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In Wake of Price Drops, Further PS3 Doubts
Sony fans undoubtedly cheered the news of a $100 drop in price for the 60GB PS3, but even with the price drop there are several issues surrounding the console. 1up reports that the 80GB PS3 is following the lead of the EU-released PS3s by removing the Emotion engine and relying on software emulation for backwards compatibility. In an effort to decrease costs Sony continues to reduce features and develop their product. Meanwhile, Konami executive Kazumi Kitaue doesn't see much impact from the cut ... and in fact told Reuters that they're seriously considering a multi-platform release for Metal Gear Solid 4. "Kitaue said Konami may need to expand the target hardware for its blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid, which has so far been developed for Sony's PlayStation machines, to other consoles in the future to recoup development costs ... The release of the latest version of Metal Gear Solid series is expected to help lure hard-core gamers to the PS3 and alleviate concerns over scarcity of strong PS3 titles. Underscoring sluggish PS3 sales and robust demand for the Wii, Nintendo shot past Sony in market value last month and bumped the Tokyo-based electronics conglomerate off the list of Japan's 10 most valuable companies."
I was really hoping to get MGS4 for my Wii60 :)
Sony certainly has developed a talent for screwing things up. At what point do they write off the PS3 and try again? I'll keep my PS2 until Sony offers a better console at a reasonable price with solid backwards compatibility.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I doubt I'd be all that pleased. To me, it would seem that I payed $100 too much since they're dropping the price so soon after launch.
For some reason that kind of surprised me. Sony is such a huge company with their music label, movies, consumer electronics, computers, video games while Nintendo is pretty much only in the gaming market. The Wii must be really selling a huge number of consoles to climb over Sony like that...
Software emulation on the PS3 works just as well as the hardware emulation!! Software emulation as been in the Euro consoles since release over there. No features are being taken away at all. This is a gaming console we're talking about, not a PC. There is no disadvantage of emulating in software rather than hardware. There are no background apps that will be starved for CPU time because the emulation is in software rather than hardware!
What's with all the anti-Sony FUD lately?
outside of Japan it seems most people prefer the 360 with the online services but it's going to end up as a question of who can lose more money for years on end with both consoles posting huge losses. I really doubt a 20% drop is going to make people who would otherwise buy a wii/360 buy a ps3. It's still a lot of money and for some reason people who might spend $500 on a phone like to get up in arms and principled about consoles that cost this amount of money.
It's kind of like a Catch-22, with Sony stuck in the middle.
Price flamewars aside, the main issue with the PS3 is its library isn't really spectacular. Without a decent library (either general or exclusive titles) it is not going to sell well, even if it was the exact price of an XBox 360.
So, Konami is thinking about not making MGS exclusive to the PS3 because the sales have been poor.
But the sales won't increase without publishers hitching their star to the PS3 as exclusive titles (even if it's just exclusive for a year or so).
Then again, I don't see why 3rd party publishers go exclusive anymore. If you can increase sales by 50% by simply recoding an existing product then go for it. Note: I'm a software developer and I know very well that's not as easy as it sounds. But it's obviously possible asince it's being done now (even across the Wii and the 360, which are as different as you can get).
Comment removed based on user account deletion
No, it's a price cut. The vast majority of PS3 buyers chose the 60GB version because of the (incorrect) assumption that the 20GB was a gimped console. New buyers will now save $100. Smart buyers will still be able to buy a 20GB console, which are selling for around $400 new or $350 second-hand on Ebay right now.
A price cut is a price cut, even if you cover your eyes and plug your ears and scream "la-la-la-la-la I can't hear you".
People think the PS3 is trash or the best thing ever, it is plain that the Sony braintrust has to do a serious rethink as to their marketing, packaging, partnerships and PR in regards to their console. A $100 price drop isn't going to help their cause much. They gave Nintendo a lesson back in PS1 vs N64 days, a lesson they seem to have forgotten.
Last generation, the XBox was my "Don't WANNA" console. I didn't want to buy it, but I had to for Ninja Gaiden. So I basically spent hundreds of dollars for one game, and I only played Halo 2 on it after that. (Actually, my computer was my primary game machine, but out of the consoles, my PS2 got used the most, primarily as a DVD player.)
I'm not doing that ever again. (Especially now that I'm married and my wife would kill me.)
So this generation the PS3 has become my "Don't WANNA" console. I don't wanna have to buy it, and I probably won't, even if Final Fantasy XIII remains exclusive to it. There are no games that will make me spend the ungodly amount of money I'd have to drop on the PS3.
I have the HD-DVD add-on for my 360, and in retrospect I think it was a bad purchase. Thanks to the HD war, not all the movies I want to see are available for HD-DVD, and I find that when I'm forced to resort to regular DVD...I don't really care. I'm just as happy either way, to tell the truth (with my 1080p tv). I could've and should've waited, and I can tell you from experience, HD movies aren't worth a 200 dollar player right now...and they CERTAINLY aren't worth a 500 dollar player.
What's with all the anti-Sony FUD lately?
There's been anti-PS3 FUD from day one. I don't know why. Microsoft has contributed with their multi-million dollar "grass-roots" PR campaign, but I don't think they are the sole reason. Sony *has* screwed up in a few ways (like shipping sixaxis controllers with no rumble), but considering how even a *price drop* causes the FUD to fly, it's hardly all due to their mis-steps.
I don't know why everyone is Sony-hating, but they've been doing it for a long time.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
I think people really like to rag on the PS3 for not being vary successful, but it seems to me that it's not doing terribly bad. If you look at sales numbers and align the launches of the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the PS3 is more or less on the same track that the Xbox 360 was on.
If you check Amazon you can see that the PS3 moved up to the number one selling item in the video game section. I think it was substantially lower (If I recall correctly it was 28th) before this from what I've been reading on other sites.
With E3 and the possibilities of some big ticket games being shown, It's possible for Sony to pick up even more steam. They've done a lot to shoot themselves in the foot, but I think they can still make a decent showing this round. Right now it's outpacing the Gamecube and the original Xbox, both of which were wonderful systems with great exclusives. I think Sony is given a lot more crap than they deserve.
It's worth keeping in mind that the Wii and 360 are already maxed out from a development perspective (ignoring the Wiimote, of course). The (mostly) standard hardware matches the PC model, making it easy for developers to fully utilize the systems.
The PS3, on the other hand, is a radically different hardware platform that developers are only now starting to fully understand. The first generation games only scratched the surface of the PS3's potential. The second round of games will be much better, but the real fun will start once the developers have had a few rounds to learn the ins and outs of the Cell.
So, a slow start is fine for Sony as long as the developers continue to learn how to use the Cell. In 2 years, PS3 games will still look "cutting edge" while 360 games will starting showing the age of that platform.
Of course, Sony could still blow it on the online/casual games. But, at least the linux distro is giving everyone a chance to play around with the Cell.
-Chris
PS3 bad, 360 good, and Wii is mana from heaven. Did I miss anything slashdot?
Sony announces a $100 price drop on the PS3, and here's an article that *still* manages a way to see the negative side of it? Amazing.
But it did take them two days to write it up. Such slackers. They'll never get their free Wii, with that kind of attitude.
VOTE!
At any rate, for myself, selling me a crappier system for $100 less is worse than selling me the real deal for the original price.
And the glass is only half empty if you drank the water first, right?
Software emulation on the PS3 works just as well as the hardware emulation!!
Not according to Sony's own compatability list for the EU PS3. While many games work fine, there are also a significant number in the lowest-score "noticeable issues" category. Also note the caveats, like how you should skip optional FMV sequences and how you shouldn't use network modes due to graphical corruption.
The fact is without even the specifics it should be obvious that software emulation will not work just as well as hardware emulation. Which isn't emulation at all, it's hardware compatability, it's physically utilizing the original PS2 hardware that the game was originally designed to run on. With the hardware "emulation", you basically have an actual PS2 to run your PS2 games on. The Emotion Engine is not simple, and creating a perfectly compatible software version that exactly matches not only every bit of functionality but also the relative timing of operations which many games depend on is very difficult and not something that is going to be made perfect. They will necessarily have to go on a case-by-case basis finding games that depend on a particular quirk of the Emotion Engine and fix them and issue patches.
I'm not saying the software emulation is crap, and if the games you want to play are well supported according to the compatability list then you should be good to go. I am saying that the switch from hardware compatability to software emulation has hurt backward compatability. That's not FUD, it's a fucking fact. Which should be obvious, because before the EU PS3 release they didn't even have a compatability list because there was no point.
The enemies of Democracy are
I understand that Sony has dropped the price of the PS3, and I understand that they've updated its internals for the sake of manufacturing expense.
But it seems to me that the feature set available to the user are identical. Am I missing something?
Since the 1.8 firmware, even the models that have the hardware emulation have been using the software emulator if you enable upscaling. Yet the emulation is still better than acceptable. Certainly, I prefer it to my non-upscaled actual PS2.
But you should swear about it, and turn it into a huge issue, and pretend that it's worse than the competition, etc... Go right ahead. It's what we expect from the Slashdot 360 Fanboy, er.... Slashdot Games section.
That is all you need to know. Think of how many billions they have made on that simple fact. It isn't like it costs $8 to print 10-20 cards. You are seeing pure profit in the card game. Not to mention the millions in TV franchise rights, movie revenues, and finally video game sales (which also happen to require requisite video game consoles which also sell at a profit unlike competitors). It has been a cash printing machine for the last 10+ years. It makes more money at less risk then any music business can.
You also forget that Nintendo owns a LOT of different IP which they license to many other entities. Their entire business model is based such that even if console tanks, they have enough cash to continue onwards. They keep their development costs low as well as their production costs and make sure they always are making a profit on each and everything they sell so they do not have to rely on future revenue from game sales to make a profit. They have had several systems which have flat out tanked in the past, but have always been able to continue through the market ups and downs (unlike some competitors, Atari, Activision, NeoGeo, SEGA... who couldn't last a single bad console release).
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
What are you talking about?
The emotion engine is the core of the PS2, it has nothing to do with the speed or quality of PS3 games, and the PS3 CPU is fast enough to easily emulate the PS2 and more. In fact, as the software emulator gets better I fully expect PS2 games will be better on the PS3 than they were on the PS2.
He says: With $500, you can buy a personal computer.
No you can't. Not one that lets you play the new games at the same quality as the PS3 anyway.
The PS3 may or may not be too expensive still, but not for this reason.
Heck, Legend of Dragoon is a PS1 title and is given their lowest rating for playing in software mode.
This is why Nintendo is winning this war, folks. Sony and Microsoft have narrowed their focus to the testosterone-junkie market, leaving all the little kids, old folks, and females to be served by the DS and Wii.
My wife is the big gamer in our house. She owns almost console ever made. Yet until Ratchet & Clank comes out, there won't be anything on the PS3 to grab her attention.
------RM
Ok, Sony Started out with 2 versions selling at $499 and $599. Now they have 2 versions selling at $499 and $599. The feature spec is now different, but how is that a price cut? For the sake of comparison let's take Sony out of the picture and compare Cameras.
Last year you could buy a 5.1 Megapixel camera solo for $199, or a 5.1 Megapixel camera with a bag, & extra batteries for $249.
This year you can get a a 5.1 Megapixel camera with a bag, & extra batteries for $199, or you can get a a 5.1 Megapixel camera with a bag, extra batteries and a memory card for $249 and they no longer sell the 5.1 Megapixel camera by itself.
You are getting more for your money, but at the core you're buying a camera at the same price as was offered last year.
The price of entry for the average Joe looking for a PS3 is still $500. While he's getting more for his money, the minimum amount of cash he needs hasn't changed.
Some people will get ebayed PS3s cheaper, but that isn't the primary method by which any console is bought (save for the first 24 hours after a launch).
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Who said anything about it being worse than the competition? Point me to one quote in this thread saying that. What people are saying is that emulated back compat is not as good as hardware back compat, and that this means that the newer model PS3's are not as good (in this specific respect) compared to the older PS3's. That's all.
There's no doubt that the PS3, even using software emulation, is better at BC than the 360 - but the original PS3 implementation and the Wii are both better yet as they include the actual hardware.
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Holy Fanboy, take off your tinfoil cap! The parent never compared the PS3 to the 360, they merely explained that software emulation is worse than hardware emulation.
But you should swear about it, and turn it into a huge issue, and pretend that it's worse than the competition, etc... Go right ahead. It's what we expect from the Slashdot 360 Fanboy, er.... Slashdot Games section.
Oh shut the fuck up. I didn't even mention the competition, comparing only the PS3 with Emotion Engine to PS3 with software PS2 emulation, and I'm not making it a bigger issue than it is, in fact I linked to the website where Sony describes exactly how big an issue it is for each game. Is Sony spreading FUD about themselves now?
Just because I pointed out the un-arguable truth -- software emulation is inferior to the original hardware for backward compatability -- doesn't make me a 360 fanboy. You're assuming such just shows how you think, fanboi.
The enemies of Democracy are
I won't, because there wasn't one. That doesn't mean it's not relevant though. Nor does my saying that invalidate the rest of my point. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not), but last I checked, the PS3 was competing against another system, not against itself. Comparing it to the competition isn't what you do when you're a "fanboy" (as your sister post implies), it's a sane comparison. If I had only mentioned the comparison to the competition, you might have had a point.
I'm sorry if I offended your system.
While you were focusing on the fact that I mentioned the 360, you missed my actual points, which were that the software emulation is actually preferable in the majority of cases (due to upscaling), and that it's being used on the older systems (even if they have the chip) anyway.
I don't care to repeat myself, so here's a link: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=248053&cid=19
Also, way to bring the (inaccurate) racial slur into the conversation. It's funny, you come in here cussing and being generally trollish, and it's the people who respond that get modded down...
Oh, and I never accused you of spreading FUD. By your logic, doesn't bringing that up make you a fanboy? Or would that be a fucking fanboy?
Sheesh. Your UID says you're almost 30, and your behavior suggests you're almost 12.
I don't care to repeat myself, so here's a link: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=248053&cid=198 15989
You don't care to repeat yourself, but you do accuse people of saying things even though you are fully aware that they did not say them? Honestly, what is wrong with you? I never pretended the 360 was better like you claimed I did, you know it, but I still get slapped with the 360 fanboy monicker? And you're telling me that's sane?
And then you try to play the racism card in a desperate attempt to grab the moral high ground. That's pathetic. If I have a spelling affectation from hanging out with the people that I'm supposedly being racist against, well tough crap. Oh yeah, and if you can't handle some fucking swearing, then you need to grow a pair. I didn't get modded down for swearing because nobody with a brain gives a shit, and you got modded down even though you didn't swear because you were the one being a troll calling people fanboys for no reason.
Sheesh. Your UID says you're almost 30, and your behavior suggests you're almost 12.
Just like your assumption that my telling the factual truth about the problems of software emulation in general meant I was a 360 fanboy, thus revealing your own fanboism, this comment here does a fantastic job of inadvertantly revealing your true (psychological at least) age.
The enemies of Democracy are
The PS3 still has a chance to be successful. In the end it may not be the dominant system, but it can still do quite well. However, it has one giant obstacle to overcome, even larger than it's price tag. And that's a lack of games.
The PS3 is suffering from the same problem as the PSP, most games available for the system are crap. There are quite a few that are decent, for the PSP anyway, but virtually none that truly stand out. The cost of the console and questionable media format are mostly secondary factors driving people away from the system.
It's crucial, of course, that Sony and third party developers are devoted to the console in the long run. I'm impressed by the broad appeal of the Wii. I've met people who I'd never expect to be interested in game consoles telling me they own one. However, I'm also discovered a recurring pattern amongst these people. Many of them own one game: Wii Sports. If they own a second game it's almost always Wii Play, and that's because the game comes with a second controller. Unless there's a somewhat informed gamer in the household I don't see these people buying anything else. And when they do own additional games everyone uniformly considers Wii Sports the most fun. That's the thing with casual and non-gamers. They aren't the most loyal of consumers, at least not in this segment. They're not going to be buying 10 games or more a year.
So this is where the PS3 still has a viable future. Provided, of course companies start releasing some great games for the console. If the PS3 had phenomenal games people wouldn't be complaining about cost and Bluray. People have no problem paying for an iPhone which other than having a unique interface and the Apple brand image doesn't really do anything the competitors can't do. And on top of that it costs as much as a PS3!
You hit the nail square on the head with that one. Sony's arrogance has cost them and their aim was way off for an ever expanding market. In my house we own a Wii and Ps2 and a 360, none of the kids have even mentioned a ps3 other than my son who asked why it was expensive. Gamers are getting older, the Atari generation has grown up. Nintendo has it right on the game and price side but is lacking on the online side, though there is time to catch up on that.
He praises Sony in every article about the PS3, and bashes Nintendo in every article about Nintendo.
This has been going on for years. It's very strange behaviour.
Words have meanings.
The PS3 is a damned cool machine. That's what I've been telling people since I got it. It's been a fun machine to own, it works great, there's nary a glitch to be found anywhere. Sony has continuously improved the capabilities of the system with each update, and Home should add a whole new dimension to online play when it's released.
Nobody will be disappointed with the PS3 if they actually purchased one. The only people you really hear complaining about it are the owners of the Xbox 360; I guess they don't want the competition.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Just out of curiousity.. what kind of evil stuff has Nintendo on it's list?
I keep seeing the PS3 and keep feeling it is vastly overpriced. At the moment in NZ we are expected to pay $1199 for a PS3 despite the high value of the $Kiwi. At current exchange rates that would make a standard 60GB PS3 $935 US. I know we always get the sh***y end of the stick but nearly double the price for the same piece of hardware is way beyond a joke. I'm sure the price difference is similar in the EU too. Of course, the price of all the other consoles are equally crazy. With the $Kiwi at its highest level ever we seriously need to be seeing some exchange rate price cuts rather than importers taking the piss like this and that goes for all consoles.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
From what I see so far, it seems that the PS3 has two potential killer apps that could "save" it. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 13 are the only two games that come to mind that make me even remotely think, "Maybe I'd want to pick a PS3 up because I want to play these games."
MGS4 going multiplatform would be yet another big blow to the system, and it seems at least somewhat likely this will happen.
FF13 going multiplatform is less likely from what I understand, but it would certainly suck for the PS3 if it happened.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
x PS3 titles = scarcity of strong PS3 titles
x+1 PS3 titles = alleviate concerns over scarcity of strong PS3 titles
Not to mention that MGS are not exactly games that appeal to everyone.
Hey, buddy, you're the one who used the term fanboi, and I brought it up because it disgusts me, and because it's only ever used by people who are swinging low.
I'm not going to continue a back-and-forth with you over who put what words in who's mouth, but as I check out from this thread I urge you to go back and find where I ever accused you of saying anything other than "fuck" and "fanboi". You are the one who decided I said something I had not.
So in short, that sales chart does "short change" the 360 and the Wii.
In any case, I think the whole "well so-and-so console is performing as good as console Y did in its lifecycle" is not nearly as important as many seem to think. It's an interesting statistic, but ultimately, consoles aren't competing against each other's history. They're competing against what else is on shelves now. It's actually damned easy to skew statistics and find something that "looks good" for whatever console you happen to be a fanboy for, but at the end of the day, it's going to be the actual sales units and current sales growth that's important.
Right now, the 360 still has a nice unit lead over the Wii and PS3 (thanks to its head start, of course). But the Wii is beating the pants off both, in terms of sales growth (and it's still supply limited). Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of good news for the PS3, other than employing shady statistic techniques (blah blah compared to other console lifecycles, etc).
-- jchenx
Is it possible for the primary method of purchase to be ebay?
Even if 100% of consoles are sold on ebay, it is still only half.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
GT2 was the reason I sold my N64 and bought a PS1!
The embedded PS2 chip in the original PS3s was one of the most glaring signs that Sony had rushed the PS3 to market before it was ready. The several firmware upgrades in the 7-8 months since its release (up to 1.82 or so now) are more signs that Sony's tech is catching up to its marketing rollout.
The PS3 HW was always planned to offer PS2 support in SW emulation, not the chip. But they didn't finish the SW until the EU rollout, when they could finally drop the chip that was faster to design in than was emulation.
So what has happened is that Sony is now dropping its PS3 price right as it's dropping the more expensive HW kluge. That alone doesn't raise any realistic doubts. If anything, it shows how skillful is Sony in mitigating its project management and marketing risks with alternate designs. Because users won't even notice the difference. All they'll notice is dropping prices and increased functions.
But what I want to see is Sony actually change 2 basic PS3 limits that hold back Linux on it. First, Sony must offer a model with RAM expandable beyond the 256-500MB hardwired into current models. Without more RAM, the fast Cell rips through all the data in 2ms, then can rely on all its IO to get only enough data to keep the Cell about 2-5% busy.
The other change Sony should make is to open the Hypervisor to allow SW running on the Cell to call at least the 2D graphics functions on the RSX videochip. Otherwise, all video must be computed on the Cell. PCs all put all that graphics/video computation/rendering on the VGA coprocessor.
If not, people will have to port Linux X drivers to the Cell SPEs. That could happen anyway, for even more interesting video processing than that built into the RSX. Once PS3 has video codecs ported to SPEs or RSX, MythTV will become a killer app, with a USB TV decoder feeding it, and a DLNA server for archive.
--
make install -not war
If the PS3 does fail, (which I highly doubt), then it's not just bad for Sony, but for the gaming industry. In a capitalistic world economy, the more competition, the better. If the PS3, Wii, and XBox360 all do well, then the winners are the consumers.
When Nintendo refused to switch to a CD based game format, Sony took up the initiative and the PS1 became one of the most successful platforms. When Nintendo released the Gamecube, it pushed forth with an innovative controller as well as the idea of "party" games which is the most fun with 4 controllers. The Xbox followed suit and the PS2 released an adapter, but Gamecube's games were still unmatched. Now all current platforms support at least 4 simultaneous players.
Xbox implemented internet gaming and interaction and now Nintendo and Sony are still trying to catch up. This market requires more competition because it breeds advancement and innovation. I'm kind of excited to see what the PS3 has to offer, but the price is still prohibitive for me to experience firsthand.
So in summary. Stop wishing for the demise of the PS3. It'll hurt you more than it'll hurt Sony.
Go look at current disk drive products, and you will find 40GB and 80GB drives have the same price (for example on newegg.com).
Since the 80 GB version removes the PS2 EE chip, it will have inferior compatibility compared to the 60 GB version.
So, the 80 GB version simply uses currently available parts to enhance their profit margin; the implication is that the 60 GB version would likely disappear since they can't buy 60 GB disks at reduced price to to 80 GB disks. Of course, when they stop selling the 60 GB version, the price of available boxes will be same as it ever was.
No wonder Sony denied this was a price cut!
That's the thing, this $200 sweet spot apparently doesn't psychologically adjust itself to inflation. So you can't get away with arguing "Yeah, $500 seems like a lot, but if you adjust for inflation, it's like you're getting a console that costed $200 many years ago. We're sure our logic will overcome your psychology without difficulty!" Except that electronics goods are constantly getting cheaper, so we expect them to cost the same or less in the future, using whatever the current dollar is.
Hey, buddy, you're the one who used the term fanboi, and I brought it up because it disgusts me, and because it's only ever used by people who are swinging low.
No, it's used by a lot of people who simply aren't uptight asswipes desperately trying to score points.
I urge you to go back and find where I ever accused you of saying anything other than "fuck" and "fanboi".
Sure thing, and it'll be easy too. Your first post: "But you should swear about it, and turn it into a huge issue, and pretend that it's worse than the competition, etc... Go right ahead. It's what we expect from the Slashdot 360 Fanboy, Slashdot Games section."
"Huge issue", "worse than the competition" -- i.e. FUD -- and "360 fanboy", everything I said you were calling me. Now shut up, idiot.
The enemies of Democracy are
I'm not going to bash the system, almost everyone understands the problems of the PS3. However the price drop is putting Sony into a different problem, and it's worse.
Sony has all but admited that they are removing the emotion engine from 60gb systems. The 80gb system have been confirmed not to have it. Instead they will be using software emulation (like the European systems) for backwards compatibility so anyone who wants a ps3 and the ability to play ps2 games are running out and picking up 60gb systems. They arn't buying games, they are getting 5 blu ray dvds free, and they are getting other tie ins (I got a second controller from circuit city). Assuming the system costs around 800 to make they still lose 300 on the system not counting the tie ins.
This means they are at least 300 dollars behind for each system they are selling now, and if more people run out buying 60 gb systems for the backwards compatibility and wait for later games, that's more and more money in the hole. It's not unlikely for people to do this (the backwards compatibility on the 360 is horrendous, the european ps3 emulation is weak at best).
So essentially you might see 1 million systems in a month sold but at the same time that's going to be somewhere around the neighborhood of 250 million dollars loss. I don't hear about many people running out and picking up 10 games with their systems either. And Sony's going to get a lot more desperate, methinks. They'll brag about their new numbers but I have a feeling they'll be scared once they realize how many games everyone is buying with their systems.
Oh and here's a beauty. Licensing for Sony systems is only a handful of dollars per system so 300 dollars could mean anything from 10 first party game to 30 third party games. So it's not just 5 games. Plus used games gives them 0 dollars, Blu-ray might help a bit but I don't know of anyone going out and replacing their old collection with new movies, and the rest of the system makes it sound like the PS3 will be hurting even more than before.
But personally I'm more interested in putting in my copy of Okami tonight for a little game session.
I recently bought our first game console for the family. I would have been open to any brand but Sony appears to be a terrible technology bully forcing propriety solutions onto the market and then fleecing it's customers as long as they can. To me Sony as a publisher is one one the most active DRM fanatics whipping their customers into shape.
Basically, Sony is not a brand that I associate with fun and entertainment but with litigation and bullying it is that simple. We are due for a new TV and sound system. Sony products will simply not be considered regardless of how good or cheap they are.
I don't want to do business with Sony and I am hoping their problems are due to the fact that more people feel this way. I am hoping that people finally stand up to large brands and tell them to play nice or piss off.
So... you didn't say But you should swear about it, and turn it into a huge issue, and pretend that it's worse than the competition, etc... Go right ahead. It's what we expect from the Slashdot 360 Fanboy, er.... Slashdot Games section.?
Newsflash: some people prefer flawless backwards compatibility over prettier pictures. You seem to be ignoring that. Sony themselves said the emulation isn't perfect. You may not have one of those games that isn't BC, but others might.
Frankly, that alone was a dealbreaker for me on ever getting a PS3. I just don't like software emulation on a bulk scale. It's. Not. The. Same.
So, yes, in my case, software BC IS a huge issue, and yes, I'm quite aware it's a personal feeling, but it's also my personal $500 that would get a PS3, so I think I'm entitled to my opinions on what is or isn't a huge issue about it.
Actually it is just between Sony, and MS. They are fighting for second place.
I wonder if you think that because you had the last word, you're right, when you're merely demonstrated both a lack of reading comprehension, and (assuming you really weren't making a "huge issue" when you started using such strong language) a lack of ability to convey what you mean in text? It seems to me that the line you pasted confirms what I said, not what you are asserting.
Also, the term "fanboi" is used by two types of people: Those who wish to make derogatory comments about young Asian people who are overly passionate about something, and stupid idiots who think they're cool because they copied what somebody else said without actually understanding what it means. Given how adept you've proven yourself to be at deriving the meaning of text through context, I'm not surprised that you didn't realize it was a racist slur. But it is, and you should stop using it before it gets you into trouble.
If Sony doesn't want to fall into distant third in this round of the console wars, they need to get off their backside and take action to get this pig selling.
The formula is simple:
Nintendo has made a bold statement with a $250 console. Sony should "see and raise" Nintendo's position.
- Sell the 80-GB console for $199.95 (The Wii killer)
- Announce a 300-GB console with bundled DVR software and lifetime subscription to channel guide for $499 (The Tivo killer)
- Announce free signing for any GPL Linux Distributions (The PC killer)
Badda-bing, Nintendo is back to sucking hind teat.
It should be pointed out that it's software assisted emulation since some of the PS2 hardware remains (the GS chip). However, the emulation is pretty good. Not as good as pure hardware emulation but it supports thousands of games and emulates most of them perfectly. I assume that when the US / Japanese regions get the software BC that it will be even more robust since it must support each region's most popular titles.
My experience is that even titles tagged as having noticeable visual issues still work fairly well. For example in firmware 1.6, Resident Evil 4 had a few screwed up textures (on a washing line of clothes) but otherwise worked fine. Whatever the problem was, Sony fixed it and emulation is now perfect. Same for highly demanding games such as God of War II, Shadow of the Colossus etc. Also, I wouldn't take the current BC list as gospel since Sony take ages after a firmware update to make it current. Titles like God of War II are still not listed (as I write this) even though I know the emulation is flawless.
Unless someone is hoping to play some obscure collection of titles, they really don't have too much to worry about the move to software BC. I expect that Sony will put up a BC list for the US soon enough so people will be able to check for themselves.
there's a much smaller entry fee and this goes beyond the console. I think a lot of people feel that you have to have an HD TV to really take advantage of the PS3. You don't need that with the Wii. Most of the people I know don't have HDTV's in their house. A few do, but the ones that do, don't have an HD-DVD or Blue-Ray player. People haven't really taken to the new technology. I think part of it is that most people are happy with their old TV's and there's not enough HD content to justify it. This all effects the PS3. It's a really expensive console that you really don't benefit from unless you have HD.
I bought a PS3 for my nephews when it first came out. This the third console I've bought for them. They play there old ones more than the new one. They think it's cool, but they don't use any of the ooh aah features. These are 12 to 14 year old kids. They just don't care about all the extra's. The blue-ray has done nothing for them and they don't have an HDTV in their game room. I'm sure this is how a lot of kids are.
If Blue-ray and HD-DVD were really popular and people were raving about how awesome it is, then it would make sense to buy a PS3 for that feature alone. However, no one I knows cares about HD content because there's just not enough and there's too much overhead to get a full setup. Kids certainly don't care. The ooh aah effect lasts about 2 seconds, then it's all about how cool the game is.
The XBox 360 uses software emulation that does NOT support all XBox games.
The XBox 360 also seems to break alot
I honestly don't see the appeal of an XBox 360. Yes, I have played one, I hired one out. Yes Gears of War was fun, at least it was until the machine broke down and started saying "Please insert this disk into an XBox 360"... I shit you not.
If you really don't understand the difference between the 360 upscaling 720p content to 1080p, and the PS3 natively supporting 1080p output then try the following:
Take two pictures with a digital camera: One at 1MP, and another at 2MP. Copy the photo files to your PC and then note the resolutions. Now, use a photo editor to stretch the image of the first photo to the same resolution of the second. Notice a difference between the two? The first photo lacks the detail of the second because it never had the additional detail in the first place.
So sure, 720p games scaled to 1080p will look good, but the art assets (textures, etc.) were not created for the higher resolution.
As for the media drives, I prefer the quitness and constant throughput of the PS3's drive, thanks. Last night, for shits, I loaded up Gears of War (gamertag: Ilidd, if you want proof) again after having not played my 360 in several months. The DVD drive is just as obnoxiously loud as I remember it.
I don't buy 360 versions of games anymore and I'm seriously playing with the idea of selling my 360 because the system is unreliable and noisy. Yes, I know the 3RRoD is warranted for 3 years now. I don't care. A console shouldn't break that quickly in the first place.
No matter what happens to the PS3 at this point (win, lose, becomes another Dreamcast story) I've already recieved lots of enjoyment from it. Yes, it was expensive but it was worth every penny. I can honestly see that system physically lasting for 10+ years because of the build quality. I can't say the same for my 360 and I won't replace it when it breaks.
I guess my whole point is that if gamers were to sit down with a PS3 and play all the games it has, I think they would really enjoy it. Every person I've had play mine loves the system and the games, except for one guy, who as much as I like the dude, is a Xbox fanboy in the worst way. Some people are that way and it's honestly their loss. I hate Microsoft's shoddy products, but I still gave both their systems a chance. I didn't like the direction Nintendo went with the Wii, but I bought one. I sold it because it was boring to me, but I still see why some people go crazy over it.
Peace.
assuming you really weren't making a "huge issue" when you started using such strong language
I explained exactly how big an issue it was: "I'm not saying the software emulation is crap, and if the games you want to play are well supported according to the compatability list then you should be good to go. I am saying that the switch from hardware compatability to software emulation has hurt backward compatability. That's not FUD, it's a fucking fact."
What part of that did you not understand? Can you actually disagree with that in any substantive way, seeing as how it is very much true according to Sony themselves? Or are you just such a sheltered wimp that a single use of the word "fucking" sends you into a tizzy at "such strong language"? If that's the case, you should get off the internet because you aren't cut out for it.
But at least you admitted that you actually said what you actually said. Your connection to reality is improving.
It seems to me that the line you pasted confirms what I said, not what you are asserting.
Yes, it confirms that you called me a fanboy, that you accused me of making a huge issue out of it, and of pretending that the competition was better. Because that's what it explicitly says: "360 Fanboy". Oh, and you also by extension called all of Slashdot 360 fanboys too using the famous "generalize one comment into representing slashdot's mythical group-think".
I am sure it will be hilarious hearing you explain how what you wrote actually meant the opposite. But you're right, reading comprehension is difficult when the writer is an insane idiot. When there's no connection between your brain and your words, how could anyone possible tell what you meant?
Also, the term "fanboi" is used by two types of people: Those who wish to make derogatory comments about young Asian people who are overly passionate about something, and stupid idiots who think they're cool because they copied what somebody else said without actually understanding what it means.
It's also used by Asians who aren't uptight pricks and who have a sense of humor, often to describe themselves. I hang out with them a lot. I picked up a spelling affectation for a word as a result. You don't even hang out with enough Asians to justify your mock outrage or you'd have a clue. I do. I also have lots of black friends, so the word "nigger" isn't so offensive to me that I can't find Blazing Saddles or a Chris Rock routine hilarious, and you're as pathetic as a white boy telling Mel Brooks he's racist or that Chris shouldn't use that word. Sorry if my offhand use offended you, but you really, really need to lighten up. And more importantly, you need to stop fooling yourself into thinking that being uptight means you're mature. It doesn't. It means your are poorly adjusted. You need to grow up, and that means getting exposed to language you don't like and learning to cope with it.
The enemies of Democracy are
I've got a EU PS3, and really since the latest firmware release 1.82. The software compatibility seems pretty much flawless to me, I've played through all my 30 PS2 games now (yes the PS3 game shelf is pretty lacking, I've just got Oblivion and Motorstorm) and I haven't noticed any problem except some very minor graphical glitches, like missing shadows in god of war 2, otherwise it seems pretty much rocksolid to date. That was not the case with earlier firmwares of course, but right now it works good enough for me. It should also be noted that the "software emulation" in the EU isn't entirely emulated, it emulates the emotion engine yes, but it still got the GS (graphic synthesizer) chip inside.
...while Nintendo is pretty much only in the gaming market.
They might be, but what they get right is their focus. Although Nintendo hasn't always got things right, they are the only console maker that has been there from the beginning and it still here. Sony and Microsoft are new comers and the other companies who were there at the beginning are either gone or only developing software. While the PS3 has a lot of potential, which it might still fulfill, it is trying to be too much a jack of all trades and not really focusing - I would rather have a great gaming system that his half-assed at everything else, than not really knowing what it is.
BTW There might be some of you who mention that Nintendo has also got non-gaming features in the Wii, but these are currently fairly basic and aren't what is getting the focus. Yes it has Opera, a weather channel and a news channel, but I feel that they aren't what are being used to sell the console, but instead are treated as after-thoughts, which get development focus after the game aspect is made a success.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I have been reading some stuff about this rootkit fiasco, and a lot of people seemed to have missed an important detail. The perpetrator is Sony/BMG, which is 50/50 owned by Sony and Bertelsmann. Thus far Bertelsmann has gotten off scott-free. I suggest that we all boycott Random House published books to show those bastards that we won't take this crap! Who's with me?
Interesting observation. The only way it could be the primary method is if Sony sold them through eBay as their primary / only outlet.
If you build your own, you can have a decent gaming PC for $500. Hell even if you don't roll your own you can come in under $500. The cheapest processors offered by the big box makers will play the new games just fine IMO. Also, consoles don't come with LCD monitors, for $500 I can get a decent PC that does come with one. Nix the monitor to get the price down to $400, add a $100 video card and there you are. Yes its not bleeding edge, but it works great for me.
Has Sony rectified the problem of some games only being able to output in 720p and 480p, but not 1080i?
What part of that did I not understand? Are you listening to yourself?
"Look at me everybody. Let's accuse somebody of doing exactly the same thing I'm doing right this instant!"
Can you seriously think you're taking the high-ground by accusing me of failing to make an argument I wasn't making while at the same time accusing me of doing the same to you?
You have yet to stop focusing on the fact that I thought you were flying off the handle to actually read the substance of my original content, which was that there aren't any PS3s using hardware emulation anymore; Something which I'm sure many people would agree is a perfectly reasonable, topical tangent to have taken at that point in the conversation. Instead you've decided that I disagree with you about the reduction in compatibility, rather than noticing that what I really disagreed with was how big a deal it was.
I hope you found that as hilarious as you were hoping. I wish I could say that I found your misguided justifications in your last paragraph hilarious, but it was just sad, really. If you can't see the difference between using certain words in a humorous context and in the context in which they were originally intended as offensive, you're in for some hard times at some future point. It's funny when Mel Brooks or Chris Rock use the term "nigger" because they're saying it in jest or in satire. If they were saying it because they wanted to say something derogatory or mocking to/about a black man it would be different. You can use that term colloquially amongst your friends because they understand that you're being ironic. Can you really expect anybody to have believed that when you said "You're assuming such just shows how you think, fanboi.", especially after having used the "fanboy" spelling elsewhere in your comment that you meant it in an ironic, comic, or satirical sense.
It's been kind of fun reading this little personal flamefest between you two. Probably because you're both so pathetic that it makes me feel really good about myself.
Sony overprices everything they sell like a Las Vegas call girl. It may look good on the outside, but on the inside it's a festering taint of disease and still costs more than two week's salary.
-Kinsey
You mean like:
FINAL FANTASY XII
METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SUBSISTENCE
GRANDTHEFT AUTO VICE CITY
GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS
GRAN TURISMO 4
GOD OF WAR
Just to name a few titles that are flagged with "Noticable Issues".
Can you seriously think you're taking the high-ground by accusing me of failing to make an argument I wasn't making while at the same time accusing me of doing the same to you?
But you were. You explicitly called me a fanboy, said I was pretending the competition was better, and so on. You offer no justification for how those exact words which I can quote for you again if you want were anything other than what they appear. You can't because you'd look retarded doing so. "When I said 360 fanboy, I meant... uh... not a 360 fanboy".
At least I can stand by what I wrote as meaning what I wrote, and you're only problem understanding me was that you can't handle profanity.
You have yet to stop focusing on the fact that I thought you were flying off the handle to actually read the substance of my original content, which was that there aren't any PS3s using hardware emulation anymore...
Yeah, strangely after being called a 360 fanboy for stating a simple fact I didn't care much about your opinion on whether sacrificing a degree of backward compatability was worth being able to upscale old games. Why would I start caring now?
You can use that term colloquially amongst your friends because they understand that you're being ironic.
If you think Chris Rock, or black people in general, only use the word "nigger" ironically, then you're just an idiot with no experience. They don't use it in the same way as the racists who coined the term, either. Those aren't the only two options. You see when you're in a group where nobody is racist against anybody in the group, you can use words in different ways without them being offensive, and without having to grandstand behind being "ironic". Hanging out with Asians who use "fanboi" interchangeably with "fanboy" leads to not being uptight about it. Sorry you aren't in the group, and sorry if my spelling error based on having hung out in that group offended you because you're so fragile.
The enemies of Democracy are
Glad to be of service. I feel better too after venting my spleen. But lets not either feel too good -- you're still posting on slashdot, and responding to a flamewar. ;)
The enemies of Democracy are
What pisses me off is they removed the hardware emulation from the EU version to cut costs, then made it nearly $100 more expensive after tax (current difference is $180, as no sign of the price cut in UK - $680 for the 60GB model before VAT). That's just a 'fuck you' from Sony to Europe. For the record, I don't own an Xbox360.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
Forza may not be identical to GT5, but it's aimed at the same market and is already available on cheaper hardware. The GT-style experience isn't exclusive to the PS3, even if GT itself is, and ultimately exclusive experiences are better system sellers than exclusive games.
What sound do people on rollercoasters make? Hint: it's not Xbox 360.
That said, I guess I'll take the bait and respond again to your confusing analysis
If the 360 truly were market saturated, then that doesn't explain why it continued to sell the way it has for the next year (along with a pretty healthy bump last holiday season).I agree that we can't "ever know for certainty". I would argue that sales would be greater, and you are free to argue otherwise.
However, I would say that in some of your previous posts, you actually assume you "know for certainty" and are masquerading around as if it's fact. I'm calling you out on that. You can't conveniently leave out the fact that there were shortages around the 360 launch timeframe, just because it wrecks a hole in your "well, the PS3 is doing as well as the 360 did at its launch!" theory.
Dude, either you're just another Sony fanboy that's spinning the numbers just to make your "beloved platform" look good (and doing a pretty bad job at it), or you're somehow affiliated with Sony and not being truthful about it. Own up, please.
Even as someone who works at MS, I will happily admit that while the 360 is doing fine in the US and Europe, it's absolutely being trounced in Japan. And the Wii is, very quickly, catching up to it. I'm not going to fudge numbers or try to spin statistics otherwise. Why are you trying to do it for the PS3, though, is beyond me.
-- jchenx
Most of your posts do not take into account how business contracts are negotiated in asia. Most manufacturers demand A five percent reduction in cost annually. This is supposed to drive innovation and prevent muda(waste).
Yeah, but he's probably flaming ironically because he spends time hanging out with Asians who do that all the time. You and me just aren't in the group, so we don't understand this.
You know the great thing about flamewars? The longer they go on the more chance someone who seemed initially fairly sane if a bit obsessive will say something that's so easy to parody it almost feels unfair to do so.
There's a site called fandomwank in fact that exploits this - they pick out some angry and unintentionally funny comment from deep in a flame thread for people to laugh at. My favourite was someone who posted a long rant about how he thinks of himself as a dragon. He tried to justify it with lots of stuff about otherkin, totem animals in Native American culture and so on. Needless to say spiteful people then trolled the hell out of him. In the midst of this he posted the immortal words "Fuck you, I'm a dragon".
Come to think of it, before the internet, Private Eye magazine had a column called Pseud's Corner which exploited the same effect in interviews.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Wow...first of all there is NO WAY that's an official statement from Konami, even if they aren't on the dev team for MGS Konami DAMN well knows that MGS is an Action-Adventure game and NOT a fighting game. Second of all, Hideo Kojima has announced on numerous occasions that he's making MGS4 FOR THE PS3 ONLY. Not only because he wants to develop the titles for the most powerful hardware out there, but he also needs the space of a dual-layer 50GB Blu-Ray disc which he CANNOT get on an HD-DVD w/ an Xbox 360 (much less a plain-old DVD for the Wii).
Will the PS3-haters out there please stop bashing the console. MGS4 WILL NEVER HAPPEN ON ANY OTHER CONSOLE BESIDES THE PS3.
Check sources next time. I cannot believe Slashdot allowed this trash to be posted w/o checking it
This illustrates the further problems of the Sony strategy for the PS3. Another "exclusive" is planning to go multi-platform. This is a kin to rats leaving a sinking ship.... Maybe when it does sink, Kas and the rest of them will see their almighty "giant enemy crabs"? This site says it all - http://lexluthorbeating.ytmnd.com/ Don't be afraid to sing along!
_____
"Since when did Bush become the Emperor, and who's the Jar Jar Binks we need to hang? Oh forget it... Let's just hang Jar Jar anyways..."
The best part about it is finding out that "fanboi" is a racial slur. I honest to god had NO idea. I thought it was just an irritating spelling corruption like "sk8r boi." No mention of it on Wikipedia, or anything.
Then how come Final Fantasy 12 doesn't work on the PS3?
In fact how come from my stack of PS2 games the only one I could get working at all was KONG and even then it had major glitches at some point?
That's pretty major disadvantage to me, I don't really want to buy a very expensive blu-ray player, I want a games console that can play all the games on it i'd want it to.
I don't know how well the 2 year argument holds. According to a previous post, the PS3 is following the sales trends of the GameCube. If that is true, in due time it will be getting the shoddy ports just like the GameCube did. The kind that make it look like a piece of shit no matter how powerful it is.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
People making a mountain out of a molehill. It trounces 360 BC, and it's just fine for the vast majority of existing PS2 owners.
nobody is saying it's worse than the 360's compatibility, only that hardware emulation works better than software emulation; yet you fools are defending it with statements like "it works fine except [example of it not working as well as hardware emulation]". why even dispute this? EU got shafted in this respect and that's that. some people are bitter about it (not me, i stopped buying sony products well before the ps3 even had a price announced)
fanboi motherfucking retard fanboi troll fanboi fuckstick
"[We] fools" as you put it are simply pointing out that the BC is perfectly acceptable. How do we know this? BECAUSE "WE FOOLS" HAVE ACTUALLY USED IT. You haven't and yet you feel qualified to proclaim that the EU got shafted or similar. The EU may have gotten shafted for the price of the console, but the BC really is not an issue.
What a fascinating discovery. Somebody alert Alan Turing!
What? Gamerankings has 44 PS3 titles with at least 5 reviews, but 69 Wii titles with at least 5 reviews. My local game stores confirm this. The PS3 has half a shelf of games, the Wii has a full shelf.
Online games is similar. The Wii has over 100 games, the PS3 has a few dozen at most.
Inflation doesn't count for technology. Tech becomes cheaper with time, not more expensive. The pricing sweet spot is 200 US$, and so far, none of the manufacturers have cracked it. I guess Nintendo will be the first to go below 200 US$ - as soon as they manage to ramp up production enough to meet demand.
Precisely. As far as quality goes, a movie is either good enough, or not good enough. If it's good enough, you stop noticing the quality after a while. DVDs are good enough.
I'd even say that VHS was good enough in most cases. DVD didn't win becuase the quality was better, but because you don't have to rewind them, and because the quality doesn't deteriorate each time you watch it.
I own a PS3, and the only Blu-Ray movie I own is Casino Royale. I got that for free with the console. Blu-Ray is neat, but I'm not going to pay twice as much for a movie I can't rip to my PSP.
Right now the cheapest and best entertainment comes from the Wii. Two console generations ago, the cheapest and best entertainment came from PS1. Nintendo got the message, and that's why they are so successful.
Unfortunatly, the dumb Americans here can't see they are being manipulated by Microsoft FUD.
As a European PS3 owner, I can catagorically state, PS2 software emultaion is nothing to be afraid of, it works VERY well, and is only marginally less than hardware compatabiliy (92% vs 97%).
Stories about lesser PS3's about to hit the market are nonsense. If anything, I suspect the 80GB models may hit with a 65nm Cell CPU...
what a load of crap. Sony already said before even releasing the PS3 in the states that the emotionchip will get cut once the Softwareemulation is complete. And I wouldn't even be suprised if the current PS3's released in the state already don't have the chip anymore. Seeing the sales on Amazon of a 2800% increase since the pricedrop, it looks like the pricedrop did have a very positive effect.
Same here, I thought it was just an age based thing. ie. fanboy = person, fanboi = child. I never used the 'fanboi' variant anyway, because it looks retarded.
It's rare, but slashdot has taught me something today.
The ps3 won't have pricecuts in Scandinavia because the distributer doesn't feel a need since they don't consider the competition to be as strong as it is in America.
So, what you're saying is...
INVISIBLE PRICE DROP
i'm amazed that i survived - an airbag saved my life.
Best for people under 12 or over 50.
Even though it may not "be fair" that the 360 got a head-start over the PS3, the fact of the matter is that it did. It's the same advantage the PS2 had over the original Xbox. Heck, even though the Wii released a year after the 360, we're already seeing that it's going to catch up pretty darn quickly. It's becoming fairly evident that right now, the PS3 isn't doing fine.
IMHO if I were a Sony exec, I wouldn't be thinking that the platform is in good shape. They need to take action to be more competitive. I think it's fine to admit that, as long as you have a plan on righting that ship.
-- jchenx
Credibility is seriously in doubt when Metal Gear Solid is referred to as a "Fighting game"
you continue to make a fool of yourself. it's very simple, "does the game play exactly as it would on ps2 hardware?" if the answer is no than it's not as good as hardware compatibility. now fucking shut up and go play your gaystation
What's wrong with saying, "The PS3 is behind right now, and it will need to improve sales in the future, in order to catch up to the 360 and Wii"? I think that's a very respectable and truthful statement. It's by no means "OMG PS3 IS D00MED", just an honest look at the sales situation today.
What I think is dishonest is saying that the PS3 is doing well now. It is certainly not where Sony wants sales to be right now. One reason why so many gamers and tech junkies have so much hate for Sony is because, in the past, they tended to spin and lie all the time. Remember the whole, "There are lots of PS3 shortages right now" claim earlier this year, when it was obviously clear there wasn't any? (Penny-Arcade famously called them out on this)
-- jchenx