NY Times PS3 article..

[joemama]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/arts/20game.html?em&ex=1164258000&en=f57e8bbc4474c53f&ei=5087

So is it true that downloading video clips/game demos you have to wait for it to finish before you can move on to something else? Is it also true that the "wireless" controllers must first be plugged in to be recognized by the console? Also...touting "HD" gaming and Blu-ray as must have features and then not including the proper cables seems like a $600 slap in the face. I'm not trying to start a PS3 vs Xbox 360 vs Wii war here....I just want opinions of people who have a PS3...the NY Times article doesn't make it sound very appealing.

 

[4saken]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/arts/20game.html?em&ex=1164258000&en=f57e8bbc4474c53f&ei=5087

So is it true that downloading video clips/game demos you have to wait for it to finish before you can move on to something else? Is it also true that the "wireless" controllers must first be plugged in to be recognized by the console? Also...touting "HD" gaming and Blu-ray as must have features and then not including the proper cables seems like a $600 slap in the face. I'm not trying to start a PS3 vs Xbox 360 vs Wii war here....I just want opinions of people who have a PS3...the NY Times article doesn't make it sound very appealing.

360 had the same issue with Downloading until an update 6 months later.
360 you have to register your controllers with for them to work.
Not including cables costs you 20 bucks, or you most likely already have an HDMI cable(I did). Im fine with that. Nintendo cant even release component cables on its release day.

I consider them all details, the downloading can be fixed, the registering of controllers seems par for course now.

And the cable, thats just nitpicking to the highest degree.

 

[JR_Rider]

yea its true you have to wait for the download to finish before you can do something else, you cant 'minimize' the download or anything, hopefully they will change this later.... about the controller question, im not even sure about that cause when i bought it i automatically plugged it in to charge while i was usin it so maybe someone else can answer that...the hdmi cable thing is not the issue people make it out to be, its nothin to order a 8 dollar cable off of monoprice.com i ordered the cable about a week before the ps3 came out, its only 7 or 8 dollars ..whats that after you've spent 600 dollars on the system? nothin...

the ps3 is sick, i'll admit the launch games arent all that, but their launch games, you cant really start sayin what the system is and isnt until next year when the real good games start to drop....people are comparing reistance to gears of war when the xbox360 has been out for what? a year or so, how are you gonna compare somethin like that to a launch game? i've seen people saying "so wheres this power sony's been talkin about" since when has a console ever shown what it can do at launch?

 

[larryBird44]

<SNIP> i've seen people saying "so wheres this power sony's been talkin about" since when has a console ever shown what it can do at launch?

We certainly are always shown what they can't do at launch thats for damn sure.

 

[Lamont]

For the controllers, just press the button and it will connect. No need to plug it in.

 

[The18thLetter]

360 had the same issue with Downloading until an update 6 months later.
360 you have to register your controllers with for them to work.
Not including cables costs you 20 bucks, or you most likely already have an HDMI cable(I did). Im fine with that. Nintendo cant even release component cables on its release day.

I consider them all details, the downloading can be fixed, the registering of controllers seems par for course now.

And the cable, thats just nitpicking to the highest degree.

Precisely.

My opinion: Microsoft & Xbox 360 moved the man who wrote the article... to a bigger house. (cue cha-ching sound here)

 

[theNoid]

360 you have to register your controllers with for them to work.

All done wirelessly, so you wasted finger strength typing this.

edit. PS3 just isn't deliverying. Not only is NY Times posting this, but so is TIME magazine. Two major publications that are read by non hardcore gamers. Sony fans are just butt hurt and looking for reasons to justify... like the guys above me. "MS must have moved this writer into a bigger house.."

What is that ? That shows your ignorance.

 

[Alias2]

I don't know why everyone is making a big deal out of this. I owned a launch 360 and it had problems aswell. Don't think Sony is going to sit back and let MS walk on them. By the time you can actually find a PS3 without robbing, stalking, camping, or hurting someone. They should be pretty decent consoles. Although we all know MS has an Edge in online gaming. It will take a some time for Sony to get it right.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

I don't know why everyone is making a big deal out of this. I owned a launch 360 and it had problems aswell. Don't think Sony is going to sit back and let MS walk on them.

Of course Sony won't idly stand by, but most people seem to assume that Sony can just snap their fingers and be #1 in the console market again. Sure the PS2 was a massive success, but Sony has been having some serious problems lately in a lot of their departments. And the PS3 has just had a horrible launch.

I'm not biased towards a company in any way. I'm a gamer, and I'll buy any machine that allows me to play great games on it. And right now it looks to me that Microsoft has built the better machine this time around, regardless of how god awesome the PS2 was in the past.

I didn't purchase my 360 until 6 months after it's release. And it looks like I will be doing the same for the PS3, if at all. Depends on the exclusive titles by then.

 

[4saken]

All done wirelessly, so you wasted finger strength typing this.

edit. PS3 just isn't deliverying. Not only is NY Times posting this, but so is TIME magazine. Two major publications that are read by non hardcore gamers. Sony fans are just butt hurt and looking for reasons to justify... like the guys above me. "MS must have moved this writer into a bigger house.."

What is that ? That shows your ignorance.

You still have to press the button on the 360 to get it to start registering, so you wasted your breath replying.

You might as well plug it up since u gotta go up to the console anyway. Whats the big deal?

Seriously though, the 360 had ppl complaining about it not delivering this short after launch too, now look at it. Its a pretty complete system. This is nitpicking to the higest degree i repeat.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Nintendo cant even release component cables on its release day.

Bull... my cables are coming in today via UPS from Nintendo (component video). So, you're obviously misinformed .

 

[arentol]

yea its true you have to wait for the download to finish before you can do something else, you cant 'minimize' the download or anything, hopefully they will change this later.... about the controller question, im not even sure about that cause when i bought it i automatically plugged it in to charge while i was usin it so maybe someone else can answer that...the hdmi cable thing is not the issue people make it out to be, its nothin to order a 8 dollar cable off of monoprice.com i ordered the cable about a week before the ps3 came out, its only 7 or 8 dollars ..whats that after you've spent 600 dollars on the system? nothin...

the ps3 is sick, i'll admit the launch games arent all that, but their launch games, you cant really start sayin what the system is and isnt until next year when the real good games start to drop....people are comparing reistance to gears of war when the xbox360 has been out for what? a year or so, how are you gonna compare somethin like that to a launch game? i've seen people saying "so wheres this power sony's been talkin about" since when has a console ever shown what it can do at launch?

Actually, the PS3 was delayed 6 months due to hardware production issues, not due to software development issues. This means the PS3 launch titles, from a development standpoint, are effectively launch+6 months titles. So the PS3 titles should be compared to 360 titles from 6 months ago, or the 360 titles of today should be compared to PS3 titles of 6 months from now.

For the same reason the PS3 GUI should also be compared to the 360 after it was 6 months old. For that matter, since the GUI is based on the PSP, and they have also had a year to look at the 360's GUI and use it as an example of the minimum standards to meet, the PS3 GUI should actually be compared directly to the current 360 GUI.

At the end of the day, Sony is the company that made such a big deal at E3 2005 about how superior their technology was. Sony raised the standards and expectations for themselves that year, and it's their own damn fault if the media holds them to those expectations.

At E3 2005 Sony tried to play it off like they would release their system in Spring 2006 when anyone with half a brain new that was impossible since they had released development kits only 2 weeks before! Sony was the one who released a couple "in game videos" at E3 for a system that by definition could have no in game videos since their dev. kits had only been out for those afformentioned 2 weeks. Sony stole the thunder from the 360 at E3 with VAPOR in order to convince people to pass on the 360 since it would be only "a few months" after the 360 release until the "future technology" that is the PS3 came out. Sony made a lot of promises and at that E3 and they have kept absolutely none of them.

So why shouldn't Sony be held to a standard and expectations they set for the PS3? Nobody made them make those promises, and I say FARK them if they can't keep any of them.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Bull... my cables are coming in today via UPS from Nintendo (component video). So, you're obviously misinformed .

The point is, sony has a better cable strategy than its competitors: hdmi cables are cheap and standard ($5) and otherwise the multiout is compatible with ps2 cables. Nintendo didnt put theirs in stores and had them go on backorder before the system even launched, and microsoft is charging $40 for its top end vga cable. Criticize sony all you want for other things but they got cables right and the other two got it wrong.

 

[The18thLetter]

All done wirelessly, so you wasted finger strength typing this.

edit. PS3 just isn't deliverying. Not only is NY Times posting this, but so is TIME magazine. Two major publications that are read by non hardcore gamers. Sony fans are just butt hurt and looking for reasons to justify... like the guys above me. "MS must have moved this writer into a bigger house.."

What is that ? That shows your ignorance.

It was a Simpsons joke... and YOU'RE one to type about ignorance Mr. "DMC4 is coming to 360!" and countless other Microsoft dick-riding threads.
Comedy.

 

[Rocketpig]

360 had the same issue with Downloading until an update 6 months later.

And that was a bad move by MS.

One year later, most people would think that Sony actually PAYS ATTENTION to their competition and wouldn't repeat the identical mistake.

 

[GoldenTiger]

The point is, sony has a better cable strategy than its competitors: hdmi cables are cheap and standard ($5) and otherwise the multiout is compatible with ps2 cables. Nintendo didnt put theirs in stores and had them go on backorder before the system even launched, and microsoft is charging $40 for its top end vga cable. Criticize sony all you want for other things but they got cables right and the other two got it wrong.

The Wii setup is still cheaper even with the propietary cables . If Sony's console were the same price and did that, sure, it would be a good point, but not with this kind of setup.

 

[Rocketpig]

i've seen people saying "so wheres this power sony's been talkin about" since when has a console ever shown what it can do at launch?

Obviously the maximum power of the console won't be tapped on launch day.

But with one year to work with newer hardware, the PS3 should outshine the 360 and it doesn't.

Look at the original XBOX. From day one, it was far more powerful than the PS2 and it showed (Halo, for example).

It's looking more and more like Sony made multiple blunders with the PS3 and some of them are irreversible (hardware, for example). With the 360 still not even close to tapping its potential (it does have three cores, after all), the PS3 should be head and shoulders above it from launch day forward. And it's looking like that's not the case.

 

[4saken]

Bull... my cables are coming in today via UPS from Nintendo (component video). So, you're obviously misinformed .

Oh my bad, i thought the Wii release was SUNDAY.

Hence my statement.

 

[Macross]

The point is, sony has a better cable strategy than its competitors: hdmi cables are cheap and standard ($5) and otherwise the multiout is compatible with ps2 cables. Nintendo didnt put theirs in stores and had them go on backorder before the system even launched, and microsoft is charging $40 for its top end vga cable. Criticize sony all you want for other things but they got cables right and the other two got it wrong.

Hey guys the Cables are right. I going to ebay right now to get me one.

 

[GoldenTiger]

Oh my bad, i thought the Wii release was SUNDAY.

Hence my statement.

They shipped on Friday, BEFORE the release. NIce job trying to get semantics to play with you, except we don't have TELEPORTERS yet, LOL.

 

[practal]

The controller does need to be connected with a wire when you first use the system and after firmware updates. You plug it in hit one button and then your back to wireless.

For cables, I just used my PS2 Monster Component Cables. It has the same jack and worked just fine for me. I dont have a HDTV that has HDMI so no big deal to me. Cant you find HDMI cables for under $10?

 

[Alias2]

Of course Sony won't idly stand by, but most people seem to assume that Sony can just snap their fingers and be #1 in the console market again. Sure the PS2 was a massive success, but Sony has been having some serious problems lately in a lot of their departments. And the PS3 has just had a horrible launch.

I'm not biased towards a company in any way. I'm a gamer, and I'll buy any machine that allows me to play great games on it. And right now it looks to me that Microsoft has built the better machine this time around, regardless of how god awesome the PS2 was in the past.

I didn't purchase my 360 until 6 months after it's release. And it looks like I will be doing the same for the PS3, if at all. Depends on the exclusive titles by then.

Exactly. I'm not biased in anyway either. I sold my launch 360 shortly after I picked it up, I didn't lose any money. A few months ago I picked up another one. I was very pleased to find alot of things were fixed. More content, it didn't freeze up at all. Mainy adding a download que. That was a big plus for me.

In 6 months I will buy a PS3, and I'm sure it will be better then, than it is today. Sony is still new to the market of online gaming. I think a year from now we will have a kick ass console, and Sony will have a nice chunk of the market share. I have always been a fan of Sony products, not so much a fan of there support, and corporate policy. I have faith

Now if only I could find a Wii. Thats one I won't wait for. Not being able to play Wii sports is killing me

 

[4saken]

They shipped on Friday, BEFORE the release. NIce job trying to get semantics to play with you, except we don't have TELEPORTERS yet, LOL.

Did you have it by launch? Nope. My point.
Not available at launch.

Its great they got them to you this quick, no doubt.

But it wasnt an option, and hence my nitpicking since there is nitpicking on the HDMI cable for the ps3 not being included.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Did you have it by launch? Nope. My point.
Not available at launch.

Its great they got them to you this quick, no doubt.

But it wasnt an option, and hence my nitpicking since there is nitpicking on the HDMI cable for the ps3 not being included.

I ordered mine last wednesday morning, overnight shipping, and missed ups' first delivery attempt yesterday (Monday- as in, after launch). I trolled the internet most of last week and ordered my cables overnight shipping immediately and still didn't get them in time. Just a thought.

 

[4saken]

I ordered mine last wednesday morning, overnight shipping, and missed ups' first delivery attempt yesterday (Monday- as in, after launch). I trolled the internet most of last week and ordered my cables overnight shipping immediately and still didn't get them in time. Just a thought.

I get it. Im just nitpicking due to the OP nitpicking about the HDMI cable on the PS3. I fully realize Nintendo has them available now, but they werent on the shelves for people who needed them on sunday. Mine are getting in tomorrow as well(for the Wii).

 

[l177l3d]

just tossing in my 2 cents... but... i actually felt that review was more or less good news...

the author's main issues were software related... these can all be easily solved with some firmware upgrades

however, he also confirmed that the hardware was a serious piece of work and graphics capability is definitely amazing...

and since the hardware wont be changing, im glad the errors are with software which will be fixed a few months from now ^^

 

[peltman78]

You still have to press the button on the 360 to get it to start registering, so you wasted your breath replying.

You might as well plug it up since u gotta go up to the console anyway. Whats the big deal?

Seriously though, the 360 had ppl complaining about it not delivering this short after launch too, now look at it. Its a pretty complete system. This is nitpicking to the higest degree i repeat.

Huh?? Maybe I am misunderstanding here but I never had to plug my 360 controller into the console to get it to work. Also is there actually people that do not turn on their 360 with the controller (accomplished by holding the big 360 button)? I don't think I have touched my 360 power button since I got it.

 

[joemama]

The controller does need to be connected with a wire when you first use the system and after firmware updates. You plug it in hit one button and then your back to wireless.

For cables, I just used my PS2 Monster Component Cables. It has the same jack and worked just fine for me. I dont have a HDTV that has HDMI so no big deal to me. Cant you find HDMI cables for under $10?

Thanks for finally answering the question...I'm not knocking Sony for niggling hardware issues that will eventually be sorted out, but for a design decision like this that may not be fixable with a download update. And about the cable...you would think that a machine that was capable of 1080p games and Blu-ray would include a cable (that some claim is cheap) to make that happen on Christmas morning....good luck trying to find one on December 25th. I don't really think it's nitpicking because the general buying public doesn't know about places like "Monoprice" and will certainly not want to wait for shipping. What they will do is run to Circuit Shitty or Worst Buy and pay $70 for an overpriced Monster cable when a "cheap" one should have been included for $600.

As others have pointed out...how long has Sony had to observe the 360 hardware and Xbox Live (which dates back to the original Xbox)? Maybe they are so arrogant they forbid their engineers from buying and using anything made by Microsoft/Nintendo.

 

[4saken]

Huh?? Maybe I am misunderstanding here but I never had to plug my 360 controller into the console to get it to work. Also is there actually people that do not turn on their 360 with the controller (accomplished by holding the big 360 button)? I don't think I have touched my 360 power button since I got it.

I didnt say you have to plug it in, i said you still have to go up to the console and hold the button to get it to start registering your controller.

Which is pretty close to having to plug it in anyway.

 

[joemama]

I get it. Im just nitpicking due to the OP nitpicking about the HDMI cable on the PS3. I fully realize Nintendo has them available now, but they werent on the shelves for people who needed them on sunday. Mine are getting in tomorrow as well(for the Wii).

The Wii I can understand not having component cables included...at no time in it's development did Nintendo ever tout "HD" and the hardware doesn't have a bling bling next gen dvd player built in. Oh...and it is also cheaper than the original Xbox at launch. I never understood why people take an attack on a billion dollar company personally....I guess I just don't get the fanaticism that comes from brand loyalty.

 

[4saken]

Thw Wii I can understand not having component cables included...at no time in it's development did Nintendo ever tout "HD" and the hardware doesn't have a bling bling next gen dvd player built in. Oh...and it is also cheaper than the original Xbox at launch. I never understood why people take an attack on a billion dollar company personally....I guess I just don't get the fanaticism that comes from brand loyalty.

Thats why i always just buy them all.

Makes being a hypocrite that much easier.

 

[old skool]

I didnt say you have to plug it in, i said you still have to go up to the console and hold the button to get it to start registering your controller.

Which is pretty close to having to plug it in anyway.

How is not plugging it in being pretty close to pluggging it anyway?


I think the point the NY Times article is trying to make, and the one you are missing, is that Sony doesn't focus on the user friendly experience; first off the downloading thing is pretty big deal. Sure, they can fix it, and sure the Xbox 360 had the same problem, but as I read somewhere else, Xbox 360 users hate it so damn badly thats why they fixed it!! Don't you think it would make sense to fix these kinds of issues before going into production?

That fact that the HDMI cables weren't included just goes to show how stingy Sony is and its a pretty good indication that they intended to nickel and dime you with these so called microtransactions. You see, the thing is, Sony spent a lot of time and energy into making the PlayStation 3 the true hi-def experience. Its going to the be hub of your expensive entertainment system, right? You'd think they'd include hi-def cables for a hi-def system, especially after convincing shoppers that the PlayStation 3 is going to be better than the Xbox 360 because of things like Blu-Ray and HDMI, and I think shoppers would expect it given that it has a $200 premium over the Xbox360.

So it is, in fact, a really big fucking deal. Most people will, as someone said before, cruise down to Best Buy or Circut City and pay like $60 or $70 bucks for their HDMI cables.

Broken promises. Sony had so many problems with their launch; I think they did developers a huge disservice by launching so prematurely. Their current marketting strategy is to be on the market for this Holiday season so shoppers won't buy the Xbox360. I wonder how many millions of clueless Moms and Dads will be checking back with the store every week to see if the PlayStation 3 is in stock. Someone please tell them it won't be until June or July next year, at the earliest, before they can get one.

Developers busted their asses to be out on the shelves in time, and their return is going to be what; a few hundred thousand sales? Games will be stale by the production finally meets demand and not only that, the games are rushed and crappy anyway, so its also a huge disservice to the gamers. You can't ignore this fact.

If the PlayStation 3 was available this Christmas, I might get one instead of an Xbox 360. But it isn't, so I won't. And if Sony didn't lie all the time and shove these lies down my throat, I might cut them a little slack, too. But they do, so I won't.

The PlayStation 3 is going to be a gigantic failure for Sony. Think Dreamcast. This time around, people aren't going to swallow the exhorbitant price, developers aren't going to make any money and I think the market will shift away from such a "super computer" in favor of things like fun games and affordability.

Think about it.

The PlayStation 3 requires so many more engineering resources than either the Wii or the Xbox 360. Developers and publishers can write interopable software more easily; porting to the PlayStation 3, because of its unique Cell processor, is quite an engineering effort. By the same token, its impossible to port software from the Cell processor to other systems because the processing power just isn't there. That means the PlayStation 3 will have more exclusive titles, yes, and there is a lot to be said about that but as you can see as has been happening recently is more developers and more publishers are relying on total market coverage to absorb the cost by coming out on multiple systems; this leades to increased sales and a better return on investment. There is no return on investment if the installed user base isn't there. And at this price, will it ever be?

Just look at the handheld market. The PSP is truely more powerful than the Nintendo DS but the DS is outselling PSP 3 to 1. Its almost time for PSP to throw in the towel. I think this trend will appear in console market next year. The PlayStation 3 is a powerful machine, its no joke, but developers prefer Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 due to the overwhelming "cost of admission," so to speak. The PlayStation 3 lags far behind Xbox 360 and PC development because the tools are there, the software is there, the API's are there, and Microsoft has the engineering resources and talent to cater to the software developers out there. They are, after all, a software company. Sony is not.

Why do you think Sony doesn't have an online system like Xbox Live? Games like NFS and Tony Hawk don't have online capabilities for PlayStation 3, which according to Sony is better than the Xbox 360, but those are features I think people are going to really give a shit about. They don't have them because Sony can't program their way out of a paper box. Its partly due to the nature of C programming over in Japan. Those guys write the most cryptic, hard to use C libraries and anything is rarely C++, if ever.

Bottom line is, Sony promised a lot with the PlayStation 3, and they didn't deliver. They think they can shove that hype down our throats and we'll like it, and I think we're seeing more backlash because people don't like it. We're smarter than that, we can see through your bull shit, Sony, and you better wise up sooner rather than later because its insulting.

gg Sony

 

[RancidWAnnaRIot]

The point is, sony has a better cable strategy than its competitors: hdmi cables are cheap and standard ($5) and otherwise the multiout is compatible with ps2 cables. Nintendo didnt put theirs in stores and had them go on backorder before the system even launched, and microsoft is charging $40 for its top end vga cable. Criticize sony all you want for other things but they got cables right and the other two got it wrong.

Best buy had nintendo cables on launch day....

 

[CKMorpheus]

It hasn't even been a week since launch and people are already calling the PS3 a failure... Wow... didn't see that coming.

I recall pretty much the same response from Sony fan boys when the 360 came out.

Patience everyone.

 

[joemama]

It hasn't even been a week since launch and people are already calling the PS3 a failure... Wow... didn't see that coming.

I recall pretty much the same response from Sony fan boys when the 360 came out.

Patience everyone.

I doubt that it will be a complete failure...but not the huge success of the PS1/PS2. Sony has way too much invested in this and the companies backing them on Blu-ray are also counting on this being a success. However, before we think it's inconcievable that the PS3 could fail...look at the Dreamcast and the gaming juggernaut that was Sega behind it. If you're old enough to remember Atari they were the top dog back in the late 70's early 80's and too many blunders left them the shell of the software publishing house they are today. Microsoft is the only company rich and powerful enough to stay in the game a long time even if the Xbox/Xbox 360 were flops...but even they would bail out eventually if the losses mounted and the market went elsewhere. You're right though...it's far too early to call this one one way or the other.

 

[kamxam]

I'll just buy one of each eventually when the prices drop far enough.