Could the PS3s possible failure as a game console doom Blu-Ray?

Cafe Society
1

I want to start off by saying that I own all 3 “next-gen” consoles, so I’m not a fanboy of any particular system. I just wanted to share a few thoughts though that had me concerned this weekend.

I enjoy watching the movies in Blu-Ray. The picture is nice and the sound is also nice. I haven’t seen an HDDVD movie yet, but unless the picture/sound is better then I don’t think I would care which format won so I’ll take Blu-Ray. When the PS3 came out the thought process was “Get these GAME systems in peoples homes, like we did with the PS2, and then they will use it as a BluRay player and we’ll be rich!”. Well, I hate to say it, but the PS3 game selection is terrible so far and the only musthave games on there are also available on the 360, typically with better graphics and better online features.

I bought MLB 2K7 yesterday on the PS3 because I only have one PS3 game (Ninja Gaiden, which is very good) and decided to try it out on there instead of my 360 because it was only $35 used vs $49 used on the 360. Well, after I got home I played it for around 20 minutes and the frame rate/slow down was so bad that I packed it up and went back to the store to get the 360 version which plays noticably smoother which makes the game easier to play. This is not the first time I’ve experienced this. I had the same experience with Marvel UA as well. I won’t even go into the drama surrounding Madden 08 on 360/PS3…

The point of all of this is that the super powerful PS3 was supposed to blow us hardcore gamers away and pull us from the 360 with it’s amazing graphics and gameplay options. So far, and I think everyone would agree, the PS3 is not performing anywhere near the original expectations and is far behind the 360 in not just the number of games availible but more importantly the quality of the ones that are. 1st year 360 games were no where near as bad as 1st year PS3 games so I am I tired of hearing “PS3 has only been out a year blah blah blah…” It has gotten to where I don’t know a single person who is planing on ever buying a PS3 because tge 360 is cheaper and the multisystem games are always better on it. What does this mean for BluRay when it’s success was totally dependant on the success of PS3?

I am a casual/hardcore gamer meaning I like owning all systems so can play what I want, when I want, but I don’t play a huge amount of video games over all. I think HDDVD was dealt a big blow when Blockbuster dropped them but I still think HDDVD is in the fight, mainly because when Gramps buys his HDTV he will probably think that HDTV must need an HDDVD for movies, instead of asking “Whats a bluray???”.

Bottom line I think that if Sony doesn’t start getting some great games out there ASAP to real in the gamer crowd not only will the PS3 fail as a game console but it will, more importantly drag bluray down with it in the process. What do you think?

(FTR I am HIGHLY skeptical that MGS4 will remain a PS3 exclusive. I bet that it will come out on 360 within a year of hitting PS3. Just MHO though)

2

The problem is the Blu-Ray, primarily the added cost the Blu-Ray added to the machine. The PS3 is primarily failing because it is not competitively priced.

3

The problem is that the Blu-Ray / HD-DVD battle will take several years to completely sort itself out. Meanwhile, all that time people’s internet connections get faster and faster. Hard drive space get bigger and bigger and cheaper and cheaper. This is a bad time for a format war.

4

No one else has any thoughts on this? I thought there would be more than this.

5

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD will be video game only mediums within 5 years. That renders the discussion moot.

Movie companies don’t WANT to pick sides. If necessary, they’ll wait until the next incarnation…which is already up and running.

6

I don’t think that the PS3 will have anything significant to do with the success or the failure of BluRay. Bluray (and HD-DVD) are an answer that hardly anyone was looking for and the few people who do want them aren’t going to use a game console to get them.

7

Too true. I liked that my PS2 played regular DVD movies because it just so happened I needed a DVD player in the living room. I didn’t go out and buy a TV because my PS2 could display something nifty on it.

Not so with HD/Blu-ray.

Just today the NY Times reported Paramount is dropping Blu-ray.

8

I think the HD format war is the product of a fad. High resolution will eventually be standard, but that will be defined by a different storage medium to HD-DVD or Blu-Ray; probably downloads or a better disc format. If anything is going to be learned from this format war, it’s how stupid it all is, and I hope that future technology developers will avoid such childishness and greed (HA! Small chance, perhaps).

The problem is not enough people are interested in HD to make another (expensive) upgrade to their home theatre so soon after installing their existing stuff. The higher definition isn’t enough of an incentive to do so, and they especially don’t want to re-buy all their movies in their collection again, and then again when the subsequent format (whatever that may be) debuts.

It’s all a big hooha over nothing, and game consoles and the big Production companies taking sides are just complicating a non-issue.

9

I agree with this; HD simply isn’t enough of a quality leap to excite most people, and high-def disc formats are an even smaller sub-issue. I’m still kind of shocked at how underwhelming HD is, and what an incremental improvement the PS3 and Xbox 360 are over the Xbox and PS2. When the PS2 came out, it was such a major leap over the PS1 (and DVD such a leap over VHS) that I felt like I had to have one. The PS3 looks about 10% better to me than the PS2 - it’s a little sharper and a little more detailed, and that’s about it. Yawn.