60GB PS3 being discontinued after July (in US only)

[land sea air]

I too have seen a fair amount of negativity towards the PS3 at the local game crazy, once clerk went so far as to suggest that the early PS3 games don't even use bluray and that they are still using DVDs...

 

[Dead_Poetic]

Wrong thread.

 

[Blackbird.]

As a matter of fact it has helped them, financially that is.

Often you hear XBL Gold members saying its not big deal by showing how "little" it cost's per day, but the reality is you are not paying one day and then not the next... and they avoid mentioning just how many "days" they have already spent on XBL already. I suspect most will be using XBL at the minimum of four years which for the US is about $200 and in the UK its over $320! Of course for many, they likely have been paying this for several years and will continue to pay for years to come unless MS stops charging for it.

If on one hand the same people who refuse to buy a PS3 because it's $100 more than the X360, then go and spend more than twice that amount on XBL that's where it gets odd... but also shows the brilliant marketing of Microsoft in terms of using ala carte pricing techniques for both the X360 and XBL marketplace - thus masking many of the expenses that their customers will end up having to spend more of their money on.

The whole "micro-transactions" system on XBL rather than simply letting you know how much something costs in real dollars, where you have to use a converter to know how much you are really spending is yet another very clever way of disguising the costs of buying things of XBL, and increasing revenue for Microsoft without causing much outcry from their customers.

However, I think people, even diehard XBL users are beginning to get wise to what's going on, and seeing what PSN offers for free, many are starting to cry fowl.

For instance, even Team Xbox is starting to put pressure on Microsoft to make XBL free of charge. Team Xbox's own Cesar Berardini wrote an editorial a while back on the subject:

*snip*

Wow, +Rep for that Di-Ni.

Yes, when I had a PS2 and an XBOX and the whole third-generation consoles were still in development I thought it was just plain stupid to pay for XBL when I had a perfectly good PS2(slim) with Killzone that I had tons of fun on. When the next generation consoles came out I myself bought the 360 mainly because my friends played Halo 2. So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and get the 360 so I can play with them on XBL but also have a next gen console to buy the new games like GTA4 and stuff like that. Now I am pretty sure I will be getting the PS3 for simple reasons like GT5 is exclusively on the PS3. But also because PS3 offers stuff that the 360 cannot and I've always had both Microsoft's and Sony's consoles. I've had the PS1, PS2, XBOX, and the X360. Just need the PS3 now, i'll be getting it it's just a matter of when I can afford it. Someone's already pointed out that the PS3 is more affordable then the X360 but for the PS3 i'll have to be paying that out of the pocket. The 360 and it's payment for the XBL is covered by my parents so that's probably why i'm not making a big deal out of the the cost to play online.

 

[icelt]

However, how about all the things the PS3 has that are not available with any Xbox 360 and that you can't even get if you wanted them like:
[*]1080p upscaling DVD player (the X360 has even gotten poor reviews for standard playback of DVDs)

Well just in the interest of fairness, this well respected site gave the 360 a fairly solid dvd playback review.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-...0&deInt=0&mpeg=0#MicrosoftXbox 360 (Component)

"...Conclusions

The Xbox 360 is a pretty good DVD player, given its primary purpose. Its performance is pretty close to the average DVD player at this price point, but given that it is supposed to be using one of the best graphics cards out there, I was hoping for a bit more on the de-interlacing side. With all of its other features though, I still think this console is incredible in scope for entertainment, but I’ll reserve that for the feature article."


Whereas their review of the ps3 (pre- 1.8 though) was not nearly as complimentary. I'm still intested to see if/when it gets retested.
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-...n=search&articles=133#SonyPlayStation 3 (HDMI)

"...Conclusions

It is a shame that Sony put so much work into the PlayStation 3 in some areas but not in DVD playback. The lack of a film mode for de-interlacing and no support for upscaling are rare in progressive scan DVD players these days. While I would still recommend it as a Blu-ray player, anyone considering adding the PS3 to their home theater rack should probably keep their standard DVD player as well."

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Judging by those comments it looks like they reviewed an early PS3 or one without any of the firmware updates, as the PS3 DVD player does support film mode for de-interlacing as well as upscaling, as well as several other enhanced playback features since the original firmware was released.

By comparrison, here's Ben Kuchera's (highly regarded among videophiles, and a contributing editor for Ars Technica) take on the X360's DVD playback performance when it was first released:

The 360 DVD player. It's just not good.
By Ben Kuchera | Published: November 24, 2005 - 08:37PM CT

I'm giving my 360 a proper going over getting ready for the official Ars review, and one thing we haven't talked about yet on the journals is the DVD player. Unlike the first Xbox, the 360 will play DVDs right out of the box, and the wireless controllers make a handy remote if you don't have the premium pack.

I've thrown a few discs at it, with mixed results. The good news is that it is a progressive scan DVD player, and so far it has played every burned DVD I've thrown at it. The bad news is the video quality just isn't that great. On Episode 3 it looked decent, but my Samsung progressive player blew it out of the water. On other discs I noticed so very apparent dithering and artifacts in the black areas of the screen.

While it's a nice bonus, don't expect this to replace a good DVD player in your home theater.

It would be nice to see someone reputable and qualified at Home Theater Hi-Fi review a PS3 with its current firmware update and see how much it has changed in regards to DVD playback.

 

[Barracuda]

How is this a bad thing? Instead of paying $600 dollars for a 60gb PS3, I can now pay $600 dollars for an 80gb PS3 with motor storm. This is freakin awesome, I say good move sony 👍

 

[icelt]

Judging by those comments it looks like they reviewed an early PS3 or one without any of the firmware updates, as the PS3 DVD player does support film mode for de-interlacing as well as upscaling, as well as several other enhanced playback features since the original firmware was released.

That is definitely correct.

It would be nice to see someone reputable and qualified at Home Theater Hi-Fi review a PS3 with its current firmware update and see how much it has changed in regards to DVD playback.

Yep. I keep checking back periodically but a revisit hasn't happened yet. I'd also like to see how the upconversion tests out. Speaking of, now that I can do it, I need to A/B the PS3 against my Denon DVD-2900 on my 34XBR960 sometime.💡

 

[Eric.]

Well, I can say this much with certainty...

Right now Blockbuster (and in my area) all of the smaller video rental stores have announced they will not buy HD DVDs. Rather, they will only be purchasing Blu-ray.
With that being the case, you might find that the PS3 is being pushed to the side so it can be sold as a second system down the road.

Personally, I doubt that is the case and more than likely I think much of the bias from sales-people is a personal bias based on their own history.
Fact is, there was definitely a huge jump in the number of gamers after the Halo 2 online phenomena.

The 16-18 year old sales clerk I dealt with was surely one of the kids and I imagine he's someone who only considers himself a valid source of opinion, surely has no intention of "helping the competition."
(He was surely an xbox fanboy with a "play it safe and suggest the Wii as well" attitude)

The Blockbuster nearest to me won't even carry PS3 games.

 

[TopHat]

Heh, I guess I'm lucky then, the blockbuster I go to carries all the systems!

 

[YSSMAN]

Although I wouldn't equate the situation to right vs left, I would certainly say there are politics involved in thsi industry.
Fact: MS is an American company.
Fact: Sony Japanese.

I hear ya. It gets pretty heated sometimes, worse than many of my political science classes in many cases. Too bad really, but then again, hasn't it always been this way? I seem to recall many nasty fights between the SEGA and Nintendo folks back in the day...

Beyond that, my personal experience is that there is an over-zealousness on the behalf of minor players. When I approached my EB games salesman about the 360 and PS3, the first response was "get a Wii-60 and forget the PS3."

I think that likely depends on where you are and what you asked the clerk for. I know I've been in the local GameStop and EBGames and they have recommended Wiis over X360s and PS3s, I assume mostly because it was a parent asking about what they should get for someone under 18. I know my Mother wouldn't have any idea what to get, and would likely follow the Wii advice, given the lower price point.

I think they're just trying to move units out of the store more easily than not. Remember, stores don't make very much money off the sale of a given console, as it is a mandated price decided by the manufacturer to keep pricing fair... At most, I'd guess that the given chain isn't making much more than 10% on each unit (I could be wrong), but I know it isn't very high. Look at it this way, if it is easier to sell two Wiis and make the same amount of money as it is to sell one PS3, which would you prefer?

More over, I've been amazed by the blatent biases that are presented in the media by TV channels like G4.

I noticed it a bit as well, but it has been an overall issue with not only G4, but the websites as well. I was watching AOTS the other day and they had a few guys on the show talking about all three of the companies, and it was Sony over Microsoft, two to one by the end. But, they raised the same points we've discussed here: Sony, while having several good games for this year, is waiting for 2008 to really pull out the big guns. Microsoft has it now, but we don't know much about the future. Nintendo is just doing a good job catering to the "average" gamer audience, and they're grabbing money as fast as they can.

Back to the point: The issue is likely that people are still a bit miffed about the PS3, with regards to the price, the performance, and the games (thus far). People hold grudges, but given E3 this year, the boat is turning around for most folks, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear more positive things about Sony.

...But don't always expect rosy interviews and criticisms either. EGM has done a good job dropping the hammer on all three (same can be said for the rest of Ziff Davis)...

Overall I'd be inclined not only to say there are politics in the industry, but also to say the soldiers of this political war are mostly mercs with unknown goals and hidden agendas.

Tee hee.

I must have the Microsoft nanomachines in my blood...

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Nice post YSSMAN. 👍

I must have the Microsoft nanomachines in my blood...

Although your comment made me have visions of the scene from the first Matrix film where they use a less than friendly looking tool to extract the "bug" in Neo's arm.

Come to think of it... Microsoft's Xbox also uses green as a theme... hmmm... maybe Bill gates is "The Architect"!

 

[V1P3R]

Oh god... no... that would royally... it's bad enough as it is.

 

[Mx²]

It depends which way you look at it. You could buy a 60GB and save money, or you could wait and buy a 80GB down the road without Motorstorm for the same price.