PS3 launch: the ugly side

Karmafaerie

Ciaran500 wrote:

You can stream video, music and pictures with XP now.

With XP you can only stream audio and images, not video.
You need Media Center to stream video.
(I have Media Center myself)

savemejebus wrote:

Not wishing to nay say about the 360 but you kinda left out the bits about the heavy drm & 24 hour viewing period for downloaded hd content on the 360 & also the fact that the ps3 can run it's own OS which means it will also be able to download tv, play and stream content etc.

The future looks bright for both ps3 and 360.

Ahh, you're a bit mixed up there.
If you download a TV episode, there is no time-limit. You can keep it for as long as you want.
When you download a movie, you can keep it for two weeks, but once you watch it for the first time, it disappears 24 hours later.
Seeing as HD-DVDs cost up to €35, they're hardly going to give it to you for $6 now are they!
Also, I wasn't slighting the PS3's downloadable content, just that Sony don't have a version of Windows on 90% of the worlds PCs!
Media Center, and soon Vista do give the 360 a different element.
I'm sure that when Sony launch their version of MS's movie and TV episode downloading it will be the same as MS's, but they will never have the advantage that the 360 has with windows.

Ciaran500

Karmafaerie wrote:

With XP you can only stream audio and images, not video.
You need Media Center to stream video.
(I have Media Center myself)

Nope, last update allows video from all XP pc's.

savemejebus

sorry i was actually only referring to the movies because I seriously don't see TV series as a realistic option due to the HDD space available to the 360 (the HD service really brings home the size constraints) and also because of the fact that in my opinion many people don't have the same qualms about downloading TV eps as they do about movies and so I think the 360s connectivity with the PC could hurt it in that regard.

I really don't mind which is the better system as i will probably end up with both in the end, not forgetting the wii which i'll also grab as soon as i get the chance.

ambro25

@ Raskolnikov





There's one big issue of concern to me with downloadable/streamable content, irrespective of the console (Wii/PS3/360) - my download cap :eek:

Anyone actually thought that one through in IE, having regard to current BB infrastructure and market? Coz (1) we're a sh1t of a long way away from even UK or France, never mind US and JP, and (2) last I heard, my friendly ISP NTL (amongst others) isn't that friendly at all anymore re. cap issues.

Bearing in mind their (NTL's) continued absence of monitoring tools for monthly bandwidth consumption, do any of the Wii/360/PS3 have their own monitoring tools?

Be interesting to see in a few months' time, how many Joe Saps getting a nasty letter (or even straight-away cut off) from their ISP, because lil'Johnny's next-gen console has used up all of the cap and more, unbeknowst to anyone in the house (and provided Joe Sap even knows what a cap is - which is not a given).

EDIT - in the above context, come to think of it, maybe a console that streams content downloaded onto the home PC isn't that bad an idea. That way at least, there are tools/apps that can be put on the PC to throttle/configure the console's bandwidth sucking.

Matter of fact, can you have any of the 3 consoles selectively on and off the web (i.e. not constantly connected)?

Karmafaerie

Sorry, Ciaran500, didn't know they'd updated that.

Personally Jebus, I think that the TV episodes aspect will help MS.
It only costs $1 and you're guaranteed that it's HD.
Personally, I'm not going to use it, but, a lot of people are afraid/unable to download things through torrent sites.
Look at how successful the I-Pod TV episodes have been. When it's so cheap, a lot of people will be more likely to go for it.
Plus, with MS launching Zune, they're gonna offer music downloads on the 360 as well!
If people have a Zune player, and a 360, chances are they'll be downloading their music on the 360, which means more €$£ for MS.

Ambro. I agree that Ireland does have a problem with download caps.
My sister in London has something like a 100gig a month limit!
But if we're honest, Ireland's market isn't that important when it comes to the big picture.
The bigger markets in America, Britain, France, Germany, etc. all have larger caps, and faster connections.
Plus, things are getting faster, and faster all the time.
The 360 is gonna be here for at least another 4 years, and the PS3 at very least 5. Think about how fast speeds will be then!
I mean, 4-5 years ago we were all on dial-up!:p

CiDeRmAn

Surely the notion of downloadable content will matter to only a limited number of possible consumers, I mean, perhaps the intial purchasers, being generally more tech savvy, will have the facility available but to the average guy/girl picking up anyone of the next gen consoles coming up to Christmas 07 will have little interest in online gaming or micro purchases and more whether or not PES7 or Fifa 07 will work on his/her spangly new box.
With that in mind brand recognition will be paramount and unfortunately that means, in all likelyhood, that the PS3 will become the default console in everyones living room.
It is not the informed folk of sites like this who will decide the "winner" of any console "race" but the un or even ill informed masses who will be the one who will count.
Blu-ray/HD-DVD won't matter a jot, the presence or otherwise of component or HDMI won't register a blip, only EA titles and the familiarity of the PS logo will succeed.
Unless, that is, that Sony screw up. And screw up bad.
The pricing will be a bigger factor than most believe I reckon,
I believe that the presence of a cheaper 360 by next Christmas coupled with the likes of Halo3 and PGR4, not to mention the Wii that will be cheaper again, and hopefully graced with some titles that make use of its strengths better than a series of party games can, the high cost of the PS3 may well be the deciding factor for a lot of parents, not to mention cost conscious consumers.
If the next gen of HD gaming looks all too similar across the two HD formats then why pay the higher cost?
If FIFA, Need 4 Speed and all the other popular franchises all look very similar across the PS3 and 360, why pay all that extra cash?
While that little power battle is going on the Wii could steal the whole race, as Ambro25 has said, if the Wii becomes everyones no. 2 machine it'll have a larger install base than the rest, making it the most popular console of all, thats my preferred future to be honest, but seeing as I will own all three consoles by then I'll be covered no matter what.
It is telling however that the PS3 is the only console I'm not going to bother with at launch, too high cost, too little launch games I want, too little to differentiate it from the 360.

savemejebus

I honestly don't think that the cost will make too much of a difference, just look at how many people buy Sony brand televisions that are much more expensive than their equivalent samsung/toshiba counterparts just because of brand recognition alone, not because of added features or anything, simply because "it's a sony".

These type of people are the ones that will make (in my opinion the ps3 a bestseller regardless of price).

My dad is a video and audiophile and knows whats what, but even he gets caught up in the whole Sony thing despite himself, simply because of past good experiences. He hates games consoles and games but got me my first playstation despite refusing point blank on megadrives and snes's, the reason he did this: "it's a sony". Thats the sort of thing that will keep sony on top.

Something i just thought of is this. Will Halo3 and pgr4 make that big a difference. Consider how many ps2 owners have never played Halo, and who automatically assume (regardless or reality) that Gran Turisimo is the greatest racer ever. Then add the people that think that Halo is over-rated. that's quite a large number that would have to be convinced, whereas the PS3 with it's good old familiar MGS, DMC, and Gran Turisimo won't have to work so hard on those people.

ambro25

savemejebus wrote:

My dad is a video and audiophile and knows whats what, but even he gets caught up in the whole Sony thing despite himself, simply because of past good experiences. He hates games consoles and games but got me my first playstation despite refusing point blank on megadrives and snes's, the reason he did this: "it's a sony". Thats the sort of thing that will keep sony on top.

Not a reflection or an insult on your Dad, but man, that's bad. If he's a video and audiophile, I would imagine he would be in the know about B&O (for video), NAD, MackIntosh, Linn, Cabasse (for audio) etc. and not bother with massmarket-grade Sony stuff

Still, I've rolled my stone around Europe quite a bit and I must admit, I've never seen such a concentration of (apparently) successful Sony-only retail stores than in Ireland. Must be all that new money syndrome and whatnot

The two main markets in Europe, I believe, are UK and FR. Whilst the UK may have a big share of brand-summoned Sonyphiles/Playstationphiles as alluded to in previous posts (i.e. who will go PS3 for HD FIFA), I can garantee you (my brother runs a VG store in a major FR city) that FR does not and that price will be a huge factor in that particular market.

See, unlike the UK where the going's generally good and wherein average Joe will just credit card his PS3 if he hasn't got the cash, in FR things are generally bad and have been for a long time now - people there 'generally' have no money (I hold not only from my brother, but from other friends in other branches of retail incl. A/V, shoes, clothes, house fittings/equipment - Xmas is in 3 weeks or so and retailers are really crying this year), i.e. certainly not to the tune of €600 for a games console.

savemejebus

Thats's the killer, he does know about stuff like that, he's gone through so much stuff but always reverts back to using 15year old sony equipment as he hasn't found anything that beats it for quality yet, although to be fair he did get a really nice SACD system that wasn't sony a few years ago. I guess this shows that he recognises that massmarket sony stuff ain't great but wait, I say i'm buyng a new HD tv and he asks me "Which bravia are you going to go for?" Sometimes I despair

ambro25

savemejebus wrote:

but always reverts back to using 15year old sony equipment as he hasn't found anything that beats it for quality yet.

Ah - hang on, that's different! Every amp/speaker combo (e.g.) has its own tonality/musicality, and every person have their own "organic hardware and frequency tuning" (so to call it), because of which they may very well be entitled to hold a 15-year old piece of kit to sound better than anything released by NAD last year. I'm still using my 10 year-old (at least) Pioneer Laserdisc for CDs myself, I've yet to find anything to top that

but wait, I say i'm buing a new HD tv and he asks me "Which bravia are you going to go for?" Sometimes I despair

...never mind

iregk

If your dad still hasn't found anything better than a 15 year old sony system then he really hasn't looked that far. As stated in a previous post: b&o, tag mclaren, jbl, warfdale all strip sony quality wise. I'm assuming he has never heard of Bose either?

As for the Bravia... I still laugh when I hear the amount of support those things have. They are a tesco value tv with a premium price tag!

ambro25

iregk wrote:

I'm assuming he has never heard of Bose either?

erm... I wouldn't quite put them up there with "NAD, Linn, Cabasse & Co."[/i] (for consumer solutions, I' not talking professional equipment).

The cubes are nice and sound good enough, but that's indeed the operative words - "nice" and "enough".

Matter of opinion of course. I've still got an old KEF 5.1 'egg' setup in the bedroom that will knock 10 shades of a comparable Bose setup at very much less than half-price, without breaking a sweat

On the contrary (and putting the brand-whoring thing aside for a mo'), I got the impression that savemejebus 's dad is well clued up, but just can't find anything with musicality to beat his old setup... Fair play to him, so why the aggro?

iregk

Not saying they are up there with those companies, but i would take Bose above sony any day of the week.

Karmafaerie

ambro25

No point hooking up a PS3 to a 15-year old amp that probably hasn't got 5.1 decoding, never mind THX, 7.1 or whatnot.

There, thread on target, happy now? :rolleyes: