XBLA vs. PSN vs. WiiWare/Virtual Console Comments by Dan Whitehead

I want a far better selection of PSone games on the PS Store. The japanese have Einhander and R-type Delta why not Europe?

I've downloaded more from the PSN than the other two despite getting the PS3 later. Super Stardust, Pixeljunk Eden and Locoroco Cocoreccho are fantastic (and look great in HD) and the HDD size of the PS3 means I don't have to worry about 1.5GB demos. Rez and Braid are the two games I've downloaded from XBL, and apart from a messy interface and slightly high cost I can't have any complaints. The Wii is the most disappointing, the cost is too high, converting star points to wii points is a joke (unless you enjoy getting 100 points cards each day before the old points you have expire), most games on there are rubbish and the ones that are good I've likely already got a pristine SNES cartridge of - and the few games that I would like to play that didn't get released here (like Earthbound) still haven't been released.

Just noticed that despite WipEout HD receiving absolutely no mention in this article, a screenshot appears inbetween ones from Xbox 360 and Wii games on the main page to promote the article!!! LOL

PSN by a mile. Wipeout, Burnout, Siren, GT5P, Pixeljunk Eden, Pixeljunk Monsters, Stardust, Warhawk, Pain, Ratchet and Clank, FLOW, Tekken Online.. nuff said.

"Super Stardust, Pixeljunk Eden and Locoroco Cocoreccho are fantastic (and look great in HD)"

Played SS and PJ. PJ was oke but nothing special (a solid 8 I'd say) but SS is just a poor mans GW. It's by far not as fun.

@ farticusmaximus

You are an retard.

@ Xerxes

Maybe some people arent making a counter-list because they think there isnt a selection on other consoles that matches their favourite? I would have to agree with that to some extent.

PSN: 'Big' stuff which I can only commend; I do wish MS would take a leaf out of that book. Otherwise the PSN games are largely weak and the lack of demos for some games is silly. Been really enjoying Wipeout lately though :)

XBLA: Some of my favourite niche releases of this generation. Some *EXCELLENT* stuff there which would've crashed and burnt at retail. An awful lot of shite too, but that's par for the course.

Wii: Best retro releases. Apart from NoE hating europeans allover again by forcing 50hz releases of a lot of games. WiiWare is shaping up well, but rubbish storage.

Platform X by a mile. Personal opinion, personal opinion, personal opinion, personal opinion, personal opinion, personal opinion and personal opinion. Nuff said.

Er it really was quite a glaring oversight posting the article 2 weeks after Wipeout HD without a quick edit. Plus, there's a massive list of equally top drawer games that, considering the head-start XBLA had, is really impressive.

It's true though it needs much more of the unmissable PS1 games. Maybe they're refraining from including PS1 versions of a certain epic JRPG for a good reason, however.

Seriously how was WipEout not mentioned in the article!!!

"PSN by a mile. Wipeout, Burnout, Siren, GT5P, Pixeljunk Eden, Pixeljunk Monsters, Stardust, Warhawk, Pain, Ratchet and Clank, FLOW, Tekken Online.. nuff said."

Oh ffs. Iyo. my penis is bigger and more beefed. Can we drop the whole lists complex?

@farticusmaximus - Yeah, exactly like the article then! ;)

Everyone will have their own opinion about which service is the best and they don't have to agree with EG as there is no "right" or "wrong" opinion (obviously).

@vic

Why, were you one of the ones that cried over the article? It's one person's opinion of the download situation for christ sakes, you people want him to go re-evaluate or tell him it's wrong?

It's a friggin opinion.


Edit: Darren got there first. I owe him a boiled egg or something.

THE LAST GUY

EG BIG CHEESE: Dan. I want you to create an article that creates even more flames than the 360 vs PS3 faceoffs. Do you think you can do that?

@ farticusmaximus

Yeah but here you are criticizing people for offering their opinion, yet you incessantly spout the virtues of the 360 everytime you come on here.

You and Calgon arent the same person are you? The similarities are striking.

There's no Advantage: under the Variety chapter.

Pretty amusing that some people want the article rewritten on the back of one game. Look, they're both good services, but just like you can't argue with a great release like Wipeout, you can't argue with Braid, Geometry wars 2, Castle Crashers, and a number of others for the 360 which are all killer apps in their own right.

I'll just sit down here and warm myself by the fire.

This article reminds me of the NES games on VC. Botched and obsolete.

:)

PSN is definitely the best priced,

Nintendo are just price gauging and its keeping my Wii's storage empty.

anyone who doesn't love Crash Team Racing deserves to be drowned in wee

Locke Lamora didn't love Crash Team Racing?

Jesus, ye like to complain.

"Well, I would argue that the 360 currently has the advantage in four of the areas discussed, with the PS3 edging it out in terms of the overall shopping experience, as well as having a much better quality-to-crap ratio"


- that line dose not make any sense to me.

@vic

Admittedly I get wound up by the fuckwittery of hedbog and his alts, but only ever reply with either cold facts or clearly label posts as 'in my opinion'. Incidentally, notice how much calmer discussion is in general without him around?.. ;)

I have never* disputed a review score even though I may disagree strongly with the reviewer. For the record I think PSN has as many quality titles as XBLA. I especially like Pain and Pixeljunk racers. My comment was not a dig at the PS3, it was a dig at the folly of whining about a review score.

* To the best of my knowledge.

"with the PS3 edging it out in terms of the overall shopping experience, as well as having a much better quality-to-crap ratio. "

Which is why the Xbox 360 won the quality category?

Great article as usual, Eurogamer.

;)

You criticize some platform holders for not making regular updates to their online offerings and yet fail to update this article to include the now unavoidable new entries such as WipeOut HD , Burnout etc..

Surely an article must be easier to update than online shop.
Good article nonethelesee, thank you.

What's the name of the game shown in the last picture of the article?

@ farticusmaximus

Fair enough. I have no problem with people saying that 360 is better than PS3 or vice versa, I would just prefer it if people were less inflammatory and didnt come across as all high-and-mighty about it like Calgon.

State your preference, say why, and dont be a dick about it. To be fair you have been very reasonable so I take my hat off.

For pricing structure alone PSN wins hands down there is some amazing value on there, Wipout £12? Siren £20? PS1 £3.49!, PSP £15 etc etc.

Live TBH while great at first and still gives me titles to get excited about now every couple of months or so, it gone down in my book, there is so much rubbish released on Live! (and the price seems to be going up for games lately!!!)

As for VC I can't say I used it when I had a Wii so have no experience, but I do think the pricing is a little too high there.

Traditionally, there were just two price points for Live Arcade games - 400 points and 800 points.

No there weren't. Bankshot Billiards 2 was available from launch for 1,200 points. It's since been reduced to 800, but there were three prices from day 1. Then Lumines came and fucked everything up.


On the other hand, the PlayStation Store distinguishes itself by not having any truly horrible games either.

Q*Bert? Super Rub A Dub?

How can they forget Warhawk?

maybe because it craps on 360 regular games:)

Since I don't have a 360 or Wii, I can't really comment on their downloadable services, although I know that I'm very happy with the PSN store. Sure I suppose it would be nice to have more games, but on the other hand I've only scratched the surface of many of the games I've downloaded. But this article seems a little odd. Claiming that Sony are sitting awkwardly in the middle by releasing on Thursdays makes little sense. I get why Friday would be a good day to release, but what's so great about Wednesday? It's the sort of bizarre and unsubstantiated claim that I'd normally associate with Fox News.

And to say that this article was written before Wipeout was released is no excuse. This is an article that was posted on a website, not in a magazine. You should have been asked to update it before it was posted. What's the point of a comparison that's out of date when it's published? Wipeout even made the banner pic for this story on the homepage. And for £12 you're getting a game that others would have unashamedly released on blu-ray for three or four times that. To my mind, given that this article is about the current state of downloadable console gaming, this must be one of the most important releases so far on any console.

Hello, sorry, there was a paragraph missing from the Variety section. We did it to encourage you to use your imagination.

I'm the only person who thought Lostwinds (the supposed killer app for Wiiware) was boooooooooooooooooring? Sure it looked good for a downloaded Wii game, but the supposedly inspired game mechanic of using wind to move around isn't really a million miles from bits of Okami, and that did it much better. Plus it was extremely short and I felt ripped off even though technically I didn't pay anything for it (exchanged all the Star points I'd been hoarding for years for Wii points).

I've downloaded Mario RPG as well but can't really get into it. Really regretting not downloading Super Metroid and Mario 64 instead.

But on the other hand I find XBLA to be pure quality. Rez HD, Geometry Wars 2, Braid and Castle Crashers have all been brilliant and I really don't have any issue with the stores interface in its present form because I know what I'm after when I go on there, but the new update can only make it smoother.

I've no personal experience of PSN but my old housemate didn't take too kindly to the fact that they charged him for Super Stardust and it didn't download properly. He can't even retry because the store tells him he already has it.

Vic and Farticus sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G ;) Seriously though, it's nice to see people resolving conflicts nicely on here. It does seem to be a rather flammable website at times.

Anyway, screw everything else, Linger In Shadows on PSN has really piqued my interest and is coming out this week. Interactive artwork downloadable to my living room TV? Sounds good to me!

As for the article, yep, it very nicely proves its own point from the start where Dan said 'this article won't be able to cover everything' (paraphrasing). Personally I think that PSN edges it, but that's just because I enjoy artsy stuff, many other people will prefer the more gamey focus of XBLA and that's fine by me. There's something for everyone.

Cheers, Bertie. Thought there was something amiss! :)

Erm how is Bionic Commando Reamed which can be bough on PC and PSN supposed to be X-box advantage ?
And why is there no mention of Wipeout as ultimate PSN game ? Becouse that's exactly what article writer was looking for - real killer app that every console owner need to play.

Good article though.

I only care which console has WipEout HD. Best downloadable game ever. :)

@mem

Have you a source for this excellent news about those PS1 games being released?

"I only care which console has WipEout HD. Best downloadable game ever. :) "

I can't wait to try WipEout HD (and Burnout P)

/ looks at calender and rubs his hands eagerly for pay day - got a lot to buy off PSN and Live next week!

Thanks for that Doctor_what :)

OMGZ! Dis websitez iz propa cack innit blud! Dat geeza didn't evan menchon liek teh wypout HDz innit. LULZ!

I'm not going to review the comments, I already know its full of whining SDF screaming at how bias EG is without ever having played with XBLA

Why would you pay £24.99 to download Burnout Paradise when you can buy the disc version for £19.99 (new) in Gamestation?

@spookyzombie

Because most of the SDF in here are pretty much like Chad Warden and aren't that smart.

I'd suggest that games like Burnout and Warhawk are rather moot points, given that they are disc releases but online. Surely it'd be better to simply state games that are online ONLY on that particular console.

Um, i own all three consoles and it's a bit obvious that the PSN is the best.

XBLA = A handful of full Xbox games (good) and a bunch of what amount to fancy looking Flash games and retro stuff (meh) and a great selection of up to date demos (good)

PSN = Quite a few full PS1 and PSP games (good), fancy looking flash games and retro stuff again (meh), a reasonable selection of demos (good) and a number of high quality full PS3 games (fantastic)

Wii = Retro stuff (a mix of meh and alright) and Wiiware (not so great)

@Dan

Shadow of the Beast 1 & 2 were near impossible. Puzzles that require ESP, instadeath situations or situations that break the game so you have to restart. I used to use the infinite life code on #2. I've seen someone go through it on longplay though, dedication!

Shadow Of The Beast 3 was amazing though. Good puzzles, not ridiculously difficult.