Do we compare the launch PS3 against the launch 360, or the 360 now?

[gunntims0103]

news via ars

November 21, 2006

One of the interesting points I keep seeing over and over in the comments for the PS3 review is pointing out that the 360 had some issues at launch, and yet they didn't affect the final score as much as Sony's unfinished software has. I'll freely admit to that: the 360 had one or two problems at launch and I had a wishlist of things that I looked forward to Microsoft fixing, but the score was still high. Why?

Because the 360 wasn't going up against anything else that provided even a fraction of what the 360 delivered. The PS2 barely had an online strategy, and while Xbox Live was fun on the first Xbox it really came into its own on the 360. So when you surveyed the market at the 360's launch, it stood head and shoulders above its competition. It had some flaws, but what it did, it did incredibly well, and added a ton of features to gaming. It blew the current-gen systems out of the water in terms of functionality, user interface, and media playback. It introduced a truly integrated friends list, as well as custom soundtracks in all games. Even better? In the following year they fixed and improved everything that bothered me about the system. Right now the 360 is a highly refined, user friendly and intuitive system. You can buy it right now for $400.

Now the PS3 is released at $600, and we should look around the market again. The 360 offers background downloading and download queues. The PS3 does not. The 360 is always ready for you to shop for games; on the PS3 it takes going to a different option, logging in to another service, and waiting while the page loads. Buying anything is a pain in the butt. You can't have custom soundtracks in every game, or even many games. The online service is lacking, and so is your buddy list. The Blu-ray playback is broken on many sets, as is the resolution in games. While the 360 added a lot of features to gaming, the PS3 has removed many. It's missing features that its main competitor has, and it's launching at a higher price. Sure, it has a Blu-ray player, and when that starts working correctly on more TVs I might enjoy it more. Right now it doesn't like my television, so the image quality isn't what it should be. It's a broken system. The PS3 right now is more expensive, for an inferior online and media experience. It got a relatively low score at 6, with the caveat that once these software problems are fixed the score could easily rise. Look at what Microsoft was able to accomplish in a year; with some updates the PS3 could easily surpass the competition in terms of features and useability.

The problem is, I'm not willing to give the PS3 a year to see how much better it gets. When I review a piece of hardware, I do it based on what it does now, not what it might do in some nebulous future. I also look at what it's competing against, and what features that product has. Right now the PS3 is broken in many ways, and unfinished in almost every other; its competitor is brilliantly designed and less expensive. You can't compare the PS3 in a review in the modern market against how the 360 launched. You have to look at it based on how the 360 plays if you bought it today.

Sony needs to get their software fixed pronto, and make sure their system can actually use HDTV sets. Until it does, in features and overall usability it simply can't be competitive in the marketplace.

I will say this, though: with the ability to read files from so many types of media and through USB, the built-in WiFi, and the Blu-ray player, Sony could blow the 360 out of the water in value if it can just get everything working. As an investment, I'm confident that the PS3 is going to kick ass in the future. It's just hard to stomach the issues when you have paid $600 now for the system.

[jerrt]

as much as it doesn't make a strong point for the ps3, it is a very good read and the person does a very good job of explaining his points. I think the potential is there, but he is right should we compare the ps3 now to the 360 now? in a year will the ps3 have narrowed the gap or perhaps gone a little further.

sadly, now that i own the system, i worry a little more about sony's ability to support the system. they have made a machine that can do some amazing things, but they have to make it do it. I'm fairly confident that they will, as I sometimes think sony fanboys can be deadlier than microsoft fanboys. if sony really failed them , the people would show no mercy.

[porchemasi]

Buddy, i couldnt have wrote my ideas as clearly as u have

[irongiant]

Both systems launched with problems, in fact the 360 still has some serious issues. I know many people who's 360s have bricked. Over the last year MS have addressed a lot of the teething problems. The only fair way to judge this is to give Sony the same timeframe to iron out the glitches with the PS3. At the end of the day MS are a software company, that's what they specialize in, Sony are a hardware company so it's comes as no surprise whatsoever that they're having software issues but they were comitted to a launch date and have bitten the bullet.

[Darksaviour69]

i think the point is that is its fair (to a degree) to compare the ps3 to the xbox360, even though ps3 has just launched. His point was the the 360 was the by far best on the market went it launched dispite the problems. But when the ps3 has/did launch, its not the best because of the problems its has.

Now of course most if not all the issues will be address in the future, like with the 360, but can can't hope things will be fixed when you review something, you have to say what it is, at that time.

[irongiant]

It's not fair to compare something based on when it was released, a review should be based on what the product offers and does or doesn't do. It's ridiculous to give the 360 a higher score purely because it had no serious competition.

He's scoring the PS3 less because it promises a lot but isn't delivering on all fronts based on software issues and teething problems. The 360 was the same, promised a lot but had issues so that should have been marked lower too with the score increasing as those issues were addressed.

Not that it matters, these sites have a strange sense of over importance.. his review won't influence the games buying public one iota.

[muffinman]

the ps3 will be sorted within a few months most likely sonys put to much money into it for it to fail so im sure theylll put the extra in to fix it.

[BrooksyX]

Long live XBOX 360!

[808]

Long live XBOX 360!

Wow, WHAT A POST!

The comparison of the PS3 now to the XBox 360 now is true, he's got his facts. Though I think his wording is a little strong - "Blu-Ray playback is broken" "pain in the butt" etc. Guess thats just me though.

It's all just time. A year from now anything in the world of consoles can happen and I can't wait to see to be honest.

[BrooksyX]

lol, I was just playing around.

Everyone knows that anyone who buys a launch system is basically paying to be a beta tester. Ill give the PS3 a year before I pass my final judgment. But right now Xbox 360 is winning in my book.