I have to laugh at this one. While I know a lot of people have had issues with the RROD I have had a 360 since a month after they came out. The only time I had a RROD was when I was playing and lightning stuck the house. It RROD on me and we lost the phones for 2 weeks, the freezer, a laptop and the control unit for the well. All of these items were using surge protectors but it didn't help. I wouldn't call it unreliable since MS fixed this for free and even paid the shipping. I now own 2 360's and use them all the time for netflix and games. Seems very reliable to me.

As for Sony losing this generation, how could anyone consider what they did a lose? They used the PS3 and the playstation brand to defeat HD-DVD and ensure they make money of BD for years to come. They knew what would happen and they were willing to weaken the PS3's early life in order to win the big picture. As has already been stated they will no doubt support the PS3 for at least 10 years and if MS does move on they will keep selling them and eventually overtake the 360. I for one am going to pick one up when they knock $100 or more off the price. I imagine when they do that there will be plenty of good games out for cheap on the system.

One thing I thought interesting about this generation was the online experience. I love Xbox Live, but when Sony offered PSN free a lot of people thought MS would have to go free too, and they didn't. In fact they are taking more away from us. Games like COD:WaW and Gears 2 don't let you take guests online for public games anymore. Total BS if you ask me. Last thing, when I play on live with strangers I usually don't bother with the headset. It's almost always kids cussing, taking about gay this homo that and all the sexual stuff that goes with it. It gets annoying when I just want to shoot horde and I have to listen to 2 kids hitting on each other.

Mario Kart Wii is still in the top 10 after many months on the market. Heck, Mario Kart DS was in the top 10 a couple of years on the market. If master Chief could be used to sell millions of copies of a Kart racing game, you better believe MS would use it that way. And Mario isn't whored out nearly as much as he could be. Usually games with Mario in the title are generally pretty good.

I also bought my PS3 for Bluray but I love it so far. But then, I love all video games and I'd love a 360 if I had it too. It just comes down to what you wanna do for it. For me, blue ray player first, game console second. So PS3 is just what I need.

1. You could use that same argument for Duke Nukem Forever, and look what happened. Eventually, people lose interest. The Final Fantasy series was Sony's bread and butter last gen. It sold consoles. Losing exclusive rights means one less reason to buy a PS3.


2. One less reason to buy a PS3. Must own exclusives sells consoles.


3. The problem is Sony put a lot of time, investment, and E3 hype into Home, and after all the delays, it fizzled big time.


4. I never really said PS3 was a bad system. I just think it's safe to say that they have lost their fan base, and will lose money bigtime on the PS3.

I don't think people are as loyal as many of us believe. At the end of the last generation many people here were talking about how Nintendo would need to sell out to MS or stop making a console and sign an exclusive agreement with MS for the software since they did so bad with the last gen. If you make a good console with good software and price it properly people will buy it.

Where do you work and are you hiring?

Looking at the thread title, I thought he asked the question and didn't just say so.

I completely agree but like, I believe, Matthew said earlier, MS is going to match any price drop that Sony does. So there will always be a likely price difference.

But like everyone said, just buy games and enjoy the system. Who cares what place is what. It used to chap my butt that the Wii was blowing away both MS & Sony until I saw how much my 4 year old son enjoyed playing with one every time we went into a Gamestop or a Best Buy. That changed my feeling toward it and to all the systems in general. I use my 360 for Live and multi-console games, my PS3 for BD and exclusives, and my Wii to play with my son. Works out great. (and I still have a PSP and a DSi that takes up my time!)

Bring on the next console...I don't mind.

Oh and the official loser of this generation:



Win. And yeah I'm the same way, I'm a technology nerd and I don't care where it comes from, I will most likely eventually own it. Bring on the new consoles.

Some of the core fanbase may have eroded, but there are 100 million other PS2 users out there waiting on the right price. Those people could care less about MS's console. They've known the Playstation brand for a decade and are just waiting in the wings for a magical price point.

Then again, those wanting that cheap 'gaming' console may have jumped on the Wii train.

I don't think most of those people with the PS2 are waiting for the PS3 to drop in price, they're just waiting for the next big thing to tickle their fancy, and odds are, it won't be this generation.

First console I bought of this generation was a Wii. Still very happy with it and get my enjoyment out of it (as does the whole family). Next, got an Xbox 360 (or, as my wife calls it, the Peggle/Rock Band/Left 4 Dead machine). Love it and Xbox Live (which is easily worth the annual fee).

I bring this up because I've been something of a "loyal" Sony fan since the Playstation 1. Had an N64, Gamecube and Xbox, but always late into their lifecycles, and always cheap (Xbox was given to me by someone getting a 360!). I was pretty pumped for the PS3. Hell, my PS2 is a launch unit, and it still works perfectly. Then they announced the PS3 price/Blu-Ray push. No sale. In fact, it wasn't until last November that I got one (with the Wal-Mart $100 gift card). I actually only bought it because we wanted a Blu-Ray player, and I figured "Well, if I'm going to spend that kind of money on a player, might as well get one that plays video games as well."

I don't know if the PS3 has "lost" this generation, but it's "lost" me as a die-hard fan. There's no "must-have" game for it (despite the awesomeness of "Little Big Planet," it's not a system seller). There's nothing about it that makes it stand out from the competition to everyone (yes, it plays Blu-Ray, but that's not "everyone").

The games I've played on it are fun, but I will always go with the 360 version where possible due to the fact that all of my friends play 360 online. As fun as the aforementioned LBP is, or "Uncharted," "Metal Gear" or any other exclusive, is there any game that makes any say "I need that system for that game?"

Price comes into play as well. Even if there was a game that makes you "need" the system, are you willing to drop that kind of coin for one game? You love LBP, but is it worth $450 or $550 to play it? For that price, you could have a 360 AND Rock Band (or another controller and two games, or whatever).

The fact is, the PS3 is a great system. It has great graphics, great games, AND is a Blu-Ray player. However, the Wii and 360 have it beat in the fact that they're already in people's homes, their cheaper, and you get as much "fun" (if not more) from them than the more expensive PS3. I have all three systems, and enjoy each one for what they provide. However, for someone looking to get only one system, if they're not interested in Blu-Ray, then there's no reason to get the PS3. In fact, even if you're going to get two systems, if you're not interested in Blu-Ray, there's no reason to get the PS3.

I think it's too early to tell who's won or lost, but I will say that PS3 does not have a lot going for it at this point, and is definitely the dark horse.

At what cost? They sacraficed being #1 for Blu-ray - a format which is still unprroven and unknown how long it will last. You gotta wonder how much 'incentives' were given away to studios for them to jump onboard plus the ongoing costs for BD discs over DVDs etc.

Most people 'on the fence' have already jumped. I keep hearing this excuse as well but its been 3.5 years since 360 launched - there are very few people 'waiting' on Sony. They either jumped in with the 360, Wii or PS3. The people buying PS2 are doing so for cheap games or because they want to play PS2 games now that Sony removed BC from their systems.

I meant my home office, but yeah, I'm guessing the Air Force is hiring. For my particular field, you'll generally need a master's degree, but there are plenty of other options.

Also, the consoles in my office cover a broad timeframe and none are terribly expensive these days: SNES, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Wii

I guess that's seven rather than six, but I think the point stands. I'm not terribly brand-loyal when it comes to video games, but I do have a soft spot for Nintendo. I just think it's silly to bash (or write off) the PS3 when it's 1/5 of the way into its planned lifecycle and they're still selling a couple of hundred thousand PS2s every month.

really... I didn't know my user name was "thief"
there is a diffference between streaming and "stealing" .... the difference is pretty huge

Looking at the first sentence of the first post, I think he did.

It was a very frustrating decision for me to figure out which console to go with. I took a leap of faith with PS3 2 years ago, and it was just one wave of bad news after another. PS3 owners had to wait later to play games, and ports were often done poorly (ex. Orange Box). Things have improved now, and almost all releases come out the same time for PS3 and Xbox.

To be fair, by the time you buy all the crap for Xbox, HDMI cable, hard drive, wifi, Xbox live, you end up spending a lot more on Xbox than PS3.

I bought a 360 last year, and enjoy owning both. That's really the only way to go with this gen!

Maybe but I still quite a few people that only want Sony, and only when the price drops. I have a relative that only wanted to play Madden/Tiger/EA stuff and wanted to play online, to boot. I tried to convince him on the 360 and he just kept tossing out the most asinine reasons not to switch. People get stuck in their ways and just can't change.

I think this is much less true than previous generations. The PS3 and 360 are more similar than they are different, and development costs have shrunk exclusives drastically.

Really, I think if you own one, it's a hard sell to buy the other.

Otherwise, I agree completely with your post. PS3 had a shaky first year.

Heeheehee! I love how people get all riled up about the console wars. For me a healthy Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft = a healthy video game market = good game variety and a fair price for madcougar.

With that said... Sony is STILL losing money on every console it makes. That means a price drop is almost impossible regardless of how necessary it is for Sony to grow its installed base.

Comparisons to the shelf life of the PS2 are ridiculous. The conditions and market are COMPLETELY different this time around with Nintendo completely crushing the competition and Microsoft expanding on XBox Live to the degree it has - plus M$ has basically wrestled too many former exclusives away from Sony AND got a one year head start to boot.

Also MANY people purchased a PS2 as their first DVD player. While I'm sure that people are buying a PS3 for Blu Ray, the growth of that format is NO WHERE NEAR as explosive as DVD was 10 years ago. At best Blu Ray sales of a new release are about 20 percent of all sales. The majority of people are not ready to abandon DVD. In fact one of the more interesting articles on the subject of Blu Ray I've read recently talks about how the real format war is going to be Blu Ray vs DVD.

Sure the PS2 still sells. The new PS3s are no longer backward compatible and if you're like me you have 50 PS2 games - a $99 second PS2 is almost a no brainer.

For the record I had a PS2 and Gamecube last generation. I had no interest in an X-Box. This gen, I picked up a Wii early on. The day I went to buy a PS3 (the day Madden 09 came out), I couldn't find one. I wanted the Blu Ray player damn it! As I was itching to get Madden 09, I reluctantly settled on a 360 - and I'm so glad that I did.

I will happily plunk down my money when the PS3 hits about $250.

So is Sony going to stop producing Playstations? Of course not. But at this point the battle for dominance is over for this generation at least.

My two cents: I own a 360 and a Wii. There are some PS3 exclusives that have tempted me to buy a PS3, but I haven't been able to convince myself to pull the trigger and probably won't unless there is an absolute killer PS3 game and/or a significant price drop.

That said, since I don't own stock in Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony, it doesn't matter that much to me which console is outselling which. All three are doing well enough that there will be plenty of software support, so even if I had a PS3 and nothing else, I wouldn't be worried about the fact that "my" console is in 3rd place -- 3rd place in a multi-billion dollar industry means I don't have to worry that I've got an obsolete system that won't be supported.

People knew the Nintendo brand for a decade and it didn't really lead to massive N64 success or carry them to the Gamecube. There might be some anecdotal evidence and a handful of folks that only think about Sony, but I'm sure the bulk of those people only care where the big games are and plenty who have moved on to associating something like Halo with video gaming.

Any argument, pro or con, is rendered null and void when lame acronyms are used.

Yup. Ditto. Had a 20GB PS3 since the 1st summer it was out. Still don't own a PS3 game for it. The wife bought Heavenly Sword but hasn't gotten around to playing it (she spends too much time watching movies and TV and reading).

I bought the 20GB as a Blu-ray playing PS2/PS1 machine and it hasn't disappointed. Saves me keeping a PS2 plugged in and bypasses the video syncing issues I was having with PS1 games and component video on the PS2.

And the PS2 was my main system - I never liked the original Xbox.

But now I'm playing Lost Odyssey on the 360 (the kind of game that NEVER appeared on the orig. Xbox) while twiddling my thumbs waiting for White Knight Story to come out on the PS3...it is likely to be my first PS3 game. Quite a different generation.

For that matter I still own more PS2 and PS1 games than the Wii / 360 / GC/XB library all combined together. But the 360 is the daily gaming system to play Gears with my buddies or SF4 or whatever.

I've made the observation how Xbox and Sony have switched roles this generation compared to last gen. In the last gen, Xbox had superior hardware over PS2, yet ports failed to take advantage of the hardware. Games looks the same on Xbox as they did on PS2. Xbox suffered great the first year, and it seemed almost impossible for the console to produce one solid exclusive outside Halo. Remember those awful games like Bruce Lee? And whenever Xbox finally got a great exclusive, it eventually ended up on PS2 like Splinter Cell. Xbox also suffered from a lack of JRPGS.

Wow, history repeated itself, only PS3 is now going down the same road as the original Xbox.

Yeah, I guess that ipod thing-ama-jig is doing pretty poorly these days.