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Grading the Sixth and Seventh Console Generations
GameDaily has up an article grading the current and next-gen consoles on their past and (apparently) future performance. Ratings come with an explanation, which is good because some of them seem just a bid dodgey. Only a B+ for the PS2? Really? From the article: "Considering the competition, the PS2's $129.99 price tag seems downright diminutive. The slim PS2 comes sans fan (meaning potential overheating for long-winded players) but the compact design makes it a must-have for anyone with limited space in the entertainment center. The DualShock 2 is arguably one of the best game controllers of all time and extras can be snapped up for a mere $20 for head-to-head or online multiplayer action." The Aeropause blog has a follow up on the ratings, giving you another perspective on the same consoles.
You can't grade something that hasn't been released. The Dreamcast was an awesome system before game support for it tanked. How would you have graded it before, and after?
"The slim PS2 comes sans fan (meaning potential overheating for long-winded players)"
Wrong. If you take apart a slim PS2, you'll clearly see a fan on the inside of it. However, it's very quiet, which is a good thing. But yes, it does get warm - but the fan keeps the cpu/gpu from melting.
I think the big deal is that it seems odd for a system to tout its HD capabilities and not come with cables to display an HD signal out of the box.
Are cables cheap? Yes. But for a $500 system (and who's only standard a/v connections are HDMI and TOSLINK), I'd expect it to at least have component cables bundled.
Slashdot: where repeating an article in a post is "+5 Insightful"
The difference is none of those other consoles offered high definition graphics as a major feature. By comparison the PS3 will be the first console that doesn't supply cables that support it's own graphical standard for gaming. Also the component cables are proprietary, you might be able to buy $10 component cables for your DVD player but your subject to what the proprietary accessory will cost on the PS3. Hopefully it will accept the PS2 component cables (though those aren't very cheap either)
The idea that you'd pay $600 for a premium version console and still have to buy accessories that it didn't include is some kind of sick joke where clowns steal my money.
Collector's Edition