PS3: Too soon to buy?

[womblingfree]

YOU CAN SEE MY FRICKIN HOUSE!!!

Does this have the Yamanote line? If so you can see my frickin house too!!!

[MBM]

It'll play host to more Japanese content over its lifespan than the 360 ever will.

That certainly remains to be seen. The Xbox will be getting games such as Lost Odessey, Eternal Sonata, Virtua Fighter 5, Blue Dragon, Katamari Damacy, Ace Combat 6, Infinite Undiscovery, Resident Evil 4, Devil May Cry 4, The Last Remnant, Cry-On to name a few.

Add in already released titles like Dead Rising, Earth Defence Force 3, Dead or Alive 4, Enchanted Arms, Lost Planet ect and it doesn't look like it's behind.

The problem for BOTH the PS3 and the 360 is the Wii. The Wii is selling through the roof in japan. So much that the other consoles are being removed from the stores:

Neither the Xbox 360 nor the PS3 is really anywhere to be seen. Walk in to any game retailer and you'll be presented with shelves full of DS software and accessories, with the Wii occupying a significant chunk of space off to one side.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=25103

If the PS3/360 are removed from consumer sight, they will have trouble selling. If that happens - and it IS happening - the japanese developer can choose either to develop for the Wii or look towards foreign markets. Once they do that PS3 no longer has any advantage, since 360 has sold more units.

The reason Sony had so much support from japanese developers is because they were selling well there. They don't anymore. They are dying in japan at the moment. It's Nintendos market now.

[macosx!]

Even though the 360 has more games just now, i'd easily choose the PS3 over that system because:

1) I know its not going to die on me 10 minutes after switching the machine on.

2) The build quality of the PS3 is of higher quality than the 360.

3) Its got an HDMI port.

4) Its quiet.

5) It plays PS1/2 games.

6) Its a Blu-Ray Player.

7) I can upgrade the HDD on the PS3 to my wishes and not be tied to either 20/120 gb drives.

It'll play host to more Japanese content over its lifespan than the 360 ever will.

9) Xbox/MS customer support is awful.

10) Its region free (games)!

I can't imagine how much fun it is to switch on my PS3 and marvel at all this. Kind of makes playing games unecessary.

[Isaac]

The fact of the matter is, Sony Computer Entertainment is the 4th biggest publisher of video games.

Not getting a PS3 means you are instantly missing out on lots of major exclusives, such as God of War etc etc.

Microsoft in comparison doesn't publish half the games that are published by Sony, and generally, unless a third party chooses not to release a title on both platforms (which is rare this generation apart from for games that were designed before the PS3 was released with the 360 in mind, such as Saint's Row and Dead Rising) the Xbox360 will have far fewer exclusives over it's life time.

I was doing you a favour by cutting some of those out.

Boyatsea, I don't know why you are consistently writing off games such as Ratchet and Clank and Heavenly Sword, because they look like AAA titles. Check out some footage from Gamer's Day.

[mackemansj1]

I have two of the fookers and they havent been turned on for weeks now, this system has NO games worth playing past resistence and motorstorm. And having had one since launch in japan i have rinsed both those games. If you are interested in games NOW then there is no reason to buy a ps3 imho. The online aspect just feels tacked on till they patch it and allow cross game invites cross game chat univerisal friends lists i mean ffs i cant read my messages while im in games the pad is shite once again.

[Hass]

I have two of the fookers and they havent been turned on for weeks now, this system has NO games worth playing past resistence and motorstorm. And having had one since launch in japan i have rinsed both those games. If you are interested in games NOW then there is no reason to buy a ps3 imho. The online aspect just feels tacked on till they patch it and allow cross game invites cross game chat univerisal friends lists i mean ffs i cant read my messages while im in games the pad is shite once again.

People not turning the console on is surely having a real benefit on hardware failure rate figures for Sony

[Spacehost]

The online aspect just feels tacked on till they patch it and allow cross game invites cross game chat univerisal friends lists i mean ffs i cant read my messages while im in games the pad is shite once again.

Next firmware update allows XMB access from any game. I don't get this "universal friends list" issue- I add someone to my PSN list in the XMB and if they play Motorstorm online they appear in my MotorStorm buddies automatically. Isn't that pretty universal? Or do other games force you to generate your own list?

[Boozy The Clown]

I overheard a Sony rep in my local Gamestation yesterday, he said something along the lines of ....

"Yeah, it'll be better nearer Christmas when I'll have 4 or 5 games to show you." Then he went on at length about Blu Ray disk capacity and Pro Evo 7 already at 17gb and GTA 4 being cut down to fit on DVD. He continued highlighting this advantage that the PS3 has over the 360 at length. He then proceeded to rip into the Wii, even slagging off it's "kinda stupid" name. He had nothing interesting to say about games for the PS3 at all.

[mackemansj1]

Next firmware update allows XMB access from any game. I don't get this "universal friends list" issue- I add someone to my PSN list in the XMB and if they play Motorstorm online they appear in my MotorStorm buddies automatically. Isn't that pretty universal? Or do other games force you to generate your own list?

Yep resistence for instance isnt linked to your friends list, so you have one friends list in there and one dash list its fucking stupid.

[Wickedkitten]

I overheard a Sony rep in my local Gamestation yesterday, he said something along the lines of ....

"Yeah, it'll be better nearer Christmas when I'll have 4 or 5 games to show you." Then he went on at length about Blu Ray disk capacity and Pro Evo 7 already at 17gb and GTA 4 being cut down to fit on DVD. He continued highlighting this advantage that the PS3 has over the 360 at length. He then proceeded to rip into the Wii, even slagging off it's "kinda stupid" name. He had nothing interesting to say about games for the PS3 at all.

Sounds a bit like HMV then. They seem to be really pushing it more for movies than for games.

[PopeSmokesDope]

Looking at the forum threads, the first PS3 thread I can find is 'The thread for PS3 owners' on page 2. It's near the bottom. Apart from MotorStorm and Resistance at launch, there is absolutely nothing to make me switch on my PS2. Infact the only reason I've used it is to play some PS2 games. I

MHO this is the lamest launch period for a console ever. It makes Nintendo look like EA. I'm not Sony bashing, I want good games to play on my PS3 but I wonder whether they should have waited a year to make the system a complelling purchase. It's a software wasteland out there...

It's just like any other console launch.. the Wii and £60 were the same, as weere the GC,Xbox,Ps2,PS1,DReamcast etc etc etc..

There's always going to be a fair bit of lag between the first wave of launch titles and the next wave of good games... Give it 6 months to a year and it'll improve.

Its the curse of the early adopter, you just have to be ready to accept it and deal with it.

[MK-1601]

That's not the issue here. He wasn't asking which was the better game; he was asking which was the biggest brand.

Neither was I. Just pointing out that the marketing spend for MGS3 was negligible compared to Halo 2, MGS2, most Rockstar games, etc.

[Eighthours]

The main trouble with the PS3 is that it was pitched at E3 2005 (with those phoney videos) as a machine that would blow the 360 into the middle of next week.

And it simply doesn't deliver on those promises. At the moment it's a lovely machine without any killer apps, up against a modern-day sales phenomenon in the Wii, and Halo 3.

It can't push its supposed power advantage, as at the moment it doesn't really seem to have one over the 360 at all.

[Puck]

PS3: Expensive, loaded with unecessary technology and no exclusive killer apps.

360: Live is fantastic as is the general software support. Genuine console exclusive killer apps, but shoddy hardware build means it dies if you look at it funny, which leaves owners scared to play with it.

Wii: Innovative and affordable resulting in genuine mass-market appeal, but there's nothing on it that I want to play.

Within the next 12 -18 months I expect I'll have all 3 fighting for space under my TV, (can't help it - it has ever been thus - can't bear the thought of missing out), so they had better sort all of the above. Pronto!

[ScouserInExile]

I just can't see me buying any of this gen anytime soon. I have a stack of PS2 games and a handful of XBox on GC games to get through yet and I look at just about all the games on Wii, PS3 and 360 and think "meh".

[El Pibe]

This is one of the many reasons I didn't buy a PS3.

There's nothing to play on it worth the entrance fee, for me.

That said, I don't have a Wii, either, and waited around a year for some decent games before getting a 360.

Everyone knows that it takes time for consoles to build up a good catalogue of games.

However, as much as everyone likes to shout 'Ooooooo Wii drought!' the reality is that there are loads of 3rd party games coming out for the Wii. However, people seem to like to moan about the lack of 3rd party games on Nintendo machines and then, when they arrive, completely ignore them and declare that only 1st party games now count.

Every week when I pop into Game to have a browse, there seems to be new Wii games on the shelves. This week I saw Spiderman 3, Cooking Mama, and Bust-a-Move in my quick look and there's loads more already out.

[Beertiger]

Every week when I pop into Game to have a browse, there seems to be new Wii games on the shelves. This week I saw Spiderman 3, Cooking Mama, and Bust-a-Move in my quick look.

and this is the problem, Cooking Mama is £39.99. I mean what the hell? They really needed that dual SKU for games that they sort of attempted for the DS.

[Mallet]

I just can't see me buying any of this gen anytime soon. I have a stack of PS2 games and a handful of XBox on GC games to get through yet and I look at just about all the games on Wii, PS3 and 360 and think "meh".

Same here.

I quite fancy a 360 but all the threads detailing how poor the build quality seems to be puts me off. I expect the next thng I'll buy is a DS.

[Warszawa]

and this is the problem, Cooking Mama is £39.99. I mean what the hell? They really needed that dual SKU for games that they sort of attempted for the DS.

The Cooking Mama pricing is a bit bizarre, to be honest. If RE4 is launching at £29.99, there's no reason why Cooking Mama should be a full-price game. However, Benito is right - Wii is receiving an increasing amount of support and while much of it isn't fantastic at this stage, that's nearly always the case in the early days of a console's life. What's key is that there is just about enough to keep most consumers entertained. PS2 wasn't exactly brimming with excellence at this point in its life.

[JoeK]

I don't have a burning desire to buy one just yet, but quite honestly, if Heavenly Sword, MGS4 and the new Rachett and Clank games prove to be as good as they're looking in the trailers then wild horses won't stop me from buying one.

All three of those are beginning to scream 'BUY ME NOW!!!'.

Really, really loudly.

[Xevious]

They really needed that dual SKU for games that they sort of attempted for the DS.

Absolutely - and in fact they do sort of have it, with games like Super Fruit Fall being released at £25. But Cooking Mama should have been priced lower.

The DS one is still going - Picross DS for example was released at £20, and More Brain Training will be as well.

[Xevious]

I don't have a burning desire to buy one just yet, but quite honestly, if Heavenly Sword, MGS4 and the new Rachett and Clank games prove to be as good as they're looking in the trailers then wild horses won't stop me from buying one.

All three of those are beginning to scream 'BUY ME NOW!!!'.

Why not "Buy me when I'm released, by which point the console may well have had a price cut"?

[Sprite Machine]

D'oh! of course, I completely forgot about Oblivion. I was only thinking in terms of Japanese rpgs. Nevermind.

There's Enchanted Arms, too. Is that out now?

Mind you, being multiplatform means it doesn't exist, or something.

I'm hoping Sony sort out a lot of their console's problems by this Christmas. New control pads, improved firmware, back-compatibility, online uniformity and maybe a choice of glossy white finish, all for a nice reduced price. If MGS4, Ratchet and Clank, Little Big Planet and Home are indeed released this year, it's going to be hard to resist.

[JoeK]

Why not "Buy me when I'm released, by which point the console may well have had a price cut"?

Well, I hoping that by the time these things do come out the price will have dropped!

They all seem to be 'ready when they're ready' games anyway.

[ScouserInExile]

Same here.

I quite fancy a 360 but all the threads detailing how poor the build quality seems to be puts me off. I expect the next thng I'll buy is a DS.

See, I just can justify a handheld, otherwise that'd be my next purchase as well. All of my gaming is done while How Clean Is Your Ten Years Younger Wifeswap On Diet Doctor's Big Brother's Project Catwalk Apprentice is on, and I have to leave the room while it is on...

[Spacehost]

PS3: Expensive, loaded with unecessary technology and no exclusive killer apps.

Excusing for the moment the fact that it does- mental MotorStorm refuseniks aside, there's FFXIII, MGS4 and Ico Team's next pile of awesome- I've never seen the worry over exclusives. While it's true many big PS3 titles I'm after are on 360, every 360 game I want bar Halo 3 is coming out on PS3. I'm not over concerned about missing out.

But, y'know, that's just me. I can see a current 360 owner having difficulty justifying a PS3 at all.

[Xevious]

Mind you, being multiplatform means it doesn't exist, or something.

I think the point is that multiplatform games don't sell a PS3. For people who already have a PS3 (all 5 of them) then it's great. But for everyone else:

• those who have got a 360 have no incentive to buy a PS3 to play gams that can be bought for the 360 anyway, and
  
• those who have neither have no real incentive to spend over £100 more buying a PS3 instead of a 360.
  

[Preacher]

And as far as i'm concerned, God Of War II is a PS3 game i'm playing it in HD mode.

If you honestly believe that, you're a moron.

The fact of the matter is, Sony Computer Entertainment is the 4th biggest publisher of video games.

Not getting a PS3 means you are instantly missing out on lots of major exclusives, such as God of War etc etc.

Not getting a PS3 now - which is really what we're talking about - means we miss out on what exactly? Ninja Gaiden Sigma? One game, all year? Maybe Warhawk will be good - but then again, maybe not.

Microsoft in comparison doesn't publish half the games that are published by Sony, and generally, unless a third party chooses not to release a title on both platforms (which is rare this generation apart from for games that were designed before the PS3 was released with the 360 in mind, such as Saint's Row and Dead Rising) the Xbox360 will have far fewer exclusives over it's life time.

It wouldn't matter how many exclusives PS3 played host to, it still won't be worth having till they have exclusives worth the asking price of a console plus the game in question.

Boyatsea, I don't know why you are consistently writing off games such as Ratchet and Clank and Heavenly Sword, because they look like AAA titles. Check out some footage from Gamer's Day.

Ratchet and Clank is Ratchet and Clank. Heavenly Sword's had a very troubled development cycle, and nobody's quite sure whether it'll live up to the promise of the early demo since all they keep showing is the same QTE events and arena battles, almost a year on from E3.

What you PS3-loving monkeys need to understand is that, in the first year of any console's life-cycle, there's usually fuck-all worth playing and the PS3 is no different - it just so happens that you've paid a lot, lot more money for the privelige. Now, wipe your dicks off, simmer down and shut the fuck up whilst we wait for exclusives (Fumito Ueda, FFXIII, Gran Turismo, God of War 3, Wipeout next) that will sell the console to the masses, if not us before them.

[MK-1601]

It can't push its supposed power advantage, as at the moment it doesn't really seem to have one over the 360 at all.

It's not as obvious a power advantage when it's not exploited (kind of like the PS2-Xbox1 gap). But first-party and second-gen stuff is starting to make use of the extra headroom. LBP, HS and Ratchet & Clank(?*) being standouts. I've not seen anything on the 360 that looks as slick as LBP. I can't imagine it handling HS, or the hardware-native effects (rather than the underlying game) that have been demoed of MGS4. There aren't going to be millions of games that are optimised for the PS3 like this, but the few that are will raise expectations (in the same way GT forced other PS1/2 racing game devs to raise their game in terms of visuals, and the various Xbox1 FPS games made network play a requirement rather than a nice bonus).

I think the 360 by comparison has peaked technically and that's going to become an issue (for graphics whores).

*I always get Ratchet.. and Jak... series confused. Whichever one it is that's been shown.

[Sprite Machine]

I think the point is that multiplatform games don't sell a PS3.

I think the point is that no single multiplatform game will sell a PS3. But look at it another way: if there were no multiplatform games on the PS3*, it would sell in significantly smaller numbers, so clearly they are important.

People will generally buy the console that has the most games they recognise and want, both in the present and in the future, rather than for one stand-out title**. Admitedly, for the two hi-def contenders, there's not a lot to separate them right now.

*by that I mean the removal of them, not the replacement of them with more exclusives.

**the Wii seems to be an exception, but that doesn't cost £300.