[WildgooseUK]

PS3 News: CNN: "PS3 is dying on the shelves" - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Slagging off PS3 continues as usual.

The best bit I liked when CNN mentioned that the HD DVDs (Blu-ray) shown hardly any difference in image quality over SD DVDs under 50" TV's

Well, I've noticed huge advantage in terms of image quality on Blu-ray via my 32". And yet, they failed to mention optional HD sound which is not possible on any SD DVD's


Is Microsoft bank rolling em????

[chowyunfatt]

[evilgenius]

TO the media across the world - this is 2009 not 2007.

[ash08]

I take your point but be realistic, Sony have been the worst offenders of media spin for years.

I remember all sorts of stupid articles relating to the power of the PS2 (more powerful than the architecture of war heads or some such rubbish), it was even claimed that Sony were trying to stop PS2's being shipped to Iraq due to the fear of Warlords using the internals etc...

Sony were again caught out for using pre rendered video as claiming it to be in game footage for the FPS (forget the name, it was the one set in London/England and one of the first games released). They were found out when the studio hired to render the CGI came clean after media pressure Serves Sony right IMO, you can only fool the public for so long….

I'm not an Xbox fan boy and have owned Playstations (and will likely own the PS3 eventually), Its frustrating to read biased misleading articles like this but don't for one second think that Sony is he victim here, they have been the worst offenders of spin by far so I feel its nice to see them not get it all their own way....As I said you can only fool the public for so long….

[ash08]

I should make clear actually that I do agree with some of your comments wildgoose...Its not nice to see misleading and ignorant articles such as this CNN piece. Its counter productive for those of us trying to push the HD format forward

[clc.sheff]

For the purpose of love and harmony around the world (and the survival of this thread) I'm hereby deleting the use of the third to last letter in the alphabet. Also from now on all numbers start 1,2,4,5,7,8,9,10

[bonzobanana]

What gets me is the 360 and the previous Xbox have been total and utter failures costing Microsoft losses of billions. They are buying console sales with massive subsidies with no hope of ever recouping their money except possibly in years to come when they might start selling consoles at a profit or make enough income from downloads. However the losses they have amounted can perhaps not be repayed in the next 25 years or beyond. That is total and utter failure.

If Sony decide not to sell their consoles at a huge loss and perhaps sell only half as many as the 360 worldwide that is failure even if their losses are marginal. Sony make money from both blu-rays and game licensing etc.

There is only one winner this generation and its Nintendo and even last generation with gamecube they made a profit even if it was the no.3 format. Both Microsoft and Sony are failures this generation but Microsoft's failure is far worse. If Nissan cars decided to sell all their models at £999 making huge losses and sold 30% more than Toyota who were selling at a profit would we honestly think Nissan were successful. The real amount of subsidy in the 360 console is huge. Not only is a relatively expensive console to make compared to wii it also has massive reliability problems which are the worst ever for a consumer electronics item plus they are giving a free 3 year warranty!!! I'm on my fourth and even the one I currently have is dodgy with occasional freezing and drive reading problems.

[clc.sheff]

Doh!

[cols]

Sweepstake for the thread closure? I say post #23...

[clc.sheff]

I'm in for "22", Mabo's fairly strict with the delete button these days and it's a sensitive subject

No-one won the imaginary console last time, so it's a rollover everybody with the new added prize being a lovely imaginary 52 inch full HD tv

[MarVell]

Originally Posted by WildgooseUK

PS3 News: CNN: "PS3 is dying on the shelves" - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Slagging off PS3 continues as usual.

The best bit I liked when CNN mentioned that the HD DVDs (Blu-ray) shown hardly any difference in image quality over SD DVDs under 50" TV's

Well, I've noticed huge advantage in terms of image quality on Blu-ray via my 32". And yet, they failed to mention optional HD sound which is not possible on any SD DVD's

The PS3 is my favourite console of this generation and I love it to bits. However, it is now clear that from a commercial point of view the PS3 will finish a distant third behind the Wii and the 360. It's massively outsold by both of its competitors and I can't see that trend changing anytime soon. Big hopes like MGS4, GT5P, LBP and Home came and went in 2008 and didn't have much of an impact as far as console sales are concerned.

In terms of Blu-ray and 1080p, I have a 40" full HD Samsung and there is very little difference between a 720p and a 1080p picture. Good quality DVDs look as good on my 1080p upscaling DVD player as Blu-rays do on my PS3.

It's a shame cause the PS3 is a great machine but the truth is, it's this generation's Dreamcast - better than the competition but not selling as well as it should.

[Delvey]

my brothers 2nd ps3 has just died in the space of 9 months, the drive on it as gone. Its just how unlucky people are. At least i get 3 years for the RROD

[clc.sheff]

More ON topic, I have noticed lots of way over the top media coverage. It's wierd ,everyone I know either has or wants a playstation??

[ash08]

Originally Posted by clc.sheff

More ON topic, I have noticed lots of way over the top media coverage. It's wierd ,everyone I know either has or wants a playstation??

I find most media coverage now over the top, I try not to read much of it and certainly try to form a balanced subjective opinion...I want a PS3 and will probably get one in about a years time but not for the Blu-Ray.

The same can be said with 'unbalanced' HD coverage in the media...I remember a supplement sponsored by Panasonic that came free with HCC. Within was an example of 720HD versus FullHD and the Full HD picture was crystal clear while the 'standard' HD picture was so blurry it would be unwatchable. Hardly balanced or a true reflection of the reality!!!

[gongatots]

Originally Posted by MarVell

The PS3 is my favourite console of this generation and I love it to bits. However, it is now clear that from a commercial point of view the PS3 will finish a distant third behind the Wii and the 360. It's massively outsold by both of its competitors and I can't see that trend changing anytime soon. Big hopes like MGS4, GT5P, LBP and Home came and went in 2008 and didn't have much of an impact as far as console sales are concerned.

In terms of Blu-ray and 1080p, I have a 40" full HD Samsung and there is very little difference between a 720p and a 1080p picture. Good quality DVDs look as good on my 1080p upscaling DVD player as Blu-rays do on my PS3.

It's a shame cause the PS3 is a great machine but the truth is, it's this generation's Dreamcast - better than the competition but not selling as well as it should.

my girlfriend struggles to see the difference with bluray and dvd
in the real world its only people like av enthusiasts(imho) that spot the tiny differences between the 2

i remember reading it was like "looking out of a window" and the difference is "night and day"

thats not how my other half see`s it.

[prvjoker]

Originally Posted by MarVell

It's a shame cause the PS3 is a great machine but the truth is, it's this generation's Dreamcast - better than the competition but not selling as well as it should.

It's a year behind the 360 and costs twice as much....given where the PS3 is at it in year 2 having lost a multitude of exclusives it is doing incredibly well. Wait until the price drop mate.

Originally Posted by MarVell

In terms of Blu-ray and 1080p, I have a 40" full HD Samsung and there is very little difference between a 720p and a 1080p picture. Good quality DVDs look as good on my 1080p upscaling DVD player as Blu-rays do on my PS3.

Lol I really can't believe the last line, if you have a decent tv there is a comparable difference between blu-ray and dvd at 1080p. Take ice age on dvd and the equivalent blu-ray and compare. There is a sheen and depth on the blu-ray that looks like a smoothing effect on an upscaled dvd, if you cannot see this then I suggest you tweak your t.v settings lol.

I hope you also realise why I chose a CGI movie to compare because in movies, depending on the scene/director many movies are NOT filmed in deep focus which is why some films translate better to blu-ray than others. This is why you can't tell the difference with most movies as they have been shot for SD. More and more studios/directors are embracing HD though as evidenced by say...The Dark Knight. Nolan shot this movie with HD in mind and it shows. The blu-ray is clearly superior.

Dark Knight Blu-ray vs DVD Comparison Pictures! - giantbomb.com

[MarVell]

Originally Posted by leepy

my girlfriend struggles to see the difference with bluray and dvd
in the real world its only people like av enthusiasts(imho) that spot the tiny differences between the 2

i remember reading it was like "looking out of a window" and the difference is "night and day"

thats not how my other half see`s it.

Same experience here. In the real world, noone I know can spot the difference between a good quality DVD and a blu-ray. Maybe in a few scenes here and there but definitely not the visual revolution many people were hoping for.

In terms of games, there are not many PS3 games that support 1080p. I tried playing NBA 08 back to back in 720p and 1080p once to see if I could spot the difference between the two resolutions and I couldn't.

Sony was hoping to sell the PS3 on the strength of Blu-ray but for most people there isn't much of a difference, especially when the same movie costs £5 on DVD and £20 on blu-ray

[theblacksheep]

Originally Posted by MarVell

It's a shame cause the PS3 is a great machine but the truth is, it's this generation's Dreamcast - better than the competition but not selling as well as it should.

There is no Dreamcast of this generation, its 10M sales compared to the orig xbox (25M) and the playstation2 (140M) pale in comparason to current gen (PS3:17M, 360:22m, Wii:35M). The 360 was also on 11M by the time the PS3 came out, so the PS3 is selling faster than the 360... the good news is that lazy journos will come up with new conclusions soon.


How to write an article on PS3 sales:

1) Check total sales figures.
2) Fluff out article on total sales, ignore time scales, games per unit and regional differences.

Originally Posted by MarVell

Sony was hoping to sell the PS3 on the strength of Blu-ray but for most people there isn't much of a difference

I disagree, I feel they used the PS3 as a way of forcing the market to their format, it worked. The compatition is dead and 17M blu-ray players have been sold to people that probably wouldnt have even bothered.

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by leepy

my girlfriend struggles to see the difference with bluray and dvd
in the real world its only people like av enthusiasts(imho) that spot the tiny differences between the 2

Seriously what TV do you have? I've been buying HD almost exclusively now for almost two years and I hate having to watch something on DVD even with upscaling. Some titles are incredible, some not so much but still better.

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by WildgooseUK

PS3 News: CNN: "PS3 is dying on the shelves" - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Slagging off PS3 continues as usual.

I imagine the Japanese version of CNN could equally take the line, '360 is dying on shelves'.

[gavan]

Originally Posted by leepy

my girlfriend struggles to see the difference with bluray and dvd
in the real world its only people like av enthusiasts(imho) that spot the tiny differences between the 2

i remember reading it was like "looking out of a window" and the difference is "night and day"

thats not how my other half see`s it.

Not how I see it either.

Granted I 'only' have a 37" panel but the difference between a 1080p BD and a decent upscaled DVD isn't anything like as pronounced as it should be if you listen to the hyperbolae on line.

I have seen some very good stuff on BD and the format performs best when it's understated such as a nature documentary but the hype of HDTV video is just that - hype. The market is not going to en-masse ditch DVD for BD for the PQ improvements on offer.


Games wise, I like my PS3 but we were promised 1080p games by the hype machine prior to release. As it is, most games aren't even perfect at 720p and I see framerate slowdowns or tearing (or the game is rendered internally at a lower res and just scaled) on a lot of titles.

I think the PS3 will definitely go down as a disappointment for Sony. They went from runaway leaders to third place in a generation. I just hope the oncoming recession doesn't really hurt the format because it is in the most disadvantageous position of all the consoles being far and away the most expensive.

[MarVell]

Originally Posted by theblacksheep

The 360 was also on 11M by the time the PS3 came out, so the PS3 is selling faster than the 360...

Obviously, you haven't seen the hardware sales figures over the last few months... The PS3 came a distant third during the crucial months of November / December, traditionally the busiest months of the year in terms of console sales.

[FoolsGold]

CNN

Come on please - they cannot be taken seriously for any news. They are the Star of the news world. I remember watching some daft English bint live from the English parliment - there isnt one and hasnt been for a few hundred years. The standard of reporting and news on it is as bad as can possibly be.

Anyway as for the consoles - they have all be a success to a certain extent.

Sony won the HD war with PS3 and will get great rewards long term from that but lost the gaming war by taking its eye off the ball.

Microsoft won the gaming war but dont look like making money out of it.

Nintendo do something completely different to everyone else again and this time they have hit the bullseye. I thought they would be out of it but im glad they havent done a Sega.

As for Bluray - its only anal people that really appreciate it (like me). 40" LCD set up aswell as I can get it and unless I tell people they dont notice any difference between SD and HD - and more importantly they dont care. I suppose the fact the PS3 is so good at SD probably makes a big difference.

You really need a stupidly big TV to appreciate BD properly and most of us live in normal homes not a shrine to AV - if only...

[Sonic67]

Originally Posted by MarVell

Obviously, you haven't seen the hardware sales figures over the last few months... The PS3 came a distant third during the crucial months of November / December, traditionally the busiest months of the year in terms of console sales.

It depends on what web sites you read.

Pro PS3
BBC NEWS | Technology | Europe PS3 sales 'overtake 360'

Video games are dead anyway (read the fourth paragraph):
The Death of the Video Game Console Market

Or pro 360
Xbox 360 topples PS3 across Europe News // Xbox 360 /// Eurogamer - Games Reviews, News and More

etc.

A few people have jumped on the 'PS3 is a failure' because the first two Playstations did what hadn't been done before and won the console war twice running with their two earlier Playstations. Previous to that each generation tended to flip flop between Sega/Nintendo. Everyone including Sony thought that they could do it three times on the trot.

This time Sony has had the disadvantage of being up against the staggeringly successful Wii and also let the 360 have a long head start to get established. When the 360 launched it was often the only bit of HD hardware you could connect to your new HD TV.

As times go on the 360 head start will be less of a factor and the games comparison will be less of an issue. When the PS3 first launced for a while there was a lack of decent games around and the new games were coming out against cheap back catalogue 360 games. Again the PS3 is getting its own budget titles now, together with some decent exclusives coming through.

[MarVell]

Originally Posted by Sonic67

It depends on what web sites you read.

Pro PS3
BBC NEWS | Technology | Europe PS3 sales 'overtake 360'

That article is from May 2008 During the first half of 2008, Sony seemed to be making a comeback, especially in Europe. As I mentioned however, the PS3 has done poorly against the Wii and the 360 in recent months. As a result, the gap keeps getting bigger, instead of narrower.

[Sonic67]

Well this seems to be Sony's position on it:

BBC NEWS | Technology | Sony looks to the long game

Sony is also keen to point out that its PlayStation 2 is still a healthy part of the business, with more than 130 million consoles sold, and 130 new games due for release this year...


...Sony's rival Microsoft boasted this week that the Xbox 360 would outsell the PS3 over its lifespan.

But Mr Hirai said: "We engage in a 10-year life cycle; if any other of the competitors are in same lifecycle then it's an apples to apples comparison.

"But based on historical data most of the other consoles go by the wayside after four or five years."

In other words, Microsoft may have the lead in year five when it launches new hardware, but look at the data in another five years and it may be another story.

[wormvortex]

I've never been overly impressed with Blu-ray. Yeah it looks better but it's not the leap some people have made it out to be. Black and white to colour and VHS to DVD were big leaps DVD to High Def really isn't.

It only starts to look really impressive if you have a stupidly huge TV or you sit 1" away from the screen

[Delvey]

Originally Posted by wormvortex

you sit 1" away from the screen

like i do

[BenchyUK]

Poor old PS3. Who's to say that it won't have a 8 year life cycle like the PS2, sell over 100 million consoles and still bring Blu-Ray to the masses.

Once Blu-Ray disc prices drop heavily and the console drops in price, there could still be a huge spike in sales in the uptake of Blu-Ray through the PS3 as well as the PS3 as a gaming machine

[gongatots]

Originally Posted by wormvortex

I've never been overly impressed with Blu-ray. Yeah it looks better but it's not the leap some people have made it out to be. Black and white to colour and VHS to DVD were big leaps DVD to High Def really isn't.

It only starts to look really impressive if you have a stupidly huge TV or you sit 1" away from the screen

it always amazes me that people see a vast difference.
there is an improvement,but its not obvious,unless you know what your looking for.