ssj12 said:
not at all, the PS3 is still the best value. Game Console + Blu-ray player. Sony is showing that value means a lot this generation. Look at how well it is selling versus expectactions everyone had. Wasnt everyone predicting that the PS3 would be past 10 million by now. lol |
Good point. It's definitely selling better than I thought. I still have issues with Sony putting BR in the machine, as I don't think it was based around helping gamers. I feel it was a packin deal, with the idea of forcing Playstation fans to shell out for a BR player if they wanted a Playstation 3. I think it was arrogant, like when senators tack on a pay raise to a child protection bill. I think that with HD, DLC, and disc swaps, Blu-Ray is not needed for gaming, with the best example being PC gaming and how well it has performed with games like Crysis, that don't require the medium.
However, I do believe that as Blu-Ray won the format war thanks to this shady strategy, more and more people are viewing Blu-Ray as a value adding device to the console, that allows for the viewing of Blu-Ray movies, which threatens to become the next mainstream format over the next several years.
It was a dangerous move. The complexity of the console, combined with the higher cost, refusal to pay for exclusives, low userbase, and slow sales led to early developers and consumers questioning the viability of the PS3. However the BR win was a boon for the console, and single handedly landed Sony in second place this gen, imo.
However, the effects of these early mistakes will stick with the brand till the end of this generation, on the gaming front. The 360 is now getting equal or better 3rd party support, since MS has no qualms about paying for exclusivity, or DLC. With its head start, the 360 looks like it could manage to keep up with Sony throughout this entire generation, on the software front, and I would be shocked if the PS3 ever won the "gamerankings" comparison against the 360, soundly. The PS2, by comparison, was a dominant software machine, with tons of fantastic, niche and mainstream exclusive software that put its competitors to shame. While the 360 will end up an inferior multimedia device, it appears as if it will stand toe to toe with the PS3, as a videogame console, till the end of this gen.
It will also be difficult for Sony to catch up to the 360 in software sales, and attach rate.
Sony will almost certainly win second place this generation, however the real winners of this generation are the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii. Both struggling for credibility, and with questionable returns, last generation, they managed to form very strong competition for the market leader this gen, and indeed topple it. It's hard to put Sony as a far ahead leader on any front this generation, and next time around, when all consoles start with equal footing, the Xbox and Wii brands will be much stronger than they were at the start of this generation(this time, perhaps, without the Red Ring of Death stunting the Xbox's longterm aspirations), while the Playstation brand will be much weaker(coming off the PS3, and not the PS2). This doesn't have ill tidings for Sony, unless they repeat the same mistakes they did this gen, which are price, 3rd party support, launch window, and software perception....but I've rambled enough.
I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.
NO NO, NO NO NO.
