What does the PS3 have to offer ??

[Moonpie2]

In order to ask the following question, I'm gonna have to take my nintendo fanboy pantaloons off...

... right, that's better !!!

Can anybody tell me what's up Sony's sleves (SP) ??

The 360 has power and an unrivaled online service and a head start.
The big N has the controller and the back catalogue and the mentalist fans.
Sony has ?? What ??
Are they really gonna try to sell a console based on power, a new DVD format that's probably not gonna take off for a couple of years and basically the fact it says Sony on the side of it ??

 

[Creature]

Sony, like everthing, have fanboys that will buy it regardless of what else is around. Then there's the people (such as myself) who for some reason feel the need to have every console going. The fact that they have a huge success in the market and a good history may also come into play.

 

[The Running Man]

metal gear solid? GT5, Final fantasy

basically the same as every other console has, exclusive franchise that they hope wil sway more brand loyalty for them.

 

[NokkonWud]

The problem is, none of those series of games have been getting any better (bar maybe GT4; though I found the first 1 the best).

Metal Gear Solid (1) is still the best as it had the perfect environment and strongest story.
Gran Turismo (1) is still the best as it allowed more car upgrades, body kits etc... It REALLY felt different.
Final Fantasy VII and VIII are still untouched, X and X-2 were slanderous to the name in comparison.

Sony really need a bumper new game or REALLY improve on the previous version.

 

[DaveyD]

Main things Sony has:

a) It's Sony, they're the best in the world at everything don't you know.
b) A good list of games and titles that will likely be exclusive for a long time. GT5, MGS4, Killzone 2 p)
c) Will have a very good marketing scheme, that will likely consist of many many 'wow' shots of games that could be in game or FMV, we'll have to see.
d) PS3 has digital output and 1080p to boast about.
e) Bluetooth connectivity, more hardware easily connecting.

I can go on, but it'll be boring, and we don't know the final spec of the system yet, so it may or may not be rubbish still

 

[gord]

Sony really need a bumper new game or REALLY improve on the previous version.

Like the planned full damage model of GT5?

 

[Tunney]

A large developer base from all of the main markets is the main thing.

Microsoft doesn't have a large presence in Japan, Nintendo doesn't have a large presence in Europe now that Rare have jumped ship. Sony has a large number of developers in all markets making games for it, meaning that the PS3 will potentially have the biggest and most varied games catalogue out of the consoles.

Potentially being the key word. If the console is too hard to develop for or gets delayed too long then this advantage may disappear.

The problem is, none of those series of games have been getting any better (bar maybe GT4; though I found the first 1 the best).

Metal Gear Solid (1) is still the best as it had the perfect environment and strongest story.
Gran Turismo (1) is still the best as it allowed more car upgrades, body kits etc... It REALLY felt different.
Final Fantasy VII and VIII are still untouched, X and X-2 were slanderous to the name in comparison.

Is Mario Sunshine better than Mario 64? Is Mario Kart: Double Dash better than the original Mario Kart? Is Halo 2 better than Halo? I don't think this problem is specific to the PlayStation consoles.

Arguably the only major non-sport franchise that seems to be getting better and better is Resident Evil.

 

[Moonpie2]

It seems then that as a console, the PS3 is maybe the weakest of the 3 in terms of what it can do/offer ??
I realise that all consoles are just tools for playing games, but from what people have said here, it seems that the PS3 is pinning most of its hopes on established titles and loyal developers.

 

[Weebull]

Is that so bad?

The bigger the developer base (which to be fair, I've never quite understood, since the PS2 was a complete pain to code for, compared to the other two current gen consoles), the bigger the variety of games available for the console. Everyone likes to jump on Sony for being the king of unoriginal sports/shooting/fighting games, but they've got a far more varied catalogue than a lot of people give them credit for. Their consoles gave us PaRappa, Silent Hill and Resident Evil, the GTA series, ICO, DDR, the eyetoy, Katamari Damacy and Shadow of the Colossus, all of which were or remain innovative games for their time. Personally I think the PS2 has easily the best range of genres and types of the current generation, covering both the innovative and quirky games (Nintendo's forte), and the more 'generic' actiony games (ala Xbox).

Sure, we can't predict what new, amazing titles the PS3 will have, but that's true with absolutely everything, because hype will always exist far more for established games than new ones, since you know what you're getting. If you like the MGS series of games, for example, you know you'll probably enjoy the next instalment on the PS3, thus you get excited about it, and follow its progress. Conversely, you have no idea how a game you've never heard of will actually play, so you'll be wary of getting any hopes up. Can you actually name any 'new' games (ie, not the next Zelda/Mario) for the Revolution that you're looking forward to? Probably not, for the exact same reason. All you really have to get excited about is the potential the controller has. That's no knock on the Rev btw, I'm as excited about it as anyone, it looks ace, but the old "There are only sequels on the horizon" chesnut is such a over-used fallacy.

The main bad mark I'd put against the PS3 is the apparent lack of a centralised online system, which could definitely hurt it. But I'd expect that many developers will look at the success of Live and implement online play into the games themselves. Live still isn't that big a draw though, despite what the make up of this forum would have you believe. Most people still buy consoles irrespective of any online service, so it's not the be all and end all. I expect that Sony's brand name and the popularity of the PS2 will probably make up for the lost ground to the 360, not to mention that Sony's PR are marketing geniuses.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

A controller you cant throw away !

It just keeps coming back

 

[Baine]

The thing that puts me off the PS3 is well my PS2 .
what i mean is i brought into all the sony hype when the PS2 was released and so i got one on release day and was very disapointed

And to this day my PS2 hasnt lived up to the orgional hype and i fear the same will happen with the PS3


Sony lied to me with its promise of the emotion processor making a whole new gaming world insted i got average remakes of established PS1 games

I wont fool for that again.............

 

[NokkonWud]

Like the planned full damage model of GT5?

Will the way it looks make the game better?

 

[AWPC]

According to a PS3 developer it is currently shaping up as a bit disappointing. The text below is pasted from a recent news post on If you know the site is banned from here, don't try to get around it. Do that once more and you'll be enjoying a trip to Suspensionville - Davey. I'm personally gonna wait and see as only recently have I seen stuff on the PS2 which really impressed me (God Of War, Resident Evil4, GT4). All these should have been what Sony was pushing devs to create 2-3 years ago. As the PS3 is even more powerful it will probably take several years before you notice anything which the PC cannot currently do. Expect to see more of the same PS2 style games with improved gfx/sound.

"I’ve spent some time the past year developing for the PS3. Actually it was a cinematic demo to be shown at e3 in 2005 at a closed door viewing. I was one of the few artists selected to work on it for the demo. My job was primarily asset creation. I was creating assets to populate the path where our camera would be flying during the demo. The company I work for is also working on a launch title that I am quite familiar with. In short, I’ve spent some time around the PS3 and or the teams developing for it.

I’ve really had to sit here and think for a long time about what my first comment about the PS3 would be. Will I say, its GREAT or will I give it two thumbs down. Well my immediate impression of the PS3 is…where is it? Seriously, where is it? They have a case, a controller and a dev kit. But the system still doesn’t even exist. So what is there to say? We received one of 5 PS3 dev kits in the United States some time ago. Several companies in the US as well as companies over seas were given the daunting task of creating a demo in less than 9 weeks on a first generation dev kit. Now I’ll be honest with you. What most companies do is fake the entire demo. I mean they come up with some great visuals and neat tricks and scripted events. In the end however, its not a real time demo and its not running ON the actual box. We were the only company to my knowledge that showed something that ran it live on the box. Even then it was a scripted event. You could not pause the camera and fly around the scene. So if you saw the demo once, you saw it again the exact same way the second time. Also this was on a brutally early dev box. You could always tell where the PS3 dev box was because it’s the room that had the f-bomb coming out of it half the day.

Lots of time has passed since that demo and the dev box has gone from a totally jimmy rigged computer and box of parts about the size of a small child, to a much more realistic size. Although its still the size of a normal pc. I have been pretty excited about the whole cell processing thing. I am not a very technical person but my understanding of it was pretty clear. (Multiple processors to handle individual events in parallel). Sounds pretty good to me! To hear people talk, you’d thing that a processor revolution was about to happen. So I’ve been pretty excited to say the least. Now in my opinion it doesn’t matter how good the PS3 is. If the XBOX 360 is better, then it doesn’t really matter how the cell processors work or how good they say it is. Realistically one of them will be better over all. Now I’ve spoken with people who are on the technical side of the PS3. I’ve also talked with people on the technical side of the XBOX 360. The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, “The XBOX 360 is better”. They are saying that it is capable of just doing more. (shrugs) Now take that for what its worth. If you watch all the videos on the PS3 they will say how much more powerful it is than the XBOX and vice versa. Im just telling you what I am hearing. They proceeded to go into a lot of technical info that I don’t understand. So I just nod.

The game that we are creating for a launch title is a “just get it out” title in my opinion. It doesn’t look next generation. I don’t see how anyone could debate otherwise. It looks good. But it looks good for a game that has come out in the last couple years or so. I mean we are talking about a box that will be with us for the next 5+ years! In 5 years will the games we are making today look good? The only way for that to be possible is if the new games coming out for the PS3 are drastically improved. So good that they can stand the test of time until the next system comes out. We’ve all seen Gears of War for the xbox 360. If that even looks half as good when it comes out then I’ll be floored! The game we are making isn’t even in the same league as Gears of War. In fact there are many current games out that look just as good and are using the exact same specs. So, on our end we are either not pushing the bar or were just trying to “get a title out”. To be fair, this is a business. Sometimes you have to treat it as a business and not make the best title you can. The best title you can make usually costs 20-40million dollars/3 start overs and 4 years of your life. You just cant do that every time out. Its impossible. Our game just keeps getting moved back….and back…..and back…..and back. Again, where is the box? Where is the final system? When is it coming out? No one knows and in the mean time people in the industry are starting to get just a little salty. I mean I was at e3 2005 and PS3 was almost no where to be seen.

In closing, I started of VERY excited about the PS3. I was very confident that it was going to just destroy the XBOX 360 just on the name SONY alone. The more time that goes by the more I am becoming doubtful. Everything I’ve developed or seen developed has yet to be “next gen”. The poly counts are not really any higher, im not seeing sub surface scattering, im not seeing much HDR lighting. (or they are faking it and not really doing it), I’m not seeing next gen fluid dynamics or object dynamics. I suspect that you’ll be able to have more dynamic objects in a scene than before. But im not seeing games doing this yet. We dont have a controller, there is no network code and there is no box. Its still the size of a normal PC. Oh well, at least they have normal maps. Although I’m over the normal maps fad ok everyone!

I’m confident that the PS3 will have a few “crazy” games that show it off to its potential. But I would expect the full capabilities of the box to not show up until the system has been released PUBLICALLY for over a year. This is the extra time the developers will need with a FINAL system to truly make next gen games."

 

[~J~]

Another kick in the nadgers...

http://engadget.com/2006/01/16/playstation-3-conceptual-design/

 

[Joebob]

Like the planned full damage model of GT5?

I wouldn't hold your breath on that, they built the full damage model into GT4 but then had to rewrite most of it because some of the vehicle manufacturers said they didn't want there vehicles to be damaged.

Now I am actually a Sony fanboy so I am waiting anxiously for the PS3 release. Just think back and remember what the console market was like before Sony came along, £60-£70 for a cartrideg! Price fixing! Limited number of Software developers, so limited number of tiltes available! Sony single handedly change the console gaming market from something which was just for kids and/or squares to the anyone can play cool gaming market it is today.

I don't like Microsoft (been in IT long enough to realise that until recently many other companies could have done a lot better if MS didn't have the monopoly on PC OS) and although I used to like Nintendo I just find all of there consoles and games a bit too.... well... childish to be blunt (just my opinion).

The problem with the debate about which console is better is that at present we only have one to look at... I say we should all just wait and see what the PS3 is like before actually making any fictional comparisons. And the problem with news stories, developer interviews etc. saying anything positive or negative about consoles is that it's all hype and propaganda - it's a well known tactic from huge corporations like MS and Sony, so don't beleive anything you read or hear.

I look forward to the day that all three next gen consoles are out so that we can do a direct comparison - The proof of the pudding (as they say) is in the eating!

 

[Moonpie2]

Its true, I worked on Test Drive: Overdrive on the X-box and they wouldn't let us deform the models in that either !!

 

[Joebob]

Is that so bad?

The bigger the developer base (which to be fair, I've never quite understood, since the PS2 was a complete pain to code for, compared to the other two current gen consoles), the bigger the variety of games available for the console.

It's all simply down to the amount of consoles there are. If you're a software house then you certainly aren't going to leave Sony of your developing list as they have more units sold than MS & Nintendo put together, therefore you have more potential customers for your finished game.

 

[The Running Man]

GT4 was near perfection. very near.

the bit that killed it was a simple bit of coding which involved race hierachy and special prize vehicles.

polyphonic or whoever pulled the BHP limit criteria for races and in doing so rendered 80% of won prize cars useless, focused on AP points or whatever they were and thus killed the game.

if u were to enter say a turbo competition with 200bhp max limit, it would require good handling car/other upgrades to enable u to win. at present u can just soupe your car up to 500bhp and lash the opponents (although u collect less A spec points big deal, they dont give u anything anyway?!!)

and then u win another turbo car that us going to be less bhp than your highly tuned turbo, and thus becomes useless as u have just won the tubo cup.

now if u had a 200bhp limit, a 350bhp limit and a 500bhp limit, the prize cars u won for the 200bhp cars could be more tunable and better start bases which u needed to crack the 350bhp limit, and so on.

this would;
a, add to the longevity of the game
b, enable u to use your prize cars or if not at least use that turbo's whatever it is to have crack at the higher bhp class &
c, eradicate A spec points which served as a means to trounce everyone else and not car about the outcome as prize money was still the same

then GT4 would have had closer racing, more use of the cars u bought and tuned, and more use and utility for the prize cars..

 

[McManicMan]

The PS3 offers..............................a long wait......... before you can actually buy 1, this time next year if your lucky!

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Posted this in the other thread by mistake DOH!!.

It makes a cracking grill.