Actually... there are 25 as of now. Not conting the arcade games (which I don't, although they are darned fun). Of those 26, IMHO there are at least 5 amazing games: Oblivion, COD2, Condemned, PGR3, GRAW... A couple of real stinkers (shame on you MLB 2K...!) and the rest are 'prettier' ports of mediocre games. That seems about the average breakdown for any system, doesn't it? Anyway, there are 10ish due out in the next month-or-so, 2 of which are supposedly truly amazing: "Chromehounds" and "99 Knights". They're also supposed to 'help' the Japanese market. And yes, I'm holding my breath on that one. Pffft!
As for the 'lead time', if I remember correctly, MS didn't get the DEVkits out there as well as they should've.
Those are through Amazon's "Marketplace"... not that it matters *that* much, but these are 3rd party merchants. And if you click on the link, you'll see that the price goes WAY up after the first merchant (which is the advertised price), which are probably left-over poacher stock.
The truth is a lot of people want 360 *premium* systems. And theoretically, 360's 'are available' but it's misleading because the majority of the 'systems' available are these stupid bundles, core systems, or an over-priced combination thereof from poachers who are still desperately trying to make money on the 'shortage'. Yes, some poeple bit the bullet and bought that crap... but the rest of us waited (or are still waiting) until a premium system is available for the actual retail price. And that means no constant-calling the store, or showing up early in the morning. And NOT supporting these poachers or bundlers with our wallets. There are a lot of people simply waiting for it to just be 'in stock' when they happen to go to the store one day. And up to this point, it hasn't been.
I'd be interested to see how this sort of thing plays out w/ the PS3 launch... does anyone know if they're going to do 'core/premium' systems? Are they going to allow merchants to bundle? (Can they even affect it?)... and poachers just suck. They're going to be there anyway.
"It's only a matter of time, however, since MS is inferior and more expensive than just about any other flash-card format"... so very true. I've often wonder why that didn't bomb too... hmmm. Maybe because it was the only thing they managed to 'integrate' across a bunch of their products?
I also 'zillionth' the notion that not being able to burn UMDs was amazingly stupid. That would've made a world of difference.
"Unreliable hardware..." Wow. I'm surprised this misfo is still being bandied about. I'm not a MS fanboy by any means (gratuitous disclaimer), but I know several handfuls of people who have (and have had, for months) 360s and have had zero problems. Zilch. None. Nunca. And, as the reluctant early-ish adopter, I recently bought one too (luckily) and I gotta say, it's darn stable, very pretty, super user-friendly and (gasp!) darn impressive. Go figure. As for this re-launch. Good. Go. Suwatte Kudosai!
To a techie hobbyist guy that gets an idea occasionally, the US patent system seems intimidating. Or at least expensive. But then it there's all these people/companies out there patenting every possible iteration of generic things like "video goggles"... gorsh. I dunno.
This PS3/360/NR to-and-fro here is amazing to me because of posts like these. In general most of the points are either valid, (currently) true, or at least arguable... but then you have to go and read stuff like this:
360: "a weak new system... plauged with problems that are of a magnitude never see before in the console market... laughed at by the console world for their miserable graphics."
I mean, jeesh? To be fair, this brand of drivel not isolated to Sony peeps. The same happens on the *other* sides, too (although not as much, weirdly). But it's bothersome because it just spoils whatever cred you came in the room with. Forensics 101 people!
My 2 cents? Well, simply, I like games. Mostly *analog* games like ping-pong, bolwing, pinball, skateboarding, etc. But I've owned an Atari 2600, Commodore 64, SNES, 3DO, Dreamcast and currently own an Xbox (I didn't have a PS1 because I was just starting my career, and knew it would be dangerous;)). I'm a pseudo-early adopter, and I think LIVE is awesome. I play online on my computer sometimes, but IMHO LIVE is just... smooth. Pick-up and play, which is what 'console gaming' is all about. I'll probably get a PS3 and/or NR also, but right now I'd love to get my hands on a 360, but like a lot of people can't find an un-bundled, non-Ebay Premium system to save my life (who wants to support that kind of behavior?). Although availibilty will probably (hopefully) improve within the next month or two. I check the BestBuys here in NYC a couple times a week. I've only gotten close a couple times when they've had some Core systems. And even those have sold out before I could get there. FWIW, I quizzed the sales people at several stores and they surmised that they get at least 50 systems a week (x 4 stores) and they're gone. Poof! Sure there are stores in Japan with THOUSANDS!!!! And I'm sure, too, a bunch in Europe. But for ME (and apparently many others) they're still hard to get in the US. Again NON-BUNDLED and NON-EBAY'd. So all those posters here who claim they're 'everywhere' are hopeful, or secretly Japanese. That kind of statement's factually accurate, but 'journalistically' misleading. Same goes for the graphics. I buy systems with graphics in mind (check: C64, 3DO, Dreamcast) and you'd be crazy not to see the difference graphics-wise 360-to-current gen. Sure, it MAY be only 1.5 gen, blah blah blah, and the PS3 MAY be so graphically powerful that it explodes every other system within a two block radius... but WE DON'T KNOW. All we know is the 360 is here now (at least on display) and PGR, Kameo, etc look darn nice. I actually respect the f* outof Nintendo for essentially going purely the 'it's all about the games' route, and foregoing the graphics pissing contest.
Blah blah blah. I'm rambling. But it is what it is. The 360 is out now, the PS3 isn't. The 360's graphics are better than any current console. The launch certainly was rushed, but wasn't nearly a hardware catastrophe (nor was the PS2 launch). AND the PS3 will be out sometime in the next year-and-a-half. And then only time and money will tell.
Slashdot Mirror
You owe me a new monitor. Because I just spit my tea all over mine :P
There is a constant stream of water entering our atmosphere all the time... little frozen bits. From space!
25! doh!
I had 26 then went and re-counted... how do you edit these darn posts!?
Actually... there are 25 as of now. Not conting the arcade games (which I don't, although they are darned fun). Of those 26, IMHO there are at least 5 amazing games: Oblivion, COD2, Condemned, PGR3, GRAW... A couple of real stinkers (shame on you MLB 2K...!) and the rest are 'prettier' ports of mediocre games. That seems about the average breakdown for any system, doesn't it? Anyway, there are 10ish due out in the next month-or-so, 2 of which are supposedly truly amazing: "Chromehounds" and "99 Knights". They're also supposed to 'help' the Japanese market. And yes, I'm holding my breath on that one. Pffft!
As for the 'lead time', if I remember correctly, MS didn't get the DEVkits out there as well as they should've.
Those are through Amazon's "Marketplace"... not that it matters *that* much, but these are 3rd party merchants. And if you click on the link, you'll see that the price goes WAY up after the first merchant (which is the advertised price), which are probably left-over poacher stock.
The truth is a lot of people want 360 *premium* systems. And theoretically, 360's 'are available' but it's misleading because the majority of the 'systems' available are these stupid bundles, core systems, or an over-priced combination thereof from poachers who are still desperately trying to make money on the 'shortage'. Yes, some poeple bit the bullet and bought that crap... but the rest of us waited (or are still waiting) until a premium system is available for the actual retail price. And that means no constant-calling the store, or showing up early in the morning. And NOT supporting these poachers or bundlers with our wallets. There are a lot of people simply waiting for it to just be 'in stock' when they happen to go to the store one day. And up to this point, it hasn't been.
I'd be interested to see how this sort of thing plays out w/ the PS3 launch... does anyone know if they're going to do 'core/premium' systems? Are they going to allow merchants to bundle? (Can they even affect it?)... and poachers just suck. They're going to be there anyway.
- my 8 cents
I loved that console... sniff...
"It's only a matter of time, however, since MS is inferior and more expensive than just about any other flash-card format"... so very true. I've often wonder why that didn't bomb too... hmmm. Maybe because it was the only thing they managed to 'integrate' across a bunch of their products?
I also 'zillionth' the notion that not being able to burn UMDs was amazingly stupid. That would've made a world of difference.
It was a joke... and yes, I did consult my J2A dictionary. Albeit briefly. You caught me ;)
Go try and get laid, angry man. It's just a console.
"Unreliable hardware..." Wow. I'm surprised this misfo is still being bandied about. I'm not a MS fanboy by any means (gratuitous disclaimer), but I know several handfuls of people who have (and have had, for months) 360s and have had zero problems. Zilch. None. Nunca. And, as the reluctant early-ish adopter, I recently bought one too (luckily) and I gotta say, it's darn stable, very pretty, super user-friendly and (gasp!) darn impressive. Go figure. As for this re-launch. Good. Go. Suwatte Kudosai!
To a techie hobbyist guy that gets an idea occasionally, the US patent system seems intimidating. Or at least expensive. But then it there's all these people/companies out there patenting every possible iteration of generic things like "video goggles"... gorsh. I dunno.
This PS3/360/NR to-and-fro here is amazing to me because of posts like these. In general most of the points are either valid, (currently) true, or at least arguable... but then you have to go and read stuff like this:
360: "a weak new system... plauged with problems that are of a magnitude never see before in the console market... laughed at by the console world for their miserable graphics."
I mean, jeesh? To be fair, this brand of drivel not isolated to Sony peeps. The same happens on the *other* sides, too (although not as much, weirdly). But it's bothersome because it just spoils whatever cred you came in the room with. Forensics 101 people!
My 2 cents? Well, simply, I like games. Mostly *analog* games like ping-pong, bolwing, pinball, skateboarding, etc. But I've owned an Atari 2600, Commodore 64, SNES, 3DO, Dreamcast and currently own an Xbox (I didn't have a PS1 because I was just starting my career, and knew it would be dangerous;)). I'm a pseudo-early adopter, and I think LIVE is awesome. I play online on my computer sometimes, but IMHO LIVE is just... smooth. Pick-up and play, which is what 'console gaming' is all about. I'll probably get a PS3 and/or NR also, but right now I'd love to get my hands on a 360, but like a lot of people can't find an un-bundled, non-Ebay Premium system to save my life (who wants to support that kind of behavior?). Although availibilty will probably (hopefully) improve within the next month or two. I check the BestBuys here in NYC a couple times a week. I've only gotten close a couple times when they've had some Core systems. And even those have sold out before I could get there. FWIW, I quizzed the sales people at several stores and they surmised that they get at least 50 systems a week (x 4 stores) and they're gone. Poof! Sure there are stores in Japan with THOUSANDS!!!! And I'm sure, too, a bunch in Europe. But for ME (and apparently many others) they're still hard to get in the US. Again NON-BUNDLED and NON-EBAY'd. So all those posters here who claim they're 'everywhere' are hopeful, or secretly Japanese. That kind of statement's factually accurate, but 'journalistically' misleading. Same goes for the graphics. I buy systems with graphics in mind (check: C64, 3DO, Dreamcast) and you'd be crazy not to see the difference graphics-wise 360-to-current gen. Sure, it MAY be only 1.5 gen, blah blah blah, and the PS3 MAY be so graphically powerful that it explodes every other system within a two block radius... but WE DON'T KNOW. All we know is the 360 is here now (at least on display) and PGR, Kameo, etc look darn nice. I actually respect the f* outof Nintendo for essentially going purely the 'it's all about the games' route, and foregoing the graphics pissing contest.
Blah blah blah. I'm rambling. But it is what it is. The 360 is out now, the PS3 isn't. The 360's graphics are better than any current console. The launch certainly was rushed, but wasn't nearly a hardware catastrophe (nor was the PS2 launch). AND the PS3 will be out sometime in the next year-and-a-half. And then only time and money will tell.