Don't buy that Playstation!

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Will history repeat itself? ;)

Pop quiz time, readers. Guess what product a Salon author was referring to in the following quotes:

"Whether or not Sony was sincere in its claim that a supply crisis led it to cut its initial shipments ... there's little question that the corporation was successful in the arena of hype marketing. Lines of obsessed PlayStation fans were a news staple ..."
"Don't get me wrong; it's definitely the most powerful video-game machine on the planet right now. But that's not enough. ... There's just not much software available that can take advantage of it."
"Sony is also under the mistaken impression that including the ability to play ... movies is a huge selling point. ... I'd rather pay less and get a machine that just plays games instead."

If you guessed the PS3, you'd be wrong. No, the October 2000 column that the above quotes come from was talking about the then-recent launch of the PlayStation 2. Careful readers might remember the PS2 as the system that went on to sell over 115 million units worldwide and dominate the console market for the better part of the decade. At the time, though, Salon recommended hardcore gamers opt for the cheaper, easier-to-develop-for Dreamcast and wait on the PS2 for the time being.

Why are we posting this? Mainly because it's always fun to point out just how different media opinion and popular opinion can be, but also as a way of tempering the gloomy predictions that are still surrounding the PS3 nearly five months after its launch. Remember, Sony has come back from negative media attention before, and there's still a chance it could do it again.
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It costs too much. The game library is pitiful. It’s hard to program for, rendering its technical superiority useless. As a home media player it’s pointless, even with a new media format. It’s “not the revolutionary device that Sony’s marketing department would have you believe.” No matter how you slice it, Sony’s got a flop on its hands. So says Salon on one of Sony’s biggest gaming ventures to date.

But they’re not talking about the Playstation 3. Salon’s talking about the PS2. That would be the same PS2 that went on to sell over 115 million units over seven years, dominate the video game industry, and push console games into the mainstream like never before.
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In comparison, the Sega Dreamcast sells for $149 and has a giant library of games already available. Sega also has an online game network, Seganet. The Dreamcast comes with a built-in 56K modem and Sega will soon release a broadband (cable/DSL) adapter for it. (The PS2 does not ship with a modem.) Sega is banking on the appeal of multiplayer online gaming, even going so far as to rebate the entire cost of a Dreamcast to players who sign up for Seganet. And for the first time ever we actually have cross-platform online gaming -- Seganet lets Dreamcast players compete against PC players in games like Quake 3. Sony, on the other hand, is promising online gaming later on but currently has nothing to offer purchasers of the PS2.
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The real wild card here, though, is Microsoft, which plans to release its X-Box game system next year. The X-Box will have even more powerful hardware than the PS2, and Microsoft has the marketing muscle and rapport with developers to do the PS2 real damage. Unlike Sony, Microsoft is taking great pains to make sure the X-Box is easy to make games for -- developers will also be able to easily port games from the PC to the X-Box, thus insuring a huge supply of games.
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http://archive.salon.com/tech/log/2000/10/27/playstation_rant/index.html
 
*cough* *cough*

A thread just above yours slumps the historical fact big time for now...
 
So the Xbox which it outselling the PS3 virtually worldwide is a wildcard?

Never mind the Wii which is hammering both the 360 and PS3... Yeah there are similarities but this time around Sony can't afford to wait it out.
 
Japanese Console Hardware Chart
From: Mar 26 - Apr 1, 2007

System Units Sold Total Sold (Current Year)
Nintendo DS Lite 79,897 -1,928,805
Wii 51,365 -1,041,975
PSP 39,077 -684,551
PlayStation 2 17,787 -258,701
PlayStation 3 16,889 -353,823
Xbox 360 3,889 -79,013
GameBoy Advance SP 609 -13,204
GameBoy Micro 588 -15,802
GameCube 205 -5,514
Nintendo DS 115 -1,486
GameBoy Advance -9 505

http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten.htm
 
Quick question.
If the PS3 was the same price as 360,what would you choose?
I would get the ps3 in a heartbeat!
I own all consoles except ps3(price)

Microsofts domination is a threat as big as global warming.
Think about it, i want ps3 and wii to deliver good solid competition.
 
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i have enough faith in the ps3 to have bought it, i ghot the psx, the ps2 and ps3, il never look back:)

Games are donders expensive though, thank God i aint a student:sick:
 
**twiddles finger in hair** uhh... I'm getting a PS3 when I go to London at the end of the year... **pout** it perdy... :(
 
demon angel said:
Quick question.
If the PS3 was the same price as 360,what would you choose?
I would get the ps3 in a heartbeat!
I own all consoles except ps3(price)

Microsofts domination is a threat as big as global warming.
Think about it, i want ps3 and wii to deliver good solid competition.
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If the PS3 was cheaper than the Xbox is now, I would save that extra little bit of cash and get teh 360!! I absolutely HATE SOny's "playstation". Its an ingrained hate that stems from the days when the once great Nintendo, ( I ahve ALL their consoles AND handhelds) and its market share in teh console market was decimated by Sony. When the first playstation came out, I attributed all the purchases to people just not knowing better, which is IMO still true. However since then Sony ahve become reasonable console makers. I still wont support them tho' I have NEVER played ANYTHING on a playstation. I looked at the graphics on a PS3 in a store the other day. Other than that, I will not ever TOUCH one!!!
 
demon angel said:
Quick question.
If the PS3 was the same price as 360,what would you choose?
I would get the ps3 in a heartbeat!
I own all consoles except ps3(price)

Microsofts domination is a threat as big as global warming.
Think about it, i want ps3 and wii to deliver good solid competition.
Click to expand...

If they where the same price right now I would get an Xbox 360 only because it has better games and rumble....

I want the PS3 to compete properly though before Microsoft get as arrogant as Sony...

Maybe at the end of next year after MGS4, Final Fantasy, Lair, Heavenly Sword and Ratchet are out..

Right now though there are just not enough games out.
 
Similarly, if the PS3 and 360 were the same price I'd go for the 360, simply based on it's games, and online services. Even unreleased stuff, the 360 appeals more to my taste.

But, as well, I wouldn't want Microsoft to dominate the market. Having said that, even if Sony "lost it" which I very seriously doubt they will. Nintendo is to Xbox as Apple is to PC. They out think them every time.
 
If they were the same price I'd probably have both.
 
If it were at that price ( PS3 ) then it could be the cheapest BR player in the market and you could count HD-DVD as buried.
 
Back to the first post, I came across this discussion earlier and it's very interesting - it's on Newsweek, not just some gaming site.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/leve...onday-morning-quarterback-for-april-2007.aspx

For months we've wondered if the PlayStation 3 would ever drop below the 100,000 units a month sales mark. Now that it has rather ominously dipped below that line just six months after launch, it's fair to wonder what this means for the future of the platform. It's interesting to see you invoke terms like "horrific" and "appalling" in reference to the sales, because a layman might look at the first six months of PS3 sales (1.3 million units) compared to the Xbox 360 during the same time period (1.5 million units) and wonder why we're making such a big fuss about a 200,000 unit difference.

Here's why: During the first six months the PlayStation 2 sold more than 2.1 million units. Why have almost a million early adopters of the PS2 opted to not buy a PS3 up until this point? Are they playing Wii or 360 instead? Is all of this explained by the higher price point and a slower ramp? To me the canaries in the mineshaft for this console war are the 115 million PS2 owners around the world. And right now it looks like the early adopters in that 115 million-member group are skittish on buying a PS3. Whatever pent-up demand existed for the PS3 has completely evaporated.
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I think the 1.8 firmware update and 2008 bound games will change that... not for SA though.
 
useless said:
I think the 1.8 firmware update and 2008 bound games will change that... not for SA though.
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1.8 is irrelevant. Getting some good games in mid / late 2008 will help. But will it be too little too late? If sales don't pick up, ther PS3 won't get those exclusives as developers jump ship. They make games for consoles that have been sold, not hoping to sell consoles.

The PS3 is in very real trouble at this point. The numbers are horrible. (The X-Box is considered to be doing mediocre with TWICE the sales of the PS3 last month, and PS3 sales are slowing down).
 
Irrelevant? Being at last able to play a +2000 gaming database of PS1/PS2 games? If for now there are no PS3 blockbusters it could at least keep early adopters busy!
 
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