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Will the PS3 price drop help it catch up?
A few days ago I was doing some research on Orange Box and sales numbers over on VGChartz. I pulled the following graph of the three big console sales data synced by launch date:
After I posted it I saw a lot of people talking on forums and the like about it and it got me to thinking.
The 360 essentialy had a year to run unoppossed. The 360 still has a lot of problems with it (red ring of death). Even when the 360 ran with the full pack last Christmas both the PS3 and Wii were in short supply while there were always plenty of 360s available.
This coming Christmas Nintendo has already said that they will not have enough Wiis but that does not matter. The Wii is in a class by itself and has no real bearing on this discussion. Yeah, 360 outsold Wii last month due in part to Halo 3 but that is just one month. Overall the Wii is dominating.
Sony is now releasing cheaper PS3s (without PS2 chips, bastards!) and $499 for an 80GB PS3/Blu-ray player is not that bad of a deal! You would be paying $449 for the 360 Elite without the HD-DVD player.
I honestly think the PS3 will do good this year (at least those with the PS2 chips). It will not do as good as the Wii but who will? Besides, I have not heard of any "my PS3 died" stories to the degree that I hear them about the 360. When people tell you they are not going to play their 360 for a month or more before Halo 3 comes out to insure their 360 will not die before then is pretty telling.
After I posted it I saw a lot of people talking on forums and the like about it and it got me to thinking.
The 360 essentialy had a year to run unoppossed. The 360 still has a lot of problems with it (red ring of death). Even when the 360 ran with the full pack last Christmas both the PS3 and Wii were in short supply while there were always plenty of 360s available.
This coming Christmas Nintendo has already said that they will not have enough Wiis but that does not matter. The Wii is in a class by itself and has no real bearing on this discussion. Yeah, 360 outsold Wii last month due in part to Halo 3 but that is just one month. Overall the Wii is dominating.
Sony is now releasing cheaper PS3s (without PS2 chips, bastards!) and $499 for an 80GB PS3/Blu-ray player is not that bad of a deal! You would be paying $449 for the 360 Elite without the HD-DVD player.
I honestly think the PS3 will do good this year (at least those with the PS2 chips). It will not do as good as the Wii but who will? Besides, I have not heard of any "my PS3 died" stories to the degree that I hear them about the 360. When people tell you they are not going to play their 360 for a month or more before Halo 3 comes out to insure their 360 will not die before then is pretty telling.
Comments
In 2011 :P
You're right. This fall will be great if you really want one, Ratchet, Warhawk and Uncharted, but until 2008 when MGS4, Killzone, Final Fantasy and White Knight Story come out it's gonna be a long wait if you're looking to buy one. The price would help, but it will never ever get above the 360/Wii. I'm a Sony fan, but let's face it, they've fucked themselves.
Xbox 360 Marketing - Check it out bitches, teabag your buddies on Xbox Live! Plays all the old games and the new games! Yeah, it plays DVDs too!
Wii Marketing - Check it out, You can bowl! It's a vigi game system even your grandparents will love! Wii Sports baby!!!
PS3 Marketing - This is the ultimate machine. It's got Blu-ray. It's HD!!!!
Xbox 360 reality - Red Ring of Death!!!
Wii reality - Where are the games?
PS3 reality - So, if I don't want to watch movies (or have an HDTV) why should I buy this?
Both the 360 and the Wii were hyping the game play value of their systems while Sony was hyping an over priced media system (PSP anyone) with almost no mention of using it as a gaming console. The 360 is HD but you almost never hear it mentioned, the 360 is all about Xbox Live.
The PS3 needs more than games it needs to decide if it wants to be a game console (put those PS2 chips back in) or a Blu-ray player.
For the record, I hate the "360 vs. PS3" war thing. It's stupid. At this point, the systems are different enough that it caters to different types of gamers. The 360 is great for people who enjoy online play, because online play is easy to use. The Wii is great for people who... I guess, don't want to play "regular" games, I don't know. The PS3 *(at least for now) is for the Sony fanboys, so they can have their Metal Gears, and their "above-9" Final Fantasies, and their Ridge Racers.
I have a 360 because when I wanted a new system, it was out, and I had an Xbox. The balance of games (for me at least) is balanced enough that I enjoy it, (Mass Effect, Halo, Dynasty Warriors (shut up, I like 'em) and the Live Arcade games) and am never without a thing to play. And know that Guitar Hero is on it, I have almost now reason to play my PS2 anymore, except for the NIS RPG games.
And, has anyone seen the teaser for Street Fighter 3? No announcement on what platforms that games going to come out on either . . .
I like my PS3, but I don't play as many games on it as I do the Xbox. I posted about my red ring experience. I'm going through the life support motions now to get it to keep playing, but it's only a matter of time before I have to send it back.
For me, it's an easy choice: buy all multi-platform games for the PS3.
Now, that being said, what system have I been playing almost non-stop? The DS.
Basically, I'll be waiting for Ratchet & Clank, Littlebigplanet and Rock Band, and get a bunch of PS2 games at gamestop...
I really do hope the PS3 catches up with the 360 eventually, and I think it will, if only because the games will look prettier and possibly be bigger due to Bluray-Discs having so much storage.
How often do I play the GC games? Not as often as I used to.
That being said, it is very nice to only have a tiny Wii and a tiny Mac mini under the TV. Granted the slim PS2 is just as ludicrously small.
I'm workng up another article on this right now.
Weekly Sales synced by launch date.
There is no real reason to be "tied" to only one console. If it is exclusives you are worried about, it really only comes down to a handful of 1st party games. Most games will eventually be available on both consoles (360, and PS3). I'm sure the price drop will help the PS3 this holiday season, it sure has me thinking about deciding between getting a 360 or a PS3.
Now, that being said, what system have I been playing almost non-stop? The DS.
Same thing with me, not even the Wii has been getting as much play time as my DS.
Of course, you could add all of those (not sure about the storage, does the PS3 accept USB storage?) for maybe less than a high-end PS3 (still keeping a PS2 in the equation), but it would get you a lot more wires and probably another power adapter/brick for your USB hub if you want to charge your controllers.
Also, I wouldn't be upset if there still was a high-end PS3 (in Germany, I gather in the US both the 60GB and the 80GB varieties are still available), but Sony is leaving gamers (over here at least) no choice but buy the 40GB version... well, and ebay, but that is not Sony's decision.
2) (Way) less cumbersome online play. Because, like Steve said, some people have enough junk cluttering their living rooms already. My entertainment center's stuffed to the brim with the Saturn, Dreamcast, Cablebox, Receiver, PS3, 360, etc. Every system I DON'T need to have there helps. What's more, who's got the inputs for all these things? I've got a pretty solid receiver and I still have to do a lot of finegaling to fit it all in.
But never say never, I guess.
For instance Portal. I would've played that a couple times and poked around a bit but the achievements made me WANT to figure out the challenges and things and resulted in me putting in a good 20-30 hours in my 4 day rental playing the crap out of that game. That's the value of the achievement system. It gives the developers a way to say "hey look at this" without taking away from the main action. Those that don't care can play the game through and resell it or whatever. Those that want a little more can look at the achievements and try some tricky maneuvers or try to find an area that you wouldn't notice on your average run through the game.