PlayStation 3

[bazgnr]

So I walked into Wal Mart this morning - approx. 7am - just in time for them to put PS3s on the shelves...three left, in fact.  I grabbed one purely so I could put it in the hands on someone I knew who wanted one, or wanted one for their kids, for Xmas.  What *I* was looking for was a Wii, but no such luck, although the manager told me to check back later.

I went to work, and made some calls.  Nope, no one was interested, call after call.  Too much money, decided to get an XBox or wait for a Wii, etc.  I was surprised, but so be it.  I just figured I'd go the eBay route, offer overnight shipping, etc.

I had called Wal Mart earlier, still no Wiis.  I started to check eBay, which has a ton of PS3s, most of which are selling UNDER retrail, or simply not selling at all.  Then I get a message saying someone from Wal Mart called.  I return the call to find out there is a Wii waiting for me after work, which was pretty cool.

So I pick up the Wii, head home, and check eBay.  The highest auction that sold was for $647 - barely over cost, with free shipping.   I make more calls, no one's interested.  So, at the end of the day, I return it.  And when I do, there's still one from the morning sitting on the shelf.  The Wiis, I'm told (6 of them), sold out in minutes...and I have a line of people who want the Wii for Xmas (at cost).

So weird, and very unexpected.   I'm a bit shocked to see the Wiis out pacing the PS3s around here...opposite of what I'd expect, really.

Anyone else noticing the same?

[pilferk]

Around here they both seem to be going at about the same pace....come in and go right back out.

From all the store/department managers I've talked to on the subject (I'm pretty chatty), they all say the same thing:  Nothing lasts more than 10 or 15 minutes on the shelf.

Getting down to Crunch Time, however, it doesn't surprise me that stuff is sitting a bit longer.  Many (if not most) have done their "big" shopping already and finding a PS3, especially given it's price point, would bust the budget.  Wii's, given they're a bit more "price friendly" are a little easier to justify as an impulse buy.  That's my guess, anyway.

[pilferk]

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570831,00.html

Time's "5 things that went from buzz to bust".  An excerpt:

TO PLAY'S THE THING

The big story in computer games this year was HOW TO BLOW A HUGE LEAD, by Sony. Its PlayStation 2 was the champ in the last round of the console wars. This time Sony bet on a chip called the Cell and a disc format called Blu-ray. They're probably awesome, but how would anybody know? The PS3 is hideously expensive--it goes for up to $600--and Sony manufactured only a piddling few hundred thousand for the U.S., fewer for Japan. Plus it's hard to write games for; the launch titles were lame. You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

[the dirt]

You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

Jeez, I don't think the name's that bad... 

[pilferk]

You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

Jeez, I don't think the name's that bad... 

I'm a converted Wii fanatic.  But the name?? Yuck.  I like the Project:Revolution moniker during the early development cycle better.

It lends itself to more bad jokes/puns than it should.

Whoever didn't make the rather obvious connection between the name and one of the many names used for male genitalia should be fired. 

Have you tried asking one of your friends to come over and play with (or see) your Wii, yet?  It can lead to some very akward conversations explaining exactly what you mean.

[bazgnr]

You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

Jeez, I don't think the name's that bad...?

Oh, but it is.  I get what the intention was, but still...there had to have been a better choice.

[bazgnr]

You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

Jeez, I don't think the name's that bad...?

I'm a converted Wii fanatic.? But the name?? Yuck.? I like the Project:Revolution moniker during the early development cycle better.

It lends itself to more bad jokes/puns than it should.

Whoever didn't make the rather obvious connection between the name and one of the many names used for male genitalia should be fired.?

Have you tried asking one of your friends to come over and play with (or see) your Wii, yet?? It can lead to some very akward conversations explaining exactly what you mean.

So you have a Wii?  What do you think?  As much fun as the hype makes it out to be?

I should really be asking this in another thread, right?   

[pilferk]

So you have a Wii?  What do you think?  As much fun as the hype makes it out to be?

I should really be asking this in another thread, right?   

Well, there is a Wii thread...

But yes...so far, as fun as the hype makes it out to be.

Zelda is amazing and Wii Sports has even got my WIFE playing.    We had to go "wimote" hunting the day after Xmas so she could have her own.

[bazgnr]

The Wii that I mentioned before? The one I gave to neighbors for their kids?  My wife and I went over to play it today...the first time she's ever played a video game, and she really enjoyed it.  Granted, I'm not sure she supports me wanting to buy it, but still - progress!     

[mrlee]

is the ps3 actually any good?

[T_Roxie]

I've not played it, but it doesnt look worth the money to me, compared to the 360.? I have a few reasons for prefering the 360, but they look about the same quality wise.

[bazgnr]

is the ps3 actually any good?

I think it's personal preference.   PS has a ton of loyal fans, but I think the Xbox is the better choice of the two.  Current gaming magazines have done a head-to-head, and decided that the 360 has better graphics than the PS3 - however, the 360 is in it's second gen. of games, while the PS3 has just gotten started.  No contest in the online area, though - 360 is far superior at this point...

[pilferk]

I had an almost surreal experience this past Sunday.

Walked into our local Best buy at about 10:15 AM (they opened at 10).  There must have been 30 or 40 PS3's on the Customer Service Counter....both 20 and 60 gig flavors.

We were there for about an hour....maybe a little longer....spending "gift card money" and browsing...from the look of things, and the stack they had, they sold maybe 5 or 6 of the things during that time frame.

[bazgnr]

I had an almost surreal experience this past Sunday.

Walked into our local Best buy at about 10:15 AM (they opened at 10).? There must have been 30 or 40 PS3's on the Customer Service Counter....both 20 and 60 gig flavors.

We were there for about an hour....maybe a little longer....spending "gift card money" and browsing...from the look of things, and the stack they had, they sold maybe 5 or 6 of the things during that time frame.

Really, I'm not surprised.  It's all opinion - I have no hard info  to back it up - but I don't see the PS3s being the "must have," be-all-end-all system it was made out to be.  As I mentioned before, there were two at my local Wal Mart at 7am TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and they were still there when I went back at 4pm that day...

[GNRfan2008]

I got an XBox 360 for Christmas and my parents were even able to get me a few games with it. If it had been the PS3, I would have only gotten the console. I also hadn't seen the PS3 in action whereas I have seen what a 360 can do. Someone hooked one up on the Sony 50 inch plasma in my dorm's lobby up at college. Damn thing is pretty amazing. The only issue I've had with it so far is how loud the fan is, but I can always crank the volume and drown it out I guess.

[bazgnr]

I got an XBox 360 for Christmas and my parents were even able to get me a few games with it. If it had been the PS3, I would have only gotten the console. I also hadn't seen the PS3 in action whereas I have seen what a 360 can do. Someone hooked one up on the Sony 50 inch plasma in my dorm's lobby up at college. Damn thing is pretty amazing. The only issue I've had with it so far is how loud the fan is, but I can always crank the volume and drown it out I guess.

The fan's loud - no getting around that.  I also recently got the separate HD-DVD player, which looks amazing, but that damn fan makes it hard to enjoy the softer parts of movies.

You got Gears of War, I hope?

***

So I'm curious to hear from a PS3 owner...what do you think?

[GNRfan2008]

I got an XBox 360 for Christmas and my parents were even able to get me a few games with it. If it had been the PS3, I would have only gotten the console. I also hadn't seen the PS3 in action whereas I have seen what a 360 can do. Someone hooked one up on the Sony 50 inch plasma in my dorm's lobby up at college. Damn thing is pretty amazing. The only issue I've had with it so far is how loud the fan is, but I can always crank the volume and drown it out I guess.

The fan's loud - no getting around that.  I also recently got the separate HD-DVD player, which looks amazing, but that damn fan makes it hard to enjoy the softer parts of movies.

You got Gears of War, I hope?

***

So I'm curious to hear from a PS3 owner...what do you think?

No I don't have Gears of War. I am not into first person shooter games to be honest. I'm more into sports games. The console came with a bundled game, which was Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The parents gave me Madden 07 and Tiger Woods 07 also as presents. Then I got College Hoops 2K6 for $20 brand new (refuse to buy 2K7 because JJ Redick is on the cover, so I saved $40). I also got Sonic The Hedgehog and The Godfather. The cool thing is I've got 6 games and haven't spent any of my own money on any of them. Gift cards and cash from other family members helped pay for the 3 games outside of what my folks got for me.

I heard Guitar Hero 2 comes out on the 360 later this year so I might have to at least rent that and see how I like it. I tried playing the PS2 version at Wal-Mart one time and was absolutely terrible at it. LOL.

As for the HD-DVD add-on, I'm really weary about which one will win out so I do not want to lay down any money for either side at the moment, which is partly why I refused to pay (or ask my parents to pay) for a Blu-Ray drive even if it is at a large discount given production costs for the PS3. I'll wait awhile and if the HD-DVD add-on gets to a low enough price, I might consider getting it although I don't think watching any DVD's with the XBox 360 is very easy to do unless you have it absolutely cranked. I'll probably just do what I did with DVD players. Wait until the price gets low enough that it's not such a rip-off. At the moment, DVD looks much better than standard def television so I'm not complaining. Does it look as great as HDTV? No, but it's not far enough behind to pay ridiculous prices for an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player plus the movies themselves. The only title worth a damn that I'd even consider getting on either platform is Batman Begins. I have the Deluxe Edition DVD of it, but I'd love to watch it in high def considering it is a darkly shot film and an HD transfer gives incredible clarity even on the darkest shots by a director.

[pilferk]

No I don't have Gears of War. I am not into first person shooter games to be honest. I'm more into sports games. The console came with a bundled game, which was Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The parents gave me Madden 07 and Tiger Woods 07 also as presents. Then I got College Hoops 2K6 for $20 brand new (refuse to buy 2K7 because JJ Redick is on the cover, so I saved $40). I also got Sonic The Hedgehog and The Godfather. The cool thing is I've got 6 games and haven't spent any of my own money on any of them. Gift cards and cash from other family members helped pay for the 3 games outside of what my folks got for me.

I'm not a FPS fan either.  I tend to only like the really, really good ones.  This one is really really good.  Like "best game on the system so far" good.  Give it a rent, at least.  I bet you'll be surprised at how much you like it...

I heard Guitar Hero 2 comes out on the 360 later this year so I might have to at least rent that and see how I like it. I tried playing the PS2 version at Wal-Mart one time and was absolutely terrible at it. LOL.

Nobody is good at GH or GH2 on first pick up, IMHO.  It's one of those games you have to invest some time with to actually get good at.  But...once you start to pick the mechanics up....it's just a freaking blast to play.  With GH2, you can even do co-op (provided you have 2 guitars) with the 2nd guitar playing bass.  Pretty wild and enough to satisfy all those "rock star dreams"....

As for the HD-DVD add-on, I'm really weary about which one will win out so I do not want to lay down any money for either side at the moment, which is partly why I refused to pay (or ask my parents to pay) for a Blu-Ray drive even if it is at a large discount given production costs for the PS3. I'll wait awhile and if the HD-DVD add-on gets to a low enough price, I might consider getting it although I don't think watching any DVD's with the XBox 360 is very easy to do unless you have it absolutely cranked. I'll probably just do what I did with DVD players. Wait until the price gets low enough that it's not such a rip-off. At the moment, DVD looks much better than standard def television so I'm not complaining. Does it look as great as HDTV? No, but it's not far enough behind to pay ridiculous prices for an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player plus the movies themselves. The only title worth a damn that I'd even consider getting on either platform is Batman Begins. I have the Deluxe Edition DVD of it, but I'd love to watch it in high def considering it is a darkly shot film and an HD transfer gives incredible clarity even on the darkest shots by a director.

I'm not sure what you have for a TV.  But if you don't have an HDTV....neither Blu-Ray nor HD-DVD is really worth the investment right now.  Even if you do, it's dicey because, as you allude to, it's unlikely BOTH formats will survive.  I'm holding off, too.

[bazgnr]

No I don't have Gears of War. I am not into first person shooter games to be honest. I'm more into sports games. The console came with a bundled game, which was Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The parents gave me Madden 07 and Tiger Woods 07 also as presents. Then I got College Hoops 2K6 for $20 brand new (refuse to buy 2K7 because JJ Redick is on the cover, so I saved $40). I also got Sonic The Hedgehog and The Godfather. The cool thing is I've got 6 games and haven't spent any of my own money on any of them. Gift cards and cash from other family members helped pay for the 3 games outside of what my folks got for me.

I'm not a FPS fan either.? I tend to only like the really, really good ones.? This one is really really good.? Like "best game on the system so far" good.? Give it a rent, at least.? I bet you'll be surprised at how much you like it...

I heard Guitar Hero 2 comes out on the 360 later this year so I might have to at least rent that and see how I like it. I tried playing the PS2 version at Wal-Mart one time and was absolutely terrible at it. LOL.

Nobody is good at GH or GH2 on first pick up, IMHO.? It's one of those games you have to invest some time with to actually get good at.? But...once you start to pick the mechanics up....it's just a freaking blast to play.? With GH2, you can even do co-op (provided you have 2 guitars) with the 2nd guitar playing bass.? Pretty wild and enough to satisfy all those "rock star dreams"....

As for the HD-DVD add-on, I'm really weary about which one will win out so I do not want to lay down any money for either side at the moment, which is partly why I refused to pay (or ask my parents to pay) for a Blu-Ray drive even if it is at a large discount given production costs for the PS3. I'll wait awhile and if the HD-DVD add-on gets to a low enough price, I might consider getting it although I don't think watching any DVD's with the XBox 360 is very easy to do unless you have it absolutely cranked. I'll probably just do what I did with DVD players. Wait until the price gets low enough that it's not such a rip-off. At the moment, DVD looks much better than standard def television so I'm not complaining. Does it look as great as HDTV? No, but it's not far enough behind to pay ridiculous prices for an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player plus the movies themselves. The only title worth a damn that I'd even consider getting on either platform is Batman Begins. I have the Deluxe Edition DVD of it, but I'd love to watch it in high def considering it is a darkly shot film and an HD transfer gives incredible clarity even on the darkest shots by a director.

I'm not sure what you have for a TV.? But if you don't have an HDTV....neither Blu-Ray nor HD-DVD is really worth the investment right now.? Even if you do, it's dicey because, as you allude to, it's unlikely BOTH formats will survive.? I'm holding off, too.

I tried to hold off, but was a bit too weak-willed, unfortunately.  The only HD-DVD I bought, oddly enough, was Batman Begins, and it does look great. 

As far as the format war, I totally understand holding off.  At this point, though, it looks like I may have chosen wisely:

http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback158.html
http://www.dvdtown.com/news/peopleonlinemorepositiveofhddvd/4212

[GNRfan2008]

I'm not sure what you have for a TV.  But if you don't have an HDTV....neither Blu-Ray nor HD-DVD is really worth the investment right now.  Even if you do, it's dicey because, as you allude to, it's unlikely BOTH formats will survive.  I'm holding off, too.

Well, up at school I have a 23 inch NEC widescreen LCD computer monitor. It has a built in tuner for regular cable and it can accept HD broadcasts and content up to 720p and 1080i if I use component cables (which I have with the 360). My parents have a 43 inch Sony from about 4 years ago that is 4:3 instead of widescreen. It's a projection TV and accepts HD up to 720p and 1080i. I've been watching a ton of football lately with it and HD really looks great on that TV. Standard def digital cable looks like shit to be honest. LOL. The only problem with that TV is that it's probably the equivalent of a 30-32 inch widescreen TV. Our remote has an HD zoom function that zooms HD content to 480p in 4:3 but you lose some of the camera shot when cropping like that. At the time, widescreen TV's were expensive as all get-out. My folks paid around $1500 for this one and it's worked great thus far. I love the black level output from it. It's much better than that of LCD's and there's no burn-in like with plasma.