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NY Times Review of PS3
An anonymous reader noted that the NY Times has done a fairly negative review of the PS3. It would seem that there have been a fair number of these; it's pretty evident at this point that Sony's launch of the PS3 was not exactly well planned out; issues are still rolling in but the real test will be how it does over the holidays and into the next year.
I managed to play the PS3 in a few stores yesterday. Despite all the hype, the expense, and the motion sensing controller, it really felt like nothing more than a souped up PS2. The games I played didn't really feel different than the last-gen stuff, and the motion controller was used more as a gimmick (e.g. NBA Live '07) rather than an integral part of the experience. (Though in its defense, Sony kind of screwed their partners by introducing it so late.)
Basically, if all you want is a PS2 with HDTV graphics and sound, you'll love the PS3. (Assuming you get past the sticker shock.) If you were truly hoping for a new and unique experience, you may have your hopes set a bit too high.
Hopefully, the situation will change as Sony and their partners have more time to work with the hardware, but they're currently lagging out of the gate.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
You know, there was another console launched this weekend.
h -wii.html
It's even selling out, in spite of its very healthy retail supply (10x the number of units as PS3).
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/11/20/tec
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7278/52/
Isn't Slashdot going to mention it?
While I realize my experience may differ, my experience was pretty good. I waited at Best Buy and eventually got a 60GB PS3. The line was orderly, civil, and generally not bad. The people there were pretty cool with things, they knew who the people were in line and where they were. There was a list with numbers, as well as roll call every 1-2 hours so people could walk around without fear of losing their spot in line. There weren't any attempts by anyone to jump the line, though there were people who drove up offering money for spots. It was actually a pretty cool system we had set up. I don't know so much as to whether its not so much the launch being the problem versus maybe more the people in lines being the problem. You could have the best planned launch possible but if people in line cause problems, then there's still problems. Could Sony have done things better? Probably. But as I said, I think it's more the people. You get a bunch of assholes, there's going to be problems regardless.
What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?
In SOny's defense (and you have no idea how much that hurts to say) some of the xbox 360 features they discuss were added after the initial release, so Sony could do the same. The background downloading was adde after and the music you were listening would stop playing when a game was started (but could be started again) was fixed very recently.
If you want to see someone disapointed give them exactly twice as much stuff for exactly twice the price ... If you want to see someone excited give them exactly half as much stuff for half the price ... I'm not sure if it is human nature, but most people think in the "Super Size It" mentality in which you pay a small ammount more (10%) for a dramatic improvement.
What this means for the Playstation is that they needed to deliver a dramatic improvement over the XBox 360 for the $100/$200 extra cost up front in order to meet people's expectations. I haven't used the PS3 yet so I don't know whether they did, but I suspect that anywhere they're lacking will be a Huge issue to many people and where they're equal to or better than the XBox 360 will be seen as a Small benefit.
That wasn't half as negative as it might've been. He complains about a bunch of missing features, but then says he likes the games. No XBox 360 titles receive a favourable comparison.
If that was the only review I'd read I'd still be quite tempted to buy one, since I preferred the PS2 to the XBox for the games.
If you dislike the stories, why don't you find a several positive stories from major news sites and submit them ... I'm certain that if you had 4 or 5 major news sites that were very positive about the PS3 it would get posted. The fact is there is a lot to criticize Sony about how they have handled the PS3 so far, and there isn't that much to congratulate them on. It doesn't mean the PS3 sucks, but if someone doesn't point out the flaws with the system Sony can't fix them.
First of all, Microsoft didn't take the lead, Playstation 2 still outsells all versions of XBox combined by a rather large margin.
Second, while XBox360 may be very powerful, it sure isn't innovative. The only things that changed between XBox1 and XBox360 are a faster CPU (pretty much to be expected), wireless controllers (not innovative because the technology has been available in stores for many years) and an improved online service (which arguably may be innovative but in fact is just a little more than a glorified ICQ which is nothing really new either).
I think the PS3 is overpriced, rushed out of the door and overpowered, but it sure is innovative: Cell is a completely new architecture and Blu Ray a completely new storage medium.
Of course innovative doesn't equal "better" - which probably is a very subjective thing. However when it comes to innovation I don't see a lot of it on XBox360.
Oh, I need to point out one more thing about the Wii that would make me buy 10 more before buying a PS3... A POWER ON/OFF BUTTON that's on the bloody controller! GENIUS I TELL YOU! Seriously, how long have consoles been out before someone said... hey, lets let the gamers turn their system on and off with their wireless controller aka the Wii-Mote, like a remote control does for the TV!
Sure, maybe I'm lazy, but hey, when I realize I can just sit down, grab the Wii-mote off my end-table push the power button and start gaming (as long as the game I want to play is still in the machine or if I want to game on Virtual console). Seriously, not having to get on my knees or open an entertainment system swinging glass door or whatever, to push the power button is just delicious icing on this cake. Then I smack my head and think..."why wasn't this done sooner?"
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
Don't be so kind. This was a completely botched released. Sony has shot themselves in the foot. Maybe not the foot, Upper-thigh and with a shotgun is more accurate. They can recover from it, but they've got about 5 seconds to stop the bleeding.
(grr, browser deleted first attempt at response)
There's a lot of "I like the Xbox360 better" in this review. Ok, great. Good luck with that. But this is supposed to be a PS3 review, not a console buying guide that compares the different features. Buy a 360 if you want one. I hear they're great. But "the PS3 is not an XBOX360" is not a valid criticism.
It's not saying "PS3 != Xbox360". It's saying "PS3 lacks what Xbox360 had at the same point in time". And a review should tell me whether it's a waste of money, and the question of whether something comparable is better speaks directly to that.
His first specific criticism is that there's no cable to hook up a PS3 to an HD TV. This is simply incorrect. Sony includes a cable that works fine. It doesn't do HD, but it does hook up and let you use the system. This kind of untruth is to be expected from the NY Times, which is more about an agenda than about accurately describing the factual situation.
Well, that was more to emphasize a deficiency, but I'll agree it was misleading.
There are some things the reviewer found annoying. These are valid points. But it's the first weekend of the PS3. Did everything go perfectly on the first weekend for the XBOX360? Does everything ever go perfectly? This part of the review was not balanced, but it was useful and therefore adequate.
But it was balanced -- at the time of the Xbox360's launch, it was quick to set up. At the PS3's launch, it wasn't. Apples to apples.
There's a paragraph about televisions and walkmans. Does that tell you if the PS3 is fun?
Please, that's just background info, to acknowledge that this is a deviation from a brand's otherwise good historic reputation.
I give your review review a 3.5.
"Who reviews the reviewer reviewers? Reviewer reviewer reviewers review reviewer reviewers."
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
Not really. Usually, you do get something more than just "more of the same." Looking at the console history, you got things like 3D graphics (SNES -> PS1), analog sticks (PS1 -> N64), the ability to watch movies (Dreamcast -> PS2) or a real online service (PS2 -> Xbox). Sure, the PS3 brings Blu-Ray, but that's just a better DVD. What else does it have? Most things are faster.
Compare this to the Wii, which brings a really cool new controller. That's not souped up, that's new.
You realize that the power button was the only form of exercise most gamers were getting, especially now with the ability to download games. This button alone will now add 10% on the average weight of all Americans.
The HDMI cable complaint is completely relevant. Sony have just spent the last year or more trying to persuade people that "only 1080p is True HD", "The next generation starts when we say it starts" and so on, hyping the fact that the PS3 is all about HD.
Then when you buy one you find that
a) it only comes with the same rubbish composite cable that the PS2 came with
b) Motorstorm and Devil May Cry 4 only run at 720p, in order to keep the framerate up
c) there is no internal scaler, so those of us with 720p TVs that can't take a 1080p signal can't even play the sole launch gem Resistance: Fall Of Man at 720p, and have to resort to standard def.
Added together, that's a pretty damning failure in their HD strategy.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
I got a PS3 60Gb at the official NYC launch event at the Sony Style store. Everyone was guaranteed a unit, and we all got one. Things were cival, orderly, and even friendly. I made a couple new friends in line and walked out with my unit at about 2:45 AM!
:-)
My impressions of the unit:
Resistance looks great and plays great. If you don't like 1st person shooters, don't bother, but if you do you will not be disappointed. I found that most of the game demos on the floor didn't show the best aspects of all the games available. Sad, but true-- the actual game was much better than the demo.
The downloadable games are a lot of fun and very reasonably priced at under $10 a pop. The launch titles were much stronger than the PS2 launch titles and certainly on par with the Wii and 360. As with any console, the best games will be 6 to 9 months out-- but this is just the typical next-gen timetable. If you have an HD tv, this is the console to get.
Blu-ray movies look as good as they should. Kudos for that. I consider that a token only because I think it would be hard to screw that up. However, as with DVD, the best experiences are to come. Talladega Nights looked good and sounded great, but I really want the Matrix in Blu-ray to confirm it's superiority to HD-DVD.
So the PS3 lived up to all the hype. Here are some interesting improvements I'm certain we'll see over time. And, thankfully, we can expect regular updates of functionality just like the 360. Honestly I could go on and on about how much I liked the experience and enjoy the games. I also know full well that there is improvement to be made over time, and it WILL be done. Here are some ideas:
1) When buying a game demo, purchasing the full game should be an unlock code and not another download. They are large.
2) You should be able to download content in the background from the store.
3) Motorstorm is an amazing game and it's a shame it wasn't available on launch day. I can't wait to get my hands on that one.
4) More Bluetooth compatibility for keyboards and mice.
5) Drop the price to $399 - $499 and it's a no brainer. $599 was pricy but for me, eh, I'll live with it.
People love to bash the PS3 and praise the Wii online-- it's progressed to an art form now. But, I just don't see it. I know the Wii is nice and all, but if you are looking for an HD experience look no further than PS3. The games really are great, the downloadable content is competent and very fun, and the UI is pretty slick.
"Politicians find new names for institutions which under old names have become odious to the people."
"The anti-Sony and PS3 crap that has littered Slashdot over the past year and a half has done absolutely nothing to change anyones mind."
The anti-Sony crap wasn't something Slashdot created. It was born from Sony's missteps over the last year.
"And Slashdot is still trolling the Net looking for someone 'saying something bad about teh PS3' articles."
Haven't you noticed that Slashdot doesn't have to travel very far to find these stories? Face it: It's a bad year to be a Sony fanboy. That's not Slashdot's fault. Zonk didn't price it at $599. Zonk didn't tell everybody they could go get a second job if they didn't like the price of the machine. Zonk didn't cut their production ridiculously low. Zonk didn't toss rumble functionality in favor of a ripped-off/band-aided motion sensor. Zonk didn't even make mediochre launch games for the system. You cannot blame Slashdot for Sony's lousy PR this year.
Sony tripped over their own feet. They set the tone for how the PS3 would be recieved and the media has responded. Just give it a fucking rest.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I for one, am not looking forward to the ability to turn off the console by the controller. I can already imagine sore losers turning off the system right when you're about to beat them in some head-to-head game or just hitting it by accident. And don't bring that "The button is in a place where you can't press it by accident." People claim to push the start button "by accident" all the time when you're trying to do something timed (like say, perform a super strike in Mario Strikers which has those golf-like meters you have to align in the right spot, which is also similar to how most free throws / football field goals are performed in sports games).
Now I'll admit I've never seen the power button mechanism on the wii-motes, and I have no clue where it's located and how it works. But if it's there, I hope they at least made it so that you have to hold it down for like 4 seconds before it turns the Wii off.
Fetch Text URL - Firefox Extension
You don't need an account at the NY Times anymore for some reason, so this post is redundant.
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
The OP is close, but the actual problem is that if your TV does 1080i, but not 720p (which is many older HDTVs) then you will end up playing that game, and any other 720p game, in 480p. The PS3 cannot currentally upscale a 720p signal to 1080i.
'Resistance Fall Of Man' is only in 720p, not 1080p.
The 360 apparentally can upscale 720p to 1080i, so this shouldn't be a problem for the 360.
IGN has more details:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/746/746282p1.html
This is either a blatant lie, or you're a bit uninformed.
Frankly, I'm not sure what controllers that have been available "for a while now" you're referring to. Are you talking about motion-sensing controllers? You need to understand that the Wii Remote isn't simply a new version of the old Sidewinder FreeStyle Pro. Motion sensing controllers like the FreeStyle or the PS3 controller only recognize movement and/or the angle at which you hold the controller. The Wii Remote does more: The Wii can calculate its precise position, direction and angle. Position is the important point here: The PS3 controller doesn't know the difference between standing right in front of the TV, or sitting on your sofa far away. The Wii Remote does. The Wii knows precisely how you move the controller, and from where to where you move it in space. Hence, it supports - in addition to all the things the PS3 controller supports - stuff like golfing, sword fights or "pointing" (as in gun).
Make no mistake, something like the Wii Remote has never been done in consumer electronics.
And since your premise is false, the rest of your post is pointless.
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Let me know if you run out and I'll put up a few more to use. :)
This comment does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the author.
Lol, digital format? Yeah, I remember those analogue cartridges :)
My mario character have become stuck inside the cartridge, how do I fix this? Can I clean it somehow?
As much as I hate Sony and love my 360, I too recognize that this review is very unfair and biased.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I have read plenty of reviews on the options that both the xbox 360, Wii, and playstation 3 have to offer. No offense, but I dont really care if I can listent to music while I play, i have a stereo. I can live with download times, thats when i drink my beer, etc. The reason I bought a playstion over nintendo was the game selection. Playstation 2 over xbox or gamecube.... game selection. If the playstation 3 brings me more and better games to choose from than the xbox 360 and Wii, thats what I will "eventually" buy. I have my cpu to keep me happy until I see how this goes, but at this point im going to wait to see if the PS3 pans out before I choose one of these systems. They have done me right twice already... I can wait a few months to see if they do me right again.
"There are also some negative reviews about the wii controller that it is a nice device, but only for a short while, it's just a gimmick..."
Thee are 1 million (give or take 100,000) new Wii owners with firsthand experience who will disagree with that.
(I don't own a Wii, but I have played with it for several hours, and I'll testify that it's no gimmick)
--R.J.
Electric-Escape.net
Actually no. Sony said Rumble was removed as it 'obviously would interfere with the motion sensor', despite Nintendo doing it with the Wiimote, and 3 years ago with Warioware twisted.