me, is there an exception to this rule for conclusions you agree with?
You need a TV/projector that supports HDMI to use with the PS3. I have a perfectly good HDTV that can run 1080i resolution, but since it's a whole 2 years old, that means I can't play HD games or Blu-Ray disks with a PS3 on it. But hey, my Xbox 360 works just fine on it... fancy that!
Actually you don't - the $500 PS3 does not in fact even include an HDMI port, and uses component cables to output HD signals. It will also have S-Video and Composite adaptors, as will the $600 model.
My projector can take in up to a 1080i (or 720p) signal over component and it simply downsamples it. A number of brand new HDTVs that display real 1080p signals also support 1080p over component.
You can also do 1080p over component cables as well, though probably that will only work for games as the AACS protection on movies (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray alike) mandates analog signals to be no higher than 1080i. We'll see what happens when the actual PS3 unit arrives though as it still may support it...
There is also a flag that in theory movie companies could turn on to make movies "downgrade" to 720p unless you are using HDMI but they have agreed not to use that for at least several years, or never if people simply keep using component cables for HD connections and realize they do not need or even want HDMI for HD signals. there just is no need.
In short, screw Sony if they won't even make their console compatible with *2-year-old* TVs.
That's why they made the cheaper $500 model, to support people with older TV's, even analog. Also, even the higher end model will support component cables - it just will also include HDMI.
So before you say "screw Sony" at least make sure of why you are mad at them. If you find yourself with no reasons left, why not cease being angry?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
jrieth50,
I assume you're referening to the post:
"A media sentry? Does it transform into a mecha-soldier and forcibly defend my video games and DVDs from burglars?
YOU HAVE 20 SECONDS TO COMPLY..."
1) It's a just a pun based on an alternative pronunciation of "centre." If you had never seen the word before, it's a somewhat plausible phonetic pronunciation of the letters. (The pun is a bit of a stretch, but the mental image of a giant console guarding the games is funny enough to excuse it.)
2) The post doesn't assume everyone speaks American instead of English, but the post probably isn't as funny to those used to English spellings instead of American spellings. Gasp! A poster made a joke online that was only funny to part of his audience!
3) The post didn't disparge English culture (or any non-American Anglophone culture). If anything, the joke is slightly self-deprecating because it requires feigning ignorance of the proper pronunciation of "centre."
4) Even if you insist on interpreting the post as making fun of English versus American spelling, so what? This upsets you enough to call him an ethnocentric prick? That's grossly out of proportion.
In summary, I thought the post was funny, you oversensitive clod.
Also, it's not "constantly necessary to remind Americans that people who might not live in the same country or speak/type in the same English form as you also post here on Slashdot."
In fact, it would be best if you refrained from those remeinders if you can't give them with more class than in your post above.
"Price drops significantly, on both the PS3 and the games. I should be able to get a high-end PS3, a game, and a blu-ray movie for under $400."
This may never happen. Not just the ps3 dropping price - I'm thinking a stand-alone Blu-Ray needs to drop below $500 before Sony can really drop the price, but the idea of the games and the movies dropping price isn't likely. There aren't going to be very many games or movies for a long time, it's just too expensive, so each game and movie will be expensive and Blu-Ray discs will take a long time to come down in price - if Sony EVER reaches enough volume to lower the price.
As for games running off the hard drive? Try never. Maybe IF Steam is rolled out on the PS3, there will be a platform to skip discs, but each Blu-Ray disc is roughly 50 gigs already. So you'll be upgrading to a pretty hefty hard drive if you want to store more than a handful of games- although you probably can't afford more than a handful at Blu-Ray prices.
And btw, I think Steam works well enough and piracy is enough of an issue that MS's next console will work this way, and it will come out on the short end of 5 years, regardless of how well ps3/x360 does.
No one is giving up on HDMI. It's business's only hope that they can't be bit-torrented out of existence. Once you have a 1080p digital copy of a movie, that's it. You'll never upgrade and you'll never buy that movie again. They can't let free copies get released, ever, or Hollywood is over. No HDMI eventually means no money, and we're all watching Communist China's movies, because they have other avenues to enforce copyright protection. Why did Valve invent Steam? Because people were ripping them off. Same deal here.