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[Musashi Wins!]

Don't get me wrong, very nice show, very excited to play Sony games etc. etc. it may very well be my primary console next gen.

But if you ask me, paying attention to game film at this point is to give too much to the least informative part of these companies presentations. The interesting part to me is to see what is stressed in the larger picture by what they talk about...and what they do not. Those clues always give more. It's never what's popular to discuss, but it's more relevant to me as a fan of the industry.

All that said...why didn't Sony wow us with more than more horsepower and sequelitis? I suppose it was a stance that accentuates the conservative, that Sony has lost nothing in the transition and comes out swinging the same but more powerful. I agree that's good enough, but it's not very evolutionary or exciting. Why didn't I hear about the online service? Why not more about the new directions of the PSP? Why not more focus on exciting new IPs or suprising developers? It was tight, predictable, and not that exciting once you quit jerking off to Killzone (it looked great, btw, I just finished myself).

Microsoft seemed to be really pushing the media center angle, online service, media sharing, pay distribution,etc. I really dislike a lot of this plan...but it's impossible to deny that it's a bit visionary and a nice complement to the games. I mean, at least there's some vision there about what the next gen could mean beyond graphics. Forget the fact how much I hate the selling content angle. Apparently today we hear that Sony wants the same fucking thing.

You know Nintendo will do something different...shit, they have to. No way their little box compares to PS3/360 power wise and that's the boring path to death for them anyway. They have to have holograms or heat sensors on your testicles, something at this point.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Maybe they figure that since they are the leaders they don't have to work as hard?

I haven't seen the conference, so I really can't comment on it personally. I am just going off of your statements and ones from others.

 

[Razoric]

Don't get me wrong, very nice show, very excited to play Sony games etc. etc. it may very well be my primary console next gen.

But if you ask me, paying attention to game film at this point is to give too much to the least informative part of these companies presentations. The interesting part to me is to see what is stressed in the larger picture by what they talk about...and what they do not. Those clues always give more. It's never what's popular to discuss, but it's more relevant to me as a fan of the industry.

All that said...why didn't Sony wow us with more than more horsepower and sequelitis? I suppose it was a stance that accentuates the conservative, that Sony has lost nothing in the transition and comes out swinging the same but more powerful. I agree that's good enough, but it's not very evolutionary or exciting. Why didn't I hear about the online service? Why not more about the new directions of the PSP? Why not more focus on exciting new IPs or suprising developers? It was tight, predictable, and not that exciting once you quit jerking off to Killzone (it looked great, btw, I just finished myself).

Microsoft seemed to be really pushing the media center angle, online service, media sharing, pay distribution,etc. I really dislike a lot of this plan...but it's impossible to deny that it's a bit visionary and a nice complement to the games. I mean, at least there's some vision there about what the next gen could mean beyond graphics. Forget the fact how much I hate the selling content angle. Apparently today we hear that Sony wants the same fucking thing.

You know Nintendo will do something different...shit, they have to. No way their little box compares to PS3/360 power wise and that's the boring path to death for them anyway. They have to have holograms or heat sensors on your testicles, something at this point.

I'm getting PS3 at launch but yes I agree with you...

So far Sony has had the best show and it's been one of the better console unveilings but it did lack innovation. Yes the graphics kicked ass, yes the system is powerful, yes you are getting sequels to my favorite games but...

What about online? Are you even thinking about it?

What about the PSP?

What about exclusive deals you've set? Megatons??

What's with the controller?

Why so many USB / etc ports? Why would we need that many at once?

What do you plan on doing with the harddrive? Why doesnt it come with it?

etc etc

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Maybe they figure that since they are the leaders they don't have to work as hard?

I haven't seen the conference, so I really can't comment on it personally. I am just going off of your statements and ones from others.

You're probably right. I guess it's just, "We will be more powerful, all your favorite games still here". Perhaps their right to just cruise with that. Not that exciting, but reassuring. GAF can hardly contain itself, so I suppose innovation or vision is not it's thing in the least.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Microsoft's support, outside of games, is WAY more developed that Sony. This really reminds me of the PS2/XBox online support situation, where Sony was promising that you would "jack into the Matrix", and Microsoft set the bar.

All flash, no support. The Media Center and Live interface, which was up and running, looks awesome. I suspect we won't see stuff like that for at least a year, if ever, on PS3.

 

[borghe]

couple things.. first, the size of Nintendo's box has nothing to do with it.. why do people keep insisting this? You can get a micro-atx system that is barely as big as the gamecube and it is like 10 times more powerful than the GCN. size doesn't matter. you can tell we are a bunch of westerners..

as for MS innovating.. Nintendo has innovated also. 64DD, Virtual Boy, connectivity, etc. and none of them caught on. you really can't go praising ms for doing something different if like you say, nothing they are doing is interesting to most people. microtransactions? I get screwed enough as it is on text messaging.. I don't need 30¢ a connection to start popping up on my CC because I am playing on an exclusive track. as far as media center.. unless it can beat my HD tivo (or beat anyone else's HD DVR) I am not seeing the big deal for the most part.

not saying any of this stuff is bad or my word is law.. just saying that wanting to do this is hardly in and of itself evolutionary. it needs to be somerthing people want. right now I don't see what MS is doing as something people necessarily want.

now if they stuck a cablecard and DVR in the unit, THAT would be innovative and impressive. IMHO

 

[SolidSnakex]

All that said...why didn't Sony wow us with more than more horsepower and sequelitis? I suppose it was a stance that accentuates the conservative, that Sony has lost nothing in the transition and comes out swinging the same but more powerful. I agree that's good enough, but it's not very evolutionary or exciting. Why didn't I hear about the online service? Why not more about the new directions of the PSP? Why not more focus on exciting new IPs or suprising developers? It was tight, predictable, and not that exciting once you quit jerking off to Killzone (it looked great, btw, I just finished myself).

Look at the general reaction to their conference which is extremely positive. Sony simply gives people what they want. And that's exactly what that conference was about. People wanted to see what the next gen would look like and that's what they got.

 

[commish]

Sony is just continuing to do what got them where they are today. MS needs to do something to separate themselves from the more-powerful PS3, so they emphasized other features and attributes. If MS had MGS4, Tekken 6, KZ2, etc etc to show off, and had a more powerful system than the PS3, I think their conference would have been different. Of course, MS has been pushing the Xbox as a media center and do-all since it's first conferences oh so many years ago.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

This is what happens whe Sony tries 'innovation':

Never ever innovate again Sony. For the love of god, stay the same forever.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

You're probably right. I guess it's just, "We will be more powerful, all your favorite games still here". Perhaps their right to just cruise with that. Not that exciting, but reassuring. GAF can hardly contain itself, so I suppose innovation or vision is not it's thing in the least.

Cruising, IMO, has always led to a companies dethrowning by the competition. You just just can't cruise, especially when MS is your competitor.

Sony better be doing their best to one up MS every which way they can.

This is what happens whe Sony tries 'innovation':

Never ever innovate again Sony. For the love of god, stay the same forever.

If they do as you ask, Sony will lose - guaranteed. Adapt or die. Sony has room for improvement. One huge thing is their online implementation. PS2 online is crap.

 

[DarienA]

It concerns me that people seem to pushing for wanting to see the same feature set online and offline out of both systems.

Why the hell would I want the same experience in both places? IF that's the case then I'd just buy ONE console and be done with it.

Each company should be playing to it's strengths... MS is software... plus they've done XBL 1.0 so I'd expect them to have a more robust feature set... but not only that the X360 is MUCH closer to launch than the PS3... people are talking about the system as if it's coming out tomorrow... we've still got what almost a YEAR before the thing comes out?

I'm sure we weren't given the full breadth and width of it's featureset... on and offline.

BTW online, how the PSP relates to the PS3 and exclusive titles were briefly mentioned all at various points during the conference.

 

[Spectral Glider]

What about online? Are you even thinking about it?

What about the PSP?

What about exclusive deals you've set? Megatons??

Did you even actually read what they said at the conference?

 

[Vieo]

Why? There wasn't a lot of hype PS3. PS2 had a TON more hype than PS3. Also everyone pretty much knows what to expect out of Sony & PS3(Cell, better graphics, gta, mgs, etc). Though, no one saw that controller coming...

 

[mr_sockochris]

I'm getting PS3 at launch but yes I agree with you...

So far Sony has had the best show and it's been one of the better console unveilings but it did lack innovation. Yes the graphics kicked ass, yes the system is powerful, yes you are getting sequels to my favorite games but...

What about online? Are you even thinking about it?

What about the PSP?

What about exclusive deals you've set? Megatons??

What's with the controller?

Why so many USB / etc ports? Why would we need that many at once?

What do you plan on doing with the harddrive? Why doesnt it come with it?

etc etc

Indeed. For a near 2hr conference, they sure left alot of things unanswered

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Look at the general reaction to their conference which is extremely positive. Sony simply gives people what they want. And that's exactly what that conference was about. People wanted to see what the next gen would look like and that's what they got.

I agree. Nothing represents the mass gamer better than Sony right now. And since I plan to become more casual myself in the spending dept., probably they will represent me. But it's boring and unimaginative and lacks vision for a new generation of hardware. I'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily. It very much represents most people in general, gaf included.

And borghe, I agree. A lot of innovation sucks. And paid content sucks. Apparently that's the part of their plan that Sony is eager to replicate. Joy for us. I think Nintendo, based on their comments and focus, will be less about power and more about banking their established IP's. I pray it's more than that, but that's probably what it's about.

 

[whytemyke]

I suppose the reason they're not is cuz they don't have to, in their eyes.

the controller design makes me sad.

 

[Razoric]

Did you even actually read what they said at the conference?

Did I miss some detailed plans somewhere? All I heard was vague mumbo jumbo. If I did miss something please enlighten me instead of being a smartass. kthx

 

[AtomicShroom]

This is what happens whe Sony tries 'innovation':

Never ever innovate again Sony. For the love of god, stay the same forever.

Man that controller is fugly! I can't believe *anyone* at Sony thinks this is appealing and good-looking. Even my dog's ass looks better than this!

But do notice the "Design and specification subject to change without notice" in the picture. Well it better change! CHANGE IT SONY! >_<

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Man that controller is fugly! I can't believe *anyone* at Sony thinks this is appealing and good-looking. Even my dog's ass looks better than this!

But do notice the "Design and specification subject to change without notice" in the picture. Well it better change! CHANGE IT SONY! >_<

Redesign GET!

Seriously though, Sony's got the name brand, the games (GTA especially), launching VERY soon after X360 (Spring 06). They're going to own again, no doubt in my mind. The games are going to see to that the most.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I agree. Nothing represents the mass gamer better than Sony right now. And since I plan to become more casual myself in the spending dept., probably they will represent me. But it's boring and unimaginative and lacks vision for a new generation of hardware. I'm not saying that's a bad thing necessarily. It very much represents most people in general, gaf included.

The point of one of these conferences is to get people interested in the games. You see something like Eyedentify which is quite original. But when its put up against stuff like FF7, Killzone 2 people just aren't going to care. Most of the public wants to see what they know first. That's how you sell a system. There's a time and a place to bring in innovation, but when you're first debuting a system you better get people pumped up for that big time. Sony knows how to do this better than anyone.

 

[seismologist]

different priorities?

Microsoft is trying to make money on Xbox Live and justify the existence of PC and Xbox.

Sony is pushing the multimedia features and interactive movies. Obviously there's some kind of media center to organize it all but that's secondary.
6 USB ports, bluetooth, all format card reader, that EYE game from Sega.
I dont see how you could miss the innovation.

 

[Razoric]

Man that controller is fugly! I can't believe *anyone* at Sony thinks this is appealing and good-looking. Even my dog's ass looks better than this!

But do notice the "Design and specification subject to change without notice" in the picture. Well it better change! CHANGE IT SONY! >_<

I dunno, its funny making fun of the controller and all (since it looks like a double headed dildo hwak hwak hwak) but I'd like to actually hold the thing or get impressions from people who've held it before demanding a change.

 

[kaching]

Is it that the PS3 unveiling was innovation free or was it that your focus was on the less innovative aspects? The hardware by itself is innovative...getting a 218 GFlop CPU into a device that's likely to start selling for less than $400 by the middle of next year is, I would think, pretty innovative. Then the things they demonstrated you could do with that CPU by itself that hint at new ways to design games. Elements like explosions which wouldn't necessarily need to be "artist rendered" any longer to achieve the desired affect. Terrain that is software rendered on the fly based on satellite imagery and LIDAR info. Much more procedurally generated options thanks to the jump in processing power.

There were the Eyetoy demos. The brief one during the duck demo that showed how much more finesse that interaction based on video interaction could achieve. Eyedentify - a combination of video processing and voice recognition.

The concept of the HD IP camera for use in personal broadcasts. A little vague about the implementation, sure, but they certainly speak a bit about it and what you could potentially do with it.

The multimedia abilities that include that ability to handle multiple streams of media from multiple sources at the same time.

Maybe innovation wasn't the primary focus of the PC, but it certainly wasn't innovation free.

 

[Nick Laslett]

I thought the Eye Toy demo was pretty spectacular.

Certainly the most exciting thing outside the hardware itself.

 

[sonycowboy]

I love how people are bashing Sony for Sequels. Yes Sequels were announced (Vision GT, DMC 4, Tekken 6, MGS 4, GTA Next), but other than Unreal Tournament 2007, what they spent time showing was quite a bit different. But it's OK that Microsoft's showing had PGR 3, EA's stuff, Perfect Dark 0, NBA 2k6, FFXI, Ghost Recon 3.

Somebody should make a list of original stuff shown on both side and see where we come out.

 

[Guy LeDouche]

I love how people are bashing Sony for Sequels. Yes Sequels were announced (Vision GT, DMC 4, Tekken 6, MGS 4, GTA Next), but other than Unreal Tournament 2007, what they spent time showing was quite a bit different. But it's OK that Microsoft's showing had PGR 3, EA's stuff, Perfect Dark 0, NBA 2k6, FFXI, Ghost Recon 3.

Somebody should make a list of original stuff shown on both side and see where we come out.

Also, who cares if most games are technically sequels anyway? New hardware = a whole new ballgame.

Would anyone seriously dismiss GTA3 as "just another case of sequelitis" after GTA1 and 2?

 

[ShadowRed]

I dunno, its funny making fun of the controller and all (since it looks like a double headed dildo hwak hwak hwak) but I'd like to actually hold the thing or get impressions from people who've held it before demanding a change.

Agreed the controler looks dangerous but it might actually feel great in your hand. Why don't we hold off judgement till we get some hands on impressions.

 

[jedimike]

IMO, Sony lacks direction. They really reminded me of Microsoft and the Xbox. They gave developers the biggest, baddest, console they could come up with... gave them a ton of ports, but forgot to tell developers what to do with it all. The console really looked rushed and I imagine the developer tools are rushed as well. I think Sony has too much on their plate right now (PSP, BR, HD market, management changes, etc.).

MS was on the other side of the fence. Developers know exactly what they are getting and they know exactly what to do with it. Almost too much direction and not enough freedom.

Nintendo - I still don't know enough about the presentation to give an insiteful comment, but it was readily apparant that changes have been made at Nintendo headquarters. These changes will definitely improve the company image.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Well, now that Nintendo are Wall Guy's bitch, it puts the innovation of the 2 other systems in a different light. Amazing.

 

[sonycowboy]

IMO, Sony lacks direction. They really reminded me of Microsoft and the Xbox. They gave developers the biggest, baddest, console they could come up with... gave them a ton of ports, but forgot to tell developers what to do with it all. The console really looked rushed and I imagine the developer tools are rushed as well. I think Sony has too much on their plate right now (PSP, BR, HD market, management changes, etc.).

MS was on the other side of the fence. Developers know exactly what they are getting and they know exactly what to do with it. Almost too much direction and not enough freedom.

Nintendo - I still don't know enough about the presentation to give an insiteful comment, but it was readily apparant that changes have been made at Nintendo headquarters. These changes will definitely improve the company image.

I have no idea what you're talking about with your first two points.

What exactly gives you the idea that Sony lacks direction? And what makes you think the developer tools were rushed? The incredibly polished demos (realtime or rendered)? The CELL has been in folks hands for a few months and the system is Open GL based, so it looks pretty developer friendly minus really getting the CELL cooking.

I just can't see your point, perhaps you could elaborate a bit.

 

[C- Warrior]

I think some of you need to realize that the PS3 isn't coming out this year like the Xbox 360 is.

That the PS3 has probably three more major tade/consumer shows to appear in before it's realeased. Compared to Xbox360 which might even be released before the next TGS show.


It's OBVIOUS PS3 will have online functionality, at the least better than what we've seen with PS2.

It's OBVIOUS Sony will create redesigns to their controller if people don't like it. Controller S anyone? If not I'm sure some 3rd party company will go old school and design a PS3 controller that looks/feels similar to the PSX/PS2 official controller.

It's OBVIOUS the PS3 will offer similar aspects to what the 360 offers. Not because they want to copy each other, but because Sony wants to take advantage of everything they have in that box, not just to play games. And if that means it can toast bread then by fucking god they will toast bread.

And ultimate thing is the games.

Call me a sequal whore, I don't give a shit.

People can be exchanging videos of themselves sucking dick over the omega-awesome LIVE, I'll be playing Metal Gear Solid 4 and Devil May Cry 4 at launch. Hmkay thx, bye!

Damn I've become a Sony bitch :lol

 

[Spectral Glider]

Did I miss some detailed plans somewhere? All I heard was vague mumbo jumbo. If I did miss something please enlighten me instead of being a smartass. kthx

Bearing in mind that it's release is a year from now:

"What about online? Are you even thinking about it?"

COMMUNICATION
--Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2)

Sony also emphasized that the PlayStation 3 would have similar online connectivity and services as the next generation of Xbox Live. Calling it "an always on, always connected device," Chatani said the PS3 would be constantly in touch with a "PlayStation World" network "fundamentally based on a on community, communication commerce, and content." He said that subscribers could "exchange unique characters and items through the network," much like Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace.

So yeah, they're thinking about.

"What about the PSP?"

As rumored, it will also have Wi-Fi connectivity to the PSP, which can be used as a remote screen and/or controller.

"What about exclusive deals you've set? Megatons??"

Next GTA is heavily rumored, probably not official yet, but I would expect it.

Would also expect one or more of the following to be exclusive:

MGS4
Tekken
DMC



"What's with the controller?"

Have you used it yet?

"Why so many USB / etc ports? Why would we need that many at once?"

So when the PS2 only has two ports, namely controller, it's bad. Now there are too many ports? I see, so more is bad now.

"What do you plan on doing with the harddrive? Why doesnt it come with it?"

Wasn't stated officially if it will come with one or not next year. Given the fact that this will also be a blu-ray player, to keep costs down, I imagine it won't come with one. Given everyone's current obsession with online play and features, obviously it will be used like the 360 drive, for lots of content storage, both downloaded and user created. Again, it's still a year off. 360 is 5 months away, what's the official use of their removable drive?

 

[Phoenix]

There is much that Sony simply doesn't HAVE to show at this point. Why? Because Microsoft is first up to bat and they will have to shoot their entire wad at E3 to be ready to go to market in what 4-6 months. If anyone HAS to show everything under the sun, its Microsoft. Nintendo is in a different situation - they have to get people to actually care that they still exists at this point. People see the next generation as a duel between Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo doesn't want to be an also ran this generation so they too have to step up their game.

The fact is, the incumbent doesn't have to be the most innovative - it doesn't have to take all of the chances. Sony could STILL at this point throw in a hard disk if they wanted (but I doubt they will), they could talk about the online features they have planned (but I doubt they will), they could talk about their entire launch lineup ( and you know they won't ). Sony has earned the 'market-right' to sit back and listen to Microsoft and Nintendo blow their wads and adapt/adjust their STRATEGIES to compete. This is the one flaw in Microsoft's strategy of 'launch first, because if we launch first and sell large numbers we'll win'. The Sony PS3 launch is an entire development cycle away from what Microsoft is talking about today. In other words, Sony could literally start development on everything Microsoft considers innovative and have time to have it ready for domestic US launch.


So - just as we knew next to nothing about what Sony had planned for the PS3 because they didn't need to tell anyone, so too will we know next to nothing about their strategies going into 2006 until they are ready to tell us.

 

[trmas]

Let's get real here. If you want online, the 360 has it in spades. However, the BC is a mess, the console just isn't as powerful as Sony's, and it has no next-generation movie playing capability.

Sony has the more powerful hardware, more games and developers, and all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth, built-in WiFi, BRD drive, BC, etc... The box is simply feature packed. At this point, the only thing Sony trails in is online service. We just don't know what Sony is doing online, and there is a good chance it won't be as good as Live is. It just won't.

However, since I could care less about online, I will be picking up a PS3 next Spring. Plenty of incredible games coming for the Cube, PS2, and XBox this X-Mas to keep me (and many other casual gamers) from taking the leap.

XBox will only have a 4-6 month head start, instead of the year they planned. That is absolutely huge.

 

[jedimike]

I have no idea what you're talking about with your first two points.

What exactly gives you the idea that Sony lacks direction? And what makes you think the developer tools were rushed? The incredibly polished demos (realtime or rendered)? The CELL has been in folks hands for a few months and the system is Open GL based, so it looks pretty developer friendly minus really getting the CELL cooking.

I just can't see your point, perhaps you could elaborate a bit.

Here's why I think Sony lacks direction. They wasted a lot of money and resources on redundancy. With the 360, you can use all the same media you can with PS3 (except Blu-Ray of course)... but you just plug the device into the usb port. You can hook up a PSP to 360 (Duo Pro), a compact flash or sd into 360 (via MP3 player or digital camera). Why have 3 rj45 connectors? You only need one. Especially with built-in wireless. Why 2 HDMI's? Why is the HD optional? IMO, it seems like Sony wasn't exactly sure what direction they wanted to take PS3, so they just went in all directions.

edit: the console design also screams lack of vision/direction. Spiderman fonts, Batman controllers?

I forsee a hard drive packed in with Sony Linux, being marketed as a home computer. Cool idea... but Sony always has these grand ideas and never follows through.

Personally, I like MS's approach at having the PC at the center and the 360 as an extension. The vision is clear.

 

[DarienA]

Why have 3 rj45 connectors? You only need one.

Well we don't exactly know why it has multiple RJ45 connectors yet... is it suppose to function as some type of hub or router device for other ethernet capable devices? We don't know yet.

Why 2 HDMI's?

To power two displays at once... though this one is the one I'm curious to see really ends up being supported.

Why is the HD optional?

This I at least agree with.

IMO, it seems like Sony wasn't exactly sure what direction they wanted to take PS3, so they just went in all directions.

edit: the console design also screams lack of vision/direction. Spiderman fonts, Batman controllers?

Simply put I disagree... it's simply a different focus for a similiar vision...Sony is not going to make a Windows OS PC the center of their entertainment hub vision... for what I think are obvious reasons, so the

 

[ram]

Don't get me wrong, very nice show, very excited to play Sony games etc. etc. it may very well be my primary console next gen.

But if you ask me, paying attention to game film at this point is to give too much to the least informative part of these companies presentations. The interesting part to me is to see what is stressed in the larger picture by what they talk about...and what they do not. Those clues always give more. It's never what's popular to discuss, but it's more relevant to me as a fan of the industry.

All that said...why didn't Sony wow us with more than more horsepower and sequelitis? I suppose it was a stance that accentuates the conservative, that Sony has lost nothing in the transition and comes out swinging the same but more powerful. I agree that's good enough, but it's not very evolutionary or exciting. Why didn't I hear about the online service? Why not more about the new directions of the PSP? Why not more focus on exciting new IPs or suprising developers? It was tight, predictable, and not that exciting once you quit jerking off to Killzone (it looked great, btw, I just finished myself).

Microsoft seemed to be really pushing the media center angle, online service, media sharing, pay distribution,etc. I really dislike a lot of this plan...but it's impossible to deny that it's a bit visionary and a nice complement to the games. I mean, at least there's some vision there about what the next gen could mean beyond graphics. Forget the fact how much I hate the selling content angle. Apparently today we hear that Sony wants the same fucking thing.

You know Nintendo will do something different...shit, they have to. No way their little box compares to PS3/360 power wise and that's the boring path to death for them anyway. They have to have holograms or heat sensors on your testicles, something at this point.

dont forget that there will be the tokyo game show. you can count on it, that tehre will be more intresting unveilings also many xbox360 games will make a later apperance on ps3 (just like it was with th eps2 back then).

 

[sonycowboy]

Here's why I think Sony lacks direction. They wasted a lot of money and resources on redundancy. With the 360, you can use all the same media you can with PS3 (except Blu-Ray of course)... but you just plug the device into the usb port. You can hook up a PSP to 360 (Duo Pro), a compact flash or sd into 360 (via MP3 player or digital camera). Why have 3 rj45 connectors? You only need one. Especially with built-in wireless. Why 2 HDMI's? Why is the HD optional? IMO, it seems like Sony wasn't exactly sure what direction they wanted to take PS3, so they just went in all directions.

edit: the console design also screams lack of vision/direction. Spiderman fonts, Batman controllers?

I forsee a hard drive packed in with Sony Linux, being marketed as a home computer. Cool idea... but Sony always has these grand ideas and never follows through.

Personally, I like MS's approach at having the PC at the center and the 360 as an extension. The vision is clear.

I think you're missing Sony's point. They're saying, you don't need a media center PC, or all those extra connectors, software, etc. You could certainly imagine putting your digital cameras memory card into the PS3 and immediately showing it to all of your family, no PC involved. Same thing with MP3's. Also, you can access your PS3 from anywhere according to Sony, so it can be a digital hub to show to your family anywhere anytime either using a PC or your PSP even.

Sure it'll be a MUCH SIMPLER implementation than what PC's can offer, but maybe that's what they're going for. Simplicity.

Plus, how much does a media center PC cost and who has them? And what about those of us with Macs?

 

[sonycowboy]

Well we don't exactly know why it has multiple RJ45 connectors yet... is it suppose to function as some type of hub or router device for other ethernet capable devices? We don't know yet.

1 RJ-45 is an input and the other 2 are outputs. In the Press Conference they said the PS3 is an ethernet hub. With many of the cable/DSL modems having built-in routers, this will just ease the ability to have a variety of networked devices in your home.

 

[vangace]

Let's get real here. If you want online, the 360 has it in spades. However, the BC is a mess, the console just isn't as powerful as Sony's, and it has no next-generation movie playing capability.

Sony has the more powerful hardware, more games and developers, and all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth, built-in WiFi, BRD drive, BC, etc... The box is simply feature packed. At this point, the only thing Sony trails in is online service. We just don't know what Sony is doing online, and there is a good chance it won't be as good as Live is. It just won't.

However, since I could care less about online, I will be picking up a PS3 next Spring. Plenty of incredible games coming for the Cube, PS2, and XBox this X-Mas to keep me (and many other casual gamers) from taking the leap.

XBox will only have a 4-6 month head start, instead of the year they planned. That is absolutely huge.

What a bunch of BS, look MS is not stupid, this past generation they are the ones who had the most powerful console but they paid a price for it. Their cost structure was fucked up and the result is they did not make any money. One thing they realized is that for all the hardware prowess the xbox had, only a few developers were able to take full advantage of it. On the other hand Sony realized that PS2 was somewhat underpowered compared to the xbox and that helped MS to grab some market share from Sony. In the end, is there going to be a big difference between the 360 and the ps3 in terms of perfomance to justify the additional cost, i doubt that.

From my opinion, the deciding factor is going to be marketing and advertising. Remember the average buy of an console does not know anything nor do they care much about how much ram or clock speed each console has. Its only us the fanboys who talk about this shit. So hype created through advertising would be the deciding factor in the end.

 

[jedimike]

I think you're missing Sony's point. They're saying, you don't need a media center PC, or all those extra connectors, software, etc. You could certainly imagine putting your digital cameras memory card into the PS3 and immediately showing it to all of your family, no PC involved. Same thing with MP3's. Also, you can access your PS3 from anywhere according to Sony, so it can be a digital hub to show to your family anywhere anytime either using a PC or your PSP even.

Sure it'll be a MUCH SIMPLER implementation than what PC's can offer, but maybe that's what they're going for. Simplicity.

Plus, how much does a media center PC cost and who has them? And what about those of us with Macs?

uhh... you don't need a media center PC. You can view photos and listen to music on 360 by streaming off of a computer with any flavor of XP. However, if that is too complicated, you can just plug your MP3 player or digital camera into the 360 via the USB ports and do the same thing.... just like PS3. Sony advantage = none

 

[jedimike]

1 RJ-45 is an input and the other 2 are outputs. In the Press Conference they said the PS3 is an ethernet hub. With many of the cable/DSL modems having built-in routers, this will just ease the ability to have a variety of networked devices in your home.

I can't really envision any situation where this would become convenient or even necessary. You have your cable or DSL modem. Most people will run the modem into a wireless or wired router. If I wanted to go from my modem into PS3, then I would need to buy extra IP adresses because the PS3 is just a hub... not a router. Also, typically the computer and TV are not in the same room... so why run cable from modem to PS3 and then back to computer?

So you're saying forget the PC... the extra ports are for your TiVo or whatever devices come out on the market. That still takes me back to step 1, where I need to buy extra IP adresses.

The RJ45 ports are an unecessary... especially when wireless routers can typically be purchased for FAR (free after rebate). Same with wireless usb adapters.

 

[kaching]

Here's why I think Sony lacks direction. They wasted a lot of money and resources on redundancy.

The cost of that redundancy is probably a pittance compared to the main components in the PS3 - CPU, GPU, High bandwidth system memory, etc. Sony's goals have always been clear with the Playstation products - to continually strive towards multimedia convergence with an emphasis on the gaming aspect. The redundancy is a means to an end, providing additional flexibility in the achievement of further convergence. The cost they pay up front to allow this through redundancy is probably far outweighed by the opportunities it opens up for consumer convenience, hence helping to justify a sale to the consumer and hence helping Sony to sell their product.

 

[DopeyFish]

this is exactly where Sony/MS are clashing.

Sony wants to converge computers/entertainment into a single medium and network it throughout the house. So it's like the PS3 will be the home datacenter or something.

With Xbox 360, Microsoft believes while some things should converge, some things shouldn't (like web browsing, etc) Would users be more inclined to touch up their photos on the TV? or on the PC? Why not let them touch it up on the pc, then view it back on the tv? There's things that are really meant for PC only use, and somethings are meant for TV use. Total convergance just doesn't make that much sense.

 

[jedimike]

The redundancy is a means to an end, providing additional flexibility in the achievement of further convergence. The cost they pay up front to allow this through redundancy is probably far outweighed by the opportunities it opens up for consumer convenience, hence helping to justify a sale to the consumer and hence helping Sony to sell their product.

My point is that 360 offers just as much consumer convience without all of the redundancy. And yes, the costs of adding all those ports is small... but they do take up monetary resources as well as valuable real estate on the console itself. The PS3 is bigger than Xbox.

 

[seismologist]

I think Sony has a clear vision. After all, theyre pretty much driving the home entertainment market right now.
I'm sure there's a reason behind the multiple ports. Cell is a multimedia processor so you can probably stream data from alot of different sources at the same time.

 

[Dragmire]

I am not at all happy with the same controller and crap from Sony for their third system straight (not even including the PSP). Not a good industry leader at all. At least when Nintendo monopolized it, there was still a ton of interesting innovations. And I'm talking about games. I've already got a computer where I can do PS3's 'innovations'.

 

[kaching]

My point is that 360 offers just as much consumer convience without all of the redundancy. And yes, the costs of adding all those ports is small... but they do take up monetary resources as well as valuable real estate on the console itself. The PS3 is bigger than Xbox.

But offering fewer ways in which to do the same things *doesn't* offer as much convenience. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with how 360 allows you to do the same things, but its not equally convenient. And I think the size comparisons have been flawed - IGN seems to have faulty numbers on the dimensions of the PS3 since pictorial comparisons based on matching the size the disc trays/slots seems to indicate the PS3 is smaller than the Xbox and the 360.

More USB ports means I can keep more devices hooked up at once - Eyetoy, force feedback wheel, keyboard, digital camera, mp3 player. Alternatively, if I don't have enough USB cables to go around or just want to reduce the wire clutter, i can just put the flash media from my digital camera in the appropriate slot. Flash media is extremely convenient to have for a number of reasons beyond strict use in a digital camera, its highly portable and many already own at least one card these three formats, allowing content to be swapped between a number of different devices without necessarily having a network or other way of connecting them available.

Whether or not you think more people would prefer to just buy a standalone router than use the PS3 as a hub doesn't change the fact that it gives them the option, as well as being useful for LAN gaming.

As for the second HDMI port, it's simply an extension of the GPU's power. It can paint two separate 1080p displays, so unless you're suggesting they downgrade the capability of the GPU itself, not including the second HDMI output for device capable of displaying on two screens at once just to save a couple of bucks in cost is a great way to hobble the much greater investment in the GPU itself.

 

[jedimike]

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the way Sony is doing things either. I was just backing up my statement that the PS3 has a lack of direction. I still feel that way... it just seems chaotic.

Yah... it's cool that I can have 7 usb devices, 2 tv's, 3 ethernet devices, 7 bluetooth devices and a couple flash cards all hooked up at once... but why would you want to?

I feel like Sony is coming into my living room with brute force while MS is finessing there way in.

It just reminds me of why people hated Xbox... loud, brash, big, hype machine. Is it a hypocritical view... somewhat, but I think I want subtle and smooth this time.

I'll make my decision on whether to get PS3 or not when I have more info. Right now, I'm impressed, just not blown away with what they are offering.

 

[kaching]

So do you consider a modern PC lacking in direction? I'm not clear on the logic behind the suggestion that giving an extremely powerful computing device fewer I/O options is somehow a better direction for said device. Looking at the PS3 head-on, you wouldn't even know what half of the I/O options are without doing some exploration, so I'd say the "chaos" of this approach is held well in check, and nothing is entering your living room by brute force that you don't choose to use yourself.