Sony: Blu-ray will be decisive factor in beating Xbox 360 and Wii
This generation console war is still finely in the balance. Sure, the Wii is way out in front, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 trade positions on a monthly basis, but with a long way to go, I still feel it’s anyone’s market. So what will swing it for one of the consoles? What will make the all-important mainstream consumer choose one over the other and take it on to victory?
While some of us have owned and played a next generation console for two to three years, we are the early adopters, the hardcore gamers (except for Wii owners) who want the latest and greatest system to experience our hobby on. And generally, although price may be a slight concern, we’re willing to pay through the nose for that cutting-edge experience.
But with prices dropping and this generation of consoles moving in to the second phase, the general populous are entering the fray and choosing their games system to replace the last-gen console they have been happy with for the past few years. The question remains: what will influence their buying decisions?
I feel this generation has given consumers a real choice that no other generation has quite managed:-
The PS3 is a powerful games console that Sony has also tried to develop in to something more: a multimedia living room hub offering the Internet and Blu-ray as well as games.
The Xbox 360 is also a powerful games console, but doesn’t have quite such big ambitions in becoming an all-encompassing entertainment behemoth. But it does arguably offer more to core gamers than any other console, and its online capabilities are awesome.
Then there’s the Wii, which offers cruddy last-gen graphics but a control system that appeals to all and which appeals to people of all ages. And at a very low price.
Sony, by way of an interview Sony Marketing and Public Relations Manager Mark Levitan has given to Here NB, is still pushing the multimedia functions, with Blu-ray being declared as likely to be a decisive factor in helping people choose their next-gen games console.
Levitan said:
Functionality is kind of hand in hand with price – you have to say to yourself, if you’ve bought an HDTV, 1080p resolution is important to you so maybe you want a Blu-ray player. If that’s something you’re considering, then obviously you’re going to pick a PS3. You can go to any chain store and pick up a Blu-ray player but for an extra 100 bucks, you can get a PS3. You get something that not only plays the best games but you can surf the Internet with it, download all your pictures to it, or listen to music. I think that functionality will separate us from our competition.
The man does have a point but he’s assuming that most people will actually want a Blu-ray player, which is hardly a known fact at this moment in time. And if Sony stakes everything on Blu-ray, and ignores the benefits of cutting the price of the console instead, I fear the console will find itself remaining in third place for the rest of time.
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26 Responses to “Sony: Blu-ray will be decisive factor in beating Xbox 360 and Wii”
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October 23rd, 2008
Function < price
A person that wants a bluray player will not pay $100 to play games. They want bluray.
A person that wants games isn’t going to pay an extra $100 for a bluray player. They want games.
Functions you don’t want, for only $100 more, will not sell consoles.
Had Sony gone with DVD or, dare I say, even HDDVD, they would likely be in first, or, at least a solid second. BR made the price too high for the normal person.
Even the Wii or 360 hover around the point of a purchase you’d want to tell the wife about before you get it…or risk a thrashing. The PS3 is certainly at that point, and above the point most people will want to get it.
That being said, Sony seems to want to wait out the people and make as much money back on hardware as they can, even if it means not selling as much.
The PS3 is the next GC, expensive and without exclusives. The Wii is the next PS2, underpowered and full of casual and hardcore games.
October 23rd, 2008
haha…oh mercy.
October 23rd, 2008
I love Blu-ray and no matter what haters think Blu-ray is gonna help Sony a lot especially gamers and developers. The Wii is a timed gimmick a crappy toy full of mini useless games. Xbox 360 has no Blu-ray support and basically no more games left. Also Sony is catching up the the Xbox 360 sales at a amazing speed. If you want real next gen games that has the most kick ass must have exclusives you need a to buy yourself a PLAYSTATION 3. Plus the Xbox 360 is hacked so developers always fear losing money.
October 24th, 2008
Yes Ivan, keep telling yourself that…..
October 24th, 2008
Speaking of hacking, i was playing the PS3 version of COD4 the other day and i could swear someone hacked it. The game ended prematurely (host ended it) and in the bottom left corner, instead of saying Anihal8r has left the game” It spammed with hundreds of lines of something along the lines of “Unknown command entered” but it repeated it over and over. Anyone ever had that?
October 24th, 2008
When I bought my HD player
(a dual format machine so I don’t have top play stupid format games or miss out on the amazing HD DVD bargains)
I wanted a proper standalone player, multi-region (both for regular DVD & Blu-ray, HD DVD already is region-free), capable of the full profile 2.0 spec (including bitstreaming all HD audio).
After this Feb & June’s firmware updates, the LG 200 is the only player that meets the bill.
I also would not buy one that was a relatively juice-hungry waster.
The LG consumes only 25w max.
I also did not want an ugly over-sized game console.
So, score one to LG & no sale on that PS3.
October 24th, 2008
I’m getting a PS3 after a price drop or two. And only then.
BR is a bonus but no bearing on my decision to buy a PS3.
360 is just to unstable.
October 24th, 2008
Next price drop for PS3 is going to be next year for sure. That’s when MS is going to have loads of trouble. Tons of people are waiting for that price drop. And for the matter of fact, Dave … SCEA stated about a week ago that they are focusing majorly on games for the PS3. So that should countery our arguement in your last paragraph.
October 24th, 2008
Happyhockum – any more details on the LG BH-200? Multi-region capability and profile 2.0 is the main thing I have been waiting for before I go blu, and this sounds likethe perfect machine, particularly as an addition to my Toshiba E35.
October 24th, 2008
Lets not forget that the 360 upconverts DVD’s to near bluray quality. DVD’s are also cheaper.
October 24th, 2008
I think Blu-Ray will pay off for Sony in the long run. I have been really impressed with the quality of graphics from DVD-9. I really didn’t think DVD-9 would have been able to compete, but it ended up doing well. The issue of space is what will end up keeping DVD-9 back. As games grow larger and more complex and as a result they need more space – the Blu-Ray has the advantage. This issue is already on the horizon with FF XIII and Rage.
October 24th, 2008
Rimmer –
I got mine from a stockist in the USA
(it was also sold in Europe, with Euro power supply, in Belgium & Switzerland and in Australia that I know of for sure, sadly they dropped HD DVD just before it got supplied to the UK).
You need the Feb or June firmware update to get access to the regional coding (and it is safe for life, it’s not really a hack or a crack, it’s an easy remote code & was the way LG used to make the players Blu-ray region coded from the factory).
You can also make the player PAL compliant (obviously US models) and there is a one-time software for multi-region on regular DVD.
It’s one of those things that sounds much more complicated than it is.
The player updates firmwares via USB or net connection.
I bought mine a few months back and have nothing but praise for it.
Best of both HD worlds, cash in on the HD DVD bargains & it has all the hardware necessary for profile 2.0 (we’re just waiting on a firmware to turn the feature fully on now).
I paid $330. Bargain.
The only thing it lacks to be the complete article is Divx playback……but that’s no problem I’ve already got a high quality standalone DVD player with Divx.
.mkv support would be outstanding too but I don’t see anyone supporting that one for an age yet, but that’s ok, I have a fully high def capable little sleek black HTPC for all that.
Hope this help you out, let me know if you need any more details & I’ll be happy to oblige.
October 24th, 2008
DVD’s were expensive when they first came out as well.
Saying up scaling looks near to blu ray quality is like saying 720 looks near to 1080p. You can tell the difference, and if you can’t…its time for glasses.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=1972
October 24th, 2008
DVD can upscale to 1080i right? …. UPSCALE <– Not a real 1080i movie. I hope you do understand what UPSCALE is. 720p and 1080p are NOT the same as well. There is a major difference in both.
October 24th, 2008
Actually scrub rthat about the BH200 being on sale in Aus, just like in the UK the plans got messed up by HD DVD being dropped.
I’d also add it’s silent when working
(but makes those very cool ‘pings’ – just like on their ads – when you push the buttons on the unit)
October 24th, 2008
As much as i hate saying bad things about Xbox 360 the true has to be said. Which is when people want HD they want the real thing and Blu-ray gives them that. I know many Xbox 360 want Blu-ray but since they can’t have it they say it sucks. Microsoft should had added HD-DVD at least for games then us PS3 owners can’t talk about Xbox 360 needed storage. The PLAYSTATION 3 at $399.99 with the ability to play Games, Blu-ray Disc, Internet Browsing, Linux, Free Online Service, Music, Photos, PS1, PS2, Remote Play and all DVDs also the best Xross Media Bar aka PS3 Home menu plus every controller is wireless and has a free USB to charge it. I think most people that complain about PS3 price can’t afford anything they are totally broke desiring anything to play bums. The only Xbox 360 support here for Xbox 360 has always been just 2 people harry sachz and CAD the rest is all PS3 including the journalist.
October 24th, 2008
Cheers Happyhockum! Will look into getting one through a friend of mine in the States. Maybe something for him to look out for on black friday!! Circuit City have it for $380 which isn’t bad! I’ve been reading up about the player online and it seems most people rave about it, but one thing I couldn’t figure out is if it supports TrueHD via bitstream HDMI. Shame it can’t do RCE dvd’s without setting it to region 1. Bit of a pain. How warm does the player get during regular use? Just wondering about where in my entertainment rack I can stick it.
October 24th, 2008
Blu-Ray will end up paying off for Sony in the long run. At the moment, Blu-Ray is the main reason why the PS3 is unable to cut its price. Once the PS3 gets farther along in its life cycle, they will cut the price and units will fly off of the shelf.
While DVD-9 looks pretty good, it does not have anywhere as near as much space as Blu-Ray offers. This hasn’t been a major issue just yet, but it will start coming up more very soon with FF XIII and Rage. As games get more complex and larger, they need more space and Blu-Ray offers plenty of it.
October 24th, 2008
Rimmer –
It’s worth bearing in mind that the code change for an RCE DVD isn’t always necessary, but when it is it’s so easy you’ll be wondering why anyone ever thought it a chore.
Seriously, like the Blu-ray region change it’s a about 6 button presses on the remote.
So easy. Takes about 10 – 15 secs.
Full 7.1 channel bitstreaming of all the HD audio came with the Feb & June firmwares (they are almost identical).
Dolby True HD is supported and so is DTS-HD MA (I’ve seen this confirmed by the display on my HD receiver).
Heat simply isn’t an issue (and I know all about heat with an Onkyo 875 HD receiver!).
That’s the beauty of the 25w juice consumption.
You might do very well on that price now too, they have just launched the LG BD300 (such a shame it was changed from the BH dual player it was originally supposed to be, it looks like a very impressive machine).
I’ve heard that Asia is a great place to buy if you have contacts that go there, I’ve heard of stocks going cheap.
An Asian one would also handy if you are in Europe, the power supply is the same.
But otherwise, if you are in Europe getting a US one then get a 100w or larger step-down converter & pick up that US bargain; they’re not expensive & the larger the step-down transformer the more reliable it will be due to less heat and stress from it & on it.
Good luck.
October 24th, 2008
Oh and one last thing, the LG has the QDEO upscaling chipset for DVD.
This chipset, like the Reon (which is the type in my Onkyo) is widely acknowledged as currently being about as good as upscaling gets for regular DVD.
October 24th, 2008
Pranctoast
I have a HD DVD Player and Bluray and HDDVD was the same quality, picture wise, so yes I can tell you that DVD upconverted on a 360 to 1080P is very close to bluray and that bluray does not offer anything different from DVD in terms of content.
October 24th, 2008
The truth is that some HD material is very unimpressive
(that’s a part of this that some prefer not to make known).
It’s just a fact that some upscaled DVD can look very close to & almost as good as genuine HD.
As well as the quality of the source and the transfer things like the size of display used and the viewing dustance are a very major factor too.
Unless you sit really close, about 5 feet or less from your HD TV or less, you have to have 50″ or more to really benefit from so-called ‘full HD’ 1080p.
The fanboys hate to admit it but the BS has to stop when you run into the limits of your own biology & the laws of physics.
http://www.carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/
October 25th, 2008
Ivan,
As per usual, your posts are all over the place, and they’re littered with a butchery of the English language. Seriously, were you dropped on your head as a kid?
I have an upscaling DVD player and I am hard pressed to see a difference between that and the HD programming on free to air television (they are broadcast in 1080i).
I used to think that I needed a blu-ray player to get the most out of my 46″ LCD, but I have changed my mind about that.
October 25th, 2008
“Lets not forget that the 360 upconverts DVD’s to near bluray quality. DVD’s are also cheaper.”
CAD you are fooling yourself. For a guy that can tell the miniscule difference between the graphics of the PS3 and 360, you sure seem to have trouble seeing the vast difference between BD and upscaled DVD.
Tailoring arguements to suit your point of view ??
October 26th, 2008
A bigger storage is necessary, as games are no longer meant for SD anymore. The same PS2 game made into a 720p PS3 game, it’ll require much more storage. Theres this cutoff point where DVD no longer is enough. When developers take one step into bigger storage capacity games, they will abandon xbox’s DVD and take the PS3’s blu-ray.
It was an ingenius idea to include Blu-ray in PS3, the gaming console is failing, BUT Sony win by winning the HD format war. They are forcing the consumers that are brand loyal to all pick up blu-ray. In the end when blu-ray becomes more common, the PS3 will be the winner. But not for another year.
October 28th, 2008
@CAD,
You’re lying to yourself if you think an upscaled picture is anywhere close to true HD. There’s not really any difference between true 720p and 1080p but when it comes to upscaling, a true 720p source is vastly superior to a 1080p upscale. And as the digital transition continues more & more people will have HDTV’s and will want that true HD experience. I thought upscaled DVD’s would look good on my 52″ HDTV and they did. Once I saw a blu ray movie I realized I was an ass and upscaling sucks big time by comparison.