Ars Technica review of PS3

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 11:25 am

finally, a fare review of the good and bad points of the PS3. looks like I'll be lining up to get one... next Christmas.

Linky

Post by **complacent** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:56 pm

i have a very high amount of respekt for the ars crew. they seem to cover everything with the right "nerd slant" that i can appreciate.

Post by **Sabre** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:21 pm

^^^ Agreed! Great review and I thought it was very fair. Here was a comment in their forums that sums up exactly how I feel:

Our local big box retailer had a PS3 with resistance and a 360 with gears set up across from each other on pioneer plasmas with surround sound. they both had the highest end cables available, and aside from the console, had identical setups. The crowds gathered; and while most people first went to the PS3, everyone eventually gathered to the 360 with gears demo. All the PS3s were sold out, but they were selling 360's like hot cakes!

My point is that Sony is re-entering a market, currently behind in the new generation. Sony hasn't been behind in home consoles for how long? Not to mention the fact that M$ is the one leading the next gen wars. I don't necessarily like M$ or $ony as a company, but if there is something that Microsoft does well, it is: developer support, and massive industry wide roll outs (take-overs). Sony has a lot of practice making good home theater products and have done a good job courting developers for the PS2, but what can they do if it costs twice as much to develop a game for their console then it does for the 360.

I desperately want the PS3 to do good this time round, if for nothing else, just for competition and a drive for future R/D... but I have grave concerns over the feasibility of that. M$ is willing and planning to lose billions over this venture, and Sony can't even afford to lose millions at this point having taken out a loan to launch the PS3.

I think this is a very solid review and I hope it is not indicative of another industry slipping completely into the grips of Microsoft. Most of the complaints in this review are all software based and should be able to be resolved with simple distributed updates. Will Sony be able to deploy these strategically and in a timely way? Will their first run at online go smoothly, or will the decades of development by Redmond due them in?

Remember... it's all about the games! Go Wii!

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Tue Nov 21, 2006 3:01 pm

the NY Times review had more to say about the (screwed up) Buddy List functions and the controllers (apparently you have to use the USB cable to marry the controller to the PS3; if you take the controller to a friend's house to play you have to marry it to that PS3 and repeat the process with your PS3 when you get back home)

all in all I'm pleased with the 360, looking forward to getting a Wii, and hopefully that Sony remains competitive in the future.