There's a lot more to using blu-ray than just promoting a new format (though I'm sure that's part of it). With gaming this gen, games are going to be LARGE. We already saw PS2 games spanning multiple DVDs, so it makes sense to move to a bigger storage medium as standard. It's already been stated that Resistance would have had to be on two dual-layer DVDs, and Rockstar said they're having issues with storage space on the 360 version. Not including a better drive in the 360, to me, shows a pretty big lack of foresight (the Wii is different since it's standard-def).
Sony wants the PS3 to be something amazing - the total experience. It definitely has the potential to be that, whereas the Wii (especially) and the 360 are likely to show growing pains over the next couple years.
I certainly hope they would never tax tires. It would just encourage people to drive around with completely bald tires, making the road far less safe for everyone.
It's pretty obvious that hacking the console at this point is mostly about piracy. Face it, you can do basically everything you'd like to do on the PS3 either out of the box or after a simple Linux installation (which they FULLY SUPPORT!). The only thing that's restricted is access to the graphics accelerator, and really, who buys a PS3 to play Tux Racer?
With the XBox, it wasn't as clear cut. People would hack it to play video, to use emulators, etc. These are valid reasons. When you can actually do all this with the PS3 with full support, it's pretty plain why people are trying to break the protection.
When will people learn that they shouldn't do things in public that they don't want people to see? It's PUBLIC. If you have something you want to hide, then by god don't do it in plain view of everyone!
I'm appalled! Who does Google think they are, acquiring and retaining information on millions of books!? Frankly, I don't trust Google enough to properly keep this data private.
Boycott Google! They don't have any respect for literary privacy.
Sony practically encourages homebrew apps on the PS3, what with being able to install Linux on it. Of course, half the things people would install homebrew apps for (media playing / streaming) are already part of the console...
You're restricted from using the graphics processor, which kind of sucks, but other than that you're pretty set. I want to see a PS3 Dwarf Fortress. Maybe then a world won't take 10 minutes to generate.
Just to play devil's advocate - If you sign a paper contract without reading it thoroughly, you're still liable for what you sign. Why would that change when it becomes electronic?
Why does the game matter? Why is it a big deal if this game is called Simcity 5? Why is it a big deal that Final Fantasy 11 was an MMORPG? They're names, people. It doesn't matter AT ALL. Even if they were all named "Game 1034", "Game 1035", "Game 1036", etc, the games wouldn't be any less fun to play.
I still maintain that it's not affordability at all - it's the fact that the games just aren't there. It's a great box, but great games are few and far between, so there's not that "omg gotta have it". Once the titles people are excited about start flowing out (Lair, Heavenly Sword, Final Fantasy, GTA, Home, Little Big Planet), the sales will jump quite a bit regardless of a price drop.
It's even better. With the media center capabilities, you can stream movies off your file server to your PS3 and then to your PSP over any wireless internet connection. It also upscales PS2 games (they look a lot nicer) and is (from what I've heard) an amazing DVD upscaler.
The thing about the PS3 is that if you use its features, it's a hell of a bargain and an amazing machine. If you don't have an HDTV, PSP, or any interest in Linux, then I can definitely see the excitement over it fade.
The PS3 seems (so far) to be the most reliable of the bunch. Everyone knows of the 360's red-ring problem, and the Wii has had some bricking issues with firmware updates and issues with graphical artifacts due either to a badly-applied heatsink or a faulty graphics chip (in fact, mine's currently in for repair for this issue..:/ )
The only widespread thing I've seen about the PS3 is that it'll crash if it runs too hot, but if you're not a dumbass and you actually give it some airflow, you won't have that issue. Besides that, it seems like a quite solid machine and reliability complaints have been very, very rare for it.
So, just because you're behind first place, you've "lost"? Let's see, then Macs have lost, Yahoo has lost, Firefox has lost, Nissan has lost, Burger King has lost, Pepsi has lost...... or maybe, just maybe, you don't have to be in first to be successful.
You honestly think that the PS3 and 360 are aimed at children? Considering that the best sellers on both these consoles' predecessors weren't exactly child-friendly (like GTA (killing random passerbys for the hell of it, having sex with prostitutes) and Halo) and the current hits (like Resistance and Gears of War (where you can chainsaw your opponent while he's on the ground and have blood splatter all over the screen)) are also quite gory, I wouldn't say so.
So they'll give it an "M" rating and be done with it. Just because it's on a console doesn't mean they'll tone it down.
Would you spend nearly US$700 for just one game? Ok, so say Sony dropped the price of the PS3 to US$500. Would you spend nearly US$600 for just one game? For a FF game? Probably. Maybe I'm a hopeless Square whore, but I know I'm not alone.
You also have to remember that, in Japan, there is only one game series with more selling power than FF (Dragon Quest), and from what I recall, it's a pretty close race. Final Fantasy is HUGE - it has its own drink in stores. A (current) exclusive on the main Final Fantasy XIII game will sell a boatload of systems. I'd be honestly surprised if we didn't see an extra million PS3s sold in Japan right after the FF release, just like I'd be honestly surprised if we didn't see a huge spike in 360 sales in America when Halo 3 gets released.
... and MMORPGs are just MUDs with graphics, and MUDs are just RPGs that are text-only and online, and then we're back to the single-player RPG again. It's all a big loop, and everything is derivative of everything else. Saying a game sucks because it's too similar to other games is like saying a story sucks because it's similar to stories that have been written hundreds of years ago. Sure, you may not LIKE it, but you can't judge something solely on originality, because there really is very little of it in anything.
Slashdot Mirror
... or maybe it's because novel control schemes aren't always better for all games, though they get shoehorned into every genre that you can think of?
There's a lot more to using blu-ray than just promoting a new format (though I'm sure that's part of it). With gaming this gen, games are going to be LARGE. We already saw PS2 games spanning multiple DVDs, so it makes sense to move to a bigger storage medium as standard. It's already been stated that Resistance would have had to be on two dual-layer DVDs, and Rockstar said they're having issues with storage space on the 360 version. Not including a better drive in the 360, to me, shows a pretty big lack of foresight (the Wii is different since it's standard-def).
:/
Sony wants the PS3 to be something amazing - the total experience. It definitely has the potential to be that, whereas the Wii (especially) and the 360 are likely to show growing pains over the next couple years.
Now we just need the games...
Man, if you think that's bad, look at the Wii's rankings on GameRankings.
Anyone who clicks a link called "rapeplay" and think it'll be fine for work needs an introduction to reality.
I certainly hope they would never tax tires. It would just encourage people to drive around with completely bald tires, making the road far less safe for everyone.
It's pretty obvious that hacking the console at this point is mostly about piracy. Face it, you can do basically everything you'd like to do on the PS3 either out of the box or after a simple Linux installation (which they FULLY SUPPORT!). The only thing that's restricted is access to the graphics accelerator, and really, who buys a PS3 to play Tux Racer?
With the XBox, it wasn't as clear cut. People would hack it to play video, to use emulators, etc. These are valid reasons. When you can actually do all this with the PS3 with full support, it's pretty plain why people are trying to break the protection.
When will people learn that they shouldn't do things in public that they don't want people to see? It's PUBLIC. If you have something you want to hide, then by god don't do it in plain view of everyone!
Wow, it's a moderation party! Let's see if this works.
"This is not insightful."
Funnily enough, I'm wearing the second shirt right now. It's a Busted Tees shirt, and they're currently running sale and have a coupon.
I'm appalled! Who does Google think they are, acquiring and retaining information on millions of books!? Frankly, I don't trust Google enough to properly keep this data private.
Boycott Google! They don't have any respect for literary privacy.
Sony practically encourages homebrew apps on the PS3, what with being able to install Linux on it. Of course, half the things people would install homebrew apps for (media playing / streaming) are already part of the console...
You're restricted from using the graphics processor, which kind of sucks, but other than that you're pretty set. I want to see a PS3 Dwarf Fortress. Maybe then a world won't take 10 minutes to generate.
Bad admins run bad servers!
Wouldn't have expected that one.
Just to play devil's advocate - If you sign a paper contract without reading it thoroughly, you're still liable for what you sign. Why would that change when it becomes electronic?
Why does the game matter? Why is it a big deal if this game is called Simcity 5? Why is it a big deal that Final Fantasy 11 was an MMORPG? They're names, people. It doesn't matter AT ALL. Even if they were all named "Game 1034", "Game 1035", "Game 1036", etc, the games wouldn't be any less fun to play.
I still maintain that it's not affordability at all - it's the fact that the games just aren't there. It's a great box, but great games are few and far between, so there's not that "omg gotta have it". Once the titles people are excited about start flowing out (Lair, Heavenly Sword, Final Fantasy, GTA, Home, Little Big Planet), the sales will jump quite a bit regardless of a price drop.
It's even better. With the media center capabilities, you can stream movies off your file server to your PS3 and then to your PSP over any wireless internet connection. It also upscales PS2 games (they look a lot nicer) and is (from what I've heard) an amazing DVD upscaler.
The thing about the PS3 is that if you use its features, it's a hell of a bargain and an amazing machine. If you don't have an HDTV, PSP, or any interest in Linux, then I can definitely see the excitement over it fade.
The PS3 seems (so far) to be the most reliable of the bunch. Everyone knows of the 360's red-ring problem, and the Wii has had some bricking issues with firmware updates and issues with graphical artifacts due either to a badly-applied heatsink or a faulty graphics chip (in fact, mine's currently in for repair for this issue.. :/ )
The only widespread thing I've seen about the PS3 is that it'll crash if it runs too hot, but if you're not a dumbass and you actually give it some airflow, you won't have that issue. Besides that, it seems like a quite solid machine and reliability complaints have been very, very rare for it.
How can a car with the gas mileage of the Mercedes S500 possibly be considered "great for extended travelling"?
Different people have different needs. One person's "great" may mean "versatile" while another's may mean "long battery life".
So, just because you're behind first place, you've "lost"? Let's see, then Macs have lost, Yahoo has lost, Firefox has lost, Nissan has lost, Burger King has lost, Pepsi has lost... ... or maybe, just maybe, you don't have to be in first to be successful.
Even better, you can put PS1 games on a memory stick and play them from there. That opens up a monstrous library of awesome games.
Just like they should have kept FF on the PSx rather than bringing it to the PS2? You have to make the transition sometime.
A huge part of FF games is the visuals, so that rules out the Wii. The 360 has no Japanese market, so that rules it out. What's left? PS3.
You honestly think that the PS3 and 360 are aimed at children? Considering that the best sellers on both these consoles' predecessors weren't exactly child-friendly (like GTA (killing random passerbys for the hell of it, having sex with prostitutes) and Halo) and the current hits (like Resistance and Gears of War (where you can chainsaw your opponent while he's on the ground and have blood splatter all over the screen)) are also quite gory, I wouldn't say so.
So they'll give it an "M" rating and be done with it. Just because it's on a console doesn't mean they'll tone it down.
You also have to remember that, in Japan, there is only one game series with more selling power than FF (Dragon Quest), and from what I recall, it's a pretty close race. Final Fantasy is HUGE - it has its own drink in stores. A (current) exclusive on the main Final Fantasy XIII game will sell a boatload of systems. I'd be honestly surprised if we didn't see an extra million PS3s sold in Japan right after the FF release, just like I'd be honestly surprised if we didn't see a huge spike in 360 sales in America when Halo 3 gets released.
... and MMORPGs are just MUDs with graphics, and MUDs are just RPGs that are text-only and online, and then we're back to the single-player RPG again. It's all a big loop, and everything is derivative of everything else. Saying a game sucks because it's too similar to other games is like saying a story sucks because it's similar to stories that have been written hundreds of years ago. Sure, you may not LIKE it, but you can't judge something solely on originality, because there really is very little of it in anything.