I was going to write this article last week when news surfaced the PS3 was getting a $100 price drop. But I decided to wait after Sony’s press conference at E3 to give them a fair chance. After the overhyped release, it was obvious that consumers were not willing to pay $599 for a console that doubled as an entertainment center. Sony has tried attracting potential buyers by including 5 free Blu Rays and a price drop. With all the deals Sony is offering, is it worth getting it today. Here are the factors that will help me decide:
Games
PS3 has been out for about 8 months now and only 1 “great” game came out, Resistance: Fall of Man (It’s a good game, but nothing groundbreaking). Sony needs to release more A-list titles. One game will not justify purchasing a $500 machine. Their biggest exclusive, GTA, is not exclusive anymore. It’s also going to the X Box along with 2 exclusive contents being released next year on Live. At the press conference yesterday, they showed in game footage of Killzone 2. It looked badass, we should get more games like this. Not ports. Problem? It won’t be released until 2008. Same with Metal Gear Solid. Rumor is, Kojima is loyal to Sony and wants to release it as an exclusive for PS3. Sony has great potential with their A-list exclusive titles: Socom, Gran Turismo, Shadow of the Colossus and God of War. Sony should release at least 3 exclusive titles by next year or else PS3 might be doom. The reason I bought a PS2 was because of the exclusive games: GTA 3 and Medal of Honor Frontline. I wouldn’t have bought a PS2 if I could have gotten those games elsewhere. Sony doesn’t believe in exclusive games but that’s just a bunch of bs. M$ is just outbidding them and they can’t match it.
Blu-Ray Player
I’ve watched Blu-Ray movies on the PS3 and let me just say that it is an excellent player. PS3 is capable of outputting 1080p video and PCM audio tracks(uncompressed tracks that are supposedly better than movie theatre tracks). Navigating through the menu is a breeze. Controls are very responsive and faster than my Sony DVD player. Sound is more crisp and after hearing the PCM tracks, you’ll notice how compressed DVD audio really is. Sony is offering 5 free Blu Ray movies so that’s a plus. Too bad the movies they offer are pretty crappy just like HD-DVD’s offer.
Controller
Sony calls it SixAxis, I call it crap. We’re used to our controllers vibrating ever since it was introduced with Star Fox 64 on N64. We’ve taken granted of it. It’s especially helpful when you are playing Halo and notice that you are getting hit from behind because the controller is vibrating. PS3’s controller doesn’t have a rumble feature because they were too cocky to pay off the company that invented it. So they decide to release a $50 controller that has no rumble feature but a Wii like feature. PS3 detects if the controller is pointed in a certain direction (Maybe Nintendo should sue) and affect the gameplay. Rumor is Sony is releasing a rumble feature controller sometime soon. I hope it’s true because this feature makes a HUGE difference.
Online
Hey it’s like a cheap version of Xbox Live. You get what you pay for, in this case: $0. You can download trailers and demos just like Live. For now playing online is free and I must say I was surprised how good the connection was. Control panel isn’t as pretty and navigation isn’t as smooth as Live but it gets the job done.
Conclusion:
If your main reason for buying a PS3 is for games: wait until 2008, when there are more exclusive games coming out. What’s the point of buying of a $500 system when you can play it on a $400 system(Xbox 360). By 2008, there might be another price drop and maybe the bundled controller will have the rumble feature. Sony’s E3 conference showed how powerful the PS3 is by showing real gameplay of Killzone but was the only impressive one(are developers having a hardtime programming for the PS3?).
If you’re buying it for the Blu Ray player: You can’t go wrong with it. It’s one of the cheaper Blu Ray players on the market and one the best. Plus you get a videogame system out of it. Sony made an excellent player that is capable of playing great high definition movies. You get 5 free movies with it and if you don’t like what you get, ebay them. You’ll probably get about $15-$20 per movie so that should save you some major cash.
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MIKE MARTINSON
Jul 12, 2007 -
YOU BRING UP A LOT OF GOOD POINTS. I’M NOT A BIG SONY FAN, BUT I WAS LOOKING FOR A REAL REASON TO GET INTO THE PS3(OR EVEN THE PSP FOR THAT MATTER) THE PSP REDESIGN WAS A JOKE. WHERES THE DUAL THUMBSTICKS? JUST MAKING IT SMALLER WONT MAKE IT BETTER. THE ONLY REASON THE DS LITE GOT AWAY WITH IT WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A MAJOR AESTHETIC CHANGE. AND THE FACT THAT THE DS PLAYS SIMPLE GAMES WITH SIMPLE CONTROLS. THE PSP IS MORE OF A HARCORE SYSTEM WITH A LOT OF MORE DIFFICULT GAMES, HENCE THEY SHOULD HAVE A BETTER CONTROL STYLE WITH DUAL THUMBSTICKS!
Sorry for all the caps. I didnt realize it till just now… lol Anyway, I know you didnt even mention the PSP, so I will get back to the point. Killzone 2…. I dont understand why this game was getting so much attention before this years E3. Just because of some cool looking CG rendered footage? Killzone 1 was a medioce game at best that got medioce reviews, so why would we get all excited about a sequel? After seeing the in game footage at E3, I would have to say it looks about par with Gears of War visually, however we know nothing about gameplay so dont get too excited just yet. Metal Gear Solid looks impressive, although i thik this will end up on the 360 at some point next year. They tend to use the words “excusive to the PS3 this year” quite often (Unreal Tournament 3 as well) so im guessing its a timed exclusive for both of these titles.
Bottom line is that you dont need a PS3 and a Xbox 360. If your buying a console based on exclusive games, the your obvious answer is the Xbox 360. Even if PS3 got Metal Gear Solid, Unreal Tournament 3 and Killzone 2 as exclsuive titles forever, and they shipped tomorrow, I still dont think that would be enough to buy the console. I was looking to be surprised and impressed at Sony’s E3 conference…. Although it was probably the best out of the 3 conferences, I was not impressed enough to jump the Microsoft ship.
Cricket
Jul 19, 2007 -
I enjoyed Killzone for the PS2. Even though the developers got over ambitious with the graphics, I appreciated what they were trying to do. So when I saw the new footage at E3, I was excited. I’m just hoping they’ll fix the framerate problem that the original had.
If those 3 games you mentioned as Sony exclusives would come out tomorrow and it still won’t convince you to buy a PS3, I don’t know what will.
I know you despise Sony and I’m starting to hate them as well for being too cocky but I think this year’s E3 showed PS3’s potential.
Free Xbox Points
Jun 6, 2010 -
Greetings from New Jersey! Just ran across your website. Actually read your article, I’ll email it along! >:-o Have a good day!
Marivel Lifsey
Oct 17, 2010 -
been visiting your site for several days. really love what you posted. btw i’m doing study concerning this subject. do you happen to know other good sites or forums in which I might get more information? thanks in advance.