liveinabin Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 I was fortunate (kind of) to have a go on a few finished production PS3s last week in Tokyo (Sony had a couple of units that they'd brought back from TGS and they just stuck them in the foyer of the Sony building unannounced, I didn't have to wait to play them or anything, just strolled right in!). It's HUGE! Bigger than I thought. The games were a mixed bag, Everybodys Golf was good looking and fun, but the High Def Gran Turismo is an absolute disaster. Sure, the cars and distant background scenery are very sharp but the people by the track side are flat immobile 2D shapes (and this was up REAL close, I played a rally stage) and the cars cast no shadows. The Sixaxis controller was, well, just a dual shock with the rumble removed, which was noticeable on a rally track! I don't know if this GT was just a tech demo (I haven't been following the PS3 release schedule), I really hope they're not releasing this. Oh yeah, I've seen it playing BluRay, alongside a dedicated player (playing the same film, Spiderman 2, which I guess matches the consoles Spideystation 3 logo). Definitely a lot more artifacting on the PS3. Like the PS2 DVD was, it's noticeably worse than a dedicated unit. Sorry to sound a bit underwhelmed by it all but, well, I guess I was. It's just a great big box that does nothing new but in High Def. Ho hum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Seriously? Wow, man. I thought for sure that the Playstation 3 would be comparable to dedicated Blu-Ray players. I even said as much in my console predictions a few months back, which seem to be further and further off the mark as the days go by. All right, so how's the Blu-Ray playback on the PS3 in comparison to say, a good quality DVD player? Is there a noticable improvement? JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Somehow I'm not surprised about Gran Turismo, seeing how Sony has been rather arrogant all this time with the PS3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhatter667 Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Sony seems to have gotten a bit cocky period. They did everything right with the PSX, and the PS2... absolutely wonderful systems with great libraries and a lot of variety... then over the past half year or so... they've just gotten really uppity it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke 4ever Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Ive been more attracted to the things that Nintendo is doing with the Wii. It looks a lot more fun and interesting than PS3. And besides, its $300 cheaper. Who do you think will win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Who do you think will win? No one. And least of all the consumer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 I was fortunate (kind of) to have a go on a few finished production PS3s last week in Tokyo (Sony had a couple of units that they'd brought back from TGS and they just stuck them in the foyer of the Sony building unannounced, I didn't have to wait to play them or anything, just strolled right in!). It's HUGE! Bigger than I thought. The games were a mixed bag, Everybodys Golf was good looking and fun, but the High Def Gran Turismo is an absolute disaster. Sure, the cars and distant background scenery are very sharp but the people by the track side are flat immobile 2D shapes (and this was up REAL close, I played a rally stage) and the cars cast no shadows. The Sixaxis controller was, well, just a dual shock with the rumble removed, which was noticeable on a rally track! I don't know if this GT was just a tech demo (I haven't been following the PS3 release schedule), I really hope they're not releasing this. Oh yeah, I've seen it playing BluRay, alongside a dedicated player (playing the same film, Spiderman 2, which I guess matches the consoles Spideystation 3 logo). Definitely a lot more artifacting on the PS3. Like the PS2 DVD was, it's noticeably worse than a dedicated unit. Sorry to sound a bit underwhelmed by it all but, well, I guess I was. It's just a great big box that does nothing new but in High Def. Ho hum. Artifacting? Did you poke your fingers in your eyes or something? The Blu-Ray playback I've seen looks extremely crisp. I wonder if what you saw were the test-stations, used by developers, they look exactly the same but aren't the final deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega saturn x Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 (edited) Who do you think will win? No one. And least of all the consumer. After seeing the new 360 line up I don't see how the consumer loses. Edited November 11, 2006 by sega saturn x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Who do you think will win? No one. And least of all the consumer. After seeing the new 360 line up I don't see how the consumer looses. I've seen it too. I kind of switch between being excited by it and yawning. Everything, on all 3 systems, is last gen's games with something so minor tacked on I don't care anymore. Oh wow, a NEW FPS set in a dystopian future, oh do go on. Wow, now your co-op CPU controlled partner can pee, whoopie-do. Look, it's Link, but I flick the controller instead of pressing a button. Oh my God, is that an asexual teen trying to save the kingdom form the evil dark power? Real time weapon change you say? Holy crap! Thank you next gen. YAWN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Geez, someone's crabby today! Did someone take your copy of Okami or something? JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega saturn x Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Everything, on all 3 systems, is last gen's games with something so minor tacked on I don't care anymore Welcome to every new gen of games, ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xenomorpher Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Everything, on all 3 systems, is last gen's games with something so minor tacked on I don't care anymore Welcome to every new gen of games, ever. Yeah pretty much. I call it a little improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+swlovinist Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 I think that the "next gen" will really have to prove itself before it can be a runaway success. All three console companies have their work cut out to entice "new" gamers and not piss off the people who initially bought and support thier consoles. So far I am not impressed, fueled by the what I consider a lack of things new enough to warrant a large game console purchase. Today, I enjoyed the buy 2 get one free at a local gamestop and walked out of the store with 7 games for a mere $25. At the current prices of current gen stuff, it is going to have to be one hell of a game for me to go buy it new for $50 to $60 bucks. Count me out of this battle, I am happy with leftovers for now. Let me know when the prices come down to reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Oh, they will. Five years ago I was saying the same thing about the Playstation 2. Then they stopped making games for my Dreamcast and I was forced to buy a PS2 just to keep up with the industry! JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdement Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 Everything, on all 3 systems, is last gen's games with something so minor tacked on I don't care anymore Welcome to every new gen of games, ever. Not every. The 2600 was revolutionary in it's time, as most people were coming from Pong or even nothing at all. The NES' platform/adventure games were revolutionary compared to the 2600 - and that is the system most people were coming from when the NES came out. Likewise the original Playstation - that was the first generation of consoles that were truly designed for 3D gaming, and had hardware acceleration to make it work. We're still in the Playstation era, nothing revolutionary has happened since then. Maybe HD counts, but I'm not convinced that will be such a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 Artifacting? Did you poke your fingers in your eyes or something? The Blu-Ray playback I've seen looks extremely crisp. I wonder if what you saw were the test-stations, used by developers, they look exactly the same but aren't the final deal. All I'm saying is what I saw. Don't get me wrong, it's loads better than DVD (and it was on a huge Sony Bravia screen) but the dedicated player was definitely better, though I'd expect it to be - I mean, it costs more and it just does the one thing, right? I don't think they were test stations. The consoles themselves were housed in glass domes so you could look all round them. They had all the I/O that you'd expect them to have. Of course, not having had experience of the development hardware, I couldn't say for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 (edited) Geez, someone's crabby today! Did someone take your copy of Okami or something? JR Nah, in light of having all three companies make me angry I've had a lot of time to think about the next gen without feeling any hype for it. I was going to be all over this next gen, going the wii60 route, and had read every shred of news on it since all the hype started, but now I can't say it feels like a worthy investment anymore. I mean, I don't want a PS3 because I feel that Sony trying to take the home movie market on the backs of gamers is really unfair to gamers. Let's face it, they really want Blu-ray to succeed so they can make about a bazillion dollars. To do that they need an established userbase. If they can make 100 million gamers buy a blu-ray player when they continue supporting Sony's consoles, then they basically win the format war. They, of course, don't care if that comes at the expense of gamers having to pay a couple hundred dollars more for the consoles, because, hey, screw loyal customers right. Microsoft marked the Xbox 360 up an arbitrary $100 Canadian, despite the strong Canadian dollar, and the fact that the other systems were going to be priced based on the actual differences in the dollars. As a result, the only real 360 costs only $49 less than the core PS3. Let's face it, the core PS3, now that HDMI is included, isn't exactly worse than the 360 premium. Now, I don't want a blu-ray player, but when the difference between the PS3 and 360 is only $49, why not get the system that comes with a next gen DVD player? I mean, heck, I've bought DVD players for around that much. Of course, I still think Sony is being bad to consumers in general by throwing in the blu-ray drive at a huge cost, but here in Canada, it's not quite such a big deal. In any case, the 360 looks less appealing at $500 than it probably does in the U.S. at $400. Add in all the pay for content stuff that seems to be on the way, and I'll take a pass. Nintendo has yanked support of the Cube so hard my Gamecube pretty much split in half. During the time I've been disappointed in them over that I've had some time to think about a couple things that worry me regarding the Wii: 1) No less than 3 Gamecube games are going to the Wii. That means they're expecting me to pay for a new console to play games that we all know were more than possible on the Gamecube. Where's the revolution in that? 2) Twilight Princess: Whenever I argued with Sony or MS fanboys over this going to the Wii, I always said it was a good idea to have it on both platforms at once, as it would allow people to compare how much more fun the Wii controller was. However, with the announcement of the late GC release (and the fact that it's barely going to be available at all on GC in Japan) I've started to think differently about it. I thought that a Nintendo who had a lot of confidence in the superiority of the Wii gameplay mechanic would want the two games out there being compared. Yet now they want the Gamecube version basically hidden away. That doesn't seem like faith in their product at all. Sure, you can say it has to do with not wanting to "confuse" potential customers, but a seperate display in the store and different packaging, plus the tremendous response Nintendo is predicting for the Wii, should make it pretty unlikely people will mix these up anymore than they mix up Madden for the PS2 and Madden for the Xbox. 3) I was reading something or other about Trauma Centre or something for the Wii and thinking "Awesome! A great DS game gets a great Wii sequel." Then I thought, "Wait a minute. Who cares. A DS is $100 and a Wii is $250. Also, Wii games are more expensive. If the 'revolution' I've been so excited about is playing DS games for more money, why be excited?" Now, when the fist Star Wars game hits the Wii, I might take notice. But for right now, they've lost me. As, of course, have Sony and Microsoft. I don't know if I got too into the hype and burned out or if I just got tired of beng disappointed, but I'm sitting this one out for awhile now for sure. Besides, I have my DS, and that's basically all I need. Edited October 23, 2006 by Atarifever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 1) No less than 3 Gamecube games are going to the Wii. That means they're expecting me to pay for a new console to play games that we all know were more than possible on the Gamecube. Where's the revolution in that? Well, there has to be a breaking point in software support somewhere between hardware generations, so since the GC is already badly supported, there's no point in kicking a dead horse. Nintendo might as well go with the Wii full steam, but I'm worried about the Wii for another reason: Will there be sufficient third-party support for the Wii? I know the Virtual Console is getting a lot of third-party attention, and the next six months look good for the Wii in general, but there were specific reasons why the Game Cube fell far behind in third-party support behind the PS2 and the Xbox, and I'm just wondering if Nintendo has changed anything in their business practices to address these issues. If not, then I have no reason to believe that history will not repeat itself, even if the PS3 doesn't live up to expectations. Third-party developers and publishers will always go with the most profitable avenues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Master Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 1) No less than 3 Gamecube games are going to the Wii. That means they're expecting me to pay for a new console to play games that we all know were more than possible on the Gamecube. Where's the revolution in that? Well, there has to be a breaking point in software support somewhere between hardware generations, so since the GC is already badly supported, there's no point in kicking a dead horse. Nintendo might as well go with the Wii full steam, but I'm worried about the Wii for another reason: Will there be sufficient third-party support for the Wii? I know the Virtual Console is getting a lot of third-party attention, and the next six months look good for the Wii in general, but there were specific reasons why the Game Cube fell far behind in third-party support behind the PS2 and the Xbox, and I'm just wondering if Nintendo has changed anything in their business practices to address these issues. If not, then I have no reason to believe that history will not repeat itself, even if the PS3 doesn't live up to expectations. Third-party developers and publishers will always go with the most profitable avenues. I'm not sure, honestly. One thing is that both Nintendo of America, and Nintendo of Japan have new presidents. So this time, we have a whole new marketing deal, with new teams, etc. The marketing of the Wii has been a lot different than that of the Gamecube. I've also heard that Reggie has been out and about, rallying up third party support. I know he's spoken with Rockstar about GTA, etc. In all honesty the Wii is the only console I'm interested in thus far. I was interested in the Playstation 3, but Ken and his antics have completely turned me off towards it. I'm fine with the 360 at the moment, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted October 23, 2006 Author Share Posted October 23, 2006 I'm not going to be buying any of the three for a while yet. There's no point buying consoles at launch, you don't get any great games for a couple of years. In fact, I just went out and bought a PSP. Now's the time to be getting into that, there are some wonderful titles finally appearing for this (previously starved) platform. I picked mine up with Loco Roco and the astonishing Ridge Racers 2. And it's region free. I can see the day when I give up TV based consoles for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 I can see the day when I give up TV based consoles for good. That day is pretty much today for me. Well, except for my classic consoles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhatter667 Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 I still haven't figured out why they don't build consoles region free. If some off the wall company can build a mod-chip to bypass the region lockout, or a swap/boot disc to do it, the manufacturer can do it too, and potentially increase its market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Salamon Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 I can see the day when I give up TV based consoles for good. That day is pretty much today for me. Well, except for my classic consoles. I'm feeling that way too. I was hyped up for the Wii and now the interest is waning a bit. I've been considering grabbing another PSP as the games are coming out that look like fun. (I already have the DS) I'm not excited about the new systems (I was at first for each but lost interest slowly/quickly) as the cost/benefit analysis makes me look at the current gen goodies. With $250 (okay I'll admit I have more than $250) saved up for the Wii... I'm looking at what I could buy with the money in terms of DS software, PS2 software or whatever. Gaming on the TV is in the decline as the handhelds have really become something to look at (personally anyway). Perhaps a PSP is in order. I dunno... maybe I'll hold out to hear what Zelda provides on the Wii (seems like IGN will have news on this next week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 (edited) OK, all I've read was the first post... For the price of the PS3, I did not expect it would play Blu Ray very well. Dedicated Blu Ray players started at $1000 USD, and PS3 starts at $600. As for Gran Turismo, it went downhill after 3 anyway, so I'm not surprised at what you saw with the HD version. I will be surprised if it's released in the USA. I half expect us to get Gran Turismo 5 instead. MAybe I'm blind, but I have not seen any of the non numbered versions on the shelf, like Gran Turismo 4 Prologue or the one right after 3 that was arcade only and had changes to Tokyo 246. I'm with you on the underwhelming part. The only justification for it to run $600 USD was the Blu Ray capability, and if that's junk, then there's no point in me buying the system. I, too can see the day when I don't buy another "new" console. That goes for portables, too. I'm happy with my Color Game Boy, my 7800, and my NES. The 'Gear gets some use, too. Those are the systems I've put time and money into customizing to my personal taste. The portables have modern batteries and charging circuits built in now instead of needing to be fed AA cells every two hours. The NES and the 7800 both have compatibility mods. My Dreamcast? It sits there, turning yellower every day. My PS2 sits there with a simple modded hard drive that I can't use yet. Eventually I'll have all five of my PS2 games ripped to a small hard disk so that they load faster than they do from DVD, but for now, it sits there while the 7800 and the Game Boy get all the love. Maybe I'm to that day, because I don't own a 'cube (everyone's been telling me to just get a cube and forget the Transfer Pak/N64 thing), I don't own a GBA and I probably never will, I don't own an xbox of any kind, probably never will, and the two most modern systems are sitting there like expensive decorations. Old games = Food Fight and Millipede = fun New Games = FFX-2 and Gran Turismo 4 = ho hum. Edited October 24, 2006 by shadow460 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sega saturn x Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I got to play the ps3 demo unit today at target, I don't know if I was impressed but I didn't come away thinking it was a monster size joke either. Which is a lot more than I could have said for the 360 last year. Anyway I got to play motorstorm, I liked it, alot even. The graphics and animation were very smooth all in all, despite minor pixilation. It was a fun increadibly fast pulse pounding racer. Great for a demo, (wouldn't buy it though don't like racers). I really think if they had the units this would fly off the shelves, jokes and all. But it wont, not now anyway. (I liked what they did to the R2 buttons too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.