PS3 reviews... looking forward to some hands-on comments... (2 Viewers)

[Larry Sutliff]

I wouldn't mind grabbing the PS3 myself, but I don't think it's gonna be available for five hundred bucks anytime soon unless you have a pre-order.

 

[Cory S.]

Grant,

In a few forums online, I've read that Best Buy will have around 26 units of the 60GB system and 6 units of 20GB system...minimum. Now, there is the issue of the 18 Best Buy stores opening at midnight on Thursday. From what I've read online over at highdefdigest forums, those stores will have 240 units of the 60GB system and 34 units of the 20GB systems (http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=575)

Again, this is what I've read online. I'm not stating this as fact but other forums seem to confirm the same numbers, for Best Buy at least. I've read that Circuit City's midnight opening stores will have 100 units of the 60GB system.

 

[Cory S.]

For me, I'm in an interesting position. If those numbers about the midnight units for Best Buy are correct(and I hope they are), I have two midnight stores within ten minutes of my house.

Personally, I don't need anything that much to where I have to camp out for it but if that many units are within my grasp at two different stores, I should at least give it a shot on Thursday at Best Buy.

 

[dpippel]

Every PS3 ad I saw in my Sunday paper this week (Best Buy, Target, Wal-mart, etc.) was advertising the 60GB system for $599. Not a single mention of the $499 unit.

 

[Cory S.]

The 60GB unit is the one Sony is pushing the most. There will be few of the 20GB unit.

 

[Grant H]

According to a CBS News story (or more precisely a CNET guy they interviewed), Sony is selling the Playstation at a loss of $300-$400 and hopes to make it up through software sales.

Guess that would help explain why it's a bargain as a Blu-Ray player, to say nothing of it also being a high-end gaming system.

 

[Mike~Sileck]

Grant -

I'm fairly positive that every video game console ever, (or at least for the past 2-3 generations) have been sold at a loss. Thats the idea of the video game industry, you sell the systems at a loss, and make up the loss through large software sales.

 

[Ryan-G]

I question this considering that EB/Gamestop announced they cannot meet the very limited pre-orders they took, and they've been forced to ask their employees to forgo the two they were permitted to pre-order.

If EB/Gamestop can't get 15 in, I doubt very highly any BB or CC is going to have hundreds.

 

[TravisR]

Best Buy and even Circuit City are much bigger than any video game store is. I'm not saying it's guaranteed but I'd guess that BB and CC will get far more than anyone else. Apparently, it's only six Circuit City stores across the country that will have 100 PS3s each. I'm sure to give 100 to those six stores means that all their other stores will get about one each.

 

[BrettGallman]

Yeah, Wal-Mart, BB, and CC always get more than game stores. I'm guessing because of their higher profile. I'm pretty pissed at the Gamestop/EB situation, even though I am second in line and have been told I have nothing to worry about. I won't be completely at ease until it's in my hands though. I've grown to hate console launches, because you can't get excited for them at all anymore due to all the shortages.

 

[Cory S.]

I'm not sure how you guys feel about cnet.com but this is what they had to say about Blu-Ray playback on the PS3:

"Movie watching
Before we got our hands on a retail unit, we'd been able to spend some time previewing the system, and while we had a pretty good picture of what it can do in terms of gaming and multimedia functionality, we hadn't been able to test it as a Blu-ray player. Sony, of course, is taking a big risk by attempting to go out with a new system that not only features a new processor but a new, unproven optical drive format. The company is making a heavy bet on the PS3 as a game machine, but it's also staking its Blu-ray fortunes on the system as well, and we were most curious to see how it delivered as a Blu-ray player.

Because we were more familiar watching Mission: Impossible III on the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray player, we decided to do our using that disc rather that Talledega Nights. Watching on one of the finest large-screen TVs available, the 60-inch Sony KDS-R60XBR2, we watched several scenes from the movie on the Samsung first, then switched over to the PS3. In case you're wondering, load times for the disc were essentially identical at 40 seconds on each player (we hit stop on our stopwatch when a picture appeared on the screen). That isn't terrible, but this is obviously an area where Sony can make some improvements down the road with a next-generation drive that's faster.

As for the picture, it was quite comparable to what we saw on the Samsung, and navigating the disc was a fairly zippy process. In other words, at first glance, the PS3 seems to stack up fairly well against Blu-ray players costing nearly twice as much ($1,000), which may obviate the need for those players to actually exist.

Furthermore, the PS3 is the first A/V device to hit the market to utilize the HDMI 1.3 specification. That doesn't mean much now--there's no corresponding HDMI 1.3 products to connect it to. But in the future--2007 and beyond--that should enable to PS3 to pass HD video and next-gen surround-sound audio (such as Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD) to compatible A/V receivers via a single HDMI cable. In the meantime, the PS3, like other Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, can pass 1080p HD video and uncompressed LPCM surround soundtracks to compatible A/V receivers and TVs.

If we had one complaint with the PS3, it was that it didn't upscale standard DVDs to HD resolutions, a feature that's standard on other Blu-ray and HD-DVD players. Instead, they default to 480p (progressive-scan). But that's hardly a deal-breaker, especially when you consider the competition: the Xbox 360 requires a clunky add-on drive to play HD-DVD movies (though downloadable high-def movies will soon be available via Xbox Live), and the Nintendo Wii doesn't play back movie discs of any type.

Accessing Blu-ray and DVD menus with the PS3 controller is functional, if awkward. Sony offers a more traditional remote for $25, or you can program any decent universal remote to do the job as well. "

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Brett, I am 5th out of a possible 8. I am all but certain to be told "so sorry" :frowning: Now it's simply a wait and see game. Being told they "anticipate" filling my order by Christmas is fairly meaningless, since I was told they were taking such low numbers to ensure this didn't happen. Could Sony drop the ball any more than they already have?

 

[ppltd]

This is beginning to look alot like the MS 360 launch fiasco.

 

[Grant H]

It's well-publicized where to go and what you'll have to do if you absolutely MUST have one on the launch date, and most stores didn't do preorders because of the shortage that has been known for some time. If you're really desperate for your preorder send a friend to check for your preorder and camp out at a big store. Not like you won't be able to sell one if you end up with two. Hell, I couldn't even get an 64 way back when. I could actually pickup a Gamecube launch day no problem and look how that went? This kind of feverish demand just generates excitement as long as there are people to envy.

Yes, it's unfortunate, that some of the small stores that were fool enough to take preorders won't be able to fulfill all of them thanks to production being scaled back. But it's likely the bidding power of Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Circuit City limiting the quantities as much as the cutback.

Regardless, hundreds of thousands of units will be in people's homes in a flash, with many more eager beavers waiting to get their hands on the next shipments. And there's been SOOO much press. Methinks Sony didn't need to spring for that 4 page ad in Entertainment Weekly.

 

[PeterTHX]

Yeah, and we all know what a failure that unit is. (sarcasm)

Difference is this year people have a good idea that the PS3 will be in short supply, unlike last year.

 

[Cory S.]

Interesting thing discovered today when I went to my local Best Buy: They're not letting anyone camp out or wait line until the day off of the 17th.

So, I'm guessing around closing time on Thursday, that's when everyone will crawl out of the wood work and try to get in line for this things.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Well, my EBGames/Gamestop called. To let me know I did have a pre-order and I would receive my unit on Friday. That said, seeing is believing...so I'll believe it when I have it in my hands. But it was nice to get the call.

 

[Cory S.]

Chuck,

I decided to give it a shot on Friday morning, since they're not having lines overnight at my Best Buy any longer. The question remains HOW early should I go over on Friday morning.

Either way, if I see 20 people in line, I'm turning around, going home, and I'll just wait until March or April to get one.

 

[TravisR]

You should go on Thursday night after they close at the latest. I doubt they'll keep someone around to shoo people away all night. Even if you go before they close, they may make you leave the front of the building but you can just sit in your car and then get back in line when the employees go home for the night.

 

[Cory S.]

Travis,

I was thinking the same thing. Either way, this is fun. I've never done this before.

And the sad thing is, I'll probably won't buy a single game until Summer of next year. This PS3, if I get one, is solely for watching films.