I have read in many places opinions of many people that disliked the PS3 or liked the PS3 with a certain bias. I will certainly not deny that my post will be somewhat biased in itself. However, I will try my best to be as objective as possible in this delicate subject. Also, if you find that some of my info are incorrect, feel free to call me an idiot and correct me.
The PS3 has caused quite a stirring over the past 2 years: from a general excitement to astonishment to disappointment. How did this happen? Let's look at what Sony did right, and what they did wrong, and every shades of gray in between.
Pros:
1. Cell- 8 cores, 7 active, 1 for redundancy. Why is this good? This is excellent for the consumers. It solves a lot of defects, reducing complaints and defective systems. Sony learned something from their PS2 fiasco. But aside from its ability to warrant from damage, the Cell processor is a dedicated processor especially designed for gaming. How? Because of its 7 core architecture, Cell allows developers to designate each core to a specific task. This allow multitasking at its peak. What does this mean to games? More sparks, more people, more physics, better AI, more particles, more of everything at the same time on the same HD TV. The Cell processor undoubted sets the PS3 a bar ahead of all other consoles.
2. Blue-Ray Disk- 52 gig of space to use. No matter how you look at it, bigger space is better. More room for developers to fill. Better graphics, sounds, physics, AI, longer games, more modes, more maps, everything. A $1000 value, now yours for only $600. Play movies at high definition, games at high def. BR is very important to gaming. With a new leap in generation, came a new leap in media. Sony had always shown this: PS-CD, PS2-DVD, PS3-BD. This technology removes the limit that developers get when making a game
3. Sony- This may not be a pro (probably a shade of gray). But Sony has established itself in the industry. Leading the gaming industry, Sony has been regarded as an elite manufacturer. Consumers trust Sony, especially Playstation. The fanbase of this title causes great support, which will drive BD, lowering the cost of production, which is good for consumers.
4. Games- Why do gamers buy consoles? For the games, of course. PS3 is backwards compatible to all previous Playstation/PS2 titles. Great games such as FF, MGS, DMC, KZ, Soccom, Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword, etc are all Playstation exclusives and will probably stay that way. With such attractive games, Playstation 3 has a great chance of delivering in the third round.
5. 3rd party support- PS3 has an extensive amount of 3rd party supporters from all over the world. It is the most supported system out of the three consoles. This probably means, more games, more innovations, etc. More developments will create a better understanding of the PS3, thus allowing better utilization and better optimization.
6. Controller- (shade of gray) Ok, I know you are probably saying, "Sony is a thief, they stole the controller from Nintendo." And I agree. However, it doesn't change the fact that motion sensor is a good thing. Combined with standard and extremely comfortable control scheme with R2 and L2 buttons enlarged to form trigger-like buttons, the controller offers both innovation and comfort. But a lack of rumble seriously dampens the entire situation. Undoubtedly, a 3rd party controller will arise to fill the rumble along with the motion sensor. But just like the Wiimote, the DualSensor? controller allows a lot of innovative games and creativity in the PS3 game lineup.
7. Playstation Network- (shade of gray) Sony can seriously screw this up. Even though they are copying Live, it doesn't change the fact that unified and free *for now* online gaming is an excellent idea, just like copying the Wiimote. I'll reiterate: FREE ONLINE GAMING. There...however, this is Sony's first time doing this, so it might be a piece of junk compared to Live. But judging from screenshots, it doesn't look that bad. By the way, it looks just like the PSP OS thing which is kinda cool.
8. Hard Drives- With the PS3, hard drives are now STANDARD. This means that developers will be able to use the hard drives to drive gameplay or to speed up and reduce load time. This allows a lot of flexibility for games. It can be used for downloads, game saves, music saves, etc. I am personally really excited about this.
9. 1080p- True HD. Although games probably wont reach this resolution in the next few years, eventually, games will use it, and it will be big. It will be one of the points that leads PS3 ahead of its competitions. Grand Turismo demo at E3 2006 showed that the PS3 is capable of running a game at 1080p at 60 frames per second. If developers can do it now, wait till 4 years from now.
10. Web Browsing- Just like the PSP. This is probably an obvious step, considering that the PS3 allows usb plug-ins for keyboard and mouse. The PS3 will be like a mini-computer. The web browsing feature will be useful. I would love to sit on my couch, turn on my 32" HD TV, and check my email. How cool is that!. A small advantage, but it is pretty cool.
11. PSP- The PS3 can connect to the PSP to enhence gameplay. So far, all we've seen is the F1 demo where the PSP was used as a mirror for the car, but this can be an interesting functionality. Sony has also announced that the PSP can also be a controller for the PS3, which is kinda cool, but I'd rather have the wireless PS3 controllers.
Cons:
1. Cost- You've been waiting for it. First of all, let me say this. PS3 IS EXPENSIVE. $500 for core, $600 for premium. Doesn't matter how good a deal this is, gamers should not have to pay so much to play games. With a lot of excessive stuff that most gamers wont use, this price seems extremely rediculous.
2. Blue-Ray: Wha? Wasn't it in the Pro section? Yup, but the cost of manufacturing these things might drive up the price of games, which is bad news. With mass production, though, the cost should be lowered. However, if BD is not received like DVD was, then the prices will still be high. If BD turns out like the UMD, then this is really bad for consumers.
3. Size- Not a big deal, but PS3 is the biggest console in the last 2 generation of console gaming. Xbox didn't claim gold because Japanese market and other asian markets felt that it was too big and clunky. But now that the PS3 is bigger, we'll see what the reaction is.
4. Prices- This is not the same. Prices of games is what i mean. Kaz Harai said in an interview with GI, that games could potentially be priced at $60-99. He said, it wont go to 99, but it might be higher than 60. Bad, bad news. First, expensive console, now expensive games...
5. Architecture- Cell is very unique. Too unique. Even though developers say that it is not as hard as the PS2 to develop for, but it still is the hardest architecture to develop for in the next gen consoles *of course, no words about Wii devs yet, but they are generally good and easy*. But if we take a look at the PS2 and its success, maybe PS3 wouldn't have such a hard time anyways.
6. No Rumble- No rumble feature. Lawsuit with Immersion costs them one of the most important part of the DualShock controller. It doesn't have the Shock anymore. Games will not be able to utilize the rumble features anymore, unless they make it as an option for 3rd party controllers. This means that consumers must buy additional controllers if they want this feature.
7. Defects- Even with redundancy, the PS3 will have defects. It is a common fact of consoles. Every console launch will have defects. Lets just hope that PS3 doesn't have the dreaded and infamouse PS2 DRE of Death.
8. Marginal improvements- PS3 will be marginally better than its competitions in the ealier life of its generation. we probably wont see much of a difference for the next 2 years, so expect the games to look good, but not explosively good.
And Finally Krazy Ken- Yes, Ken Kutaragi. he will ruin the PS3. Almost everything he said are hurtful to the PS3, especially when he lies. If the PS3 doesn't claim champion, I will blame him.
I hope this article was helpful. I will probably get the PS3 after a price drop. I suggest you to do the same because it allows you to see what games the PS3 has and how is BD doing in the movies department, creating easier decisions. Anyways, to decide what console you should get, you should always look the the games it offers. Depending on the types of games you like, choose the console that specialize in that interest.
