The PlayStation 3 Thread!

[Apollo Leader]

Guess I should start the PS3 thread since Sony's uber system comes out in just two months two.

Constant delays (no spring 2006 launch and now Europe won't see the PS3 until at least March 2007 - I had a strong suspicion earlier this year that one or more major markets wouldn't see the PS3 in 2006), major production shortages (400,000 for the US launch and only 100,000 in Japan), accusations of ripping off other people's ideas and products (Sony giving their controller similar motion sensitivity as Ninento's Wii-mote), a less then steller E3, and major titles that were highlighted at last year's E3 (as movies) are MIA today (Killzone 2), and then of course there is the price tag(s) which is quite expensive (for a game system - sorry Sony, the huge number of people buying this system are buying it because it's a game system, not some sort of Swiss Knife entertainment PC). Of course we know of all the horror stories of people's PS1 and PS2's going bad so what should we expect from this?

But even with all the negative buzz, this system will be the most powerful in the world, should be able to play virtually your whole PS1 and 2 libraries, play Blu-Ray movies, and will have a lot of third party support right off the bat. And though it is expensive (for a game system), there is no denying that you will get a lot of bang for your buck.

So who's thinking of getting one at launch or in the next 12 months?

[Radd]

I dunno, the more I've seen of every game other than the MGS4 footage, it seems that the PS3 will not be that much more impressive than the 360, and that the price tag is mainly due to Sony trying to use the PS3 to push Bluray into households.

If Sony maintains their commanding lead of the industry, and in doing so their lion's share of the developer support, I'll get one eventually, but given the price and how little home console gaming I tend to do...I imagine the PS4 will be in the news by the time that happens.

Especially given that I've seen so many PSXs and PS2s die after a relatively short time, think I'll wait to make certain the same will not be said for this and its $600 price tag.

[bandit29]

With the price, too many sequels and Sony's history of dying consoles(even though my launch PS2 still works)I'm not buying a PS3 for quite awhile. Besides I have plenty of PS2 games to play as it is.

[Phyrox]

Since I don't do as much console gaming as I used to, I'll hold off for a bit. But I'll be getting one within a year I imagine.

And I've never seen any statistics suggesting Sonys break more frequently than any other system. Just more people have Sonys to break and whine about on the internet.

My PS1 never gave me any trouble, and my launch PS2 is still truckin'.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Phyrox

[bandit29]

Well looks like games are going to be 60.00...and DMC4 is a launch title

Devil May Cry 4

Could change I suppose.

[Penguin]

Three words: Gran Turismo Five

When that comes out, a PS3 will be mine. 'Til then... meh.

... okay, if a 3rd Guitar Hero is on the PS3, that'll be tempting too... or a Star Wars Battlefront 3...

[David Hingtgen]

I have more hours on my PS2 than probably my SNES/XB/N64/GC all-time combined, yet will wait. $600 is a lot of money, especially when there's not a single game I need yet. I'll agree with basically whatever anyone says along the lines of "it's so expensive because they're forcing Blu-Ray down our throats".

PS2 w/DVD worked because everyone wanted a DVD player, and was a lot of people's first DVD player. Being at BestBuy on launch day confirmed that. I think "The Matrix" out-sold any PS2 *game* that day.

[Gaijin]

A PS3 will be mine on launch day.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Gaijin

[Chowser]

I hate to admit this, but I have a PS3 waiting at launch. I've already set the $$ aside for it.

There is no launch game I want, so I don't know why I have it preordered.

I waited till March 2006 to get the 360, so I might cancel my order and spend the $$ on Macross goodies instead.

[Radd]

And I've never seen any statistics suggesting Sonys break more frequently than any other system. Just more people have Sonys to break and whine about on the internet.

My PS1 never gave me any trouble, and my launch PS2 is still truckin'.

Er, there have been enough problems with Sony's poorly designed hardware as to spark two seperate lawsuits over the matter. I believe Sony lost the first lawsuit, and settled on the second. The problems have to do with the internal layout and cheap materials used in the design of the units. The PSX primarily suffered from an overheating problem, while the PS2 faced a couple different 'disc read' errors. One because of a faulty laser alignment mechanism (this is limited to the earliest PS2s) and the second had to do with the amount of voltage to the laser itself. These issues are well known and documented.

On a more anecdotal level, all of my friends have multiple game consoles. Out of all these friends, none of them has had to replace any console except for their Sony consoles, and in many cases those they've had to replace multiple times.

[Roy Focker]

Let's see for $600 I could by...

Well a lot of stuff.

Maybe after a year if drops to $300 I'll buy it. Right now $600 is a lot of money and there are several other things which I might need to use it for.

[JB0]

I have more hours on my PS2 than probably my SNES/XB/N64/GC all-time combined, yet will wait. $600 is a lot of money, especially when there's not a single game I need yet. I'll agree with basically whatever anyone says along the lines of "it's so expensive because they're forcing Blu-Ray down our throats".

Same here, save the last sentence.

I don't know about actual hours on Sony systems, but my PS1 library is signifigantly larger than everything but my 2600 and 99/4a libraries.

My PS2 library isn't exactly dwarfing anything, but it IS larger than any of my other current-gen libraries.

But I think the PS3's price tag issue extends beyond BluRay(though it's certainly PART of the issue). Remember, MS is taking a loss on their 400$ DVD-only system.

HD gaming just isn't mass-market affordable yet without feature sacrifices that MS and Sony don't want to make. The silicon is just too high on the ladder for a reasonably-priced console.

[David Hingtgen]

A big part of the reason my PS2 has so many hours, is because it plays all my PS1 games. Despite what some MS execs may believe, I play a LOT of my old games. Their argument seems to be "who would play NFL 2K1 when NFL 2K6 is out?" Of course. Nobody. But there are other games besides sports games that aren't simply "yearly updates" to the same game. And my library is 99% those "other" games. There's no "new version" of Jet Set Radio Future. Or Panzer Dragoon Orta. They could easily NEVER have a sequel, and be the last of their franchise. And just because there's a new version, doesn't mean it's better. See KoToR.

Yet I can play Xenogears, CV:SOTN and FF Tactics forever, and will be playing them on my PS3, since it's backwards compatible.

There's many PSX games that I have only ever played on my PS2, due to PSX games continuing to come out. Valk Profile was possibly my last "PSX" game as I know I played FF9 and Chrono Cross on PS2. And I'm sure there will be PS2 games I buy new and play for the first time on a PS3. Not so with the 360.

[Ishimaru]

Why can't Sony just make their PS3 with a DVD drive?

I'm sure PS3 games will be able to fit into a 1/2 layer DVD.

If Blue Ray was cut then maybe the price would be reasonable.

[David Hingtgen]

And even if they don't, most of us are used to 4-disc games from the PSX era, and there's several multi-disc PS2 games. Most people don't mind swapping discs when it's only once or twice during an entire play-through.

[JB0]

Why can't Sony just make their PS3 with a DVD drive?

I'm sure PS3 games will be able to fit into a 1/2 layer DVD.

If Blue Ray was cut then maybe the price would be reasonable.

Sony's argument is that BluRay's capacity will be needed for hi-def games down the line, similar to how the first-year PS2 games were all CD-ROM, but now fill a (single-layer) DVD.

More likely, they just want a headstart on market integration of BluRay.

A 600$ movie player, HD or not, isn't viable. If they can move the PS3 though(And according to SCEEurope, they could sell the PS3 with no software just because of the Playstation name, so they don't see a problem), they win the HD format war before it ever really starts.

But like I said, BluRay is only PART of the price.

The "Cell" processor is an absurdly expensive part too. And from what I've heard, their graphics processor ain't exactly cheap(though it may be next to Cell and the BD-ROM drive). Scrapping the drive may shave 50 bucks off, but it still won't be cheap.

What it WOULD help is yield. Their current yield limiter is the blue laser diodes used in the BD-ROM. They have a lot of difficulty making those.

[Eternal_D]

can I ask how are some of you securing yours if you want it on launch date? I'm not one to wait 2 days before launch date in line to waste all that time waiting for a system.

[JB0]

can I ask how are some of you securing yours if you want it on launch date? I'm not one to wait 2 days before launch date in line to waste all that time waiting for a system.

Pre-order and pray, I assume.

With only 400,000 in the entire US, and previous eBay fiascos indicating a possible worth of thousands of dollars, I don't see very many people getting them. Certainly not everyone planning on it.

[Skullsixx]

As soon as they have a kick ass Macross PS3 game... I'm in!!! Actually, I'll probably buy one before that, but not the second they hit the stores. I'll probably get one by summer 2007.

[TSP]

I grab myself a Wii. Sony stil earns money with Wii virtual console MSX. Sony tried everything to demoralize me to preorder a PS3 . The score really big after the anouncement of the HD resolution/unstable FPS trouble in almost every game eccept Gran Tourismo HD The presentations at Games Convention 2006 can only be descibed as bad joke. The price doesn't suit the rationalized components mass production model. The plastics used for outer shell/cover looks very cheap and fragile. Start line up titels aren't very interesting. The Console has a magic gate licence enabled Card reader port. But you need to spend an other 30Euros for a device if you want to use your PS2 memory card. The Pads don"t have the rumble feature because they stil haven't paid for the patent. . I'm very dissapointed in Sonys new R&D, marketing. If they don't change their policy they will play on the third place.

[chrono]

More likely, they just want a headstart on market integration of BluRay.

Pretty much and the developers more then helped by drooling over the larger capcities.

I'll wait awhile mainly because we've not seen much of any real games. Sure I'd love to have the one title, but for only one game.... And throw in the annoying fact that Sony's aiming for online gaming also, which I don't have the broadband for and have little interest in...

Well right now I'm in Wait & See mode.

[Fort Max]

Metal Gear 4 is the one and only must have game for me but I won't pay $600 to play it.

I may even just rent a machine when that game comes out in the UK.

[CoryHolmes]

I think Microsoft had the right idea when they made their 360 with current-gen DVD technology. They're going to be selling an HD-DVD plug-in drive in the near future so people can use that. If the HD-DVD thing tanks and Blu-Ray takes off, Microsoft can easily manufacture a Blu-Ray disc drive just as easily as an HD-DVD.

Sony, on the other hand, is gambling quite heavily that Blu-Ray will win the format war. If it doesn't, then people aren't going to be buying it for that reason and Sony will lose out on a big chunk of their expected customers.

[bandit29]

Here's a surprise lol

Consumers not impressed with DVD formats

This whole next gen thing gets a big "meh" from me. I haven't seen anything(especially from the PS3 camp) that is a must buy.

[Macross73]

i'm gonna sit back, wait and see happens and then maybe I'll buy one.

I havent finished or for that matter even started a bunch of games for the PS2.

It will probably be a year or more before I buy one, though it could be earlier

depending on what happpens.

[Hikuro]

Sadly I've pretty much lost interest in the PS3......it's far to expensive for my tastes, even the "cheap" version is to spendy.....I had a hard time just coming up with the cash to do the 360.....and ended up spending nearly 5 times the amount I wanted too when that system came out.

[DeathHammer]

For 600, you could buy a brand new computer. And if you dig around some and find a good deal, it doesn't mean it would be a POS either. And for alot of people, if you look, and not even look that hard, you can find all kinds of PC games, even the newer ones, virtually for free. And PCs do all kinds of other things besides play games.

To me, from my perspective, I'd want to know what would be the upside in getting a PS3 over just getting a new PC if I am going to spend that kind of money. The ability to play movie discs in a format that hasn't proven it's longevity yet? Play a few big ticket titles that I can't get on PC?

[Mechafan]

PS2 w/DVD worked because everyone wanted a DVD player, and was a lot of people's first DVD player. Being at BestBuy on launch day confirmed that. I think "The Matrix" out-sold any PS2 *game* that day.

That is the main reason I bought a PS2 for the DVD playback and it was my first DVD player.

I have a Xbox 360 now so I can wait for a PS3 Price drop. It is funny on the PS3 site they do not show you that they drowngraded speed of the RSX. The RSX, previously scheduled to run at 550/700 core/memory has been realigned with expectations and the value chain at 500/650. The 2 Systems should be pretty even. Now it is all about the games.

[Gaijin]

Virtua Fighter 5 playable and perfect? I'm there.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3153688

The new PS3 Virtua Stick :

Edited September 15, 2006 by Gaijin

[Gaijin]

More VF3 PS3 pics:

[Gaijin]

Hmmm...Fatal Inertia looked pretty crappy at E3. New screens from the latest version look much improved.

If these show up as is at TGS I'll be impressed with the turn around on this one.:

[Skullsixx]

Holy Frak!!! Ok... I'm gettin' one!!!

[bandit29]

Some Devil May Cry 4 pics

Dante is not the main character. Nero is, who looks like him....

http://www.capcom.co.jp/devil4/

[CoryHolmes]

While these look pretty, I'm going to wait and see some demos in action before I sing the praises of the PS3. We all know how Sony likes to market their products.

[jenius]

While these look pretty, I'm going to wait and see some demos in action before I sing the praises of the PS3. We all know how Sony likes to market their products.

My thoughts exactly and honestly, like many others on these boards I'm sure, my time to play games has been so limited that there are still tons of PS2 games I want to get to but haven't. As a result, I'm pretty confident I can spend the next year getting caught up on cool PS2 games I meant to play while the PS3 builds its library and drops in price.