NY Times Review of PS3

An anonymous reader noted that the NY Times has done a fairly negative review of the PS3. It would seem that there have been a fair number of these; it's pretty evident at this point that Sony's launch of the PS3 was not exactly well planned out; issues are still rolling in but the real test will be how it does over the holidays and into the next year.

Wii!

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, there was another console launched this weekend.

It's even selling out, in spite of its very healthy retail supply (10x the number of units as PS3).

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/11/20/tech -wii.html [www.cbc.ca]
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/7278/52/ [itwire.com.au]

Isn't Slashdot going to mention it?

My Experience

[DarkNemesis618]

While I realize my experience may differ, my experience was pretty good. I waited at Best Buy and eventually got a 60GB PS3. The line was orderly, civil, and generally not bad. The people there were pretty cool with things, they knew who the people were in line and where they were. There was a list with numbers, as well as roll call every 1-2 hours so people could walk around without fear of losing their spot in line. There weren't any attempts by anyone to jump the line, though there were people who drove up offering money for spots. It was actually a pretty cool system we had set up. I don't know so much as to whether its not so much the launch being the problem versus maybe more the people in lines being the problem. You could have the best planned launch possible but if people in line cause problems, then there's still problems. Could Sony have done things better? Probably. But as I said, I think it's more the people. You get a bunch of assholes, there's going to be problems regardless.

Disapointment

[HappySqurriel]

If you want to see someone disapointed give them exactly twice as much stuff for exactly twice the price ... If you want to see someone excited give them exactly half as much stuff for half the price ... I'm not sure if it is human nature, but most people think in the "Super Size It" mentality in which you pay a small ammount more (10%) for a dramatic improvement.

What this means for the Playstation is that they needed to deliver a dramatic improvement over the XBox 360 for the $100/$200 extra cost up front in order to meet people's expectations. I haven't used the PS3 yet so I don't know whether they did, but I suspect that anywhere they're lacking will be a Huge issue to many people and where they're equal to or better than the XBox 360 will be seen as a Small benefit.

Mixed Review

[bateleur]

That wasn't half as negative as it might've been. He complains about a bunch of missing features, but then says he likes the games. No XBox 360 titles receive a favourable comparison.

If that was the only review I'd read I'd still be quite tempted to buy one, since I preferred the PS2 to the XBox for the games.

Not exactly well planned out...

[crossmr]

Don't be so kind. This was a completely botched released. Sony has shot themselves in the foot. Maybe not the foot, Upper-thigh and with a shotgun is more accurate. They can recover from it, but they've got about 5 seconds to stop the bleeding.

Re:Just a souped up PS2

[AKAImBatman]

Isn't that what the next generation of anything is? If it's something different then it's something different.

I can't really say that's true. Going from the first-gen (2600, Intellivision) to the Super Systems (Colecovision, 5200) felt very different. Going from the Super Systems to the NES and Master System felt like a major overhaul in console gaming. Then going to the Genesis/SNES felt like a tremendous leap in the complexity and detail of games. Going to the N64/Playstation was an entirely new experience in 3D.

It was only this last generation of the PS2/XBox/Gamecube (sorry Dreamcast, we knew you well) that felt like just a graphical upgrade. Which wasn't all that bad for the last generation, as the first 3D generation was kind of weak with what the hardware was capable of. (Though honestly, the Gamecube could have been so much more.) I personally skipped owning any of the current gen consoles as nothing really appealed to me enough to make a purchase. Still, my relatives had a PS2 and they enjoyed it.

But with all the hype surrounding this generation, all the competitors are promising us the moon and more. Especially Sony, who has been telling people to get another job [joystiq.com] so they can afford the PS3. Just what exactly is so great about the PS3 that we should all go work our tails off to get it? With that kind of hubris, I was at least expecting a unique experience, even if the console doesn't appeal directly to me. (And I'm boycotting Sony anyway.) Finding that Sony's next-gen offering costs three times as much for nothing more than the same experience, but prettier, does little to improve my opinion of Sony.

That being said, some people will like the PS3. For some of them, a PS2 with HD is exactly what they're hoping for. For them, the PS3 will be a great system. (Especially since they have deep enough pockets to invest in HD in the first place.) But IMHO, the mass appeal of the PS2 is missing. Unless the price of HD equipment (of which the PS3 is an example of) comes back out of the stratosphere, the average joe is not going to see much value in the PS3. Certainly not the value that the PS2 provided.

zune

[Miguel de Icaza]

ps2->ps3 introduces a fully realised integrated bootlader/partition tool for loading linux, supported by several distros on launch day. ps3 is a fully functional set top super-computer. Regular users can email, browse web, use openoffice, play MAME, play dvds,cds, stream video, bittorrent, and compile new software... This is new (since MS defeated amiga-class) and it scares microsoft. If MS update the xbox 1.5 to compete they will totally 'zune' dell, hp and all their pc and media-centre partners.

Re:Retarded review

[elrous0]

He also cites the fact that you can't do background downloads like the 360, conspicuously omitting the fact that this ability was only added to the 360 after a recent firmware upgrade.

As much as I hate Sony and love my 360, I too recognize that this review is very unfair and biased.

-Eric