There it is, $500

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:47 am

Brando70 wrote:And while $600 may be cheaper than other blu-ray players, you can bet that's going to be the most cheaply made blu-ray player on the market, too.

I still have an original PS2 and the difference in DVD quality compared to the Xbox is absolutely amazing. I think blu-ray on the PS2 will be great, but it's not much of a selling point for me at this point. Hell, if I waited this long for HDTV I can wait a couple years for the DVD format wars to settle.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:51 am

Just like with the 360, the PS3 is packed with enough technology to justify the price tag, at least from a components standpoint. But I just don't care enough about what's inside the box or the non-gaming functions to feel like I'd get my money's worth at $400, let alone $600.

The laptop I bought was a $1500 Powerbook. My wife uses it daily for her job (teacher) and we use it as our digital hub and as a record-keeper for our finances. The closest thing to gaming I use it for is when I play the Batracer.com F1 simulation game with other DSP-ers.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:54 am

I'm out. $500 is all I needed to hear. I have held off on the 360 because I feel that $400 is too much, and I almost choked on spending $200 for my PSP (although getting it as a birthday present helped). Combine this with $60 games, and I'll be happy to stay old school with the Xbox for as long as I can.

Why are these companies in such a hurry to push consumers into the next generation of DVD formats? If only 10-20% of households even have a HDTV at this point, what good is pushing a "better" DVD format? At some point people are going to say enough already. DVD haven't even been popular for more than a few years, and now you're going to try and get people to buy a new (and of course more expensive) format right after they've built up their DVD collections?

By the time Blu-Ray is widely accepted (if it ever is), we'll be buying PS4s.

The worst parts of this are 1) MLB the Show is a Sony exclusive and 2) This gives MS less incentive to lower the price on the 360 anytime soon.

Looks like my motto is turning into "Wii is for me".

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:27 am

Who cares what it costs. I'm prepurchasing three or four up front for no other reason than to sell them on ebay for the holiday season. There will be shortages and it's going to be supply and demand and I plan on being able to supply some of that demand...for a price of course!

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue May 09, 2006 10:56 am

Dave wrote:Just like with the 360, the PS3 is packed with enough technology to justify the price tag, at least from a components standpoint. But I just don't care enough about what's inside the box or the non-gaming functions to feel like I'd get my money's worth at $400, let alone $600.

This is how I feel about the PSP. If they had a 'games only' version of the PSP for $150, I would likely have bought one long ago. I have next to no interest in any of the other features, at least sitting here on the outside. I'm sure if I had a PSP I would enjoy some of the additional features, but I'm not paying the price they are asking, even though it may be a good value considering all of the PSP's functionality. I just want the thing to play games.

The $600 for the fancy PS3 may be an incredible deal considering what's inside the thing, and Sony may be loosing $600 on each machine for all I care, and it won't make a difference; it's too much for gaming, and I don't know that I need whatever else this thing can do. Now, I may be more interested as I see Blu-ray only machines and their prices, but I don't imagine the PS3 will be anywhere nearly as good a Blu-ray player as a stand-alone machine, especially if the stand-alones are more expensive. It just seems completely illogical. Unless Sony really is losing $600 per PS3.

The Blu-ray/HD-DVD war is in full effect. I firmly believe the penetration numbers of HD TVs in the US are misleading if not inaccurate. In any case they are climbing rapidly and consistently. Apparently (and I am no markets expert) the sales trends of HD units are through the roof, and have been climbing precipitously for the last two years. Now is the time for these two HD disc formats to stake their ground and make their claims to the marketplace. If either waits at all, they will lose out. However I am worried they will end up killing each other, just as Sony succeeded in doing with high-resolution audio formats. DVD-Audio and SACD are both excellent formats, and the quality of audio with both of them is stunning to most ears. Of course, you need a decent, multi-channel setup to take advantage, they make no difference if you're only listening to music with MP3s. But Sony held fast to their own format (SACD), and with their power over the content production, something they didn't have in the days of Beta, they were able to split the market very effectively. Of course, now 5 years down the road, Sony has decided multi-channel high-resolution audio is not selling well enough to justify all the associated costs of production and distribution. (Artists, btw, are not at all happy about this.)

And so Sony has effectively killed both formats, or nearly so. I guess they learned their lessons with Beta. The same could happen with Hi-Def video disc formats due to this fracturing. Remember Sony's mini-discs? They sounded like crap, with a sickeningly low sampling rate. Imagine if Sony had decided to put all their considerable energies behind killing the CD format and promoting their Mini-Disc. Seems to me like they probably wish they had.

The differences from regular DVD to HD-DVD or Blu-ray are stunning, but may well be lost on many viewers, just like the difference between CDs and any quality audio format. The convenience factor of digital discs is, I think, the main draw of these formats, and that's why CDs were so revolutionary when they arrived, yet everything since seems lacking, even though CDs are objectively very poor for sound reproduction, and the new hi-resolution formats are stunningly good. Similar deal with DVDs; what a massive upgrade in every way from tapes; yet, although there is no doubt DVDs are a second-rate format (much like CDs), and that the new formats are far superior in every technical way, the lack of a massive upgrade in convenience factor makes them all seem to most like they are only mildly better. Splitting the market with two formats could end up killing them both.

Anyway, I myself will be very happy with my 360 and a Wii. There will have to be a stunningly good killer app (not MGS or FF related) for me to go PS3 anytime soon. The big price tag just makes it that much easier for me to forget about the thing completely.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:32 am

That's disappointing, but I figured it would cost around that.

Hmmm... might put me in the market for a 360 sometime down the road.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:44 pm

Were there any reviews of the new ps3 controller? I didnt get to watch the whole conference but it looked like for the GT4 HD video, the guy was using a ps2 controller.

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:45 pm

At the cost of these machines now I think alot of former multiple platformer owners will be 1 game machine people.

I'm really diggin' the 360's other cool features like Media Center. My CPU is downstairs and my 360 is in the living rooms 50" plasma with kick ass surround and with media center I can play all my mp3s or music videos that I have on my cpu through my "good" system.

I bet the PS3 can't.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:56 pm

Inuyasha wrote:Were there any reviews of the new ps3 controller? I didnt get to watch the whole conference but it looked like for the GT4 HD video, the guy was using a ps2 controller.

They demoed all the games with the wired controller and then towards the end, Ken Kutaragi showed up and pulled the wireless controller out of his jacket pocket.

It's not clear how many of the games they demoed other than Warhawk supports the motion-sensing features yet. But a lot of those games could certainly implement it well if they chose.

On the multimedia support, it won't stream from a PC easily. But it has DLNA support I think so some third-party solution may be possible. Clearly, they are trying to make it self-contained for media with that hard drive. The $600 model lets you plug in memory cards from your digital cameras directly. Plus they want you to buy downloads of music and videos, as well as game extras (special characters or levels) directly to the built-in HDD. In a way, they're going after iTunes as well as console competitors. Don't be suprised if future Sony MP3 players and portable video players plug into the thing directly.

ddtrane · Post by **ddtrane** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:11 pm

I understand that at $600 it is very pricey, but I figure if I hid $50 a month for the next year, I will have enough for it when MLB '07 comes out.

There is no interest in the $499 version at all. No HDMI, no memory card slots, and no Blu Ray support.

A little pricey for the next generation, but hey, by the time this thing comes out, we might be paying $4 a gallon for gas. Who knows?

maddoc1979 · Post by **maddoc1979** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:01 pm

And paying $4 a gallon for gas is going to free up tons of cash to buy a video game system...

Doc

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:24 pm

Sony did not make a sufficient case that the console's features justify the high cost, IMO. At its announcement, Sony executives tried to make the case that the PS3 would be the most advanced game system to date, with enough features to justify its price.

Yet a large number of the game players, analysts and journalists at the news conference said they were not convinced. By the time the system comes out this holiday season, Microsoft would have sold some 10 million 360's around the globe and the only reason Sony "may" justify the $600 price tag is if Blu-ray ends up winning the battle of the DVD formats.

If Toshiba wins out, Sony's heavy investment in Blu-ray, and its inclusion in the PlayStation 3, could wind up being a costly mistake. But if Blu-ray prevails, users "could" be drawn to the PS3 in part for its ability to play vivid movies.

With a two million target to start selling Worldwide, sure people in Japan and Asia will line up overnight to get their PS3, Sony has a cult of PS users, and the console will sell out at first. But will it have the same impact in NA or Europe? I doubt it and this is where MS has made a big leap towards controlling this multi-billion industry. Boy, this hobby is becoming expenxive!

The only games I was looking forward for the PS3 were Killzone 2, GT5 and MLB, too little for that much dough.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:38 pm

http://www.gamenikki.com/g3/features/Jo ... d=4&page=1

Nice writeup from a friend who's there.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Tue May 09, 2006 5:41 pm

sportdan30 wrote: Wow, under $200 for the Wii? That makes my Wii stand up and listen. Seriously, that's a tremendous price considering it'll provide an array of games you won't see on either the 360 or the PS3. Further, it's the perfect console for when my 4 year old shows an interest in gaming, and when my neices and nephews come to visit. To me, the Wii is the ultimate family console.

Ditto. The games that I'd probably buy on the PS3 would probably be the same ones I'd want for the 360 (mainly, sports games) so I can't see myself buying a PS3 for a handful of exclusive titles.

The Wii has my interest though, for the exact same reasons. My oldest will be 4 in December, and most 360 games are too much to handle (he does like playing Zuma though).

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:07 pm

jondiehl wrote:[The games that I'd probably buy on the PS3 would probably be the same ones I'd want for the 360 (mainly, sports games) so I can't see myself buying a PS3 for a handful of exclusive titles.

Exactly right...at this point there is no point...

$600 sounds like alot to play MLB the Show....Unless ya gotta have MGS

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:29 pm

Count me out...I don't care if the thing slaps your @$$ and calls you beefcake...I ain't payin' that much for any game system...

(Is that better???

)

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:34 pm

ddtrane wrote:I understand that at $600 it is very pricey, but I figure if I hid $50 a month for the next year, I will have enough for it when MLB '07 comes out.

There is no interest in the $499 version at all. No HDMI, no memory card slots, and no Blu Ray support.

A little pricey for the next generation, but hey, by the time this thing comes out, we might be paying $4 a gallon for gas. Who knows?

How will we know if mlb07 on ps3 will be any good?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:41 pm

Hey thanks for allowing us to look at this page at work Teal...'preciate it.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:06 pm

I can't stand the "Swiss Army knife" approach of these new consoles. I want a f*cking gaming machine, nothing more. I don't want my game console to be my "living room media center" or any of that other bullsh*t, forcing me to pay for stuff that I won't use.

I think Nintendo is on to something by making the Wii the best <b>gaming</b> machine possible and pricing it at around $200.

Take care,
PK

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:12 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Hey thanks for allowing us to look at this page at work Teal...'preciate it.

D'oh! Sorry 'bout that, db, everybody else! My bad...I'll change it...

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:14 pm

pk500 wrote:I think Nintendo is on to something by making the Wii the best <b>gaming</b> machine possible and pricing it at around $200.

Take care,
PK

In theory that makes sense.

But I was underwhelmed by the Wii demos (was watching through the crappy Gamespot stream).

The Zelda game doesn't really use the wand that well and it looks like a GC game. The animation was poor too, you see link gliding around instead of walking (NBA Live demo'd footplant, which gave the players a sense of weight as they shifted their foot plant around).

Mario and Metroid also looked the same.

About the best demo of the wand was that tennis game. But it doesn't translate your motion exactly to the screen, it just activates a precanned animation. Look at the girl crushing the ball in the baseball game. She had an awful swing but the ball on screen took off like a McGuire shot.

You wonder if the pricing of the competing consoles will give Nintendo license to price it higher than they could as long as they're still under the competition. Lets see if they stay at $200.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:33 pm

wco81 wrote:About the best demo of the wand was that tennis game. But it doesn't translate your motion exactly to the screen, it just activates a precanned animation. Look at the girl crushing the ball in the baseball game. She had an awful swing but the ball on screen took off like a McGuire shot.

Ah, that's disappointing.

But does the Wii controller at least include a steroid button for those McGwire shots?

wco81 wrote:You wonder if the pricing of the competing consoles will give Nintendo license to price it higher than they could as long as they're still under the competition. Lets see if they stay at $200.

Good point. But the big N could stay at $200 and really emphasize the price point and unique controller as strong dual selling points.

Take care,
PK

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:49 pm

About the best demo of the wand was that tennis game. But it doesn't translate your motion exactly to the screen, it just activates a precanned animation. Look at the girl crushing the ball in the baseball game. She had an awful swing but the ball on screen took off like a McGuire shot.

Do you really think that the actors in that promo were actually playing the games? I don't. I think it's a little to early to say that the motion sensor can't detect nuanced movements.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:55 pm

LAking wrote:
About the best demo of the wand was that tennis game. But it doesn't translate your motion exactly to the screen, it just activates a precanned animation. Look at the girl crushing the ball in the baseball game. She had an awful swing but the ball on screen took off like a McGuire shot.
Do you really think that the actors in that promo were actually playing the games? I don't. I think it's a little to early to say that the motion sensor can't detect nuanced movements.

I think it would take a motion-capture setup to really show your arms, torso and legs. Even if they could produce that many sensors economically, there's probably not enough processing power to render it in real time with high-quality graphics.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Tue May 09, 2006 9:25 pm

I'm sure this has probably already been mentioned, but I just saw on G4TV tonight that Sony's online service was going to be completely free. They went out of their way to say that is one way they are distinguishing themselves from MS. That's a pretty good deal to me. Nothing I hate more than having to pay MS $50/year or whatever it is to play online and not get anything in my hands to actually show for it. They ought to at least send you an empty box or something in the mail.

That Adam Sessler guy on G4TV was in love with the new Nintendo system. Nintendo has never had a lot of great sports titles on their system, so I know it will never be anything but a secondary toy on the TV for me. And unfortunately, I don't seem to have a lot of time on my hands these days for that. But I know I'll be tempted whenever they get around to releasing a Resident Evil game for Wii.