This is pretty much why I bought a PS3. Before I learned that it was also going to be out for the 360. It will however come out a year after the PS3 version.
PS3 In Europe
Looks like the PS3 is finally going to come out in Europe in March and it is going to cost £425. £425 is $840 US! Seriously, I don’t think Sony really wants the PS3 to be successful. They might be giving up on the division like they did with most of their other divisions. Sony’s pride is going to destroy them slowly.
For awhile, Sony’s SCEA division was the only profitable part of Sony. Now it has shifted to their TV’s. They have some of the best displays out there. The Sony Bravia video processor chip is probably one of the top 5 chips out there. Maybe they don’t believe that they can maintain two successful divisions at once, even though they have very talented people working and more resources than most. It might also be that they want the PS3 to be an HDTV accessory. If you look at it that way, the PS3 is a great accessory to your Sony SXRD HD televsion, but the Xbox 360 is just as good, if not better, and more importantly, cheaper.
My PS3 thoughts
I was reading an interesting article about how the PS3 is a dud for Sony. Then I came across a preview for Gran Turismo HD, which the demo for is now available to download. As you can see to your left and in the screenshots at the article, Gran Turismo HD looks incredible. There’s no denying that it is by far the best looking game you can play on a console at the moment. Then I realized it’s not the best graphics you can possibly get at this exact moment and this won’t change for a long time. One of the biggest arguements for console over a PC loaded with a high-end graphics card, CPU, RAM, etc. was the price.
Obviously, you can easily spend more than $500-600 for the graphics card alone but I think there’s a line in price where the hardcore gamer that demand the highest graphics possible and the more casual gamer meet, and that line is lower than $600.
Sony has priced themselves out of the console wars. It no longer competes as a gaming machine, it’s an entertainment box with gaming capabilities. Sony admits to this. When the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on came out the PS3 was no longer the best entertainment box you could get. Now, both the 360 and the PS3 have the ability to play High Definition movies but one major difference, PS3 cannot play your old DVDs! The PS3 only has the Blue-Ray blue laser sensor that can only play Blue-Ray discs, it is different from the regular red laser used in normal CD/DVD players. So you would need a separate DVD player by your television to watch all those DVDs you’ve bought over the years. Either that or buy them again in Blue-Ray version, of course if the movie you want is under the studio that supports Blue-Ray.
Right now there is no way that I would buy a PS3 even if it was cheaper than the Xbox 360. I would not have fun with it. Then again, I’ll probably get one once Final Fantasy XIII comes out (the picture below is an actual gameplay screenshot).
