“PS3 is a waste of everyone’s time”, so says Gabe Newell (co-founder of Valve) in an interview for the Edge blog. He goes on to say “I don’t think they’re going to make money off their box. I don’t think it’s a good solution”. Which ties in nicely with an earlier article on here: Will Sony ever make the Playstation 4?
This is not the first time Gabe has taken his gloves off over the PS3. In January this year he told Game Informer: “The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels. I think it’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers wanted”. And here is this blog’s explanation as to what is going on.
The analysts say that PS3 will do well this generation, many in the industry don’t think so. And they are voting with their feet, switching development resources onto the 360 and even more on to the Wii. Commercial decisions made because the industry has to get the best commercial returns from it’s human assets. Capcom switching Monster Hunter from the PS3 to the Wii is just one example of what is going on.
It is looking more and more like PS3 is the GameCube (or even Dreamcast)Â all over again. I have used this graph before and it doesn’t look good:
So do you agree with Gabe or do you think the analysts are right and that the PS3 will win out?
Permalink
Well, I don’t think Sony misunderstood the desires of gamers. I mean, all you have to do to see where the dreams of video game fans were is to look at all the strange rumors that floated around about the Wii back when it still went by it’s Revolution code name. People thought it would be VR or have some strange haptic feedback… you know, sci fi stuff. Sony pulled out the stops to give a really top notch machine that, in my little opinion, is the only nearly next gen system out there. Unfortunately there is always the specter of cost effectiveness to watch out for and that’s where they had their train wreck. It’s too bad, though…Most of these “next gen” systems are a poor advancement at best to their medium. I can’t help but feel the major consol manufacturers should have waited at least another two years for the market to catch up to the tech so that we could have actually had a real improvement instead of an over priced gamecube with a remote control.
Permalink
I think sony will make a comeback. The only problem right now is the lack of games coming out for it but that soon (and already is) will change. I think the wii, while fun, will get old very fast, and once it runs out of steam it wont sell to well. I think the Xbox 360, although cheaper, will end up costing you much more over the years. when you bring it in for the 7th time it might get a little annoying…
In my opinion, PS3 has the biggest life span for a platform. sure, the Wii is well-made and nigh indestructible, but waving your arms around to play a game will get a little tiresome. I dont know about you but I play games to relax….
Permalink
On a personal note, I do hope that the PS3 would do a bit better than it is now.
Why? Because I’m scared of the Xbox 360, and not pleased with the Wii’s game library.
To this day, I haven’t bought a “current-generation” console because while there are already sales leaders, there is still no clear winner among the three.
My main beef with the Xbox 360 is its terrible cooling, which Microsoft fails to address until today. I’m not even sure if the Elite is doing any better (i.e. no cases of RRoD). And you know what? No amount of fantastic exclusives are going to change that.
After all, what good are these exclusives when you don’t have a working console to run them with?
Not even a three year warranty is good enough to entice. What happens when your warranty is over? Buy another 360? Correct me if I’m wrong, but two 360s (regardless of model) are more expensive than one PS3.
The Wii is another concern. The majority of games that come out for this system are aimed at kids. The nice, brutal action games are too far in between.
I have nothing against party games, mind you. You see, my preferences in game genres is the major reason why I don’t get a Wii.
I love Resident Evil 4 (even if I’ve tried all previous versions). I adore Metroid. I worship Zelda. Medal of Honor? Sure.
What else is there for me in the Wii?
I won’t get Resident Evil 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Gears of War, Devil May Cry 4, Bioshock, or any other action/adventure/shooter that’s too violent for kids. The violent types that I would probably like don’t come in hordes for the Wii.
So where does this leave me? The PS3. Yes, the damn thing costs a fortune, but it’s more stable than the 360. The multiplayer is free, the system has the types of games that I like, and the console’s failure rate is way smaller than the 360.
I’m giving it another year before I get a current-gen. If the 360 starts using those cooler 65nm chips, and the failure rate does indeed go down, then you know what I would purchase. If a year passes and the PS3 library grows while the 360 remains bricking, then I will be a PS3 owner.
I can’t really say the PS3 is a waste of everyone’s time. It’s actually the “least evil” among the three, at least according to my preferences.
Permalink
I think Gabe can be a little sensationalist with his comments. And his position in Valve makes gives him a bias about console gaming and a freedom from fear of censure from Sony. A “waste of everyone’s time”? Hardly.
But Sony certainly has put out a flawed machine–flawed in such a way that people are not buying into it like they are with the Wii, and even to a lesser extent the 360.
It’s interesting because the 360’s massive hardware failures would suggest that gamers would stay away, and yet I think their year jump on the market has helped them overcome these issues.
We’ll see how much the $399 PS3 helps Sony this Christmas, and then have a clearer landscape come January. Who knows, there may even be signs that the Wii’s popularity has hit its apex…I know mine is collecting a large amount of dust currently.
Permalink
@a714generation
You may attribute this jump in 360 sales partly to the fact that the average consumer does not take the time to read articles and reviews on the products they purchase.
In my informal visits to game sites, I observed that many of the readers/visitors don’t take the time to read hardware and/or software reviews, and they think that they can do better than the reviewers themselves.
When their 360 bricks, they start dissing Microsoft. Sure, the product may have inferior cooling, but if they took the time to read news and reviews, they might have postponed the purchase until a more stable system is released.
If more people took the time to inform themselves, mediocre products like (insert movie-to-game adaptation or console with high failure rates here) won’t be doing so well in the charts.
This $399 PS3 might help the console’s sales, but strangely, I’m still not pleased because of the lack of backward compatibility.
If I were to get a PS3, I would rather run after a 20 or 60GB model, which may prove to be more expensive, but considering that I’m selling my PS2 (to help finance the PS3/360 purchase), I will want backward compatibility.
Permalink
Thanks for your input gentlemen.
Doesn’t the 40Gb PS3, with stripped down capabilities, prove that Sony have their back against the wall and are having to sacrifice features to compete on price?
Permalink
Wow, I’m so glad I found this blog.
Sony’s problems with the PS3 not only comes from over developed hardware (in my opinion) but from that fact that a lot of people lost faith in them as a company. The fact that it’s trying to be more than a gaming machine hurts it too.
Most people I’m acquainted with and some forums/blogs I’ve read online still remember Sony’s rootkit problem and how well they handled that. They remember arrogant comments from Sony how people would have to work more to get this machine and other such nonsense. This certainly turned me off from the PS3 and I used to be a huge Sony fan.
Also, I think that Sony and Microsoft want some sort of all encompassing desktop box that plays movies, surfs the Internet, records TV shows and etc. I believe they see their respective consoles as a means to an end. The problem comes when people just want to play games and have to put up with all the other technology wrapped around their consoles.
Finally, Sony’s (and Microsoft’s?) consoles have the stigma of being for very hardcore gamers which, I think, turns a lot of casual gamers away from them.
Of course a lot of this is my own opinions and musings based on what I’ve observed so it may be useless. However, I think Sony through the baby out with the bathwater on the PS3.
Permalink
To the dude who mentioned getting tired arms while playing wii:
Have you not actually lived a normal human life? Do you not play baseball? Soccer? Go bowling?
When have we become so lazy that holding a quarter pound remote control became hard physical work?
Permalink
Looking back in retrospect Gabe’s a douche and the situation of the PS3 was/is quite good, even when this post was written things were looking up, and so far this year have been great(except in Japan). People were sensationalizing things to an absolutely ridiculous point, it was completely absurd. He(Gabe) also made himself and EA look stupid by releasing a completely ‘tarded version of The Orange Box. Hope some people are ready to open mouth and insert foot.