Sony US responds to HD-DVD demise

By Robert Purchese Published 20 February, 2008

"2008 a breakthrough year for PS3".

Sony America boss Jack Tretton believes 2008 will be a "breakthrough year for the PS3".

He was speaking in the aftermath of Toshiba announcing it would withdraw its HD-DVD format from the market, and so pave the way for Blu-ray to shine.

"The emergence of Blu-ray as the de facto high definition standard is one more reason why PS3 is a great value to consumers," said Tretton in a statement.

"The combination of strong sales, Blu-ray dominance and widely-anticipated games all point to 2008 as a breakthrough year for PS3."

According to reports from the Toshiba press conference, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive accounted for a third of all HD-DVD player sales in the US.

Overall, the US sold 900,000 HD-DVD players, Europe sold 100,000, and Japan sold 30,000 (10,000 players, 20,000 recorders). That brings the worldwide total to 1,030,000 HD-DVD players sold.

The PlayStation 3 and its built-in Blu-ray drive has sold more than 10 million units worldwide.

Analysts also predict that Toshiba's decision will be an enormous boon to Sony and the PS3 going forward, as retailers try to push Blu-ray on those buying HD tellies.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Pedrolot #1 4 years ago

    hurrah!

  • convercide #2 4 years ago

    I was never really bothered about HD-DVD to be honest as there were no games being made on the format.

  • Charlie_Miso #3 4 years ago

    there is a third playstation??

  • woodnotes #4 4 years ago

    HD-DVD never stood a chance.

    Anyway, now it's BluRay vs DVD, and we all know who's winning that war. Toshiba.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/08 @ 08:51

  • Pedrolot #5 4 years ago

    There is a Hd-dvd player..?

  • paulf #6 4 years ago

    it looks like sony's strategy of pushing the ps3 as a realtively inexpensive hi-def player first games console second has paid off, hopefully they'll be some decent games for it as well

  • pinhead #7 4 years ago

    Today's fanboy rant comments thread.

    To be fair the PS3 is the only device that is allowing you to upgrade as they finish the profile specs for blu-ray. However we all know it will go digital download in the end.

    /gets coat and heads to iTunes

  • Aretak #8 4 years ago

    There's no dash in HD DVD.

  • seasidebaz #9 4 years ago

    download won't take off until we get at least 50mb downstream speeds, i for one really can't be arsed to wait for a movie to finish downloading before i can watch it.

    and don't even say streaming. that's unpossible. there isn't a big enough hole into the intertubes to support streaming at ~50mb/sec for full 1080p and dolby truhd. streaming would require the film to be ~80% downloaded before streaming can start, and not to mention it needs a heck of a lot of storage space. and the fact that distributors *cough*apple*cough* set their prices too high for something that's essentially locked out from most playback devices...

    bluray ftw!

  • GregorV #10 4 years ago

    There's no life in HD DVD either
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 09:01

  • pinhead #11 4 years ago

    *ApoIogie - yes the high definition disc sales don't even make up 1% of the market compared to traditional DVD disc sales. Most people seem happy with the picture quality they are getting from their upscaling DVD players and the fact that DVDs are relatively cheap.

    Also the jump in quality from DVD to HD disc is not as pronounced as the jump from VHS to DVD for the average person so they are not suddenly going to migrate to high definition disc whichever the format. Although we may see some slight increase in player sales based on the fact that some people have been holding off for an answer to the format war.

  • SentientNr6 #12 4 years ago

    Well they have earned some bragging rights. So I guess we'll have to endure them.
    I wonder what the other partners in the BR camp think about the fact that the PS3 is the only player that supports the BR 2.0 spec. Anyway we knew all along that the PS3 was a BRplayer that also happens to support games.

  • mattigan #13 4 years ago

    HD is pointless if you don't have a scereen bigger than 32 inches anyway.

  • seasidebaz #14 4 years ago

    why all the ps3 hate? it's a great machine, so to all the people blinkered in with their narrow minded ways:

    microsoft are going to shift strategy, and advertise the xbox360 as an inexpensive household heating system that also happens to play games. occasionally. until it inevitably breaks down after a year.

    bolded so you can see it xboys hehe

    /runs for cover from the flames

  • tonyferrino #15 4 years ago

    "Going forward"? Arrgh, what's wrong with "in the future" like we used to use in the past (going backward?)?

  • Artemis_Matsas #16 4 years ago

    The only reason that studios want to migrate to Blu Ray: COPY PROTECTION.

    DVD is hacked to death, and any kid using his PC can rip DVD movies. I know that Blu Ray is also hacked, at least the earlier disks, but it's not as easy and certainly as cost effective as ripping a DVD.

  • drumbaby #17 4 years ago

    Good planning from Sony...beats rushing out a defective under-equipped PC knock-off every time.

  • KayJay #18 4 years ago

    I love all the Anti Sony crew squirming...

    Get over it. This is a good thing for all (Maybe not for those who invested a little in HD-DVD). One format long term is a good thing...

    Viable HD Downloads are a way of IMO.

  • RichGL #19 4 years ago

    PS3 is a great machine. It's just a shame all the multiplatform games have been proved to be better executed on the 360, and the PS3 only games are uninteresting, and it's overpriced or I'd have one by now.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 09:31

  • dr_shambles #20 4 years ago

    @seasidebaz

    With you on the downloads issue. Still reckon that's years away*, and the storage would need to be massive with terabyte drives and such.

    Doing basic maths let's say a film tops 50GB you'd soon fill a 500GB drive. Also people like physical objects (decent packaging, liner notes, etc) that digital downloads don't provide. Do concede this might be more the case with people who've grown up collecting vinyl, CDs and DVDs.

    Have a HD DVD drive for my 360 (yeah I know) and a PS3 so I backed both formats. Looking forward to picking up a load of heavily discounted HD DVD titles now.


    * I mean with ADSL it takes forever sometimes just to download a 1GB demo.

  • Ihya #21 4 years ago

    Nice one Sony, but victory is not enough. You now have to burn their homes and violate their women.

  • viper_h #22 4 years ago

    Sony can go smoke a choad.

    /hugs his 360

  • Goodfella #23 4 years ago

    The combination of strong sales (LOL), Blu-ray dominance and widely-anticipated games (GLOL) all point to 2008 as a breakthrough year for PS3(LOL)."

    /Fixed

    What exactly is your problem?

    Do you know how pathetic it is read comments like that? How old are you?

    Edit: I love the hyperbole, ApologIe, it takes 40 mintes to install a game now does it?
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/08 @ 09:44

  • monkie_king #24 4 years ago

    touched a nerve there, methinks.

  • Moonprince #25 4 years ago

    "overpriced or I'd have one by now"*

    *If you work at McD's

    That's a bs old argument now...

  • Luvbeers #26 4 years ago

    The more PS3 blu-ray players sold, the lower the game attachment rate will go and it still doesn't change the fact that it takes 4 times as long to develop on the playstation than anything else. By the time 2010 rolls around and Blu-ray is in full swing, the gaming hardware will be archaic. Its almost like Sony has skipped a generation of gaming consoles to sell a disc format.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 09:46

  • Goodfella #27 4 years ago

    Upset, do you have a hidden camera installed in my house?

    Hmm, not upset at all, I just think it's very very sad that you appear in every thread like this with the same childish comments.

  • Darren #28 4 years ago

    Considering the PS3 is good as both a high-definition home entertainment hub and games consoles, I'd say that Toshiba throwing in the HD-DVD towel early has just put Sony in a stronger position for 2008 than they already were as the console is in a strong position to sell to two different markets, the gamers and the movie buffs.

    I just hope that Sony remember that the PS3 will sell better if it is marketed mainly as a games console because it isn't always going to be the best or cheapest BD player around. While it still has to prove itself on the games front, I can't complain about its DVD/BD playback functionality at all because it's the first console I've bought where I haven't felt the urgent need to rush out and buy a standalone player for my movies. Knowing that BD isn't going to be dead in a year makes me feel so much better about having spent £425 on the PS3 (which also has PS2 backward compatibility, more USB and memory ports than the cheaper, cutdown model) although the machine wasn't really up to scratch at launch, requiring numerous firmware updates - too many, in fact - to add 1080/24p support and DVD upscaling among other things.

    Still it is going to be a good year for Sony... they just need to release plenty of good games and drop the price of the console again mid-year and the machine will just sell itself just like the PSone and PS2 did. Christmas 2008 could well belong to Sony.

  • KayJay #29 4 years ago

    @Goodfella
    Dont worry about ApoIogie he is a rabid 360 Fanboy (Or Anti Sony Fanboy, to be politically correct) with nothing better to do. Someone needs to shorten his frikken lead :-)

  • Goodfella #30 4 years ago

    Goodfella's gonna cry like a big girls blouse :'(

    *sigh* It really is like communicating with an 8 year old.

  • Xerx3s #31 4 years ago

    seasidebaz: You accuse people of being fanboys and in the next line you act like a fanboy yourself. Just because others have no dignity, doesn't mean that you have to lower yourself.

    As for the article: I doubt it. Most of the people who own a ps3 don't even know that it plays bluray so I doubt that that group will go out and buy one because it's brd. Especially since neither HDDVD nor BRD have even entered early adopter stage (6% of the market) - last time I checked.

    The ps3 - and all consoles for that matter - will mostly sell on basis of it's games.

    Also, it seems like sony hasn't learned anything with them boasting about things that might or might not happen.

  • thiswaynow #32 4 years ago

    I have no doubt 2008 will be a massive year for PS3, the sales figures are all on an upwards trend and the Blu-Ray inclusion is starting to make sense now. PS3 is dead-cert for second best selling in this gen for me.

    I have a Wii currently, but will probably make the decision to go Wii-PS3 this year, and I think a lot of other people will do the same. THe big question is how far behind will the 360 be by 2010, when the next machines are slated for release? I suspect 360 will go the way of the Gamecube and fall off by the wayside within 18 months .

  • septimus #33 4 years ago

    Who hasn't blocked ApoIogie yet?

    It makes the comments thread a nicer place to be.

  • Psiloc #34 4 years ago

    @ApoIogie

    lol! Ironoman judges you.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 09:58

  • mattigan #35 4 years ago

    I agree with goodfella, those '/fixed' comments that proliferate the treads round here are simply not funny, or a usefull addition to any sensible debate going on, they just make me want to punch the poster in their smug little face.

    Grow up.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 10:02

  • Darren #36 4 years ago

    @Luvbeers - Well having the best hardware doesn't guarantee you'll have the best games (unless you think pretty graphics are what make games good in the first place) as both the PSone and PS2 have proven and the latter is still selling strongly despite being over seven years old. The PS2's hardware was considered dated years ago but it hasn't stopped it from getting the lion's share of triple-A games like ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy XII, Okami, Dragon Quest VIII, Metal Gear Solid 3, etc., etc. and it arguably has the biggest selection of good to excellent games of any console to date. With a ten year life span mapped out for the PS3, it's not hard to imagine that machine doing likewise, in fact it's harder to envisage it not doing that IMO. The PlayStation brand is still a big seller worldwide after all and despite all the gaffs Sony make they always seem to bounce back stronger than ever. Seems unfair at times but I guess they have a lot of loyal fans.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 10:12

  • Luvbeers #37 4 years ago

    The big question is how far behind will the 360 be by 2010, when the next machines are slated for release? I suspect 360 will go the way of the Gamecube and fall off by the wayside within 18 months.

    Are you serious? The 360 will sell more games than the PS3 no matter how many Sony sells until the next-gen, which Sony will be late entering as well since they've wasted so much energy on other aspects than console gaming.

    M$ 2010 - An awesome new console which will make games on the PS3 look like PS1
    Sony 2010 - In-Game XMB support, FFXIII launch, virtual pop-star idol update for PSN Home (wo0t!)

  • afghan_jones #38 4 years ago

    to be honest, yeah, they will do well out of this, cause lets face it, theres fuck all else to do with a PS3 other than watch blu-rays.

  • seasidebaz #39 4 years ago

    xerxes: i'm no fanboy, i have a ps3 and wii and love them both, i used to have a 360 that never had any problems despite those of my friends red ringing a lot (in fact everybody i know has had theirs redring, mine never did once)

    the problem with the 360 though is that it was lacking any fun. games just became a trawl to collect gamerpoints. and trying to play online was a joke, too many little american kiddies who just learned some swear words in the games. i got my ps3 and ridge racer, and for the first time in ages actually played it to the end and enjoyed it.

    the 360 is a great machine, the fanboys that come with it are just daft. the comments they come out with are more or less the same as were said about the original xbox (like haha thats not a games console cos its got microsoft written on it)

    bluray and the ps3 are still in their infancy and are an unknown quantity in terms of performance, things will improve over time for both of them. games get better every generation. give it a year or two and things will be done on it that can't be done on the 360.

  • thomastantrum #40 4 years ago

    " give it a year or two and things will be done on it that can't be done on the 360."

    Didn't they say that a year or two ago?

  • mattigan #41 4 years ago

    Hmm yes behind your little screen probably at school, don't you have some work to be getting on with?

    Although don't you get a little bored with it, trying to wind people up on here, I used to do it myself you know, but I grew out of it as it was like shooting fish in a barrel, no real sport.

    Still, I've said my piece, and you've pretty much proved my point so I'll move on now.


    Ta Ta

  • captainrentboy #42 4 years ago

    Seasidebaz I think you'll find the fanboys that come with both systems are OTT, not just the 360 ones. And let's face it, not a single one of them are as bad as Apologie, that guy's deadly serious about every thing Pro Sony, whereas a lot of the 360 ones, annoying as they might be to a few of you, seem to be doing it in a more piss taking way.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 10:20

  • FooAtari #43 4 years ago

    Jesus, some laughable comments on here. At least I can see Apologies anyway.

    I'm sure HD-DVD bowing out will help Sony. I'm considering picking up a PS3 just for the BR functionality as it's the best player available currently and one of the cheapest. But that doesn't change the fact that there is a lack of games for it, so attach rate may remain low. I would only consider buy AAA exclusive games. I hate the PS3 pad so would still buy multiformat games on the PC or 360.

    The 360 needs a price cut badly, it's well overdue, I'm not sure what MS are waiting for. But surely no one can think it's going to go the way of the GC or fade away. It already has a decent install base and the attach rate is high. This makes it very attractive for developers.

    As I see it all formats are now firmly established and none will be going away. And anyone into games should surely see this is a good thing. We all want choice and competition in the market place no?

  • seasidebaz #44 4 years ago

    @apoiogie

    are you insane? it was crap on the 360!

    the two games are completely different! i played the 360 version long before i played the ps3 version, theres just no contest!

    and in the context of gamerpoints, ridge racer 360 was so stingy with them i gave up trying to play for them, and still couldn't enjoy the game all that much.

    brand loyalty can go out the window as well, as i have been a loyal nintendo follower for the past 22 years, and raced out to get my wii on launch day. so if anything, i am a nintendo fanboy.

    and this still doesn't make me as much a fanboy as you

  • MoGamer2006 #45 4 years ago

    I'm glad the HD war is over, and BluRay seems to be the 'better' format so all power to it.

    But you can just imagine the smug high-fiving, whooping and circle-jerking that must've be going at Sony's US HQ when Toshiba made its announcement official.

    Nobody does self-congratulatory quite like the Yanks... ugh!

  • 3william56 #46 4 years ago

    Sony US responds to HD-DVD demise

    "HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA"
    "No really, you can stop now."

    Bill Gates responds to HD-DVD demise

    "We at Microsoft are appalled and disappointed by the behaviour of our technology partner Toshiba, selling a high priced electronic item to our loyal fanbase then making it obsolete overnight with no warning. How dare those b*stards treat our valued customers like that? It's clearly our job."

  • zedzee #47 4 years ago

    The announcement by Toshiba to pull out of the HD-DVD market, effectively killing it, will have a greater impact on X360 than Microsoft can imagine right now.

    First of all, it leaves their decision with their external HD-DVD add-on at a cross roads; it's neither for games and now no good for films either! So, I think it will eventually be withdrawn from the market.

    Secondly, with analyst predictions for this year saying that the PS3 will double its installed base, it has to do this at the expense of some other console(s), of course. If someone planned to buy an X360/Wii and now hears all this about HD-DVD dying and games like GT5, MGS, LBP and KZ2 coming out for PS3, then they might be persuaded to lean in Sony's direction instead. In other words, with the Blu-Ray victory, Sony has an opportunity to sell more PS3 consoles to two different types of markets, just like it did with the PS2 enticing consumers with its DVD playing capabilities. Remember, Microsoft couldn't do that out of the box with the original XBox and again that contributed to its eventual downfall somewhat.

    I'm sure that when people have a budget to buy a console, they think of buying one, not two or three at once. So, what is interesting is how many people will now shift to buying a PS3? Combine that with those who were going to buy PS3 anyway at some point (perhaps they have PS2 right now and simply have not upgraded yet - like myself) AND those who want it as a cheap Blu-Ray player, well, Sony then definitely has a chance to not only double its installed base but jump into second position and be hot on the heels of Nintendo by Xmas '08.

    Sony's Blu-Ray trojan horse (the PS3) strategy has worked miracles, just like the PS2 did when DVD was emerging. While Microsoft have some hard decisions to make and find themselves in Sega Dreamcast territory. As for Nintendo, well, they've done a good job pushing themselves out of the hard core games market without the other two pushing them. So what will their next console be? A follow-up to Wii with more Wiimotes/Nunchucks? If not, how on earth will they get themselves back into the mainstream, without alienating all those 'casual' gamers they've found?

    Whatever happens, 2008 is going to be a VERY interesting year and I can't wait for it to unfold...
    Edited by 3 at 20/02/08 @ 14:39

  • mattigan #48 4 years ago

    It's not the toy I get worked up about, It's reading idiotic comments editng a sentence of the article then adding /fixed at the end. Oh how you must have laugh at that, but unfortunately it would seem that you are the only one that finds the joke funny, I would advise you to get some new material.

    You are becoming more irritating that the user you are trying to parody.

    P.S I am actually on your side re. PS3 vs 360, but you are letting the side down.

  • captainrentboy #49 4 years ago

    FooAtari is pretty much spot on, I agree with all of it. The fact that Blu-Ray has won this thing means that me buying a PS3 mainly as a means to watch Blu-Ray flicks isn't such a crazy sounding idea any more. Shame they're not multi regional mind as that would be another huge plus point for me.
    And like he said MS need to think about another £50 price drop across all of the 360 skus, it's been out for over two years now, it's time to get a bit more competitive.
    One thing though, as I deal with your average Joe Gamer on a daily basis in work (Game) I still find it strange that Sony's head honchos are sooo overjoyed with this Blu Ray victory even though I'd say 80 odd % of PS3 buyers look at me like I'm talking in an Alien language when I mention it plays Blu Ray films.
    ''Blu Ray???? Duuuuhhhhhhh?''

  • bad09 #50 4 years ago

    I'm not getting involved as it's over but here is a scary thought that I read yesterday. With BR becoming the standard for HD movies if MS want to play movies through their next console guess what drive they will have to use for the machine. God I hope they can speed the drives up by then I'd hate to install games to play them on a console (no offence PS3 guys).

    I asked this on another post but no one answered. These games that need installing on PS3, how much HDD space do they take up? Surely that must eat up those 40gbs?

  • Darren #51 4 years ago

    @seasidebaz - I'm not convinced that the PS3 is capable of doing games that the Xbox 360 can't personally as the machine has two things going against it. One is that it has trouble doing HDR lighting and anti-aliasing, thanks to its "old" GeForce 7800 GTX-based RSX chip, which means its multiformat games especially tend to look rougher than the 360 equivalents, and second is that BD might have far more storage capacity than DVD but it's much slower than a 12X DVD and not all developers will work around it (Capcom being a good example). It does have a standard HDD on its side though but so far that seems to be used purely as a cheap way of bypassing the slow read speeds of BD.

    I don't think I've seen anything on the PS3 yet than wouldn't be possible on the Xbox 360 with a bit of effort and some games like Virtua Fighter 5 actually look slightly better on Microsoft's platform. Even games like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Ratchet & Clank: ToD look perfectly possible on the 360 if the cutscenes were rendered in real-time instead of being pre-rendered using the ingame engine. The only thing limiting the Xbox 360 is its lack of a standard HDD and its 7.2 GB DVDs but the former hasn't really proved to be a hindrance so far and the latter can be overcome by using multiple discs, which most games don't seem to need anyway bar RPGs. The PS3 also has the SIXAXIS but so far that feature has proved to be a waste of time in most games (and positively despised when forced in games such as Lair) because it lacks the flexibility and accuracy of the Wii's motion sensing.

    Maybe in time developers will pull off some neat tricks that show off what the PS3 can do but since they'll be for exclusive games, you'll never know for sure whether the Xbox 360 could do it or not. All multiformat games will naturally be more or less identical and they're going to make up the bulk of both platforms games anyway. The end result will be that both platforms will appear to have very similar games overall such that neither one will appear to be superior to the other.

  • RickHard #52 4 years ago

    Thumbs up for Sony, their marketing guys are really good at what they do and should get a pay rise this year ;)

    Sony didi with PS3 the exact same thing they did with PS2 : sell it as a game machine with the possibility to watch movies in high-def at no extra cost (DVD was high-def compared to VHS when the ps2 launched...). And it worked... twice. Remember how lame the game line-up was during the first 2 years of the PS2 ? During some months after launch the attach rate in japan was below 1 meaning people were only buying the machine as a cheap dvd player. Indeed, the good games only started to appear after the launch of MGS2... aren't we getting MGS4 soon ? I hope this will turn the tide because so far the only reason I use my PS3 is to watch Blu-ray movies (with the notable exception of Drake's fortune :).

    The ps3 allowed Sony to have a huge installed base of Blu-ray players. Giving the numbers (10mio ps3 vs 1mio HD-DVD players) there was no way HD-DVD could possible sell more discs than its rival... leading to studios to shift camp.

    Honestly, I don't know how Thoshiba did not see that coming... First nail on the HD-DVD coffin was the incapacity of Microsoft and Toshiba to agree about a built-in HD-DVD in the X360. The numbers would have been really different then... as would have been the outcome of the "war".

    Well that's history now... but the question that remains is : where does this outcome leave the X360 ? MS will certainly comment that it does not affect its product in any way but the truth is that the PS3 looks more sexy than ever for Mr John Doe (a true one in all media hub for playing games and what Hi-Def movies !!!). MS strategy is now pointless - i.e. not to force the customer to chose bla, bla - has there is no more uncertainty about the winning format. IMO, the only viable options are :

    - MS releases a "Utimate" edition of the X360 with a built-in Blu-ray player... not likely, it will look like a defeat ;)
    - MS releases a separate blu-ray drive for the X360 at a really affordable price and decreases the price of the console.

    That way, MS can hold the two sides of the market (entry point with a really affordable game machine, attractive to this all-too-important-these-days casual gamer and the top with a repriced Elite and its Blu-ray add-on). For this strategy to work : price of the entry machine, must be as close as possible to the Wii and price of the top of the line machine + the add-on should be significantly lower than the PS3.

    Otherwise, Thoshiba announcment could be the first nail on the X360 coffin... and I do enjoy my X360 a lot !

    /goes back to play Mass Effect and PGR4

  • G3org3 #53 4 years ago

    MS improved you got to admit as much
    first time things went wrong MS FUCKED everybody that got their first console
    this time MS FUCKED only those that bought HD-DVD add ons
    its an improvement... for christ sake lol

  • monkie_king #54 4 years ago

    o_O

    Is that even english?

    /checks to see if it's half-term week

  • Darren #55 4 years ago

    @bad09 - Most PS3 games have optional installs of between 1.5 and 5 GB which means you can play the games straight from the disc with longer loading times. Very few actually have compulsory installs except for Oblivion (which cleverly installs 4.4 GB as you play), DMC4 (4.8 GB), Lost Planet (~5 GB) and a few others. Hopefully mandatory installs like what Capcom seem fond of will not become the norm otherwise Sony are going to have a lot of pissed PS3 owners. Forcing people to sit through a 20-30 minute install is a very, very, very rubbish idea really.

  • seasidebaz #56 4 years ago

    @darren:

    the way i see it, the xbox is a known performance quantity. it uses directx, and so is much easier to develop for. there are also profiling tools to tell you the workload of chips / memory at any point.

    with the ps3, however, and the unique challenge the spe's present in terms of coding (i heard it's like trying to do shader programming? or assembler?) there are more hurdles to overcome.

    i think the two are (pretty much) on a par graphically atm, looking at burnout in particular, but due to the very nature of directx there won't be a great deal further that the xbox can go graphically. i may be proved wrong, but i'm pretty sure the 360 uses a version of directx9, lacking many of the features of dx10, which have to be manually implemented.

    the other problem which i seem to remember is that developers don't have access to the full 6 cores on the 360, as one is used by the guide and another is reserved. so some multithread restrictions occur then too.

  • kangarootoo #57 4 years ago

    @zedzee

    "The announcement by Toshiba to pull out of the HD-DVD market, effectively killing it, will have a greater impact on X360 than Microsoft can imagine right now"

    So Microsoft the multi billion dollar coporation can't imagine the impact, but we the internet posting masses can? ;)

  • kangarootoo #58 4 years ago

    "And let's face it, not a single one of them are as bad as Apologie, that guy's deadly serious about every thing Pro Sony, whereas a lot of the 360 ones, annoying as they might be to a few of you, seem to be doing it in a more piss taking way"

    Lets not split hairs here. All fanboys are ridiculous immature cocks. There may be shades of grey between their levels of obsession and fanatisism, but they are still a country mile from any normal rounded person.

    Its just metal and plastic you bloody weirdos. It does not warrant your love. Get a more social hobby if you can't take gaming as a hobby without becoming obsessive freaks.

  • Darren #59 4 years ago

    RickHard - The PS3 might have a user base of over 10 million now but that doesn't mean all those people are buying BD movies. Clearly people are though because BD movies sales increased and have been increasing since the PS3 launched and the standalone players haven't sold anywhere near the same number. I guess that doesn't matter because having 10 million potential customers to sell BD to is better than having just 500,000 or whatever number the 360 HD-DVD add-on sold. I mean you can just see how Sony are going to market BD to the masses really by misleading them into thinking that there are more owners out there than there actually is. Once the PS3 hits a sub-£200 price point, the machine is going to become an even more attractive buy for anyone looking for a games console and HD movie player. I can't help wondering if Sony will intentionally keep the price of the PS3 lower than standalone BD players to "encourage" people to buy it instead. It really doesn't matter who Sony sells the PS3 to, the point is to sell as many units as possible so whereas Microsoft can only sell the Xbox 360 to gamers, Sony have a wider audience to sell their machine to.

  • bad09 #60 4 years ago

    Cheers Darren

    I have to say whilst I do not like the PS3 I have always open to getting one if it had games I want, had DS3 packaged and especially now with BR winning the format war. But that little fact, which I didn't know until someone mentioned here on EG, has REALLY stopped me in my tracks in thinking about getting one. I think I'll just wait and buy a cheap stand alone BR player or 360 add on (if it comes) and pass on PS3 no matter what games comes out (unless they release one with a faster drive). Maybe next gen Sony.

  • monkie_king #61 4 years ago

    To be fair, in the Head-to-Head, the PS3 version of Ridge got the nod in terms of structure. Graphically they're pretty similar, PS3 version is brighter/washed-out but has 1080p.

    @seasidebaz: the reserved cores thing isn't really an "issue", it's just the spec. Same way that the PS3 only gives you five SPEs full-time, or the PSP is underclocked.

  • Darren #62 4 years ago

    @monkie_king - The PS3 version of Ridge Racer 7 does run at natively at 1080p though unlike 360 RR6 which is 720p only (although you can upscale it to 1080p) and that does help minimise the jaggies slightly due to the complete lack of AA in both versions of the game. Having bought and played both versions of the game I have to say that I prefer the visuals on the PS3 and, of course, that version has more content in the form of extra tracks (the waterfall one, in particular, is stunning) and cars, etc.

  • monkie_king #63 4 years ago

    darren, yeah, that's what I meant when I said the PS3 version "has 1080p" ;)

  • Darren #64 4 years ago

    @monkie_king - So you did, my apologies, I missed that with it being at the end of the sentence and on the next line! /oops

  • SEVQA #65 4 years ago

    @ Microsoft
    @ Toshiba

    HaHa! Gutted!

  • G3org3 #66 4 years ago

    2006 the new generation of gaming enters with 360

    few months later
    gets painted black
    gets HDMI
    a little later
    gets built in HDD
    gets BR player

    then MS claims : SONY STOLE OUR CONSOLE PLANS

  • Vin #67 4 years ago

    "While Microsoft have some hard decisions to make and find themselves in Sega Dreamcast territory."

    Eh?

    The PS3 is still 7 million odd units behind the 360.

    I'd say that's fucking dire for Sony.

  • Darren #68 4 years ago

    @Vin - I think "dire" is a bit OTT when you consider that Sony are also selling the PS2 and PSP alongside the PS3 whereas Microsoft's console gaming division only has the Xbox 360.

    That the PS3 is selling as well as the Xbox 360 (10 million units sold in just over a year for both systems) yet is still the most expensive console (it's now the same price the PS2 launched at) suggests it is going to do extremely well once the PS2 is laid to rest and the price of the PS3 drops further. The PS3 is selling steadily in all three major territories unlike the Xbox 360 which is currently only selling well in the US and UK (me thinks Microsoft needs to cut the price of the hardware). With a ten year lifespan mapped out for the PS3, I'm sure sales well increase year-by-year and it hasn't even been out a year yet in Europe. PS2 sales didn't really take off until the machine dropped to £200 after a year so I suspect that once the PS3 does likewise it'll fly off the shelves, particularly as PS2 games start to dry up over the next 18 months. I reckon GTA IV will sell a lot of PS3s this April so if Sony have any sense they'll schedule another hardware price drop.

    Sony always warned people that the PS3 would be expensive so I don't think they expected it to be a strong seller in the short-term, their marketing strategies appear to be long-term based on the PSone which lasted a decade and the PS2 which appears to be doing likewise. If you can sell a console for ten years then you can make an awful lot of money out of the hardware (which becomes cheaper to build) and the games.

  • MuppetThumper #69 4 years ago

    well reading all the above hasn't changed my position. i will undoubtedly get a PS3 this year. And perhaps I'll be able to watch movies without having to turn the sound up on my TV really loud, if the PS3 really is a lot quieter than the 360.

  • LetsGo #70 4 years ago

    "It's miles behind it's main competitor sales-wise. "

    It's less than 8 million behind with the 360 on a year headstart.

    Get ya' facts right fanboy.

  • LetsGo #71 4 years ago

    Haha, whats so funny is that you really don't realise how stupid you sound.

  • Hypnopedia #72 4 years ago

    Great news that a format has finally been decided. but it's worth remembering that this does not mean solely a massive surge in sales for the PS3; this finally takes the risk of investing in the wrong technology away from the both the consumer and, far more importantly, the manufacturer. This will only mean one thing - standalone Blu-Ray players will plummet in price over the next 12 - 18 months as the infrastructure and production of the players is ramped up to match demand, with the likes of Panasonic, Samsung, LG, etc (and of course Sony themselves) all after a slice.

    £79.99 ALDI special in 18 months time??!! ;D

    IMO I really don't see downloads taking over for eons - apart from not wanting to wait for a movie to download, I also don't want to download a heavily compressed HD Version thanks very much - please fill a 50GB BR Disc with the highest bitrate possible please...

  • MilkYMoO #73 4 years ago

    Now can sony concentrate on getting games out for the ps3.

  • L42yB #74 4 years ago

    Hmmm... well, I think there are two sides to this coin. Sony still subsidise the PS3 hardware, right? So they actually lose money when ppl buy it. Well, while I agree entirely that *lots* more people will be buying it (purely as a Blu-Ray player) over the next few years, I think that the vast majority of these new buyers will not be buying any games or peripherals for it. So doesn't that mean that Sony will be losing money? I don't know how much commission they get of Blu-Ray movies, but I reckon the attach rate for BR Movies will have to be quite a bit higher than for games to make up their subsidy...

    Anyway, it looks like I will probably be buying a PS3 after all. Not soon, mind you, but when I get that HDTV I've been eyeing out for a while I think the PS3 will probably come along with it :)

  • ParanoidZombie #75 4 years ago

    Now sony needs to kill regular DVD, and that won't be easy. They need to storm into our homes, destroy our old TVs and DVD players, and force us to buy ps3 and bravias to replace them. I think a small army of space marines and atomic monsters should do the trick, if they look scary enough.

  • Kbone28 #76 4 years ago

    It's definitely going to be a strong year for PS3. But to those saying the 360 is going to fall off the way side?? Garbage

    360 has all the games, Xbox Live and has just recently signed a deal with paramount for digital distribution.
    MS are not stupid, the Xbox 360 is already dominant in the brands second generation.
    If you recall the vice like grip Sony had on the market with the PS2, compared to now - its easy to tell MS arent going anywhere.

    Strong competition is good for all of us though, so im happy. But for games there can be only one - Xbox 360 FTW.

  • Vin #77 4 years ago

    I just can't see how the Ps3 stands any chance of catching up on that 7 million figure difference. The majority couldn't give a toss about the HD format as it is.

  • zedzee #78 4 years ago

    @ kangarootoo:

    What I was saying in my post is that Microsoft is now in an even more difficult position to predict how the market will react, and how some of the analyst predictions for sales of the PS3 for 2008 - as a direct result of the Blu-Ray 'victory' - will affect its position.

    It's just interesting to see that because of one event, how this will impact other things and cause more events to happen that could not be predicted before, not even by Microsoft.

    And it's precisely the latter's indecision or miscalculation that the X360 did not need one of the next generation optical storage standards, that may well turn out to be the biggest impact on its success.

    I don't have any more foresight as to how things will turn out than anyone else, but I can make an intelligent prediction, based on history. And as is always said, if you don't learn from history, then you're doomed to repeat it.

    In any case, I hope you are as excited about how 2008 unfolds as I am...

  • RichGL #79 4 years ago

    Is it true that when you leave the room the ps3 will try to rape your pets?

  • G3org3 #80 4 years ago

    to remind you Vin the market of consoles is a really big one

    120m PS2s with xbox 1 and GC had less than half
    in such a market you really think 7million is all that terrible number?

  • manic_mouse #81 4 years ago

    Did your mum marry a PS3 after the 360 died or RROD Apologie? Does it touch you... down there? Does it... hit you?
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/08 @ 19:58

  • OtisFeelgood #82 4 years ago

    lol @ manic_mouse

  • Les #83 4 years ago

    Interesting artice about the format war...

    [link url=http://www.roughlydrafted .com/2008/02/21/lessons-from-the-death-of-hd-dvd/#comment-55 48
    ]http://ww w.roughlydrafted.com/2008/02/21...[/link]

    Small quote from the article:

    "The death of HD-DVD says more about Microsoft and its future than the general media seems to recognize. It’s not a format war, its a culture war between industry players working to advance the state of the art collectively in partnerships, and one company working to own everything while contributing very little."

  • Les #84 4 years ago

    "Now sony needs to kill regular DVD, and that won't be easy."

    At least they're not alone in that fight: Retailers, movie studios, PC makers and electronics manufacturers got their back (and it's not like HD-DVD wouldn't have had to fight the same struggle).

    "i may be proved wrong, but i'm pretty sure the 360 uses a version of directx9"

    According to a recent Microsoft advertorial in gamesTM the 360 uses DirectX9.0b. (that article took any credibility gamesTM might have had away: 6 pages of a MS employee telling how great DX10 is while also pushing Vista and gamesTM didn't ask a single critical question or made a critical remark (which is quite an achievement given the disaster that is Vista)).

    "I just can't see how the Ps3 stands any chance of catching up on that 7 million figure difference. The majority couldn't give a toss about the HD format as it is."

    The Wii made up a bigger difference in 10 months... At a better price and with more software around and now all of a sudden also favourable press, the PS3 will probably run circles around the 360 which is already tailing off. Though it will not come close to the Wii unless Nintendo doesn't sort out its manufacturing.

    It's definitely true that the majority couldn't give a toss about the HD format but they care even less about games consoles (unless it's a Wii)... ;)

  • OtisFeelgood #85 4 years ago

    I agree with ya Les