@ rubido

I think DVD is very suitable for the PS2 and Nintendo Wii, but I think for consoles like the XBox 360 and PS3 DVD's storage limitations would lead to significant sacrifices being made over the next couple of years.

The PS3 hasn't lost the war just yet. Although I think the Nintendo Wii may outsell the PS3 the coming 1 or 2 years, I think there's enough potential for the PS3 ending up at the top of the current consoles eventually.

A low end PS3 would have more negatively impacted PS2, XBox 360 and maybe Nintendo Wii sales, probably resulting in fewer consoles being sold overall. There's a market for a high end console like the PS3 judging from the millions of users already.

Think about the PS3 as an expensive luxury car, not everone prefers to drive a cheaper mass market car. But unlike is the case with luxury cars, consoles drop down in price over years significantly and the PS3 will expand in features and uses (including more games).

@ thors1982

This is the case with regard to the Xenon processor as well. IBM's testing indicates it's much easier to yield near full potential using the Cell processor. The Cell isn't simply a multi-core CPU, the SPEs operate very differently each having their own dedicated ultra-speed memory to work with (also the 3.2 Ghz XDR memory is much faster than the memory the Xenon has access to).

Wii uses DVD & DVD9
360 uses DVD9
PS3 uses Blu-Ray

PS3 is the only console not using DVD as a staple of its gaming.

@ XboxSoldier12

Sony doesn't need condolence prizes. The PSP is profitable for them and continues to sell well. If you finish your university education, would it be nulified by people scoring straight A-s? Actually if you were handicapped by learning in foreign language I may even be more impressed.

Condolences for weak performance may be better suited for Microsoft. With all its resources and monopoly might going for this company, they never actually managed to make a profit with their XBox business and even fell flat on its face by releasing the least reliable console in modern console history.....



I am more interested in being able to access the multi-media such as photographs stored on my PS3.

MikeB said: @ thors1982 Cell will NEVER reach 100% "theoretical power" its not possible. And so people don't think we are dissing the PS3... Xbox will never reach 100% theoretical power either... although it will be closer because the number of cores is smaller. This is the case with regard to the Xenon processor as well. IBM's testing indicates it's much easier to yield near full potential using the Cell processor. The Cell isn't simply a multi-core CPU, the SPEs operate very differently each having their own dedicated ultra-speed memory to work with (also the 3.2 Ghz XDR memory is much faster than the memory the Xenon has access to).

I can garantee you that those IBM tests mean nothing when applied to the ps3. There are specific applications in which you can get much more speedup. I can bet you that these specific applications were cherry picked for that test. This cherry picking does not happen in games. Also, the tests were run by IBM. Of course they are going to put the cell on the best scenario possible.

 

MikeB said: @ rubido I also believe that Sony's statement about the 5 million people buying the ps3 even without games was an insult to its user base. Personally I am more open minded towards the idea. If the price drops the next couple of years and HDTV marketshare increases I can imagine many people becoming increasingly interested in the PS3 mainly as a Blu-Ray player.

1. How does this, in any way, relate to what he said 2. Standalone players are already cheaper than the PS3, and this trend will only continue as the years pass

MikeB said: @ rubido I agree with you. Ideally, I would say that blue ray is better than dvd9 if you want hd content. Texture sizes go up and you will need the extra space if you want something well done. The problem I see is with the choice at this specific point in time. I think that the ps3 could have made a huge dent on wii sales (360 would have been dust) if it was cheaper. Wii would still be great for the novelty, but the ps3 would be right up there and could even win at the end (opinion only). I think DVD is very suitable for the PS2 and Nintendo Wii, but I think for consoles like the XBox 360 and PS3 DVD's storage limitations would lead to significant sacrifices being made over the next couple of years. The PS3 hasn't lost the war just yet. Although I think the Nintendo Wii may outsell the PS3 the coming 1 or 2 years, I think there's enough potential for the PS3 ending up at the top of the current consoles eventually. A low end PS3 would have more negatively impacted PS2, XBox 360 and maybe Nintendo Wii sales, probably resulting in fewer consoles being sold overall. There's a market for a high end console like the PS3 judging from the millions of users already. Think about the PS3 as an expensive luxury car, not everone prefers to drive a cheaper mass market car. But unlike is the case with luxury cars, consoles drop down in price over years significantly and the PS3 will expand in features and uses (including more games).

I don't believe the comparison to cars applies. If we were to talk in car terms, I would say that each car has his specific gas. Then a mass market car will have companies producing gas for it because it sells while no company would like to produce gas for the luxury car because it is a small market. Also, it would be more expensive to produce the gas for the luxury cars while the consumers would not pay much more than the price for the mass market gas. Later, without gas, nobody buys the car anymore. Translating back to gaming terms, I can't see a scenario in which the ps3 would outsell the wii in the long run.

 

Even my comparison to cars was a crappy one. With cars, the luxury car would stop selling. In the gaming case, I believe the ps3 will continue selling throughout its lifetime. Just less and less as time goes on. Again related to the initial price.

@ rubido

But the PS3 also runs on mass market gas (most common, PS2 games)! The ride may overall be more comfortable (wireless controller, no memory cards, upscaling, etc).

Seriously, the Blu-Ray movie and PS3 games library will rapidly expand the coming year.

XboxSoldier12 said: I'm afraid there are no condolence prizes for comming in second palce in the foray of the global market. Just because a console did as well as it did in spite of insurmountable odds doesn't make it any more of a success or an asset.

I have to point this out. Related to your first sentence. It might not have a prize for coming second place to you. You don't make money from it and you can't brag about it in forums for coming up in second place. But it is a huge prize for sony. I garanmtee you that. I was just told that all the money the psp is making could be redirected to you. Sorry... I told them not to do it since you don't want a second place prize.

On your second sentence, it surely does. 

We're getting off topic, but the big problem with the car thing is that price and value are only loosely correlated when it comes to game consoles. A luxury car can be sold for more than a regular car both because it's a better car and because many people are willing to buy an expensive car simply because other people can't afford it (conspicuous consumption).

No one buys game consoles in order to show them off - the PS3 doesn't increase in value because of its price tag. Further, it's primarily buzz and library that determine a console's value, while cost plays a large role in determining price. The average consumer doesn't care about the Cell and BluRay - they don't let him play Wii Sports. There are tremendous network effects with consoles as well, both in terms of developer support and playing with friends.