It's been a long time since I posted anything on the Internet
but every now and again I feel re-invigorated to post some opinion or
other about video games and this time I've decided to join N4G to share those opinions, as it's a place I frequent quite a bit these days.
This
time I think it's been prompted by the purchase of a PlayStation 3 a
few months ago, and I just felt like expressing a few thoughts on it
and how it's left me thinking about what to recommend to people this
Christmas.
You see, I didn't really need a PS3 and at the time I didn't really want
one. I just kind of got one because it was the right time financially
to pick one up. So having done that, I plugged it in and hooked it up
to my telly via a HDMI cable and started using it.
You know, I was impressed... The
PS3 is slick in the engineering department; it has no buttons, the disk
is front loading, it's almost silent and the Blue Ray drive doesn't
make a sound. The menu's are clean, minimal yet stylish, you can see
all the little thumbnails animating in the menu's, it has a web
browser, it makes little stylish beeps and clicks and it feels like a
good bit of kit (a bit like most of Sony stuff lying around the house).
So, initially, thumbs up and in many ways it felt like a step up from my established next gen gaming system, the Xbox 360.
However,
a few months on and I find myself asking which system do I think is the
better system to recommend to others and this is where things start to
get difficult.
Why..? Well
it's because right now the 360 has it all when it comes to games; the
graphics are (generally speaking) better than the PS3 (framerate,
aliasing, pop-in etc.), the online part is much easier and reliable to
use, the marketplace offers some great arcade titles and games are
usually in shops sooner and cheaper than the PS3 versions. So, with an
endorsement like this, the advice would seem to be clear: 'Buy a 360'. But it's not...
Whilst logically the 360 is the one to get I feel strangely compelled to recommend the PS3 because 'if' (and I mean a big'IF') Sony can just get a few things right... you know tidy up their sloppy PSN,
lower the prices of their games a little, get some games to market
quicker and improve the results on PS3 for cross platform development
it will be the one to own. The hardware is reliable, it doesn't sound like a microwave in your front room, it can produce stella' visuals (we've already seen them) huge detailed games can fit on the Blue Ray, it has wireless networking, bluetooth and card readers and soon it will even record your TV!
If
(and I mean a big IF) Sony succeed in tidying up the loose ends of a
hugely ambitious project that is the PS3 it will be, without doubt, the
one to own/recommend.
There's also all of the hardware issues
that relate to the 360 to consider too. I think it's fair to say that
almost all 360 owners expect their 360's to break within a year or two
of purchase, either disk read problems or the dreaded Red Ring Of
Death, and this surely goes in Sony's favour.
With this in mind, and without a proper 360 hardware revision this year, I'm left thinking of the saying "A candle that burns twice as bright, lasts half as long" and at the moment the 360 is definitely the one burning twice as bright.
What do you think?
The review embargo for Hellblade 2 appears to lift on the same date as the launch of the game, just an hour before it's available.
Reviews dont usually spoil its usually the players that get it early spoils it
That's not a good sign.
Review codes have been sent out as of 8 hours ago (according to Tom Henderson on X) so at least they aren't withholding those... But you'd think with confidence they'd want positive reviews to get buzz going online the weekend before release.
... But if they're expecting mid reviews, yeah sure lift that embargo when most people are asleep.
Digital Foundry : Bethesda's Starfield was generally a well-regarded RPG, but the game's 30fps target on consoles was the subject of some controversy. The game's massive scope arguably justified that 30fps refresh rate, with only high-end PCs capable of hitting 60fps and higher, but now Bethesda has changed course and opened the floodgates on Xbox Series X consoles following significant optimisation work. Players can now independently select performance and visuals modes at arbitrary frame-rates. How exactly do these new combinations fare, and is 60fps really a possibility after it was explicitly ruled out before?
An inside look at Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft's ambitious open world Japan where your every move is affected by weather, season, and lighting systems.
I would pick the ps3
The Xbox 360 really needs that hardware update.. despite the likes of BioShock it's hard to recommend one to a friend when the reliability and noise is such an issue. Every time I play it I worry it will stop working.
There's no mention of the Wii in the original post (is there no doubt one should have one?) but both the Wii and PS3 look like great long term buys in terms of reliability. Right now there are not many good games to warrant a PS3 purchase right away.
I'd probably recommend to someone wanting a console to buy a Wii now, then reconsider PS3 vs 360 in a year's time. By then HD-DVD vs Blu-ray may be more of a factor and I think PS3 might have the edge as it's all built in.
Really enjoyed and related to your words.
Enjoyed the read... Keep em coming!
i wish others who submit news could be as non-biased as you.