• 4Nov 07

  An "Xbot" Speaks Out

  Somehow, Sony has built enough brand loyalty within the past decade to cause its fans to overlook what is undoubtedly one of the worst console buys in the history of gaming. I don't really care to explore how this came to be. I'm more concerned with punching holes in the idea that any of the versions of the PS3 are even remotely worth purchasing right now.

  

  Sexy looking, isn't it? Too bad its price is double its value.

  Objectively Speaking
  

  Let's get one thing out of the way: The Playstation 3 has a high-definition video disc player built-in. The Xbox 360 does not. So right off the bat, let's give a hardware advantage to Sony; it has a little more versatility.

  Unfortunately, when you get to gaming--the very purpose of a game console--things go downhill for Sony.

  Price

  It's a simple fact that the bestselling Xbox 360 model--the Premium--is $50 less than the cheapest model of the PS3. Even worse for Sony, the 360 can be had cheaper still, for a whopping $120 less--now in a package with a memory card and a wireless controller, eliminating previous complaints about required additional purchases to play games.

  

  What you'll save by going with the 360 instead. Funny; that's about the price of a game.

  Hardware

  Much was made of IBM's Cell processor in the months leading up the PS3's release. And on paper, it sounds fantastic. It's certainly great for stress tests like Folding @ Home. So why is it that games usually end up looking better on the Xbox 360, and why is it that developers hate working on titles for the PS3?

  Because, as any programmer can tell you, multithreading is already enough of a pain without having to deal with something as complex as Cell. Furthermore, developers like id have complained about the way the PS3's memory works; it causes them problems with optimizations, forcing delays, downgraded graphics, and reduced frame rates.
  

  In short, simpler, better-designed hardware results in better graphics for Xbox 360 users. Whether this will change in the future as developers "learn the ropes" of the PS3 remains to be seen--but we're not talking about indefinite future occurances. We're talking about right now. And right now, the Xbox 360 has the edge in graphics.

  

  A step above anything you'll get on a PS3--at least for now.

  Online Service

  Even PS3 owners have complained about how its online service is less usable and offers less features than the 360's. It's no secret that the Achievement and Gamerscore features are very popular on the 360. Xbox LIVE also offers a more robust marketplace--not just a large library of lightweight "casual" games, but also movies, TV episodes, and more.

  Games

  The most damning comparison between the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 is regarding the quantity and quality of the games available for the two consoles. A quick survey of gamerankings.com reveals this in full. Where the Xbox 360 has 66 games rated over 80% by game critics, the Playstation 3 has only 23. But it gets worse.

  Out of those 23 games, only 7 are exclusive to the Playstation 3, and one of those is a remake of an earlier Xbox game playable on the 360. But hang on--it gets worse still.

  The Playstation 3 does not have even one exclusive game rated over 90% by critics according to gamerankings.com. Not one. In fact, it only has one game rated over 90% at all--and that's Oblivion, a game with a higher rating on the 360.

  

  It's undeniable: For a gamer, the Xbox 360 simply offers more.

  Backwards Compatibility
  

  As of now, both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 use imperfect software-based backwards compatibility. But in Sony's case, you better be prepared to lay out an extra $100 to get that feature--despite the fact that it would be completely free for them to include in both versions, it being, as previously mentioned, software-based. This may not matter to some users, but to a certain segment of gamers--those who do not own a PS2, who want to trade theirs in for a PS3, or who want to conserve physical space and TV plugs--this seems a colossally stupid decision, made only worse by the fact that the PS3 offers very few well-regarded games on its own.

  Reliability

  The Xbox 360 is much-maligned for its reliability problems. To those who state this as a reason to buy the PS3 instead, I offer up two counterpoints.

  Firstly, Microsoft has fixed the hardware problems with their console. Its reliability may now equal or exceed the PS3. So, since we are speaking of which console is a worthy investment at the moment, reliability comes out as a draw between the two.
  

  Secondly, Sony is no stranger to reliability problems, and the fact that few have cropped up regarding the PS3 may be due to its more recent release rather than to any strength on Sony's part. The PS2 was notorious for breaking down. I personally owned two that broke under normal, careful treatment, and one of them was the most recent Slim revision.

  The Future

  I've been mostly treating this article as a comparison based upon what's worthwhile right now. But it's true that a console is a future investment as well. Unfortunately, one cannot predict the future, only make their best guess about what it may bring. And such best guesses are pointing at a bright future for the Xbox 360. This holiday season, the Xbox 360 will likely lengthen its lead regarding its game library. Next year brings even more good things to 360 owners.

  The PS3 also offers some games to look forward to. But Sony has a lot of catching up to do if they want to match Microsoft. With a smaller installed user base and unfriendly hardware and software development tools, it seems unlikely that they will make much headway with developers in acquiring worthy exclusive titles.

  And even if Sony does catch up, why buy a PS3 now? The console's price will certainly drop in the future, when it also has more games worth buying.

  In fact, why not buy a 360 now and wait to see if the PS3 improves before spending money on a substandard deal?

  With that, I'll leave off and let you ponder whether the PS3 really is worth the money. Personally? I think the answer is clear.

  • Posted Nov 4, 2007 6:42 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 17Sep 07

  I've never played a Resident Evil game. Until now.

  I've been aware of the Resident Evil series more or less since it first hit the scene, back when I was a wee little gamer and excited mostly about the N64. (At that point, I resented Sony for even attempting to break into the gaming industry. Come to think of it, I still do.) I read the reviews in the rags of the day, saw the ads, and wasn't particularly bothered to try it out.

  The main thing that simply did not sound appealing to me, and still doesn't to this day, is the idea of having a 3D shooter with a fixed camera angle for each scene. In my experience, it's hard to even move a character from angles like the ones I saw in screenshots, much less aim well enough to shoot things.

  Resident Evil 4 changed all that. But at that point I was a PC-and-Xbox gamer, and there wasn't much incentive to try to play it on the computer, for obvious reasons. But I knew it was very well-received, an "instant classic", and so on.

  So when I bought a used Gamecube recently in an effort to play some of the great last-gen console games I missed out on, Resident Evil 4 was one of the first games I acquired to go with it.

  And it's awesome. Very different from your typical Western-style shooters, but not in a bad way. There's a methodical feel to the control style that fits in very well with the pace of the game. And a lot of the way the game is polished feels very old-school to me, despite the great graphics and intense, atmospheric gameplay.

  Of course, thematic elements aside, the game doesn't really include much horror for me. After F.E.A.R., it doesn't seem frightening in the least. But that's all right. There's still a cinematic, well-made quality to the game that pleases the eye and ear, and I'm loving it.

  I just hope the story lives up to the action and the atmosphere. But even if it doesn't, I can't see myself having any serious complaints about the experience, with gameplay like this.

  Why did I wait so long to check it out in the first place? Oh yes. I'm an idiot.

  • Posted Sep 17, 2007 5:43 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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