Blog Archive

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Playstation Reigns Supreme:

As of this month, the Playstation 3 has/will outsell the Xbox 360 in units sold to the world at large, even though it was introduced to the market a year after the Xbox 360.  This will finally confirm the fact that the PS3 was always the better machine.  The Xbox was terrible in every way.  You had to pay a subscription fee to have online play, whereas the PS3 supported online for free.  The Xbox would routinely break down for no reason whereas the PS3 kept on plugging.  The Xbox controllers were bulky and obnoxious, while the PS3 controllers were svelte and comfortable.  The Xbox had worse graphics than the PS3 from beginning to end.  The Xbox was still using worthless dvd's that could barely hold any information as their game disks, while the PS3 had a built in blu-ray disk player that could hold the entire game in one disk and play your blu-ray movies on the side.  If you were a big fan of shooters like Halo, it's reasonable to buy an Xbox.  Otherwise, the console had no redeeming value and PS3 simply blew it out of the water.

Now we're seeing a repeat of the cycle with the announcement of the Xbox 1.  The Xbox 1 is worse than the announced PS4 in all ways.  It still has a worse controller.  It has an absurd rule that it must be online at least once a day for a game to be playable.  (Too bad for anyone without wireless internet!)  It has all sorts of digital rights management issues, it still charges you for online support (which is now necessary for the system to even be played, so a necessary additional lifelong charge. . .?), and the specs are abysmal.  Out of the 8gb of RAM available to the Xbox 1, 3gb are devoted to the OS, and only 5 gb to playing games.  The RAM is the obsolete DDR3 to boot.  PS4 also has 8gb of RAM, but it's super cutting edge DDR5 RAM, and 7gb of it is devoted to actual gameplay.  Xbox 1 has 1.6 ghz CPU, PS4 has 2 ghz.  The PS4 utterly dominates Xbox as a game playing machine.  The difference in graphics is going to be monumental.  The PS4 has no stupid requirements about being online or subscription fees.  Whereas the Xbox 1 wants to bully the customer into submission, the PS4 actually acts as though it's your tool and exists to please you.

When we look at Nintendo's comical WiiU release, which has finally entered the HD age right when the PS4 is moving up to ultra-HD, we can dismiss it out of hand.  The WiiU is a console that would have been cutting edge a decade ago, but now is just a joke.

The PS3 isn't very far behind the Wii in total sales.  If the history of the PS2 is any guide, it will continue to sell for many years even after the PS4 comes out, especially in regions like Brazil and China.  It's probable that the PS3 will eventually be the #1 selling game console of this gaming generation.  The PS1 was the #1 of its generation.  The PS2 was the #1 of its generation, and the PS4 is the no-brainer winner of the coming generation.  I've never seen such a gap between Sony and its competition before.  Sony has a hard time winning the HD TV market or the smart phone market, but when it comes to games they just seem to instinctively know what is best at all times.  They have always delivered the finest product available for something like the last 20 years.

To top it off, all the best games are exclusively on the PS3 (or the PSP for that matter).  Since Japan quickly realized the Xbox was junk, Japanese didn't buy any.  As a result, Japanese companies didn't bother even releasing Japanese games to the Xbox.  Which means if you wanted any RPG or visual novel type game, only the PS3 would have it.  The PS3 got Tales of Vesperia Perfect Edition and Tales of Graces F.  The Xbox 360 got a Tales of Vesperia game with about half the content of the PS3 version, and the Wii got Tales of Graces with about half the content of Graces F.  Tales of Xillia is only for PS3.  Only PS3 owners got to actually play the Tales franchise this generation.  PS3 got Star Ocean: The Last Hope International version, with yet again more content and the option to hear the original Japanese voice acting, whereas Xbox 360 just got the crappy original version.  The FF X/X-2 HD remaster is only coming out for PS3, no Xbox 360 release in sight.  Ni no Kuni is only for PS3. 

How about Sony franchises?  Gran Turismo is only for Playstation.  God of War is only for Playstation.  Uncharted is only for Playstation.  So forth and so on.  Unless you want to shoot other people all day, you're better off owning a Playstation.

The Xbox 360 got a head start in the previous console wars, which made it look like it was actually competitive with PS3, even though it was outsold from the moment PS3 reached the market.  That trick won't work this time.  The PS4 is coming out whenever the Xbox 1 is coming out, head to head, and they're going to claim 90% of market share.  It's going to be a blowout, and good riddance.  Online or my game won't play?  In Soviet Russia, the Game Controls You!  Thanks Microsoft, now go burn in hell alongside Lenin and Stalin.

Plus, you note how simple the Playstation names are?  PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4.  They don't need gimmicks.  They just stand on their brand and their quality.  What the hell is the Xbox 360?  Where are the previous 359 versions?  And now the Xbox 1?  Huh?  It's the third Xbox, so why can't these people count?  What a stupid system.  It just screams Potemkin Village from start to finish.

P.S.:  PS4 costs $100 less than XboxOne, even though it's twice as powerful a machine.  Go figure.

No comments: