Sony upbeat about PS3 in 2009 – Games and Home are winners
The PS3 has had a mixed year. But at the end of 2008, the Sony console is still in a definite third place, being trounced by the Nintendo Wii and also roundly beaten by its direct competitor, the Microsoft Xbox 360. It’s a good job then that Sony is retaining that ever-present optimism heading into 2009.
2008: Sony still loses money on every console sold, and still can’t afford to cut the price, even though the Xbox 360 has hit the mainstream sweet price spot. Home has been delayed and still isn’t with us. And LittleBigPlanet failed to light up the charts in the way it was predicted to. But Metal Gear Solid 4 was released and tops most people’s Best Games of 2008 lists.
2009: ???
GamePro recently spoke to John Kohler about the year the Playstation 3 has had, and what the next year could bring. He seems overly optimistic given the current state of the market but then again he is a senior marketing manager for Sony Computer Entertainment America so it’s to be expected.
On Games:
We’re in such a good position from a gaming perspective. More great games are coming to the PS3, and are leveraging the Blu-ray advantage that the PS3 has over the Xbox 360. Blu-ray differentiates us from competitive consoles.
Blu-ray is starting to become an issue, with Star Ocean: The Last Hope on the Xbox needing three DVDs to hold the game. And there’s no question about it, the PS3 is looking strong in the games department for 2009, certainly much stronger than the Xbox 360.
On LittleBigPlanet:
LittleBigPlanet will be an “evergreen” game for the PS3, so to speak. It’s also the start of a nice franchise, and maybe down the line we’ll look at new iterations. LittleBigPlanet also opens up the PS3 to other portions of the demographic – not just twenty-something males, but younger gamers, females, and maybe even some older gamers.
Early sales were disappointing to say the least. But even from speaking to my small group of friends (I do have one or two), LittleBigPlanet is one game that everyone wants to at least have a go at. Whether that wish is enough to prompt them to buy a PS3 isn’t clear but it certainly can’t do any harm.
On Home:
The launch of Home is fairly imminent, and we expect big things for it. It starts to place the PS3 in a social community [context]. Free online gaming, easily finding other players, Trophies… all those things come together to make Home special. It’s going to happen very, very soon. It’s “imminent.”
Home was promised for October, but that came and went. It’s now been promised for release by the end of the year, just three weeks away, and I’m not entirely convinced it’ll make it into the sweaty palms of the great unwashed by then. There’s also a feeling of there not actually being much to do. And Home isn’t going to sell consoles either, however good it is.
On PS2 Games On PS3:
This is something that we’re absolutely interested in. There are a lot of people who would be interested in playing the strongest PS2 games on their PS3. Nothing’s imminent on that, but it’s something we are interested in as well.
This would be a good move, with the best PS2 games being made available for download at a reasonable price. I can’t see it happening for a good while though, purely because Sony seems to drag its heels over every new development these days.
On PS3’s Future:
We’re looking to the PS3 continuing its momentum. We would place Sony’s first-party developers up against any other team — our worldwide studios group is as large as Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s internal studios combined. Some of the games we’re seeing for 2009 are absolutely fantastic, and they will set the PS3 that much further apart.
Games are clearly going to be key in 2009, at least as far as Sony’s marketing efforts are concerned. However, I think the year needs to start with a substantial price cut in order for the games to actually have a big enough audience to sell to. 2009 could be Playstation 3’s year, but then wasn’t 2008 also touted as the same?
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December 9th, 2008
Keep Dreaming sony
December 9th, 2008
Bluray has no advantage to DVD. It obviously does not make a game look better. It takes forever to download and because of that it sometimes requires “Mandatory” Installs which is more time then it takes to get up and change a disk. Why having 3 DVD’s is an issue is beyond me but I guess PS3 Boyz need something to talk about. With the 360’s “Optional” download to the HDD some many never have to worry but at least 360 owners have a choice. I also bet it’s quicker to download 3 DVD’s to the HDD quicker then it will take 1 Bluray to install to the HDD. I’m basing this on the ones I have already installed which took about 1 Min.
December 9th, 2008
Shoulda put that in the DVD post CAD
Its always funny reading statements from company pr people… Its the same crap over and over and over, not that its not what I expect, you have to be upbeat about your product no matter what. Even when your winning its the same old spiel (see IGN’s nintendo question feature).
As for ps2 emulation, give us a fucking software solution, surely the ps3 can emulate ps2 hardware, one of my old PoS PC’s can run them ffs.
December 9th, 2008
@CAD. you don’t have even the minor idea of what are you talking about right? Blu-ray isn’t to make things look better…
Blu-ray is a media storage with a space of 25GB and it looks better because it can store video with higher bit-rate than DVD without any compression.
-Then how MS managed to make HD games on DVD you ask?
Because that’s not a normal DVD, that’s why is called DVD9. Is more like a double layer DVD that can store 9GB of data but compressed because then you couldn’t even fit any game in there.
-Why several DVD’s are bad?
1. Because that means more money the devs need to spend for the additional DVD and less for the development of it. 2. What would happen if you if you loose one disc or scratch it? you couldn’t play the game anymore. 3. How a game like GTA would work in multiple DVD? Or Oblivion? They both were on a single DVD because they were creating the game with these specs in mind but if they wanted to make a bigger game, with more high res textures, cut-scenes, dialogue?
You would need to be changing discs back and forth every time you want to go to an specific place that is not in the disc you’re using.
-But the loadings and mandatory installs!?
Those exist because devs don’t know how to work with the PS3 because then how Devs like Naughty Dog have created games that only store like 100MB in the HDD and the games doesn’t has a single loading screen in the entire game? I mean, Uncharted is like one of the most beautiful games ever! just look. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ycdkDJH2Vdk/SQY5eqxWfXI/AAAAAAAAAso/eNL7HYHF8z0/s1600-h/Uncharted5.jpg
BTW that’s not bullshot like most GeoW screens, if you see the pic was taken with a freaking camera from off-screen…
Did you know that Killzone 2 is not going to have installs and that game looks insanely beautiful?
That’s why PS3 still has fans, because most of them know how to think and know what are they buying.
with a 2009 line-up that includes: GranTurismo 5, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2, White Knight Chronicles, Killzone 2, inFamous, QUANTUM THEORY, FFXIII versus
Look at that man! What games are you anticipating for the X360? Halo war? Halo milking? Halo 4? Halo spin-off? GeoW3?
I think the only one in the world of dreams is you @CAD, and your dream is about total denial.
Don’t forget that with the PS3 the online is free, you can watch HD blu-ray movies, download movies from the PS store, it has integrated Wi-fi, optical output, 1080p res, 7.1 uncompress sound support, browser, bluetooth, can connect up to 7 controllers, no double AA batteries needed, stream movies, photos and music from your comp, every console comes with HDD and you can change it with any Sata (not proprietary), games aren’t region locked, Home, awesome 2009 line-up, reliable…
I think with this you can’t argue anymore. =D
December 9th, 2008
^^ A whole lengthy rant just for CAD? Wowwee.
Mr Parrack can we have your PSN yet?
December 9th, 2008
This is just getting to be in very very bad taste.
I suppose Sony announcing 16,000 redundancies shows how well everything is going for them, eh?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/sony-to-cut-16000-jobs-and-shut-production-sites-1059469.html
Sony are in real trouble right now – and the economic outlook for the next year (and possibly the next 2 or 3 years) is extremely grim.
Here’s a thought to cheer you: during the last major global economic slump the stock dived in 1929.
The worst of the disaster that followed hit in 1932/33.
We’ve a few years of this horror ride to go yet.
December 9th, 2008
WWII:
You seem to lack a pretty basic knowledge about this subject.
If I may here are some answers to your queries –
Dual layer DVD9’s are perfectly normal DVD discs, except that they are dual layer.
They’re easily bought in the open marketplace and they’ve been around since 1999, almost 10yrs.
Splitting code up onto several discs is unlikely to have anything do with the developers beyond putting convenient breaks in the code to enable it to be spread over multiple discs.
It’s requires a little thought but it’s not exactly an enormously demanding task – or an expensive one.
All discs use compression (do you have any diea how enormously compressed a movie is on Blu-ray compared to the ‘raw’ uncompressed data?).
The only big deal here is the efficiency of the compression codec, the quality of the compression tools used and the skills of the encoder.
You also seem to have completely lost the plot when it comes to costs.
DVDs, single and dual layer, are (in mass-produced runs) mere fractions of a penny.
Blu-ray discs (due to a more expensive production process, a much smaller production base and more expensive processes – like the special anti-scratch costing that had to be developed for them because the data layer is so close to the top edge of the disc) are far more expensive.
The dual layer Blu-ray disc is more expensive again as the wastage rates rise when you add layers.
DVD discs if scratched can be gently polished back to proper use (i have done this myself on the 1 occasion a scratch made 1 DVD game of mine unusable).
It’s hardly an issue.
Multiple DVD games are a perfectly normal part of PC gaming.
You load the game and the multiple discs to your PC and then only have to insert one to play the game which streams off of your hard drive.
You might have heard that XBoxes have quietened down a hell of a lot now that the most recent dash-board update allowed games to be saved to the hard-drive.
It really is a non-issue.
Like a lot of PS3 fans you keep holding on to this nonsense that at some point soon developers will start to work out how to code better for the PS3 and everything will somehow just turn out great.
If it hasn;t happened by now it’s unlikely to ever happen.
Maybe someone at Sony will manage it but 3rd party developers have every incentive not to spend very much time, money or effort on a console with the smallest installed base (and after the last XBox price cut it’s getting ever smaller).
Most PS3 fans that I read are fooling themselves with delusional day-dreams based solely on their own desire, not facts.
Besides a handful of games the PS3 catalogue is thin and disappointing.
That list of features hardly matters if the game catalogue is poor, and it simply is.
Now that Blu-ray standalone players are so much cheaper it doesn’t even have the boost from that to enjoy anymore – and you cant have that both ways, if significant numbers bought the PS3 to use primarily as a movie player (and they did) then the PS3 situation as far as gaming is concerned is even more dire.
No wonder 3rd party developers aren’t keen.
December 9th, 2008
and the 3rd parties not being keen has nothing to do with the wads of cash that microsoft are throwing at them, or has anyone else noticed that with less and less wads being thrown, less and less 3rd party going to xbox? only one recently was FFXIII, and it didn’t even get all of it, in japan its only out on PS3.
Sony arn’t going to admit they made a mistake by putting Blu-ray into there system, though they still see it as a selling point, I own a PS3 and no i didn’t get it for the Blu-ray at all, though it has been nice watching films in hi-def (CANT WAIT FOR DARK KNIGHT!!)
BUT the selling point for me was games. if you take out generic FPS (though i do have fun with them, currently hooked on R2) i found i was leaning towards the PS3 then the xbox. have a look at whats coming/just been released on both systems, gears 2 and R2 cancil each other out (don’t care xbots, they do) you’d have to say that PS3 has had the cream of the crop. i would also like to see the sales figures for xboxs when the replacement xboxes where taken out of the count, ive seen figures and apprently they have been included in total number of xboxs sold… so i’d like to see a number of working xboxs in homes, not ever made (that can we see some aussie numbers on this site for once? where the wii isn’t a billion consoles in front and would be fun to take note?)
December 9th, 2008
sure CAD… you have the “Option” of installing the game… its a nice perk that when you install games on the 360… it doesnt make as much noise as it used to… somehow you forgot to mention that…
also Killzone 2 will have NO install… I think all these installing games is not going to be around much longer… if a game like Killzone 2 needs no installs… then Im sure months from now… if devs can manipulate it ssomehow… we wont need installs anymore…
keep in mind that this is still the early stage for this gen consoles… the best looking games on the xbox and the ps2 came towards the end of their lifespan… chronicles of riddick looked AWESOME!!! the devs had to somehow manipulate the xbox to make it look that good… which is why that hasnt been 360 compatible… games like god of war 2… black… great graphics… came towards the end… so have a lil patience…
December 9th, 2008
happyhockum… you sound like a retard… you cant use the “PS3 has no gamez… booo hoo”
The ps3 has great old games… and great older games… mostly single player… so if you played a lot of the ps2 games… you should feel right at home…
yeah Halo and gears is a gargantuan franchise… perhaps no ps franchise can even compete with them… but that doesnt mean they are any less good…
unless you have played them… you dont get to talk about how they suck… well you could… then you would look like an idiot like CAD and kev…
December 9th, 2008
‘Besides a handful of games the PS3 catalogue is thin and disappointing.’
I dunno, most of that cataologue is the same as the 360’s with a small %’ge being exclusives. I can’t think of many exclusives that has really stood out to me on any platform (I own all 3).
December 9th, 2008
wen it come down to disk space obviously blu ray wins witch u can have more developed beatiful games in the future an xbox would have to spend extra money to develop them with more disks… juss wait.. metal gear woulda came to 360 but it woulda taken like 7 disks to make the game so ms wouldnt do it
December 10th, 2008
kevo, your butchery of the english language is criminal…
December 10th, 2008
Hey kevo’s got better things to do than go to school. Keep up with the MGS4 kevo!!!!
December 10th, 2008
yo listen up harry that was just to entertain you and me too R2D2 you just hate cause u can discriminate… burn any body else want in on the rap battle.
December 10th, 2008
what did harry say? Oh yeah:
“Walk 3 steps
Cut scene
Slide underneath a truck
Cut scene
Get out from underneath the truck
Cut scene
Walk 5 steps
Cut scene with these big mooing things
Run away from the big mooing thing
Cut scene”
Who needs English anyway? According to WWII kevo is the perfect PS3 fan, “because most of them know how to think” and it is obviously evident in his mad writing skillz.
December 10th, 2008
2009 appears to be a great year to be a ps3 gamer. Exclusives like killzone2, gow3,new team ico game, uncharted2, MAG, inFamous, and a new twisted metal game make this year look better than last. Couple that with a list of great non exclusives (darksiders, RE5, bioshock2, Riddick) and we’re going to go bankrupt.
Sony needs to get their marketing straight though. If I can credit MS with anything ….. They sure know how to advertise.
December 10th, 2008
darkwhitehair
The only “retards” around here are the sort of idiots who can’t help discuss without insults.
You’d have to be some blinkered fanboy to pretend that the PS3 & XBox 360 catalogues are now about even.
(and whilst backward compatibility is nice they removed most of that – despite hypocritically bashing others for not doing as much of it as they might have done.
Besides just about no-one buys a next gen console because it plays old gen stuff)
Maybe you’ve fooled yourself but I doubt too many others believe that sort of nonsense.
(but way to play the PS3 fanboy & ignore WW11’s badly understood misinformation and the actual points raised in my post)
16,000 Sony redundancies say they have f*cked up massively & PS3 is as good as it’s ever going to get.
Sony is in real trouble and will be concentrating on other things…….you know, like their actual survival in the coming economic slump.
December 10th, 2008
“Like a lot of PS3 fans you keep holding on to this nonsense that at some point soon developers will start to work out how to code better for the PS3 and everything will somehow just turn out great.”
—-It was pointed out already. Look at Uncharted, R+C, Killzone 2, R2.
“If it hasn;t happened by now it’s unlikely to ever happen.
Maybe someone at Sony will manage it but 3rd party developers have every incentive not to spend very much time, money or effort on a console with the smallest installed base (and after the last XBox price cut it’s getting ever smaller).”
———–There’s a lot of multi platform titles that look identical. How is the install base getting smaller when people continue to buy the ps3? Are they throwing it out and buying just the 360. I’m confused how something that people continue to purchase doesn’t exponentially get larger
“Besides a handful of games the PS3 catalogue is thin and disappointing.
That list of features hardly matters if the game catalogue is poor, and it simply is.”
———–Wow… there you go. I need that time machine of yours that goes back to 2006.
You do realize how many fewer exclusives you would have if both machines came out the same time?
“The only “retards” around here are the sort of idiots who can’t help discuss without insults.”
————Expect to be called out on retarded things that you say.
December 10th, 2008
yea ill shut up but when you leave ill be talkin again
December 10th, 2008
DWH
You must play in complete silence. Sure the 360 was a bit noisy but it was never a factor for me nor did it ever bother me or anyone in my house. My 360 must not be that loud compared to others because it was never an issue to me. We have had System link parties with 8 360’s in one room and not once have I heard anyone complain about noise. It can get a little warm but that why we have windows and AC. Besides when your playing a game you can’t even hear it when the audio starts. I think it a stupid jab because I don’t see how anyone can be bothered when the audio is louder the the noise coming from the 360.
December 10th, 2008
CarlB
Your explaination of MGS4 was exactly why I hated that game. It made no sense. Solid snake walks around like he’s got dick up the ass and it’s so slow and just retatded. Sony can keep that game and all of it’s installs.
December 10th, 2008
Happyhockum
Thanks for talking sense. Some people have no clue. WWll talking about DVD’d costing a lot. He has no clue. And yes the Sony Library is thin when compared to 360. That is including all Disk games and Arcade, Original xbox titles for download and the XNA Combined. Variety is the spice of life.
December 10th, 2008
Oh and why pay more to play the same 3rd party game that looks better on the 360 anyway!!!
December 10th, 2008
definately amazing that a topic about how the ps3 is doing and what they should be doing is riddled with 360 fanboys. Keep the topic going CAD while not adressing anything mentioned in the oroginal story. Where did that bluray tirade come from? We get it. You dnt like it. Whocares!!!!
December 10th, 2008
phranctoast
The only people getting to gripe with the PS3 are Sony & their closest devs.
Why would anyone else bother putting in the money, time or effort?
I find your defensiveness funny.
“Look at Uncharted, R+C, Killzone 2, R2″.
Yeah, exactly, look, 4 games.
Wow.
I don’t know anyone who said the PS3 doesn’t have ANY decent games but your response is pretty revealing (even if you did not intend it to be) of the on-going problem the PS3 has.
Even their supposed ’showcases’ like MSG4 (supposedly ‘needing’ a whole 50gb BD dual layer disc) turns out to be a rather silly cheapo movie cut with game sequences
(tho undoubtedly when it comes to XBox with ‘only’ CGI & a lot less of the fluff it’ll be sold in far larger numbers…..which is why it will come, assuming Sony don’t buy out the company to try & stop it).
Sorry this wasn’t too clear for you but when I said that the install base of the PS3 is shrinking I meant comparatively speaking and in terms of overall market share.
Compared to the Wii & the XBox 360 market share the PS3 slice is getting less and less, due to the XBoxes recent huge global sales boost after the price cuts and Wii’s continuing sales success.
The greatest sales for any 3rd party company to chase are obviously with the Wii & the XBox 360, not the PS3.
The PS3 gang are now reduced to some Sony guy saying he ‘thinks’ the PS3 is ahead by 300,000 units someplace at some time.
Credible verified facts.
Not.
It’s quite clear now that PS3 is guaranteed to be the loser this time around.
But Sony only have themselves to blame, they chose to go after all that ‘Blu-ray to replace DVD’ nonsense
(which is something else that is never going to happen).
What’s with this ridiculous discounting of the PS3 being 1 year behind?
It is.
That’s just a fact.
Get over it and stop making excuses.
Being late to market is a problem not a virtue (it’s not like they spent that time updating the PS3’s components, they were just late with the Blu-ray drive and associated components, hence the laughably ancient Nvidia 7800/7900GS graphics).
…….and like I said, the only real “retards” around here are the sort of fools who can’t discuss this stuff without resorting to insults.
December 10th, 2008
Happyhockum,
And yet you ended your post with an insult, so I guess you are one of the fools?
December 10th, 2008
For the blu ray haters out there, that think the format is going nowhere.
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2153
December 10th, 2008
Pranctoast
You obviously can’t read because it’s mentioned in the first comment.
“We’re in such a good position from a gaming perspective. More great games are coming to the PS3, and are leveraging the Blu-ray advantage that the PS3 has over the Xbox 360. Blu-ray differentiates us from competitive consoles.
Blu-ray is starting to become an issue, with Star Ocean: The Last Hope on the Xbox needing three DVDs to hold the game. And there’s no question about it, the PS3 is looking strong in the games department for 2009, certainly much stronger than the Xbox 360.”
December 10th, 2008
@CAD
Yeah…too true, sometimes my phone isn’t the best place to read and write on blorge.
@HH
Sony seems to have their hands full dealing with three of their own consoles. They still support last gen
MGS4 was all in game and not prerendered CGI. (like RE4 and not like FF games)
Yeah they released earlier. At the expense of releasing the worst piece of hardware to ever be released…ever. They lost peace of mind. Not sure if thats worth the 5-6 million that they are ahead.
I’d like ICO to come out on the PSN. Don’t know what they’re waiting for there. By the time Shadow of the Colossus became popular ICO was nowhere to be seen and they could have made a decent amount of money on the recognition of the studio. Especially given how the stories tie in together.
Not sure why I bother writing in a topic about the ps3. It seems like I’m the minority in this topic. Makes you wonder why all the Xbots came out in droves to talk their shit in a topic that has nothing to do with the 360 (other than blu-ray and the unfortunate fact the 360 that lacks it).
Maybe they feel threatened. When the PS3 launched you guys were up by 10million consoles. That number dropped by…what 4 million.
December 10th, 2008
Phranctoast,
That’s what is so funny about these xbots. They bitch and complain about this site being pro Sony and yet read and comment on everyone of its articles. Why would the blorge change, they get more attention from xbots than PS3 fanboys by posting these articles. Why can’t they just be happy with the system they have. I know I’m happy with my counsole of choice!
December 10th, 2008
too true wylie too true.
I have a nice holiday gift for them all soon.
December 10th, 2008
Why is phranctoast bitching about Xbox fans commenting in a Sony related article? I believe the same thing happens when there is an Xbox related article. A little hypocritical if you ask me, but then again, that’s not to be expected.
December 10th, 2008
Well since you all don’t have a grasp of the english language, let me expalin. The Post by the dush bags of this site are Pro Sony which is fine because Sony needs someone in it’s corner. But, They always throw in some comment about 360 that reflects in a negitave light. That is for all those who cannot comprehend why we lash out at this site.
December 10th, 2008
Cad,
I don’t care if you spell words wrong, I do it all the time. But if you are going to say
“Well since you all don’t have a grasp of the english language, let me expalin.”
make sure you don’t miss spell explain in the same sentence and douche in the next sentence.
December 10th, 2008
Internet rule 101. Kind of like calling people stooopid and not expecting to be called on it.
“A little hypocritical if you ask me, but then again, that’s not to be expected.”
I had to read this a couple of times.
I think I just got props from harry. I’m sorry you expect more from me and I let you down.
December 10th, 2008
Ok I goofed on that. Ha Ha
December 10th, 2008
Dude I don’t have a sister and I grew up with my dad so sorry about the douche thing too. The point I’m trying to make is not about spelling but about grasping what a sentence is saying.
December 10th, 2008
phranctoast
Look matey if you’re really going to use Blu-ray.com as an authority (’an embarrassment that caused me a lot of work by having to undo the huge amount og half-truth & misinformation they deliberately spread’ was how my Sony employed friend described them) or reduce yourself to waving Japan as if that, er, unique situation told anybody anything about where Blu-ray ios going globally then you need a long lie down in a darkened room.
Wylie77, you call it an insult I call it a fair description.
December 10th, 2008
They name their sources. They don’t make up the news, just report it. Here’s some more “sources” for you dispute.
http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/la-dispatch-a-dvd-boost-for-the-dark-knight-campaign/?hp
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/12/blu-ray-player.html
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/31234/report-blu-ray-player-sales-triple-on-black-friday-week/
December 10th, 2008
It was early when I wrote that. I was basically calling you a hypocrite, as I am sure I have seen you piping up in Xbox related articles.
December 11th, 2008
Of course I am. Wont hear me argue that. I just needed to point out that there was a crazy ratio of 360 posters to ps3 posters in a ps3 article.
CAD’s reason for not being able to spell douche is classic.
December 11th, 2008
phranc – there used to be waaaay more ps3 fanboys here, but they tend to run away in the face of facts and reality. they can’t handle the ps3’s getting spanked this gen and run when confronted with the reality of it.
rest assured, there are still dwh, spidey, ivan and bourne here as ps3 fanboys… not including davep…
December 11th, 2008
phranctoast,
one stat out of Japan is a reliable marker for a technology’s global future for the long term? Not so sure. Really, though, what is the logical end of a data file? Downloaded to a memory format, right? Even if Blu-ray is the next trend, how long do you really think it will last before it is replaced? Or has it started to be replaced already with downloads?
December 11th, 2008
phranctoast
Blu-ray.com is as unreliable a source for unbiased news on Blu-ray & PS3 as it gets.
That’s widely known & understood.
What’s the big deal about Batman?
Just like Iron man (and Wanted) it will spike Blu-ray sales.
So what?
The spike will be tiny compared to DVDs sales numbers & the sales will have tiny ‘legs’.
In other-words the reason why the BDA won’t allow publication of 6 or 12mth sales numbers is that they know they look ridiculously tiny compared to DVDs 6 & 12mth numbers.
The whole Nielson number BS they allow works entirely in favour of a new format and it’s early adopter owner profile and against a mature market (which DVD is where a significant chunk of buyers tend to wait for prices to drop after 1 – 3mths).
Blu-ray player sales?
They sold 10 last year and 30 this year. LOL
You see?
When they play their idiotic (but so typical) ratio and percentage games they are meaningless without actual units sold data.
….and Japan is and will always be a unique and atypical market.
It means nothing to the rest of the west.
For instance……do you know Betamax video tape recorder/players were still on sale in Japan until 2002?
December 11th, 2008
HappyHockum,
You feel very strongly about meaningless things. A lot of us here at The Blorge are guilty of that, but you seem to take it to the extreme. Try taking a breath next time.
-Arvis
December 11th, 2008
@keV
Probably all busy playing all the great exclusives. I’m unfortunately still at “work”.
I realize it’s not wise to comparesales of a format that’s been around for over 10 years to an infant. You seem to dismissing it as a fad though. Bluray at the same point in it’s lifetime is doing better than DVD was. I can’t see how they can have any say what numbers come out. If you look hard enough you can get that neilsen info.
So what happened? Buy into hddvd?
Beta tech was also the standard for handheld video recorders.
December 11th, 2008
phranctoast
I have Blu-ray and HD DVD and DVD. I love movies, not formats.
I just don’t like to see people being fed the current nonsense that Blu-ray offers the mass-market anything they need.
You need a really huge HD TV and a very high-end audio set-up to actually benefit properly from what it offers
(1080p res & lossless audio).
Those are things the mass-market is unlikely in the extreme ever to have or in fact even want.
It has its place as the PS3 media but they have ensured through ludicrous pricing that even PC back-up is now (by far) cheaper through other means.
December 11th, 2008
BTW phranctoast
You seem to ask if I bought into HD DVD as if that was a bad thing.
Do you have any idea how much high def content I got for such a tiny outlay?
The HD DVD tale did nothing for me but enable me to collect a nice large high def movie collection for (relatively speaking) pennies.
I couldn’t even buy the ‘ordinary’ DVD versions of the (in many instances classic) movies I bought in high def thanks to what happened to HD DVD.
Even buying a spare player to put away in case of any breakdowns or accidents cost me almost nothing.
But if you need to think that made me feel negative about anything go ahead.
The truth is I have laughed all the way to the bank.
December 11th, 2008
To each their own. Unless you could rip those to a HDD it’s not something I would have been comfortable with as if the player broke it’s more and more and more difficult to replace as time goes on.
There was some good exclusives also for a while.
Serenity made me jealous.
I made the decision prior to the 360 even being released that I wanted blu ray. recall talking to people at digital life about both to see the benefits of HDDVD. Mandatory Managed copy being the only selling point didn’t have me sold.
The addition of the format to the ps3 turned out to be the confirmation needed that it would indeed come out on top.
Some bullet point for you in the future. I still don’t have a 7.1 setup. my 5.1 is good enough for now (paid over $600 for my damn receiver when i got it)
I also agree. Backup on Blu ray is not going to be a feasible option when you can get a terabyte HDD for $150 off of tigerdirect.
It’s refreshing to hear from someone that knows their formats.
My point being…I don’t believe that blu is going the way of the dodo anytime soon.
December 12th, 2008
Fair comment phranctoast.
TBH I don’t think I’ve ever expected Blu-ray to just vanish, I just think they took too long in that stupid format war (they could and ought to have reached agreement with the DVD Forum and seen HD on disc come at least 1 year earlier than we did).
Now I just don’t see anything happening quickly enough (especially with this coming recession).
That’s why I mentioned it staying in the PS3 niche (which to be fair is a large niche nevertheless).
The answer to anyone’s worries about HD DVD players breaking down is (in the short term) a spare cheap replacement player or (in the longer term & as you mention) a ROM drive to rip the movies to your HDD.
Irony of ironies if they ever sort out Blu-ray burners & media out to sell at a realistic level you could even burn them to a blank BD disc.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that although the disc format of HD DVD is indeed dead the movies themselves are encoded in the very much alive codecs of the same VC-1, AVC & MPEG that Blu-ray uses.
It’s all good.
December 12th, 2008
Format war did go on for too long. Although…I do miss the BOGO every month. Right now they are far and few between. Even Black Friday, the best you could do is a B2G1. Competition in that respect was good.
I always wondered whether Warner was bought off, or they actually decided to “do the right thing” for HD media and choose a side as to not stalemate both. At the end of the day I guess it doesn’t really matter.
I wasn’t aware of any other codec being on HDDVD other than VC1. I remember being slightly jealous when I was dealing with lazy MPEG 2 transfers. Not to diss MPEG 2 in general. I still believe some of the best transfers (Tier 1 stuff) were on that codec. (Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of heaven)
December 12th, 2008
“kev:
December 11th, 2008
phranc – there used to be waaaay more ps3 fanboys here, but they tend to run away in the face of facts and reality. they can’t handle the ps3’s getting spanked this gen and run when confronted with the reality of it.
rest assured, there are still dwh, spidey, ivan and bourne here as ps3 fanboys… not including davep…”
PS3 fanboy am I Kev…… I have put numerous positive things on this site about 360 ….. I have shown on numerous occasions to have a view both +ve and -ve on both systems, aditionally, I actually own both systems. Can you answer this … or am I just running away when confronted with “Kev facts”
Come back when you have something credible to say and even half believable.
December 12th, 2008
phranctoast
You’re right that HD DVD did tend to use VC-1 much more than any other video codec but both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats ‘mandated’ the same 3 video codecs and there are examples of HD DVD using them all
(Babel for instance would be an AVC movie on HD DVD and Chronos would be an MPEG2).
My own view about Warner is this.
The WB chairman was from the start a Blu-ray supporter.
WB were originally when HD DVD began HD DVD exclusive (as was Paramount).
They were persuaded to go format neutral soon after HD DVD emerged.
Obviously like many they preferred to see a single format quickly emerge.
When that did not happen they tried during 2007 to convince Fox (and if the rumours are to be believed Disney) to come on board with HD DVD.
When it became obvious, just before CES 2008, that those efforts had failed and it became clear that no matter what WB did with HD DVD there would always be a defiant Blu-ray side which would not budge they decided to jump to Blu-ray too, knowing it would most likely see the end of HD DVD and the emergence of the single HD disc format.
Which is what happened.
But, WB negotiated a deal that saw WB get several hundred million $ (either through movie joint ventures, subsidy or advertising or whatever……there are a zillion and one ‘instruments’ & ways to keep info off of a balance sheet, ask Enron or any of the other financial companies now sh!tting bricks as the chickens come home to roost in this current financial disaster).
In effect WB were making a bet that the BDA/Sony might be right about Blu-ray but even if it did turn out to be the wrong bet they took, some say $600 million worth of, compensation.
Here’s something to consider –
“We think this is a do-or-die time for Blu-ray,” said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. “We must get it established as a favorite holiday item.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/business/21dvd.html?_r=2&hp
It seems that some people at WB are having 2nd thoughts.
There’ll be no return to HD DVD, that’s long gone, but whether WB stay backing Blu-ray in a big way from mid – late 2009 is absolutely another matter.