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The Great 3: Next Gen Consoles Reviewed
Malachi1975
Member Posts: 1,079
Hello again everyone,
Alright, a few of you will remember me and you probably thought I left. Well, I didn't. I just got tired of the same old religious/political debates in the forums for a while that did nothing but going around in circles. I've been lurking pretty much the whole time of my absence, I just opted not to post. However, I've also had some other things keeping me busy. That brings me to the point of this thread.
Time for my review of all 3 of the next-gen consoles. I've been thinking about writing this review for a week or so now and decided since I don't feel good enough to do the projects I should be working on that I will work on this instead. So settle in because this is going to be a lengthy post.
Let me first start by saying that I am not basing my reviews on anyone elses opinions. I physically own all three of the next-gen consoles as well as two Nintendo DS's and a PSP. I'm pretty much going to leave the handhelds out of this discussion for now. Also, I am going to be giving a more strict hardware review and not necissarily game reviews, though I will touch on a few things in regards to the cross platform titles.
Okay, the nitty gritty first: The numbers game. No, I am not referring to the sales numbers. I am talking about the numbers which are slightly more important to those of us who are buying these consoles and that's $$$. Here is the breakdown on the costs of units and their accessories (in no particular order other than chronological dates of purchase):
Playstation 3
60GB SKU: $599.99
Second Sixaxis Remote: $49.99
Memory Card Adapter: $14.99 (the most obnoxious piece of the purchase)
HDMI Cable: $59.99
PS3 Blu-Ray Remote: $24.99
Grand Total, taxes withstanding: $749.99
Xbox 360 Elite
360Elite SKU: $479.99
HD-DVD Player: $199.99
360 Elite Controller: $49.99
Wireless Adapter: $99.99
*Rechargable battery Pack : $14.99 and Charge and Play Kit: $22.99 (needed to replace first controller batteries and cord needed to charge the units as it was not included)
Grand Total, sans tax: $867.97
Nintendo Wii
Wii SKU: $249.99
Wii-play w/Wiimote: $29.99
Nunchuck for 1 Wii-mote: $19.99
Component Video Cable: $59.99 (though I've not seen a major difference between the A/V and Component Cable graphically)
Grand Total, minus those pesky taxes: $359.96
Okay, so from the get-go we can see the cost differences. I tried to purchase the units to be as "equivalent" as possible and I set forth with the intention of being able to play all next-gen format DVDs. With that in mind the aged argument that the 360 is SO much cheaper than the Playstation 3 has been laid to rest. The are the very same price for equivalent units. I say that because the $80 difference in the 360 afforded me a 120GB HDD over the 60GB for the PS3. However, if I were to have gone with the 60GB SKU it would have been a shocking $80 cheaper. However, I would have been forced to purchase the HDMI cable that came with the Elite SKU. The benefits to the 360 purchase was that I was not forced to purchase a remote to control my movies (yes, I hate using the game controllers to do so) since they graciously included it with the purchase of my HD-DVD player (along with a copy of King Kong HD-DVD...though I am not sure if that was a gift or an insult. I digress, I am not here to review movies). However, I had to shell out another $200 to get said HD-DVD player so I don't really take the remote as a bonus gift, it damned well better have been included. Once again, with Sony, I was forced to by the remote seperately. I half expected this though, so it wasn't shocked when I handed more money over to Best Buy. When it comes to price the Wii definitely won that game hands down. Hell, I even got games with my Wii Bundle, even if the Wiiplay games are mediocre at best. The Wii sports games are a blast (btw, I bowl in the 240s on average if anyone wants to play). So that's that for the numbers game. The costs of the 360 and PS3 are on par with one another. The only debate that can be made soundly for the 360 being cheaper is the one made by those who were NOT looking for next-gen DVD capabilities. If you dropped the HD-DVD player from the 360 purchase then the PS3 is more expensive. However, until the industry decides who won in the format wars and comes to a standard (and Elvis comes over to my house to play Wii Bowling with me) people will probably end up shelling out the cash for an HD-DVD player, which oddly enough go for $200 on average for the lowest end models.
Now let's talk about the hardware. I figure it would be nice to go ahead and share with you the set-up on which all this lovely equipment is running:
Vizio 37" LCD HDTV 1080i (no p...sorry)
Bose CineMate Digital Sound System
Okay, the hardware of the units themselves now. I am not going to pull numbers from sites, I am going to give you laymens reviews as an owner. Here's where I may jump back and forth between the 3 units a bit, so try to bare with me. I am going to try to point out what I feel are ups and downs of the units themselves so I may make comparisons between the units. I will break it down into some basics first:
Size and Weight
Okay, the Playstation 3 can actually be called the 800lb Gorilla here. I am not saying that because I think it's the unbeatable console, I mean this thing could be used to bludgeon your in-laws into oblivion. When I first pulled the unit out of the box I thought "Good God! This thing outweighs my laptop!" (an Asus G2S for anyone who is wondering about that). The footprint is roughly the size of a phonebook, but this is negated by simply running the unit standing on it's side. The Sixaxis Controllers are light and small. Even the hook up to the unit for recharging is small (which is nothing more than a USB to Mini-USB cable). Some gamers complain that the controllers don't feel heavy enough to feel "sturdy". This reminds me of the lawyer from the Jurassic Park movie who said "Is it heavy? Then it's probably expensive!". The controllers work wonderfully and have even withstood a toss across the room after a frustration moment that took place during God of War II on Titan Mode.
The 360 Elite I would have to say is half the weight of the PS3. The footprint is slightly smaller, but when you add the external HD-DVD player it starts taking up more room. Again, like the PS3, you can simply run the unit standing on it's side to lessen the footprint. The 360 Controllers are beasts. There's a bit of a flip-flop here when it comes to the controllers vs. the unit itself. While the 360 underweighed the PS3, Microsoft sure made sure that you could put the 360 controller in a sock and beat someone to death with them. 2 360 controllers also take up the same footprint as 3 PS3 controllers roughly.
Now for the Wii. I can't help but chuckle when I see the three units sitting next to one another (which are currently all of 8 feet or so in front of me as I write this review). The Wii is roughly the size of a standard internal 5.25" CD-ROM drive. It's so small that it actually sits in underneath my LCD TV which is sitting on a Lazy Susan for ease of turning. The Wii takes up so little room that I am not even going to issue it a real footprint. The Wiimotes oddly enough are the most cumbersome of all the systems. Mind you, this is only the case when the nunchucks are connected. The Wiimote itself is only slightly heavier in the hand than the Sixaxis controller and no bigger than older TV remotes (I say older because newer remotes have ennough buttons that you can change the channel, turn the lights off, make some toast, and play a game of Thermonuclear War with someone in a foreign country.) When the nunchucks are connected (and assuming you are running your "I'm an idiot who can't hold on to my controller" strap through the nunchuck connector as well) they are awkward to store. The cables, as we all know, as subject to thsoe pesky cable gremlins who run around tangling your cables at night while you sleep, leaving you saying "Fod the love of God, I KNOW I left them all just sitting next to each other! How the hell did they weave themselves together like a basket?".
Form and Function
Once you can get past the sheer mass of the PS3 it is nicely put together. All the ports are placed in intelligent places that seem intuative to use. The 4 USB ports in the front hide neetly under the front lip of the unit. The connection cables in the back are spaced nicely so that getting to individual cables are easy to reach. The only push-and-click button on the PS3 is the main power switch in the back. The On/Off and Eject buttons are touch sensetive. There is no disc tray as it's a slot-fed system. This is a matter of preferrence between users. I, for one, like slot feed units because I tend to be absent minded. Lord knows how many times I've walked into my computer room to see a tray sticking out. I will say that it would have been nice to have another USB port on the back of the PS3, but the 4 in the front are decent enough. The glossy black unit looks beautiful when you pull it out of the box, until you touch it. The unit is prone to finger prints something fierce. I've polished mine a couple times already. Again, that's a personal quirk. The multi-media card reader is nicely hidden under a closable lide, waiting for your use when you need it. Not standing out and demanding to be used (or collect dust).
The 360 Elite has it's ups and downs for sure. As mentioned above it's definitely lightly and it is somewhat smaller than the PS3. However, the 2 USB ports are a let down. Uh-oh, I said 2 and all the 360 fanboys lit their torches and got out their clubs. Yes, it's 2 USB ports because you are forced to use the rear port for the WiFi Adapter if you want your 360 to be a free standing online unit without being directly plugged into your LAN. You have 2 front mounted (self covering which is nice for dust avoidance) USB ports in the front to the right of the power button (or under it if you run it on its side). Now, the 360 becomes awkward when you add the HD-DVD player. It would have been LOVELY to be able to hide that USB cable connection to the 360 in the back, but that port is occupado. The WiFi Adapter (which for the love of all that's bright and holy should have been internal and included Microsoft!) is pretty clunky. It's about the size of a lighter without the antenna. It also clips on to the back of the unit. I am not too found of that set-up. Having a 4" antenna sticking up off the back of my 360 ruins the asthetics to me, but that can be dismissed as a quirk. The cable running from the back of my HD-DVD player to the front of the 360 is crap no matter how you look at it. Yes, this can all be overcome with third party adapters and USB hubs (though the 2" cable from the WiFi Adapter doesn't lend itself to alot of adaptability unless you are the fan of USB extension cables) but I am trying to run these reviews including ONLY the items that we are given or that we purchase from the respective companies themselves. The power button on the front of the 360 is nice. Not only does it show you what the unit is doing (ie- on, downloading, crashing) but it also lights up showing which controllers are currently "connected" to the unit. It's a push-and-click button, but it's very smooth and well made. The memory card ports are pretty much a straight copy of the old system which was a straight copy of the PS2. They are functional and well done (self covering again).
The Wii is so tiny it's hard to really talk about it's form and function. All the memory ports and controller ports (if you use the gamecube controllers which you need for some games) are under two sets of clipped lids. One in front of the unit, one on the side (or top if you run the Wii in it's included cradle). The Wii is also a slot loading disc system. The 360 is the only tray system out of the 3 consoles. I really can't say much about the Wii physical configuration because I, personally, think it's damned near perfect for what the unit is. The connections in the back or simple and functional. The push-and-click power button in the front is tiny and never gets in your way. Same goes for the eject button. If you have a CD-ROM drive you are used to this set-up. I want to stop, though, and rave about the sensor bar system. While the cable could have been a bit longer, the fact that the sensor bar is a seperate piece of hardware from the Wii itself is wonderful! It sits steathly atop my LCD TV. Being black like the frame of my TV you don't even see it. This idea is a terrific design on the part of Nintendo and I give them high praise for it. It allows you to put the Wii itself anywhere you want without concern of line-of-sight for the sensor bar. You can hide the Wii behind whatever you want and sneak this tiny 10" wide 1/4" tall 2" deep bar wherever you need it to receive the input from the Wiimote. The even included a stand system that would allow you to place the bar atop a CRT TV with it's curved back. Nintendo thought this one through and hit the nail on the head.
The Haves and Have Nots
Here's where I am going to point out what I think would have been improved. Mind you, these are purely my opinions as an owner and reviewer of all three of the Next-Gen consoles. To be constructive I will also point out good points on the units.
Playstation 3
Jeers: As I stated above I would have loved to had a USB port in the back. Since you can add printers and of peripherals it would have been nice to plug those in back. I don't think this is a deal breaker when it comes to whether or not the PS3 is a nice piece of hardware, but it would have been nice to have.
Jeers: The unit is a beast in it's size and weight, but I am also the man who has a 30" LCD monitor on his 73lbs desktop. I can get over this, but I will count it as a negative mark.
Cheers: Bluetooth! Yay for Bluetooth. I didn't have to go buy a new headset to communicate online with my fellow gamers. I use the same Jabra headset on my laptop, desktop, and PS3.
Jeers: The fact that the battery is built-in on the Sixaxis controller means that when it loses it's ability to retain a new charge you have to buy a new controller. However, I am sure there will be a price drop by the time that happens and they do have quite a bit of charge to begin with. I've played for hours and hours on end only to see the charge still at full. Nonetheless, the fact that you're going to have to toss the remote when the pack dies is a big boo from me to Sony.
Cheers: Blu-ray. You may like it, you may hate it, but it's there. I, for one, love it. The stand alone Blu-ray players are horrendous in price so getting one in my PS3 was nice. Not to mention it has allowed programmers to put that to use on the capacity. Resistance: Fall of Man runs in at a whopping 17GB. Gone are the days of the multi-disc console games (I remember changing discs on FF7 way too many times). The thought that Blu-ray is going to have the potential for 100GB is the future is staggering.
Cheers: Free online gaming! That's right, if you have an internet connection to your PS3 you can jump in and multiplay for free. I've spent plenty of hours playing Motorstorm for free online and I am still having a blast with it.
Cheers: Folding@Home. While some owners will state that they don't want to leave their unit on for it's longevity sake, you have to give props to the guys at Folding@Home for putting idle PS3s to use to work on the cure for...well lots of things. It may be silly to some people, but it's actually made for a great community amongst PS3 owners who actually compete to see whose team got more work done. You can't say that getting gamers together and having them help work towards the health of others is a bad thing and look me in the eyes. At least I hope you can't.
Cheers: The HDD is a standard laptop drive. Sony even goes so far as to include IN the manual the "how to" to change the HDD out for another one. Can you say upgradability sustains longevity? I knew you could.
Jeer: A bit toasty. Out of the 3 consoles the PS3 seems to run the warmest if it's not getting a good airflow. However, with a good airflow it leads into my next cheer.
Cheer: Quiet. As long as the unit has a good airflow about it it runs very quiet. Whether you are playing a graphically intensive game (ie- Oblivion) or watching your favourite Blu-ray movie you really don't hear the unit too much.
Cheer: Oversampling. Not only does the PS3 oversample (the act of upgrading the resolution effectively) your standard DVDs but it also does this for games. God of War 2 looks beautiful widescreen on a 37" HDTV LCD at 1080i.
Jeers: The lack of a Gamer Tag that shows off what you have accomplished to your fellow gamers is a let down. We're not talking about a life changing, system altering, years of intense labour idea to implement. Just basic scorecards. Sure, Home may give us that in the future, but for now that's a minus for Sony.
Xbox 360 Elite
Cheers: I will counter right away the last jeer on PS3. The Gamercard is great. The whole Xbox Live community system is great. You can see what your friends are playing and what they have accomplished. It's like Xfire for a console. As players we do take pride in our accomplishments from time to time and it's nice to be able to share that with our onilne friends.
Jeers: Uh-oh, Sony won on this one. Paying for the Xbox Live Gold account is weaksauce at it's finest. Sure, with the Elite I got a free Silver account which allows me to download content and updates, but if I want to actually play my games online with friends I need to subscribe to the Gold account. This is bad for MS when it comes to some cross-platform titles. For example: Blazings Eagles: Squadrons of WWII is available on both consoles. However, I get to play it for free on my PS3 AND use motion control to fly the plane. I am not shocked though, this is Microsoft we're talking about. They're not known for being freebie lovers.
Cheers: The controller configuration for the Xbox wins in my eyes. The offset analog joysticks actually feel more comfortable when playing many titles. The bright colours on the primary buttons comes in VERY handy when it comes to games that include minigames. Not everyone remember which button is A or B, but those blazing colours help there.
Jeers: Proprietary bullcrap. Again, this is a typical Microsoft ploy. If you know me, you know I have my beefs with Microsoft as I've worked in the IT industry for years. Hell, read my signature. But beyond any bias I may have the proprietary HDD case and recharging cord for the controllers sucks. Plain and simple, no sugar coating.
Cheer/Jeer: This is a mixed one. While I would prefer Bluetooth, the headset-plugged-into-the-controller system is decent. It puts the volume/mute controls right at your finger tips without moving away from the controller. The headset that was included with the Elite definitely gets a cheer from me. It's pretty damned good quality for an "included" item.
Jeer: The external HD-DVD. This just takes up a lot more room than it needs to. While I won't hold 360 v1.0 to this, I DO firmly believe MS could have just put the damned thing inside the Elite to really make it "elite".
Cheer: The multimedia control system for the 360 wins hands down. This is Microsoft we're talking about and they have a good deal of multimedia experience. The music and video player set-up is great, especially when you keep in mind that Microsoft set out to make the 360 an all-in-one media system for owners. I thoroughly enjoy letting my 360 playing my 36GB of MP3s while I work around the house. Being able to set up a playlist gives them a definite win in this department over PS3.
Jeer: While it seems to run cooler than the PS3, the fans are VERY loud on the Elite. I say on the Elite becuase I have no experience with 360 v1.0 . It is in fact loud enough that it forces me to turn up the volume a bit more when watching a movie. I am not quite sure why MS went with such loud fans in this day and age, but it stinks.
Cheer/Jeer: The 360 using an oversampling system too. But to date I have only seen some effect on movies, nothing on Xbox games. This could very well be the fact that the 360 is still plagued by some backwards compatability bugs.
Wii
Cheer: Fun, fun, fun. The Wii is just plain and simple fun. If you love watching your friends make an ass out of themselves while playing a game, the Wii is for you. I, for one, have a friend who, for years, seems to think that if he leans to the side while playing Counterstrike he can see further around the wall in-game. This system was designed for people who don't like to sit still while playing a game. The Wii can make a party all by itself.
Jeer: They, being Nintendo, could have included an SD Memory Card with the unit. There's a basic system of storage on the unit to begind with and the poor thing is suffering from HDD envy as it is. This is a minor jeer at best as SD Memory can be acquired in abundance and for a cheap price. Hell, I had 12 GB of SD Memory hanging around my house before I even bought the unit.
Jeer: Setting aside the conspiracy theory that Nintendo is purposefully streaming the amount of Wii units to hit shelves so that they can spread the sales numbers over several fiscal quarters, Nintendo...hire more people, build more units. We have the technology, we can make it better, faster. The damned Wii are still hard to get a hold of.
Cheer: Size. I can't go back to this one enough. For what it does and what it offers the Wii takes up so little space. It blends seemlessly into households. I will include the moveable sensor bar in this cheer as it's included in the size sysme of the Wii.
Cheer: Silence. I can't even call this unit quiet. It's damned near silent. You'd have to put your head in close proximity to even know it's doing something.
Cheer: The speakers in the Wiimotes are fun. When playing Wii Tennis that fact that you can feel the "pop" as you strike the ball from the speaker nestled in your hand lends itself to immersion better than any previous vibration system has in the past.
Hard Disk Drives
Okay, this section is pretty brief and general. I can't talk about poor HDDless Wii over there, so it's going to go sit in the corner while we talk about its two expensive friends. Both the PS3 and 360 fail when it comes to the external HDD system. Yes, both units have internal HDDs. PS3 has a very upgradable HDD. 360, you can upgrade it if you're a bit savvy with case mods. However, the external HDD system blows. First, you cannot save active game info to the external HDD. Hell, you can't even store downloaded demos to them. Basically, as it stands (and I say "as it stands" because I hope both companies rectify this issue in the future) an external HDD is just a back-up drive and/or media storage drive. Second, what idiot opted to use FAT32 as the readable format for both platforms? That's right, neither system knows what the hell NTFS is, the both run FAT32. If you're not tech savvy let me explain the issues I have with FAT32. 1- It's a bitch to make a larger partition than 32GB on FAT32. You have to find third party software, many of which are not user friendly unless you are experienced with said programs. Okay, you can do it, but you have to learn. So I will give point 1 a minor jeer. 2- FAT32 ONLY SUPPORTS FILE SIZES UP TO 4GB. There is no way around this. What genius said, "Hey, let's limit people to files of 4GB or under with the bloat that we have around us today."? With Xbox Live Marketplace you can actually download HD movies, but you're stuck at 4GB on those FAT32 drives. All I can say there is, "Idiots".
Now, I am a bit tech savvy, so I have a 750GB External HDD that is split down the middle that acts as a media and back-up storage drive for both the 360 and PS3. Yes, I managed to partition 375GB (roughly as we all know you lose some space to MFT and whatnot) each to FAT32 thanks to a program called Swissknife from CompuApps. If you are feeling the FAT32 woes, there you got. Can't help you on the 4GB filesize limit.
Summary
All in all I can't complain about any of the three consoles. I have my gripes here and there, but they are minor enough that I still spent the money on the units. Yes, Playstation 3 doesn't have the best library of games in comparison to the 360. Neither did the 360 when it first came out and rested it's hopes on Halo 2. There are several titles on the way for all the consoles that will bring new and fun life to all of them.
In my opinion, I think the Playstation 3 does have more power as a system overall, but that doesn't make or break anything. Look at the PSP vs. the DS. The PSP has much more CPU power and graphics power than the DS but it doesn't come close to the DSs level of success. The 360, and more so namely Microsoft, took a slap in the face for the whole Gears of War Map Pack debacle (if you haven't heard Microsoft wanted to charge for the maps as a download and the developers came out and out and said they wanted to give them to the players free, but were forced to charge by Microsoft). Hopefully this will wake Microsoft up a bit and open their wallet for their players a tad more. The Wii has a long way to go and I think will do it. There are some horrid titles out there right now (cough cough RED STEEL) that just made terrible use of the motion control system, but hey, that's a new system. In time it will be perfected and really offer us something fantastic. Hell, it's better than the old Nintendo Powerglove for sure!
Take what I have said here or leave it. I seriously don't see one console or the other "winning" the war. Their all going to have their market and they are all selling within expectations. The PS3 cost arguement is losing a lot of ground and Sony has shown themselves as having a history of making the most of their hardware for a long time. Nearly 10 years after the release of the PS2 we got God of War 2 which kicks the butts of most "Next-Gen" games. I think the costs of the PS3 will pay off in the long haul. I think all 3 consoles have grounds for improvement and all I can do is hope that the Big 3 listen to their consumers and do something about it. Like I said at the beginning of this review, this is assuming you're still with me here reading (for which I commend you), I own all 3 and I enjoy all 3. Setting "Fanboyism" aside I think just about everyone can do the very same I am, the enjoying part. Maybe not everyone can buy all three systems.
So there you go. There's my two one hundreths of a buck for you. Forgive any typos or grammatic mistakes as I probably will not go back and proofread this entire thing. It's taken me a good deal of time to actually formulate and write it all out as it was without my mind jumping about.
Happy gaming!
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
Comments
Quick note: I just started reading it but you listed the Xbox 360s price as follows:
Xbox 360 Elite
360Elite SKU: $479.99
HD-DVD Player: $199.99
360 Elite Remote: $49.99
Wireless Adapter: $99.99
Grand Total, sans tax: $829.99
The HD DVD player add-on comes WITH the 360 remote. Therefor you overcharged by $50. The Grand Total should be:
$779.99
Edit: Upon further reading you actually stated this yourself, so I don't know why you included it into the 360s price. Is there a different 360 Remote?
Eternally mine,
Keebs
The MMO gaming blog I write for.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. The "Xbox 360 Elite Remote" should read "controller". I meant I bought a second controller as I did for the PS3 and Wii. Let me fix that.
In fact, you reminded me of a cost on the Elite that I left out to make it comparable to the PS3. Let me add that as well.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
All done!
Its a good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd say you could get a job as a professional reviewer, if youa ren't already.
Eternally mine,
Keebs
The MMO gaming blog I write for.
I've thought about getting into professional reviewing for a long time but I've just never acted on it. If others feel the way you do maybe I should. Thanks again for catching my glitch there. Between the phone calls and talking girlfriend while writing the review I knew I'd boof it somewhere.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
Take into account that blu-ray has won over Hd dvd which is now quickly becoming a dead format.
Personally tho i don't like any game that are exclusive to any of the 3 consoles lol.
I've thought about getting into professional reviewing for a long time but I've just never acted on it. If others feel the way you do maybe I should. Thanks again for catching my glitch there. Between the phone calls and talking girlfriend while writing the review I knew I'd boof it somewhere.
Yes. You should definitely think about a career as a reviewer, or at least do it part time.
I agree with the guys above me, that was a VERY professional article. I seriously can't thank you enough for showing me a good unbiased comaparison of all 3 systems. Definately consider a career as a reviewer
well, I will brief, the above reviews are outstanding. Great writer and accurate.
I love my Xbox 360 and I love Xbox 360 Live.
PS3 is an enormous rip off.
Not as eloquent as the OP but I think accurate. LOL> I also cannot wait for the Xbox 360 Live MMOs!! AoC!
Also, the Grand Theft Auto will have updates and content that ONLY Xbox 360 Live can get. Ps3 is out on this one.
-----
WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
This makes no sence. Neither of these formats have taken off, and neither are nowhere near close to taking off and taking over DVD, so how can one be declared dead over the other?
"There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
Boba Fett
I was not aware The Elite comes with two controllers? Or are you saying that the HD-DVD comes with a 360 controller?
Because for the other 2 consoles he specifically stated that he bought an extra control..
And also.. Why in the world did you pay 60 bucks for an HDMI cable? when you can get them for less that 10?
What's your Wu Name?
Donovan --> Wu Name = Violent Knight
Methane47 --> Wu Name = Thunderous Leader
"Some people call me the walking plank, 'cuz any where you go... Death is right behind you.."
<i>ME<i>
I was not aware The Elite comes with two controllers? Or are you saying that the HD-DVD comes with a 360 controller?
Because for the other 2 consoles he specifically stated that he bought an extra control..
And also.. Why in the world did you pay 60 bucks for an HDMI cable? when you can get them for less that 10?
I specifically bought the gold plated HDMI cable because I have noted a fairly noticable difference between them and the nickle plated. The HDMI Cable that is included in the 360 Elite is actually the Monster HDMI. In order of fairness, and trying to keep the units are equal as possibly I bought roughly the same cable quality. Having worked in A/V for a long time before I switched to IT I am actually pretty picky on what brands of cables I will and will not use. I've seen HDMI Cables as low as $2 actually, but you'll note how many of them are sold used or refurbished. That tells you something. That was purely a case of me being picky on brands.
As for the controller/remote mix up Keebs was pointing out that I accidently said "360 Elite Remote" when I meant to say "360 Elite Controller". He thought I bought a second HD-DVD remote when one is included in the purchase of the HD-DVD player. I goofed up in the beginning and Keebs caught it and questioned me.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
"Cheer/Jeer: The 360 using an oversampling system too. But to date I have only seen some effect on movies, nothing on Xbox games. This could very well be the fact that the 360 is still plagued by some backwards compatability bugs."
The 360 actually does a really impressive job of upscaling Xbox games.. Infact the results are better than the PS3 because The 360 actually renders the game in a higher resolution and applys filters and such while the PS3 simply takes the output from the original render and does some very complex algorithims to make the game look good at higher resolutions.. The only problem with 360 upscaling is that a minority of 360 games are compatible. And dont forget that the 360 has the ability to upscale CURRENT xbox360 games from 720p to 1080p via the onboard scaler.. So this should definitely be a cheer for the 360.
I also saw no Jeers for the Wii's paper thin implementation online play at the moment..
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"Some people call me the walking plank, 'cuz any where you go... Death is right behind you.."
<i>ME<i>
This makes no sence. Neither of these formats have taken off, and neither are nowhere near close to taking off and taking over DVD, so how can one be declared dead over the other?
I don't know if I would say neither have "taken off". Both have actually had some pretty huge sales under certain titles. Blu-ray was at a 2-1 ratio over HD-DVD the last time I checked Neilsenscan, and I think that is what Moostown was referring to. DVD is still the reigning king, but on a death bed no matter how you look at it. It's reached it's glass cieling and will be replaced. By which format, who knows. Casino Royale boosted Blu-ray sales through the roof, but just recently Planet Earth dominated the HD-DVD side even though it was offered in all three formats. Once again, The Matrix Trilogy on HD-DVD was trounced by the Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2 on Blu-ray. It's a teeter-totter market either way right now, but it's fair to say that DVD will be phased out. The quesiton is just how fast. I remember back in the days when everyone said those new fangled 3.5" floppy disks wouldn't replace the 5.25"...
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
Since it's very heard to quote everyone I wanted to just say a quick thanks to the posetive responces. Thank you all, very much.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
You are 100% right there. I really should have elaborated there. Personally, I've not seen the full extent of the upscaling ability when it comes to Xbox games. I have more experience with PS2 to PS3 only because I owned a PS2 and never owned an Xbox. That was actually why I gave that a mixed review, not necissarily based on the systems performance but on my personal experience. I will say that when I played Halo 2 upscaled there was a lot of tearing, but that could and most likely is more due in part to the fact that it wants to upscale to 1080p and my TV only supports interlaced, which lends itself to tearing a lot more often. Though, the more I think about it I want to say that Halo 2 was only capable of 720p max.
This is why I really wanted to steer clear of software, namely because if I don't have a good deal of experience in it I hate opening my mouth.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
I've thought about getting into professional reviewing for a long time but I've just never acted on it. If others feel the way you do maybe I should. Thanks again for catching my glitch there. Between the phone calls and talking girlfriend while writing the review I knew I'd boof it somewhere.
You should definitely try to score a job. MMORPG.com is looking for people it seems. I don't think its a paid position, but it'd be a nice resume entry.
Eternally mine,
Keebs
The MMO gaming blog I write for.
I've thought about getting into professional reviewing for a long time but I've just never acted on it. If others feel the way you do maybe I should. Thanks again for catching my glitch there. Between the phone calls and talking girlfriend while writing the review I knew I'd boof it somewhere.
You should definitely try to score a job. MMORPG.com is looking for people it seems. I don't think its a paid position, but it'd be a nice resume entry.
Oddly enough, I actually submitted work to Dana Massey at MMORPG.com quite a while back and was turned down. That may have been due to the fact that the topic selection was crap, but I tried nonetheless. A few friends of mine are, in fact, just doing to set up a hardware/software review site since we got tired of so many others that are full of so much fluff and stuffed to the brim with unwanted ads.
Of course, when that is complete is a quesiton that on the great oracles of the past could possibly answer.
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
Although I personally don't really like the PS3, I can't really find anything in your article that I don't find accurate. In the end some things always come down to personal preference, but both the pros and cons for every system you talked about were spot on. I have no arguments. This is by far the best console review I've seen in a long time. Bravo!
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but if i could go back i would buy the ps3 for its slick design.
Gears of War: This is when I am definitely at my utmost competativeness. I wish there was a bit less lag, but when I am really in the mood to frag or be fragged I am on my 360
Motorstorm: This is when I want to compete but laugh my ass of 90% of the time. God knows I've blown a race so bad sometimes that I just go ape running everyone else down. I am a lot more casual when playing this one.
Wii Sports: These games are theraputic for me. I can relax and goof off with no concerns of competition (namely because my girlfriend would be the person I am normally competing against and, I love her, but she is an easy target).
After owning (and putting an amount of hours I refuse to divulge for the fact that it would tell you how little of a life I have) all 3 systems for a good period of time I just can't really say one is the best. They are provide me with hours of enjoyment and I d0on't regret a penny spent on any of them. The only real, truthful arguement against any of the consoles now is catalogue library. Everything else is purely subjective and an opinion. I think only the die-hard fanboys spend a tremendous amount of energy bashing another console (especially when they don't even own said console themselves).
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."
I've read a lot of horror stories about dying 360s, but it seems like they worked most of those bugs out in the "Elite". I agree with your comment about the PS3 looking "slick". It certainly looks hi-tech and next-gen. I've actually found that that particular aspect of the PS3 appeals to a lot of people. You'll get the arguements that "looks don't matter" when it comes to hardware, but look at the desktop PC in the last 10 years. We went from the bland, beige, generic cases to desktops which can only be called "arts of work".
If you're ever in Vegas you're welcome to come play my PS3 :P
"What is it I have against Microsoft, you ask? Well, you know how you feel when you wait for an MMO to come out and when it does you feel like you've paid to play it's beta test for another 6-9 months before anything even thinks of working the way it should? Being a network engineer you feel that way about anything Microsoft puts out."