Playstation 3 makes the best entertainment center
By Triston McIntyre
Let it not be said that I am a PS3 fanboy; in fact, I’m enjoying a passionate love affair with my Xbox 360 on a daily basis. However, one cannot ignore the plethora of features the PS3 holds as an entertainment center.
The key to appreciating the Playstation 3 is to not view it just as a gaming console. Granted, it is an amazing gaming machine, but to truly grasp the depth of the machine, it needs to be viewed as an entertainment center. With this in mind, I urge you to read on.
The number one argument anyone has with the PS3 is the price, right? Anyone that views the rather hefty $600 US price tag usually needs to sit down and take a deep breath before even considering the purchase (Playstation fanboys excluded).
What goes into that price tag?
Everyone knows the ace of spades in the PS3 is the Blu-ray player. If you must have the latest and greatest in high definition technology, I must admit that Blu-ray is the current chart-topper. Blu-ray can display 1080p (true highest HD) content and can store more information to a disc than its competitor, HD-DVD.
That being said, purchasing a stand-alone Blu-ray player right now costs $600 dollars US. Anyone seeing what I’m seeing? The price tag of the Playstation is the same as buying JUST a Blu-ray drive. Why would you do that when the Playstation has so many more features? Do read on.
Another beautiful feature of the Playstation is that it comes standard with a built-in WiFi controller. That’s right, your Blu-ray player also loves networking when you get it in a PS3. To get WiFi for the Xbox 360, you have to buy the controller for $100 US.
Considering how vital WiFi is to home internet gaming, I dare say built in WiFi should also be considered a necessary standard, and only the Playstation holds that bragging right.
A modern entertainment center includes some form of hard drive storage for loading and viewing content both in games and for other media uses. The Playstation now comes almost exclusively with a 60 gigabyte hard drive, which is ample space for game saves, as well as music and demo storage. Something else worth noting is that the Xbox 360 only comes with a 20 gigabyte hard drive, and that’s on a system that costs $400 US. That’s 3 times the storage capacity on the Playstation’s competitor.
Another neglected feature of the Playstation is the integration of Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The Playstation controllers connect wirelessly to the PS3, and can charge via a USB cable directly; the Xbox 360 wireless controllers cost over $50 US, and unless you plan on buying new batteries ever 20 or so hours, a rechargeable battery pack and charging cable costs $20 US. That means what comes standard on every Playstation 3 controller costs $70 for Xbox.
No bueno.
As a side note, I was visiting a friend the other day who owned a Playstation, and my Motorola RAZR was low on battery. He surprised me by plugging it directly into the Playstation via USB, and within a couple hours, my phone was charged and ready to go. Tell me that isn’t kinda cool.
A huge advantage Playstation holds over Xbox is that online gaming is free. That’s right, what costs $50 dollars annually for Xbox is completely free for Playstation.
So to sum up, you’re Playstation isn’t really a gaming console. It is an entertainment center with a DVD player, Blu-Ray player, wireless internet connectivity, music player, USB power hub, and oh yeah..it runs some pretty amazing games.
Keeping all that in mind, can you really complain about what you get for $600 dollars? If you were to equip the Xbox 360 with a similar (but still inferior) set of specifications, you would arrange at these prices:
1. Console with wireless controller and 20 GB hard drive = $400 US
2. Rechargeable battery pack for 1 controller = $20 US
3. WiFi controller = $100 US
4. Xbox Live account = $50 US
5. HD-DVD drive add-on = $200 US
That brings you to a grand total of $770 US, and you’re still not accounting for 2 more 20 GB hard drives to equal the Playstation’s 60 gigabytes.
If you’re still convinced that the Playstation is way overpriced, perhaps you aren’t interested in anything but gaming. However, if you are looking for the pinnacle of entertainment technology today, the Playstation 3 is the most bang for your buck anywhere.
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March 22nd, 2007
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March 22nd, 2007
I am glad to see someone finally stating the facts about how the price is not that bad considering all your getting in the PS3.
March 22nd, 2007
Yeah, I’ve been saying this for a while in forums but people still see the 360 and PS3 as being identical and always just say. “Its so expensive”. Yes it is relatively expensive but you get so much in one machine that they really can’t be compared. I have a 360 and a PS3 and I never got this worked up when I got my 360. Wow 1 day to go, hopefully amazon will be shipping today. Yay
March 22nd, 2007
I’m glad MS hasn’t paid everyone off to be ignorant to the facts. You would think that some of the other websites would have had articles like this as well but they are soo biased it’s ridiculous.
March 22nd, 2007
I understand everything you said; it all makes sense. But the problem that Sony is dealing with is the lack of demand for an entertainment center. iTV anyone? Nintendo has proven that people want something to play games.
“If you’re still convinced that the Playstation is way overpriced, perhaps you aren’t interested in anything but gaming.”
You made your point well, but I’d be willing to bet that the people who “arent interested in anything but gaming” make up 99% of potential PS3/360 buyers.
March 22nd, 2007
[…] The key to appreciating the Playstation 3 (PS3) is to not view it as just as a gaming console. Granted, it is an amazing gaming machine, but to truly grasp … See all stories on this topic TECH.BLORGE.com - Sydney,Australia […]
March 24th, 2007
1 huge poroblem have you played sony’s live service it sucks big time to xbox live they have alot of catching up 2 do before they get anywhere near the quality of xbox live
April 6th, 2007
xbox live ???lol…you ever play resistance online? 32player gm Zero lag, ish blowing up ever where. gow has lag problems
February 3rd, 2008
yeah resistance goes up to 40 people and I have never had any lag. I had some lag for motorstorm but I think they fixed that.
And if you want to upgrade your 360 hard drive, it costs about £60 ($100) for 20GB and £100 ($180) for 120GB. You could get 250GB for the PS3 for less than $180. I got 120GB for £40. Thats 6x the 360 for about £20 less or just £60 less if you get the 120GB 360 HDD.