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Sony Announces a Cheaper BluRay
Still shopping for that inexpensive BluRay player? Sony must be catching on that the more retail friendly version of a dvd format will win out the Civil War of High Definition DVD Formats™ as they attempt to bolster their Christmas sales of the Playstation 3 as well as their BluRay format with a lower price point.
Sony announced Wednesday that it will offer a new $400 PlayStation 3 device, equipped with a Blu-ray player and a 40GB hard drive, by the end of this month.
And since they can’t seem to sell them, they are also including a copy of Spider-Man 3 on BluRay as a “bonus”
Personally I am in the “Wait til the dust settles” camp on this whole Civil War of High Definition DVD Formats™ thing, and until I saw the release schedule for Christmas, I honestly didn’t care about the Playstation 3. But after seeing the demos for Heavenly Sword and others coming soon, PS3 might just have my attention.
Notice none of the appeal comes from having a BluRay player.
Meh, I will likely pick up the Christmas Bundle of the XBox 360 anyways. And opt against the HD addon.
UPDATE
According to an article found at Canada.com the baby PS3 will feature more than just a price drop, but rather a significant FEATURE drop.
the company has decided to strip features from the new unit as well. The 40 gigabyte Playstation 3 will not be backwards-compatible with any Playstation 2 software in an effort to cut costs.
This is an even DUMBER move by Sony. They were the first platform to feature reverse compatibility and other platforms have to follow suit. So much for being an industry leader!
Also, the emulation software has been floating around the internet for years to emulate PS2 on your PC, so how exactly is this cutting costs????
At this pint the only reason for PS3 is Blu-ray. There’s a reason its dropping in price so quickly. If you want a game console for games this holiday go for the 360 Premium or a Wii.
As for the whle HD thing. It’s way to early for me to invest in either format. Transformers is tempting, but the 2 Disc regular DVD is just great, especially upscaled on my 360 (effectively HD quality from a DVD just not as perfect as it wasn’t designed for it). But there is allegedly a 199$ HD-DVD player coming this fall.
I’ll wait a while, DVD’s are just dandy thanks.
One word of warning on this new, cheaper PS3: it’s not backwards compatible with PS1 or PS2 games.
I have a PS3, and so far I use it mostly to play Blu-Ray discs. The DVD upscaler is also really nice.
Heavenly Sword is a decent game, but it’s pretty short. It’s also one of just only a few compelling exclusives. If you’re really into games I would go for the 360 option at the moment.
One reason to buy the PS3? Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Uncharted, Folklore, Eye of Judgment, Haze, Super Stardust, Everyday Shooter, Calling All Cars, and Metal Gear Solid 4/Final Fantasy XIII/Gran Turismo in ‘08. Plus wonderful non-exclusives like Orange Box, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Unreal Tournament 3, Army of Two, GTA 4, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Oblivion, DirT, etc.
I bought mine 6 months ago and it has gotten daily use ever since. Beyond the games I mentioned it is a wonderful media hub, perfect for showing off family pictures/movies to visitors, streaming videos from the computer wirelessly, and, of course, watching DVDs and Blu-ray movies. For what you get, $400 is a steal.
Jay E,
I’m glad you’re enjoying your PS3, but you seem to be in the minority. I have several friends with both PS3s and 360s and they hardly ever turn their PS3 on.
Sony is also pissing off the development community, so fewer games are being made for the PS3. Heck, even Gabe Newell (Valve) said the PS3 was “a waste of everybody’s time” and “You’re not going to gain anything except a hatred of the architecture they’ve created.” speaking of the probelms of developing for it.
I say go with the 360 or Wii if you’re looking for a gaming console.
scoville,
To be fair, Gabe Newell said the same about the 360: “It’s like, Xbox 360 doesn’t make my life any better, and in fact, it makes it a lot worse, as you’re telling me I can’t count on having a hard drive.”
The PS3 has a different architecture that takes time to learn. Programmers complained about programming the PS2 compared to the ease of the Dreamcast but that didn’t change the fact the PS2 got some great games.
Both the 360 and Wii have their positive points and are good machines. If you want to play games, buy the machine that has the games that interest you. Personally, all the games I want to play on the 360 are also on the PC or are being ported to the PS3. If someone was really adamant about purchasing a “game system” I would recommend to wait a little longer this generation and buy DS or PS2 as both have huge libraries of wonderful games and are very cheap.
My point was for a media machine the PS3 at $400 is a steal. It has great games, but it also comes with a Blu-ray player, wireless capabilities, video streaming, HDMI 1.3 output, and many media features that are constantly being added by firmware.
Technically speaking, BLU RAY movies are aesthetically better than HD DVD. When it comes to games, the 360 has a cheaper costing 12X DVD drive, PS3 has a 2X BR drive and transfers the data at 9MB/s. 360’s drive moves at over 13MB/s. Load times are slower for PS3 and that info comes from developers. And you’re right Jay, developers say PS3 is a nice but complicated piece of technology to get accustomed to. Point is, I will be putting my money down on a PS3 because it is going to be tweaked for better performance, and you will see that it will be a superior machine. Besides, I need my Gran Turismo fix. And by the way, I saw a preview for RE 5, it looks fucking amazing, it’s setting is in a jungle village in somewhere like S. America or Africa. Waiting another year for that game sucks.
Nevertheless, I meant to say, not “point is”. I liked that editing thing we had for short while it was here.
eh, the ps3 not being backwards compatible is not that big a deal to me. i plan on keeping my ps2 anyway, as it is “special”
You can still play PS1 games on the new 40GB version since it’s 100% software emulated. If you really want to play PS2 games, just buy the PS2two.
I don’t think JayE is the minority since I use the PS3 most of the time as well. I just enjoy it more.
And to comment of playing PS2 games on the PC, it’s still shitty. You’ll save yourself the trouble by just buying a PS2. However, I’m still wondering why Sony doesn’t use the RSX chip to emulate PS2 graphics. However, as a counter argument, if I can play Half-Life and Half-Life 2 on the same 8800GTS video card, it should be the same with console gaming since that is what a console is: a computer.
Maybe I’m thinking too far ahead.
Let me first say that I don’t own a 360, PS3, nor a Wii, but I have played all three, and I keep current on video game-related news. My opinion is that the 360 is the weakest platform by far.
Although it may have the most games right now, this is only because the platform has been out ahead of the competition for a year. Almost all 360 games eventually make it to the other platforms, or at least to the PC platform, primarily because of ease of porting to Windows.
The 360 has a notoriously high hardware failure rate. I thought this was overblown until my friends who own 360s started getting the infamous red rings of death (not all of them, but 3 separate cases that I know of).
So far Microsoft’s game division has lost money for the past 7 years since the original Xbox was released. As of 2005 they had lost a total of 4 *billion* dollars (I couldn’t find a reliable updated statistic). No other company can throw money at a losing product for 7 years straight. To be fair, they have announced that they forecast profitability in 2008.
Also, people say that games that are available on 360 and PS3 look the same. This is true, but keep in mind that we’re looking at 2nd-generation 360 games vs 1st-generation PS3 games. The next generation of PS3 games should blow the 360 out of the water, graphics-wise, assuming developers have learnt enough of the architecture of the PS3 to exploit it.
Online play on the 360 costs a yearly fee. The Playstation network (PSN) is free.
All models of PS3 come with a hard drive, which means developers can build their games with that in mind- for example, local storage for faster loading, etc. Of the different models of 360 available, one does not come with a hard drive. This means that developers cannot assume such a resource exists and employ it accordingly.
The hard drive on the 360 is proprietary, and highly overpriced. Upgrades, of which few options are available, are expensive. The PS3 comes with an easily user-upgradeable SATA hard drive.
On the negative side for PS3 are primarily price and scarcity of good games. Both of course will improve over time. Personally I think the PS3 is a steal at its current price, considering all the features that are included with it in the package. Upgrading a 360 with HD-DVD and all the other items necessary to bring it up to par, hardware-features-wise to a stock PS3, would shoot the price through the roof.
I agree that removing PS2 compatibility from the lowend PS3s is a huge blunder on Sony’s part. This is what happens when you let marketing make decisions that affect software. I would be surprised though if they didn’t restore the PS2 emulation at a later point through a PSN update.
All of this said, of the three platforms, I had the most fun by far with the Wii, although of course this is playing it casually at a friend’s place. I liken the experience of playing the Wii to be more along the lines of playing a board game with a bunch of friends, and all of the social elements that entails. It does not fulfill the stereotypical role of teenager in his parents’ basement playing a videogame alone for days straight. On top of it, parents and girls love the Wii. You’d be surprised how much of a hit it is with non-videogame-playing friends.
i have a ps3 and like it but the reason from cutting the ps2 BC because they want to focuse on ps2 sepertley and the ps3 seperatley and its good for the consumer to have a cheaper price. but if you really want to play ps2 games on your ps3 then buy a ps2 they are cheap as or get a 60gb one, i own a 60gb one.
the ps3 is a ps3 not a ps2 by the way.
Allow me to chime in my $0.02 worth.
1. The “advantage of BluRay” is only an advantage if you care about next gen formats. The majority are waiting for the dust to settle (I am one of them) Regardless of price, your fancy collection of premium priced dvds and out of date machine will still be a financial drain when you find out your side loses (whichever one wins – not predicting here)
2. You can bicker about development all you want, but the fact remains that most of the titles listed above (aside from a couple that are due out by christmas) were not appealing enough to the mass market to support PS3’s insane price point.
3. The desperate attempt by Sony to reduce the PS3 features defeats the purpose of buying a PS3. Its a glorified BluRay player without any of the real advantages of a Sony game system (who needs two consoles when one should play all disks?) See my first point.
Bottom line is that this is desperation. Sony is grasping at straws. Not enough people are falling in line at the Sony camp and there are TWO major consoles competing against it that share a broader appeal to the gaming market at half the price.
Wow, it seems only a couple people on this particular blog actually know about the technical capabilities/cost of these two particular consoles. It seems no one here is qualified to make a call on this subject (no I am not directing that statement to you John) but here is an excerpt from gamespot.com ( an objectionable point of view)
“Right now, the cost of a $349 20GB Xbox 360 Pro or the $449 120GB Xbox 360 Elite and the external HD-DVD drive ($180) is far more than either the $399 40GB PS3 or the $499 80GB PS3–$528 and $628, respectively. If Toshiba and Microsoft can’t make a HD-DVD-equipped console cheap enough to be attractive–or cool enough not to suffer from the console’s widespread overheating problem–the next-gen console war could get a lot more interesting”
scoville, I understand, but trust me, as crazy as I may sound, PS3 IS GOING TO RULE EVERYTHING A YEAR FROM NOW. I will bet money on it. Counting PS3 down for the count right now is WAAAAAY to premature. you will see.
“Technically speaking, BLU RAY movies are aesthetically better than HD DVD. ” Love this oxymoronic sentence!
If a movie is encoded the same for HD and BluRay there is no difference.
I have a HD player, great upconvertor, great CD player, and awesome HD video and audio player.
Really enjoy HD movies. With the PS3 dropping in price I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on one and enter the BluRay world.
I got the HD-DVD player for my XBOX for $180 and it’s been worth it. Planet Earth in HD is jaw dropping, all 11 hours of it. Transformers in HD blew me away. The quality is far superior to broadcast HD.
I’m sure I’ll eventually get the PS3, there just aren’t any games I’m interested in right now to justify the purchase. When you buy a game console just to play movies, it’s not a very good game console.
I’m just waiting for Wrath of Khan to be released on HD-DVD. Then I will be in heaven.
Also, If you get the 360 HD-DVD add on from Best Buy right now you get the HEROES box set free, as well as King Kong, and 5 other HD-DVDs. Thats 6 HD-DVDs and a 100 dollar box set for free. Not too shabby.
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/19/xbox-360-hd-dvd-offers-expanded-heroes-free-with-purchase-at-be/
That last post wasn’t trying to prove any point. I just thought it was interesting info about the gaming industry right now.
I admit, I’m very biased in this whole “console war”. I have several friends who are game developers, reviewers etc. and their opinions about the PS3 have rubbed off on me.
Let’s clarify a few things.
1. the 399 PS3 plays PS1 games not PS2. PS3 games review second worse on gamerankings.com (the game version of rotten tomatoes). Currently on that site the Wii has 7 games above 80%, the PS3 20, and the Xbox 360 has 67 games. Yes the 360 has a year adventage, but in that first year they released Gears of War the second top selling game of last year (Zelda #1) which as of November will be a PC/360 exclusive. The Wii will have released Mario Galaxy and Zelda in that year, two GOTY candidate games and very strong review scores for sure. (Galaxy is almost guranteed good scores, it looks phenomenal. The PS3 will have released…Ratchet and Uncharted (both great games but nowhere near Gears, Zelda, Mario.)
2. The PS3 has been dead last in sales since it released. Every month it has finished behind the Xbox 360 and the Wii. That is not coincidence.
3. The September 2007 sales were as follows:
– (1) Xbox 360 – 527′000
– (2) Nintendo Wii – 500′000
– (3) Playstation 3 – 119′000
Which of those numbers. The games and BR technology are difficult for developers and it shows in sales.
4. The PS3 is difficult to develop for and if you don’t believe me then tell me why Half – Life 2: Orange Box is out on 360 and PC, but the PS3 one got delayed. And in that case why is Jon Woo’s Stranglehold not out on PS3 yet, it’s been on 360 for a month.
5. The PS3 best games don’t come out until next year. Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII, UT III (or very late december), Killzone (i have my doubts still about it) are all 2008 games.
6. Halo 3 sold 3.3 million copies in 10 days, that’s more copies then PS3’s in North America. That’s why 3rd party developers go to 360 first, PS3 second. Larger install base= more potential sales.
7. On Gamerankings as of 10/20 these are the top reviewed games of 2007:
– (1) Bioshock [X360]
– (2) Bioshock [PC]
– (3) Halo 3 [X360]
– (4) Elder Scrolls IV [PS3] — also on 360/PC but released in 2006
– (5) Galactic Civilizations II: Dark avatar [PC]
– (6) God of War II [PS2]
– (7) Guitar Hero II [X360] — also on PS2 released in 2006
– (8) Resident Evil 4 [Wii] – also on Gamecube, PS2, and PC
– (9) Final Fantasy IV [GBA]
– (10) World of Warcraft: The Burning crusade
8. games that appear on PS3/360 are 95% of the time better on 360. For exampe, Madden NFL 2008 runs at 30 frames per second on PS3 and 60 frames per second on Xbox 360.
9. The market leader in sales in the Wii. Then the 360. The 360 in two years ahs dropped 100$. The Wii hasn’t dropped. The PS3 has no dropped 260$ cdn in less then a year. Coincidence?
10. If theres one mark against the 360 it’s that online costs 5$ a month, whereas its free on PS3/Wii. That said the 360 online is the best service, but it should be free. although, 5$ isn’t too much.
Hope that helps everyone out. The only reason to really buy a PS3 is for bluray. And even then this war HD-DVD/Blu Ray battle is far from voer so I know reason to pick sides at this point. Oh, and I thought this was amusing:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/console-wars/sony-pleading-to-keep-third-parties-on-ps3-313148.php
not sure how true it is. but concerning and humorous all the lest. If your looking for a gaming blog like the movie blog with funny people and plenty of posts I heavily recommend Kotaku.com
The Heroes Boxed set is only worth $50, but still its a good deal. Like buy 6 movies and a box set and get the HD addon.
“keep in mind that we’re looking at 2nd-generation 360 games vs 1st-generation PS3 games.”
Sorry that’s wrong. PS3 devkits were out long before 360 devkits. The only reason PS3 was delayed for so long was because of the blu-ray drive. The PS3 games should already look better than the 360 games rather than the converse.