Finally joining the "Next-Gen" crowd...

[swivel]

I have followed the latest generation of consoles with rabid interest. I can tell you every single thing that the three companies have done right and wrong. I am a regular member at XBoxAddicts, I go to Maxconsole and Kotaku daily, and I absolutely eat up every tidbit of news about any of the latest consoles.

I've had a Wii for 8 months or so. But, since it isn't close to being Next-Gen, I still feel that I have been sitting on the sidelines.

My Brother has a 360, and I have spent lots of time over the past two years with the console in other people's homes. I just haven't seen any games that weren't coming to my PC that I felt compelled to play (Mass Effect is changing that soon), and I don't get into the repetitive online bullshit.

The PS3 doesn't have any games yet.


But... since the games are about to hit over the next few weeks, with my favorite gaming franchise of all time getting rave reviews, I bought a PS3 today and ordered Ratchet and Clank on Amazon. With the latest $100 discount on the price, and a free game included, with 5 blu-ray movies thrown in as well, the least sensible console felt like a great purchase today.

First impressions: Sony knows how to build hardware. This thing screams quality. It is quiet, the power converter is built-in, so you don't have a dangling brick, and every component feels like something Denon would make, not a Chinese-mass-produced-gizmo. My favorite console of late has been my PSP (I like turn-based RPG's, and they aren't made for any other console anymore), so I love the familiarity that comes with the interface.

One of the coolest things I've done tonight is layed in bed with my PSP while I was controlling my PS3 downstairs. I set it up to record some demos and movies, looked at some pics that I streamed to the HD, and could listen to music off the PS3 HD. The cool thing is that I can do this from anywhere in the world that I have Wi-Fi and my PSP. There are even PS3 games that you can play remotely, like Lair. The way these two devices interface is mind-blowing for a tech-head like myself.

Before I even turned the PS3 on for the first time, I popped the HD out that came with the system and put in a 250GB drive that I ordered from NewEgg back when they had a deal on them for $120 (regurlaly $170). I've been saving the thing for this eventual purchase, and went ahead and did it before I even initialized the PS3 for the fist time. It took less than 5 minutes to swap them out, and the system formatted the HD for me after the initial setup. This is enough space for all of my music and pics, and when they add the DVR functionality it will give me about 40 hours of HD recording.

The two games I have are Motorstorm and Folklore. I played one race in Motorstorm and was blown away. I'm still used to PS2 and Wii graphics on consoles (Bioshock is on my PC), so this a treat. I couldn't play long, though, because my wife read the manual for Folklore on the way home and really wanted to play. So we sat back on the sofabed and passed the remote back and forth. This game is going to be a classic. One of those events we look back on wistfully, like an Ico, as a masterpiece of a fading era.


I think I've picked a great time to get into the new consoles. If Mass Effect isn't announced for the PC by March or April, I'll probably add a 360 to my rack. My decision came down to the types of games that I enjoy on consoles. I like the quirky games, like Katamari, Ico, LocoRoco, Folklore, and Shadow of the Colossus. I also love platforming and adventure games, like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter. And I prefer sports games on TV's, not on monitors. My Wii is gathering dust and will probably only see two more games played on it (Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros.), and my PC is where I play my shooters and driving games, which looks to be the XBox forte.

I'll post more thoughts as I dig deeper into the system. Stay tuned.

[AnalBreeze]

You Are the Fuckin' man, swiv! I'm gettin' one for my son for X-Mas!
I'm not affraid to get one... when the games finally begin to come out!
I will buy it next month so when x-mas rolls around I don't get left out!

The wii is fun but it is a FAD!
I just plain HATE Bill and his Xbox.
So give me ps3... the one that's backwards compatable,
before it takes off! :D

[McVain]

I'm a shooter, driving, and sports kind of guy so the 360 was my sure bet. At least, considering that I haven't gotten in to PC gaming for a long time.

At some point I plan on adding both the Wii and PS3 to my shelf, but until then I'm pretty content with my 360.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I'm still staying far away from the PS3 for another year or two, for a few reasons.

First of all, I've found Sony's other products to be shoddily made. My wife bought me a PS2 about a year after they were released and I really enjoyed it. One day, when my daughter was first learning to crawl around the floor, she grabbed the controller and pulled the console to the ground. It was on a shelf in my entertainment center, less than a foot from the floor. Once the thing hit the ground, it stopped working. The gears in the CD tray weren't contacting correctly and I was stuck with a non functional system. My wife purchased an extra warranty on the system upon buying it, but the retailer wouldn't honor it and told me to contact Sony, who were complete dicks about it. I ended up taking the system apart. Now, I have a PS2 with no top cover. I have to take off the top of the CD compartment to insert/remove games. Screw that. I've also heard of others complain about similar issues without the system being jarred or struck in any way. Sounds like bad craftmanship to me.

Then, there are the testing units in stores. My local WalMart and BestBuy both have test units setup for demoing. I have yet to play one as they are both, always frozen. I have yet to see one time when someone is actually able to play on the system. If the display units are malfunctioning that badly, then I can't let myself throw down the cash for one.

That being said, I do like a lot about the PS3. The case's aesthetic is awful, but that can also be said about the 360. I like the inclusion of cell processors in the system and that would be my main selling point, along with the Blu-Ray player. If you had talked to me a few months back, I would have also cited the inclusion of an HDMI out port as a big selling point, but not now that the 360 has HDMI in the premium systems.

Other than the Blu-Ray player, I have no use for it's multimedia functionality. I already have a DVR and I can use my 360 to stream my music/photos. If I were to buy one, it would most likely only be used to play games/blu-ray dvds. As of right now, I haven't seen any games that make me really want a PS3.

[swivel]

Vindictive, the PS3 has a .04% failure rate. There are articles out there gushing over the build quality and how low this rate is. I've never picked up a Guitar Hero controller in a store that had all buttons and whammy bar working, while my own guitars have never skipped a beat. Public displays have no ventilation and get abused.

The 360 has a 33% failure rate. Higher than consumer electronics need before they get a recall. Even the new Elites and the 65nm process gets the RROD. There are people who have gone through several 360's since launch. Microsoft admitted to the problem and had to suffer huge losses with a 3-year RROD warranty and has suffered much ridicule for the problem.

So, I think you have things twisted around a little bit. This one isn't even close enough to argue. The skinny is this: Microsoft can not build hardware and Sony can't code to save their lives. So you have a shitty box with wonderful UI and network, or a top-shelf box with almost no UI and no network.

If only they would collaborate on the next console, they could give Ninty a run for their money :)

[Mr_Vindictive]

I agree Swivel, one can't truly judge a piece of equipment by the demo units. They are usually in a plexiglass case, with no ventilation which I am sure has led to the failures. But, I have yet to see a frozen/RROD 360 in store.

I'm extremely aware of the RROD failure rate on the 360. I too am a reader of Kotaku, along with Gizmodo, Engadget, Gear Live, Joystiq, etc. I consider myself to be a huge technophile, which is unfortunate for me considering my salary.

I'm worried about the RROD with my 360 but I did wait for the new 65nm chip before buying the 360. The new 3 year warranty was also a huge consideration for me. Also, I prefer FPS games over RPGs so the 360 was the system of choice. Resistance Fall Of Man looks good but not worth buying a more expensive system for.

I can handle waiting a week or two for a replacement if the RROD does occur. I ended up paying only $199.00 for a new 360 Premium which I happened to luck into after arguing with the customer service of a certain website for a few hours. The power of debate never fails to amaze me, especially when I get a system at a $150.00 discount.

I think my next console purchase will be the Wii as my wife is dying for one. I would like to have it for the virtual console since Xbox Live and the various classic games such as Smash TV and Castlevania Symphony Of The Night have owned much my time lately.

Somewhere down the line, I'll probably get a PS3. At this point I'm still wary due to my experience with the PS2 and Sony's insanity. It's not a console, it's a "computer gaming system". It's not PS3, nor Playstation 3 but PLAYSTATION 3. Etc, ad nausem.

[Morbid]

Congrats on the purchase, swivel.

Regardless of swivels inaccurate descriptions of me being a console fanboy, or to be more specific, a 360 fanboy, I just love games. So that usually means I will gravitate where the games are. For now, it is the 360 and the handhelds (which I just do not have time to squeeze in). When the PC gets some games, I am sure I will be back into it like I always was...when the PS3 actually has some games worth playing that are not already on the 360, this fanboy will buy it to place beside my Intellivision, Sega 16, Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and 360.