I do not want a Playstation 3. It cost WAY too much for a game console; it's got a built-in blu-ray player that I do not need nor want (and which is next to useless without an HDTV); and it has very few games out, or coming, that interest me. With all that said, though, I find that I do not want one a little less every now and then. In a year or two, it might actually appeal to me enough to warrant a purchase, providing the cost is low enough.
Now, I've heard a useful formula for deciding if a console is worth a purchase, and I'll try to apply that formula here and see if it works out. The formula is that you take the cost of the console, and compare it to the combined cost of all the must-have games on that console. If the cost of games is the same or more than the cost of the console, then the console is worth a purchase. The Wii for me is already well past that mark; at $250, I've already got Mario Galaxy ($50), Metroid Prime 3 ($50), Zelda ($50), Zack & Wiki ($50), and Resident Evil 4 ($50) to add up to $250 total. I'm leaving out lots of amazing games, and not counting some excellent Virtual Console games like Sin & Punishment, too.
So, let's apply this to the PS3. Right now, it cost about $400. How many games are on it that I would like to play? Virtua Fighter 5 ($30); Assassin's Creed ($50) (although I can get that for the PC, it will be guaranteed to be a poor port with poor optimization); Warhawk ($50); maybe Uncharted ($60). Ok, that's $190. I'll go as far as to factor in future games that I will want to play. The Force Unleashed ($60) (there's also a wii version, but it seems like it just won't be the same game, and being the Star Wars geek I am I just need to play every major Star Wars game eventually); Ico 3 ($60) (I've fallen in love with Shadow of the Colossus and I've already ordered Ico; I can't get enough of this development team. If Ico 3 turns out to be nearly as good as Colossus is, it alone is a huge incentive to get a PS3). Ok, that brings the total up to $310. Still not enough, and I just can't think of any more games that I'd really like to play.
Here's a few other factors that I like about the PS3, though: wireless, rechargable controllers; this is something I wish the Wii remote had, the ability to plug in the controller and let it charge, or just play it plugged in. Very smart idea. Next, free online service. As a PC gamer, I just can't believe that Microsoft charges for an online service that is no better than Steam on the PC (and in many ways worse), and yet they have the audacity to charge money for it. You aren't paying them for much more than content hosting for XBL Marketplace, and again Steam does the same thing for free with their hosting. Microsoft does NOT need nor deserve the money, and the idiots that actually pay for the service aren't helping much. I hear that the PS Network is pretty good, with some good games on their online store, and it's free, like an online gaming service ought to be. Score a point for Sony right there. Next point: as a PC gamer, I can't do FPSes without my precious mouse aim and keyboard shortcuts. Well, the PS3 is pretty much the ONLY console to offer mouse and keyboard support for FPSes, the only one so far being Call of Duty 4 (as far as I know). If this becomes standard for all their games, I could definitely see myself buying some FPSes on there instead of my PC, since my PC only has so much hard drive space. Most modern FPSes are going cross-platform with PC, 360, and PS3, and if I can still play them with a keyboard and mouse, I'd probably prefer the PS3 to my PC, since they would look better, I would conserve hard drive space, and it's one step closer to losing my dependence on windows and switching entirely to Linux.
So, that's a LOT of points against the PS3. Enough that I do not want one right now. However, I'm seeing more and more points FOR it, and fewer points against it, all the time. In another two years, maybe, I could see myself buying one. To satisfy my equation, the price would need to drop to around $300 (and there are rumors of exactly that already), and/or I would need to find about $90 worth of amazing games that really make me want one. Let's see what happens.
As a side note, I would never buy a 360 in a billion years. Mostly because I hate Microsoft, but also because (a) FPSes with dual-analog controls suck (see my earlier blog post on the subject), (b) don't expect me to pay you money just so I can play my games online, and (c) the darn things break every two weeks.
Update: Instead of lowering the price of the PS3, Sony is continuing to be incredibly stupid by keeping the price the same, but increasing the hard drive space. Gamers like myself are NOT saying "I'm ok with paying $400 for a game console, but I just wish it had more hard drive space." We're saying "I'm not going to pay $400 for a game console, no matter what it comes with!." I'd be more willing to buy a $250 20 gigabyte PS3 than a $400 100 gigabyte PS3. Honestly, what do you need all that space for? It's not a PC. The Wii has 512 megabytes of space and while it's probably too little, it's also not bad at all as long as you don't download a hundred N64 games. Sony, you're stupid.
No comments:
Post a Comment