Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Poemer]

After my X-box started acting up on me only a year after buying it while my PSX was still chugging away after years of trouble free service (and not being a Microsoft fan anyway), I decided that when the next-gen consoles came out I was going to get a PS3 and nothing could make me buy another microsoft machine. . .

But here I am on the brink of making my purchase and unfortunately I can't see my way through to shelling out the extra dough for a PS3.

X-box 360 is firmly entrenched as the online leader, can Sony catch up starting from just about zero?

I'm not a fan-boy, so I don't chomp at the bit to get new systems. A lot of the best games come out for a console near the end of its life because programmers and designers have finally figured out how to make the most of the systems capabilities. I make due until prices drop and bugs get worked out. Hopefully, almost two years in, the X-box 360 has gotten the kinks worked out of it. I am worried in this area.

X-box 360 has so many more games, and more importantly, if what I have read is true, most developers are more comfortable with programming for the X-box 360. Whatever technological edge the PS3 might have is going to be negligible because most games will likely be designed for X-box 360 and then just ported over to PS3. Games that can/will fully take advantage of the PS3's supposedly superior engine are probably a long way off. . .

As far as DVD formats go, I could care less. Playing DVD's on your game machine was hard on the drives in the past machines. I can watch movies more conveniently on my component player without worrying about whether or not I'm wearing it out.

So, in the end, I will grudgingly pay for an X-box 360 elite and curse Sony for, it seems, dropping the ball.

[yawarakaijin]

Well I wouldn't count on having all the bugs worked out of the xbox360. Both my consoles were purchases this year. One only 2 months ago! Both have the red ring of death. I read somewhere where the solder (sp?) that microsoft uses actually cant take the heat and melts, allowing connections within the hardware to become loose and disconnect. Thats a pretty shit#y and simple problem to fix, you would think.

[stumptown]

For me, I could care less about playing online. But as an earlier poster stated, most game developers are still unsure about the PS3's capability so most of the better games for this system aren't going to hit the market for another year or two. Look at how well GTA: San Andreas took advantage of the PS2's abilities. Just imagine a GTA styled game for the PS3. Besides, what's the rush to go out and buy a new system anyway? The best games are being developed for the PS2 and Xbox right now anyway.

[Yaya]

More good news about XBOX:

Xbox 360 Repairs Will Cost Microsoft $1B

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070705/D8Q6NLV80.html

[seoulsucker]

[yawarakaijin]

How many consoles do you think had to fail for Microsoft to earmark 1 BILLION dollars for repairs to it's consoles.!!!???

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/07/05/microsoft.xbox.reut/index.html

Hmm let's see. A console cost about 400$. Let's say the repair were to match the cost of the console itself. ( I know that's pushing it but what the hell.)

1,000,000,000 divided by 400= 2,500,000 machines! That is unbelievable.

It's unclear if that number is only for repair of machines that have gone to hell or whether an entire new design and manufacturing process is being installed but it doesn't sound like good news to me.

[Yaya]

Perhaps XBOX 360 is the better system, when it's working properly.

[stumptown]

[Kimchi Cowboy]

[Poemer]

Hmm, it seems the PS3 is going to drop $100 in price next week. Maybe there is hope after all.

[pauly]

You PAY money to play online on the XBox? Online gaming is free on the Playstation.

[Poemer]

I also feel that it is a bit unreasonable to charge extra for online play, since it is one of the main points of shelling out all the money for the system to begin with.

Having said that, lets face it, Sony would charge for online play as well, except for the fact that PS3's online suport, well. . . um *ahem* sucks, to put it bluntly. I mean how, exactly, could Sony justify charging for online content that seems to be largely non-existent compared to what MS has in place with X-box live?

Am I wrong?

[SHANE02]

Sony cuts slow-selling PS3 price
9:32AM Tuesday July 10, 2007
By Nic Fildes


Sony has carved $US100 off the PlayStation 3's price tag in the US.
Sony has slashed the price of its struggling PlayStation 3 console in the US as the Japanese technology giant looks to up the ante against Microsoft and Nintendo in the video games market.

Sony expects to double sales of its advanced PlayStation 3 console by cutting $100 ($NZ128) off the price of the machine.

At $US500, the console - which includes a 60-gigabyte hard drive and a leading edge Blu Ray DVD player - is only $20 more expensive than Microsoft's Xbox 360 in the US.

Microsoft is expected to respond to Sony's move by lowering its console pricing later this week during E3, the annual video games trade show in Santa Monica.

The latest incarnation of the Sony PlayStation has failed to match the success of its predecessors, due partly to the resurgence of Nintendo and the continued progress of Microsoft in the video games sector.

Nintendo's Wii console, which sells for $250, has proved an enormous hit with consumers who have shunned the superior graphics of the PlayStation in favour of the more interactive game-play of the Wii's motion sensor-based controllers that allow users to physically play games like tennis on the screen.


Advertisement
AdvertisementSony has come under increasing pressure from powerful US retailers to slash the cost of the machine to stimulate demand.

The Wii has sold 2.8 million units since the two consoles were launched last November, double the 1.4 million Sony consoles that have been snapped up by consumers over the same period. Sales of the latest version of the PlayStation have held up better in Europe, particularly the UK, than in the US.

Nevertheless, Sony is set to make an announcement regarding its European PlayStation 3 pricing on Thursday, although it appears more likely to bundle extra products like games or additional controllers with the console than slash the cost of the machine from 425 pounds.

Paul Jackson, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the 17 per cent cut in the PlayStation 3 price was "unprecedented" given the console was only released a year earlier.


"It looks like the decision to price the latest PlayStation as the Mercedes of consoles has backfired," he said.

He added that Sony's decision to enact such a "huge" price cut is risky given the company is already losing money on the device.

But Mr Jackson said it was a necessary move given Sony's key objective over the next 18 months is to boost sales of the PlayStation 3 to stimulate usage of the online features built into the console.

Sony was the first hardware manufacturer to achieve the No 1 position over two consecutive generations of consoles with its first two incarnations of the PlayStation.

But the third version, billed as the most advanced console ever made, has had a troubled birth after the launch of the machine was held back six months due to a series of technical glitches related to the Blu Ray-based DVD player within the machine.

But the decision to delay the launch could pay off in the long term after Microsoft admitted last week that it has had to spend around $1bn repairing faulty Xbox 360s.

Jack Tretton, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that in contrast, the PlayStation 3 has the lowest failure rate in the industry.

Sony has also revealed that it will beef up the storage on a top-end version of the PlayStation 3, offering consumers an 80-gigabyte hard drive that will allow hardcore gamers to download and store more content on the device.

The upgraded console will cost $600, the same price as the original version of the console and will include a copy of the "Motorstorm" off-road racing game that has already achieved 1 million sales.

- THE INDEPENDENT

[ra-ting]

This really is a no-brainer. If like me you dont actually enjoy playing games against the computer, but prefer REAL PEOPLE whether friends or virtual players- then Xbox is so far ahead its untrue.

The future is clearly online play, and even if AI improves it'll never hold interest or talk back dirt like a fellow human can. Have a few games of Halo 2 with a communicator set, trash talk the opposition and strategically kick ass...you cant get a better gaming experience then that really.

Yeah sure the monthly online charge sucks but you can use the Xbox like a telephone and talk to your buds back home, or just play with your friends in teams. The online format is so simple and the rating system is superb.

[seoulsucker]

For those of you still in doubt about which console is RULING the market in terms of quality games and will CONTINUE ruling the market in the coming years, one need only look at the results of the E3 this year.

IGN, widely regarded as the online authority in the gaming industry, had this to say.

http://games.ign.com/articles/806/806770p1.html



Best action game, best sports game, best RPG, best puzzle game, best fighting game, best first person shooter game, best graphics engine, and more, including BEST GAME OF THE SHOW ALL went to the 360.