Most pundits are calling Sony’s Playstation 3 dead in the water. The argument makes sense, in a superficial sort of way. The Wii costs only $250 and the Xbox 360 Arcade costs “only” $200. So people are buying both of those platforms in massive quantities. But it’s the quotes around the Arcade’s 200 dollars where the logic of the argument falls apart.
Sure, Microsoft’s Arcade can be found for $199.99 nearly everywhere. But it lacks a hard drive and a Live account. A 60gb drive with a 3 month Live starter kits costs about $100. Of course you’ll need more than three months of Live, so that’s an additional $36 per year.
So in reality, that “$199” Arcade is really about $336. For one year and three months, then you’ll pay another $36 again. But let’s stick with the $336 price for now.
I know what you’re thinking, that still makes the Arcade about $84 less than the $400 Playstation 3. So the Arcade is still a great value, right?
It all depends on how much you love movies and your favorite shows in true 1080p High Definition. You probably know that the Playstation 3 includes a Blu-ray player, but did you know that it’s considered the best Blu-ray player on the market. It is the standard against which all other Blu-ray players are judged.
Did you also know that the Playstation 3 can run Linux so you can fully surf the web right from your big screen TV?
Did you also know the Playstation 3 automatically upconverts regular DVDs to a near HD experience?
And you can buy all of that for only an additional $84 bucks.
I know there are some Xbox fanboys that are going to argue in the comments that the “Xbox Rulez” and that there are great games exclusive to the Xbox 360. But you know what, those types of fanboys will not be buying the Arcade version. Those guys (and gals) will be buying a higher end version. So this posting has nothing to do with fanboys. Heck, even the Playstation 3 fanboys will not be buying the $400 version.
So this posting is not about what platform is the “best.” That’s completely subjective and is something you’ll have to determine yourself. This posting is for people who want value for their living room experience. And between the Playstation 3 and the Arcade, I think Sony wins this round.
Netflix? PS3 doesn’t have the online experience like Live does. Answer? get both I guess.
If they come with the PS3, I’ll buy one…
Isn’t it all about how many get sold, building a sustainable market and the like?
2,
Not yet. But it’s a coming!
http://www.google.ca/search?q=ps3+movie+downloads&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
And there is a PS3 PVR in Europe now.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=ps3+pvr&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
I don’t buy it. When I first got out of college and had a nice paycheck, I bought everything Sony. Sony laptop, PDA, camera, DVD player, video recorder, MP3 player – everything! They were all prematurely replaced/retired because every stinking one was either a lemon, a money sink, or just a POS. Call me a hater, but I am very suspicious of Sony and only have a PSP (which I do like). I’ll stick with DVD and direct download services, thank you very much — after Sony’s dragging the public through ANOTHER format war (what is that, 3 now with Betamax and Memory Sticks). Blu Ray can eat crow as far as I’m concerned. I’ll reluctantly submit and buy a PS3 as a blu ray player maybe when it becomes ubiquitous if direct download services haven’t caught up.
You didn’t mention that 20% of XBOX owners will get a Read-ring of Death within the first year, requiring a complete replacement of the machine.
So $199 may be cheap, but it’s costing Microsoft a fortune to keep them running.
I can buy a cheap Blu-Ray player for $199, but I can buy a Blu-Ray player with a built-in PS3 for $399.
Sony, will hold out all they can. When they want to dominate the market all they have to do is secretly release the information necessary to backup games, preferibly to external USB hard drives. Piracy is what makes a or breaks a game console, anything else is just wishful thinking.
I completely agree. The PS3 is a top flight media center, and i actually use it more that way than just a gaming machine. Because it can play avi, DivX and other web-friendly video codecs, you can view just about any movie downloaded from the net AS SOON AS it downloads, thanks to its terrific streaming abilities.
PSN is free. Enough said about that.
As for Netflix, if you buy a $30 lifetime sub to PlayOn, you CAN watch Netflix downloaded movies on the ps3.
There is no argument regarding reliability- its pretty clear when MS admitted to over a billion dollars in RROD losses that Sony has far more reliable hardware.
Anyone with a HDTV should own a PS3, if for its blu ray player alone. Man, does it look (and sound, if you have DD) incredible. I have people come over to the house to watch movies- ANY movies- they dont care because they look and sound so good.
Well done, SN, on your math and objective logic.
I’ll close with this: in 3 years, i will be perfectly happy with my forward-looking ps3. I’m not sure sure those with Xbox’s will be able to say the same.
The part of the arguement that it has a built in Blu-Ray player is valid only as long as the potential customer has the HD screen to display the HD content on. Nielson estimates 25% of households own an HDTV, as of Dec ’08.
why does this read as a bought and payed for SONY add: using porn to get attention to boot?
I call BS – if your gonna run adds, run ADDS, don’t mask them as blog posts….
The XBox 360 upconverts DVDs and plays a lot nicer with your PC for content streaming. Adding in the cost of a live account is bogus since you can play without one. The experience on Live is far better than what Sony offers. There are far more people on Live than PSN just for the sake of a 12 million install bast of the XBox 360.
The PS3 is a great Blu-Ray player but they are about 199 for a good one now. SO get an Xbox and a Blu-Ray player for that price.
I bought a PS3 last year, pretty much solely as a blu-ray player. And in that it is truly top notch. disk load times are quick (as you could expect with all that processing power) and the picture is excellent. and the upscaling is very good, although I have dedicated DVD player that I mostly use for that.
two beefs:
(1) it runs hot, so unless your AV rack is ventilated, forget about it. mine is essentially a wood and glass box under the plasma, and I have to keep the door open when I am watching blu-ray disks. that is kind of an irritant; and
(2) the PS3 does not have an IR remote – it is bluetooth, so forget about using your universal remote with it. I have a Harmony that works everything else but the PS3. I think it was short-sighted of Sony to position this thing as a way to get blu-ray into homes in a big way, but then short it as a disk player by not including an IR pickup.
I’m not a gamer, so I don’t have a fanboy thing for the XB360 v. PS3 fight, but if you are doing comparative pricing with the XB360, don’t forget that the PS3 comes with wi-fi built in, but with the x-box you have to buy an adapter.
Criterion’s reference Blu-ray player is a PS3.
Okay here’s the storyline: Sony releases product with superior technology. Sony fails to drive down costs aggressively enough and can’t create large enough library thanks to cost of producing media. Less able, but much cheaper, technology surpasses Sony in sales. Because of cost efficiencies in cheaper competitors any price drop initiated by Sony can be more than matched by competitors.
PS3 = BluRay ~= BetaMax
(xbox360 + wii) + (video distro via inet + durability of demand for DVDS) ~= vhs
therefore
rest > sony
I recently sold my XBox360 Elite and purchased a PS3. I did so for these reasons:
1. That 360 Elite was my 4th; 3 had RROD’d.
2. I wanted a Blu-Ray Player.
3. The majority of the games I play are cross-platform.
4. Wi-fi is built in and easy to set-up. Also, surfing the Internet straight from my PS3 using a wireless keyboard and mouse is a plus.
5. Netflix on XBM SUCKS. If you’re looking to stream the movies, avoid this like the plague. The selection is terrible and very few of the big-budget films that were recently released are available in HD.
I like the PS3. Once they improve the online experience it could be a viable home entertainment system. I guess for the average consumer it is an overpriced console, but it has the potential to be a powerful home entertainment center.
As a softcore gamer, I see a lot of potential for game manufacturers changing how they sell their games (downloads) and how they can build on popular titles (episode downloads).
This could improve the development of games because they wouldn’t have to complete the whole project at once to meet deadlines for physical distribution. Instead they can build a “pilot” episode of the game and allow the players to download new episodes as they come out. Content can be added on the fly.
This works best for certain adventure games, but I think it could work for other genre’s as well.
Maybe the majority of this is already in the pipeline, but I don’t see much of it on the PS3 yet. I refuse to buy an Xbox… simply because I am not a fan of M$.
Nice pics by the way… rawrrrr!
Yeah, I don’t see why the Sony fans are so upset at the Microsoft and Xbox. The xbox has its users, and they have managed to grow that a little bit… But not much…
Sony got pwned my nintendo this generation, and that is where all your users went.
People, please, let’s just stop helping Microsoft limit our choices in the future. Buying Microsoft, has caused the collapse of one industry already. If you like the prospect of being an M$ consumer for life, then continue to buy from them, but let’s not forget what they’ve done, and are continuing to do, to the software industry. Should they monopolize the game console industry, get ready to pay through the nose for buggy poorly written and programmed games. The health of any industry is based on competition, monopolies are dangerous and damaging. Our forefathers were aware of this and made laws to prevent it, even if those laws are now circumvented by a political and judicial system that always favours those with the deepest pockets. Nintendo, M$, Sony, I hope the future is bright for all three, lord knows there’s always room for a fantastic new product regardless of who makes it.
#17,
Not in the pipline, but already available on the xbox. But thats ok, I can tell you wouldn’t care just because it has the name Microsoft on it.
I own a PS3, and don’t own a single game. It is a great media player. Even for non-gamers you can buy some, “old folks games”, online for about $10. I haven’t mentioned the good web browser and pairing with a bluetooth keyboard.
#20,
You have a bad case of Stalmanism there. Are you seeking treatment for that?
You are completely ignoring that Nintendo is by large margins the Monopoly (using your definition of Monopoly not mine) of video games. Microsoft and Sony combined dont come close to Nintendos dominance. Yet somehow, your infectious stalminism blinds you to that reality.
Oh, and Nintendo is already doing exactly as you say and have been for several year. Oh I see the problem, Nintendo lacks the word Microsoft in their name.
Yeah, you are a Microsoft haters, and you have long since forgoten why. That whole hater thing is taking over your life isnt it?
The PS3 is a great Blu-ray player, yes, but that’s all I use it for. The X-box 360 offers the superior gaming experience.
Rubbish, the ps3 that is
the xbox can play mpeg 4 dvix xvid h.264 wmv. most of the popular codecs. So it just as much a media centre.
Of most cross platform games the xbox pwns the ps3. People have woke up to the rubbish of ps3.
Untapped potential, my arse.
The ps3 had chance to better, but with it crippled eib bus taking quite a number cycles to communicate to each other. Other than that you must remember that cell is only good for some type calculations (mostly graphical). The cell looks like it was built to take up the slack of the rsx gpu. It well documented that the Xenos beats the rsx hands down. The cell is what is, mostly like dsp rather than cpu.
I think the main problem with the ps3 it silly hardware. Why bother learning a new system architecture when you write on well documented and tested hardware that’s been around for years.
You might like to know that most ps3 games barely reach 720p hardly none are 1080p. Some xbox games have 40% more pixles than the ps3.
I think sony has had its day. You know there desperate when they appear on cheepo uk shopping channel.
Dvorak was right.
Good rid ans to bad rubbish.
Sony rubbish like no other.
#21 – that’s right… again, not a M$ fan. I have a Wii as well. Two out of three isn’t bad.
Aren’t you ignoring the most important thing about a gaming system to most gamers: the games. Sony’s biggest weakness and the thing holding it back more than anything else is its utter lack of good exclusive titles.
#27,
Please explain the success of the wii then…
Sonystyle has a promo for $249 for a PS3 if you get a credit card from them. Order by Monday for Xmas delivery.
#28
I would argue that the Wii surpasses Sony in this area. Only recently has Sony really put forward any exclusive games that one might consider “must owns.” In addition, the Wii has (at least until recently) been much cheaper and it has the multiplayer party appeal, which Sony still lacks.
Let me put it to you this way, if you want to play Metroid, Mario, Zelda, or Super Smash Brothers, you can only play them on the Wii. If you want to play the vast majority of Sony’s lineup, you could just as easily play those games on the 360 which has far more good exclusive titles and continues to take exclusives away from the PS3.
@27,28: I Agree with Tooki. Main failure of PS3 is lack of good games.
As for Wii, they properly took the market share Xbox and PS3 left behind – casual gamers. People who are not much into gaming. Than they made perfect games for those particular people. Trivial for hard core gamers but perfect for that segment of population, which have turned out to be large. So, Wii has plenty of titles for people who want Wii. However, people impressed with PS3 technology want impressive games which have failed to realize.