Newyork Times Review On The Ps3 Versus The Xbox 360

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Howard Stringer, you have a problem. Your company’s new video game system just isn’t that great.

Ever since Mr. Stringer took the helm last year at Sony, the struggling if still formidable electronics giant, the world has been hearing about how the coming PlayStation 3 would save the company, or at least revitalize it. Even after Microsoft took the lead in the video-game wars a year ago with its innovative and powerful Xbox 360, Sony blithely insisted that the PS3 would leapfrog all competition to deliver an unsurpassed level of fun.

Put bluntly, Sony has failed to deliver on that promise.

Measured in megaflops, gigabytes and other technical benchmarks, the PlayStation 3 is certainly the world’s most powerful game console. It falls far short, however, of providing the world’s most engaging overall entertainment experience. There is a big difference, and Sony seems to have confused one for the other.

The PS3, which was introduced in North America on Friday with a hefty $599 price tag for the top version, certainly delivers gorgeous graphics. But they are not discernibly prettier than the Xbox 360’s. More important, the whole PlayStation 3 system is surprisingly clunky to use and simply does not provide many basic functions that users have come to expect, especially online.

I have spent more than 30 hours using the PlayStation 3 over the last week or so and may have played more different games on the system — 13 — than probably anyone outside of Sony itself. Sony did not activate the PS3’s online service until just before the Friday debut. Over the weekend a clear sense of disappointment with the PlayStation 3 emerged from many gamers.

“What’s weird is that the PS3 was originally supposed to come out in the spring, and here it came out in the fall, and it still doesn’t feel finished,” Christopher Grant, managing editor of Joystiq, one of the world’s biggest video-game blogs, said on the telephone Saturday night. “It’s really not the all-star showing they should have had at launch. Sony is playing catch-up in a lot of ways now, not just in terms of sales but in terms of the basic functionality and usability of the system.”

Sadly for Sony, the best way to explain how the PlayStation 3 falls short is to explain how different it is to use than its main competition, Xbox 360. When I reviewed the 360 last year, I wrote: “Twelve minutes after opening the box, I had created my nickname, was in a game of Quake 4 and thought, ‘This can’t be this easy.’ ”

I never felt that way using the PlayStation 3. With the PS3, 12 minutes after opening the box I realized that Sony inexplicably does not include cables to connect the machine to a high-definition television. Keep in mind that one of Sony’s main selling points has been that the PS3 plays Blu-Ray high-definition movie discs. But high-definiton cables? Sold separately. The Xbox 360, by contrast, ships with one cable that can connect to either a standard or high-definition set.

Then, before you are even using the PS3, you have to connect the “wireless” controller to the base unit with a USB cable so they can recognize each other. If you bring your PS3 controller to a friend’s house, you’ll have to plug back in again. The 360’s wireless controllers are always just that, wireless.

If there is one thing one would expect Sony to get perfect, though, it would be music. Wrong. Sure, you can plug in your digital music player and the PS3 will play the tunes. But as soon as you go into a game, the music stops. By contrast, one of the things I’ve always enjoyed most on the Xbox 360 is being able to listen to my own music while playing Pebble Beach or driving my virtual Ferrari. Doesn’t seem too complicated, but the PS3 can’t do it.

In that sense it often feels as if the PlayStation 3 can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. In the PS3’s online store (which feels like a slow Web page) you can access movie trailers and trial versions of new games, but when you actually download the 600-megabyte files, you’ll be stuck watching a progress bar crawl across the screen for 20 or 40 minutes. Astonishingly, you can’t download in the background while you go do something that’s more fun (like play a game). On the Xbox 360, not only are files downloaded seamlessly in the background, but you can also shut off the machine, turn it on later, and the download will resume automatically.

The PS3’s whole online experience feels tacked-on and unpolished. On the Xbox 360 each user has a single unified friends list, so you can track your friends and communicate with them easily, no matter what game you are in. On the PlayStation 3 most games have their own separate friends list and some have no friends function at all. There is a master list as well, but in order to communicate with anyone on it, you have to quit the game you are playing.

There are some high points. The multi-player battles in Resistance: Fall of Man are excellent. The arcade-style action in the downloadable Blast Factor is suitably frantic.

But the list of the PS3’s disappointments remains, from its undersupported voice chat to its maddening cellphone-like text messaging system. (In frustration I ended up plugging in a USB keyboard.) Overall, Sony seems to have put a lot of effort into cramming as much silicon horsepower under the hood as possible but to have forgotten that all the transistors in the world can’t make someone smile.

And so it is a bit of a shock to realize that on the video game front Microsoft and Sony are moving in exactly the opposite directions one might expect given their roots. Microsoft, the prototypical PC company, has made the Xbox 360 into a powerful but intuitive, welcoming, people-friendly system. Sony’s PlayStation 3, on the other hand, often feels like a brawny but somewhat recalcitrant specialized computer. (Sony is even telling users to wait for future software patches to fix some of the PS3’s deficiencies.) The thing is, if people want to use a computer, they’ll use a computer.

Through the decades of the Walkman and the Trinitron television, Sony was renowned as the global master of easy-to-use, seamlessly powerful consumer electronics. But recently Sony seems to have lost its way, first in digital music players, in which it ceded the ergonomic high ground to Apple’s iPod, and now in home-game consoles. For now Sony’s technologists seem to have won out over the people who study fun.

As a practical matter, given the limited quantities Sony has been able to manufacture, the PlayStation 3 will surely remain sold out throughout the holiday season. If you can’t find one, don’t fret. Sony still has a lot of work to do. As Mr. Grant of Joystiq put it: “Maybe in six months it’ll be finished. Maybe by next fall I’ll be able to do all the cool stuff. I’m still kind of waiting.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/arts/20game.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
 
.....

In that sense it often feels as if the PlayStation 3 can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. In the PS3’s online store (which feels like a slow Web page) you can access movie trailers and trial versions of new games, but when you actually download the 600-megabyte files, you’ll be stuck watching a progress bar crawl across the screen for 20 or 40 minutes. Astonishingly, you can’t download in the background while you go do something that’s more fun (like play a game). On the Xbox 360, not only are files downloaded seamlessly in the background, but you can also shut off the machine, turn it on later, and the download will resume automatically.

......

Out of fairness... XBOX360 did not do this out of the box... The update earlier this year enabled that ability.
 
Sony was supposed to be released this past March... They had just as much extra time to get things polished....

Bottom line, they have a more expensive unit that regular users are underwhelmend about. After fanboys scoop up the limited supply (leaving none to be sold to casual shoppers,... don't worry, Best Buy will make you a good deal on a XBox360 to calm shoppers nerves... Ha ha....), they could be in for a nasty surprise.

I'm hoping PS3 falls well behind projections so that Fox and Disney hedge their bets and make HD DVDs available for their product. I bet on HD DVD and hope the rest of the content providers release more content for me. There won't be a BluRay player in my house anytime soon.
 
Sony was supposed to be released this past March... They had just as much extra time to get things polished....

Bottom line, they have a more expensive unit that regular users are underwhelmend about. After fanboys scoop up the limited supply (leaving none to be sold to casual shoppers,... don't worry, Best Buy will make you a good deal on a XBox360 to calm shoppers nerves... Ha ha....), they could be in for a nasty surprise.

I'm hoping PS3 falls well behind projections so that Fox and Disney hedge their bets and make HD DVDs available for their product. I bet on HD DVD and hope the rest of the content providers release more content for me. There won't be a BluRay player in my house anytime soon.

AMEN Bob......I couldn't have said it better myself! :)
 
Dream on guys, not everybody likes the M$ Xbox360 and not everybody likes the PS3. Gamers are gamers and by next summer when both products have great games out the PS3 will be chugging along just fine. I find it very interesting that the article does not meantion the BluRay drive - how well it works with the movies and it also does not meantion the bluetooth technology. He could have used a wireless keyboard and mouse. Instead the reviewer was not overwhelmed. Neither was anyone overwhelmed with the XBOX360 when it first came out. Seems too many of them were either melting discs or starting fires.

People are too jaded to let a new product grow into its own. The 360 is doing great now as GOW has been a jewel this Fall. How about we revisit the PS3 in a year. Cause right now all we have is it took the 360 12 months to sell 2.6 million units. PS3 sold 400,000 in one day. It might even sell another 300,000 to 600,000 by Christmas. Wow, that means that the PS3 could sell 40% of the 360s sales in a year in one month!

Doomsayers are going to say Sony will not deliver ANY more units till after Chistmas. They have to believe that because the other way Sony overtakes the 360 by next summer. And no one here really believes that -- do they? Also, did any 360s sell for over $3000 last Christmas?

In one day BluRay past up the HD-DVD hardware sales in the US. Now I read that Toshiba owners are going to take back their Toshiba's and buy the M$ HD-DVD player instead. I am sure that Toshiba is going to be able to withstand the BluRay onslaugt of Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung (if they ever make a good player) and now the M$ HD-DVD player with limited audio output? And you think Fox and Disney are going to roll over on this senario? You obviously are not in business for yourself.

Handwritings on the wall. If the Doomsayers are right and Sony doesn't deliver any more PS3s then Sony is doomed and so is BluRay. But what if Sony continues to make the PS3s and delivers them?
 
Cause right now all we have is it took the 360 12 months to sell 2.6 million units. PS3 sold 400,000 in one day. It might even sell another 300,000 to 600,000 by Christmas. Wow, that means that the PS3 could sell 40% of the 360s sales in a year in one month!


Aww, it'ss so boring to always read and correct your utterly clueless BS, Joe - by last month - for your mind only: October - over 6 millions Xbox 360 has been shipped. In 11 month, Joe (sorry, I really understand that you are having problem to calculate the number of months from November to October but I had to correct this.)

If MS end up selling only 2 million in the next two months that's already 8 million - roughly the same number of units Sony MIGHT be able to churn out during the next 12-13 months while MS will sell another 8-10 million units, creating positive income, unlike Sony... things look pretty doomy for your masters at Sony, Joe - you need to get a firmware update very soon.:cool:

Source for literate people: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20061026175627.html
 
I thought it was reported that there were really only 150k units available on launch day.
 
Aww, it'ss so boring to always read and correct your utterly clueless BS, Joe - by last month - for your mind only: October - over 6 millions Xbox 360 has been shipped. In 11 month,[/url]

Although I support xbox 100% just to note that Joe was right to an extent... there have only been 2.6 million sold in the US... 6 million worldwide. (Cited from Game Informer's December Issue)
 
Although I support xbox 100% just to note that Joe was right to an extent... there have only been 2.6 million sold in the US... 6 million worldwide. (Cited from Game Informer's December Issue)

And 400k PS3 worldwide, at least by Joe, as he used the number which I quoted above:

PS3 sold 400,000 in one day.

Of course, the real number is around 300K worldwide from PS3 as Gamasutra pointed out last week.
 
does anyone here realize that the 360 out of the box could not do MANY MANY of the things it can do now. A lot of people did not have a launch console like I did and got a post launch console with the newest firmware and do not realize the 360 had many of the same flaws the PS3 does now. SO DONT TRY TO FEED THAT BS TO ME and its wrong to try to give that misconstrued info to the public
 
Sadly for Sony, the best way to explain how the PlayStation 3 falls short is to explain how different it is to use than its main competition, Xbox 360. When I reviewed the 360 last year, I wrote: “Twelve minutes after opening the box, I had created my nickname, was in a game of Quake 4 and thought, ‘This can’t be this easy.’ ”

Thats about the time it took me on the PS3 as well. It was that easy. PS Netowrk does not compare right now to the 360, but it is right there with XBL at the launch of the 360.

I never felt that way using the PlayStation 3. With the PS3, 12 minutes after opening the box I realized that Sony inexplicably does not include cables to connect the machine to a high-definition television. Keep in mind that one of Sony’s main selling points has been that the PS3 plays Blu-Ray high-definition movie discs. But high-definiton cables? Sold separately. The Xbox 360, by contrast, ships with one cable that can connect to either a standard or high-definition set.

Sony, obviously touting the HD capabilities should have included the HD cable, but If you're going to buy the system know what it includes and if you need something extra buy it ahead of time or at the sipurchase of the console you idiot.


Then, before you are even using the PS3, you have to connect the “wireless” controller to the base unit with a USB cable so they can recognize each other. If you bring your PS3 controller to a friend’s house, you’ll have to plug back in again. The 360’s wireless controllers are always just that, wireless.

If I'm not mistaken and IM NOT, the you have to go to the front of the 360 console to link up the controller initially as well. I don't see how of all things this is such a big deal. I plug the console in, had to connect to USB, and never have to do it again unless you restore the console to the defaults. Even when it loses power it still links up fine. Such a fanboy bringing up that lame point.

If there is one thing one would expect Sony to get perfect, though, it would be music. Wrong. Sure, you can plug in your digital music player and the PS3 will play the tunes. But as soon as you go into a game, the music stops. By contrast, one of the things I’ve always enjoyed most on the Xbox 360 is being able to listen to my own music while playing Pebble Beach or driving my virtual Ferrari. Doesn’t seem too complicated, but the PS3 can’t do it.

I miss it too, but it will come with an update.

In that sense it often feels as if the PlayStation 3 can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. In the PS3’s online store (which feels like a slow Web page) you can access movie trailers and trial versions of new games, but when you actually download the 600-megabyte files, you’ll be stuck watching a progress bar crawl across the screen for 20 or 40 minutes. Astonishingly, you can’t download in the background while you go do something that’s more fun (like play a game). On the Xbox 360, not only are files downloaded seamlessly in the background, but you can also shut off the machine, turn it on later, and the download will resume automatically.

I seem to remember a similar problem with the 360 at launch as well. Definitely a stupid decision to make it work this way, but at least compare it to the 360 at launch.

The PS3’s whole online experience feels tacked-on and unpolished. On the Xbox 360 each user has a single unified friends list, so you can track your friends and communicate with them easily, no matter what game you are in. On the PlayStation 3 most games have their own separate friends list and some have no friends function at all. There is a master list as well, but in order to communicate with anyone on it, you have to quit the game you are playing.

The only features like these that I use are voice chat and acheivements. Anything else is garbage, like friends lists. Whoo hoo if you get off on a friends list you need to get a life.


But the list of the PS3’s disappointments remains, from its undersupported voice chat to its maddening cellphone-like text messaging system. (In frustration I ended up plugging in a USB keyboard.) Overall, Sony seems to have put a lot of effort into cramming as much silicon horsepower under the hood as possible but to have forgotten that all the transistors in the world can’t make someone smile.
Voice chat is 10X better than 360 VC,.


As a practical matter, given the limited quantities Sony has been able to manufacture, the PlayStation 3 will surely remain sold out throughout the holiday season. If you can’t find one, don’t fret. Sony still has a lot of work to do. As Mr. Grant of Joystiq put it: “Maybe in six months it’ll be finished. Maybe by next fall I’ll be able to do all the cool stuff. I’m still kind of waiting.”

Again I wish i had a launch firmware for my 360 so i could go back and post 100% factual evidence of what it could not do. I remember it being good, but some things pissed me off. He really should not write this review bashing like this w/o even recognizing the fact that the 360 had many software issues like the PS3 at launch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/arts/20game.html?_r=1&oref=slogin[/QUOTE]

EDIT:

Xbox 360 Spring Update
Complete Features List

New Features
* Download Manager: Marketplace items now download in the background, you can queue up to six pieces of content.

There's that bit of factual evidence I was looking for. Took them 4-5 months to get that out.

Also, from XBOX Forums http://forums.xbox.com/864844/ShowPost.aspx
** Please I beg of you to make this hopefully small change relatively soon to the 360's interface. I just can't see downloading something as that taxing on the hardware that it would cause a hiccup in the games or keep you from doing something else in the dashboard. Doing nothing on the 360 while it takes 20 minutes to download a demo or video etc... really blows.

So CHOKE ON THAT. I hate narrowmindedness
 
Last edited:
If I'm not mistaken and IM NOT, the you have to go to the front of the 360 console to link up the controller initially as well.

I believe you are indeed mistaken. I never hooked up my controllers to my 360. They didn't even come with a cable for doing so.

Again I wish i had a launch firmware for my 360 so i could go back and post 100% factual evidence of what it could not do. I remember it being good, but some things pissed me off. He really should not write this review bashing like this w/o even recognizing the fact that the 360 had many software issues like the PS3 at launch.

I think the point of the article is that Sony had an extra year to get these features into their box. A new computer system should generally be better than one that has been on the market for a full year.
 
I did not say you had to connect a cable for the 360, i stated that you have to go to the front of the 360. you have to press a button. what is the difference in linking up that way over connecting it to USB for 2 seconds.

They didn't have an extra year. They had the time they alloted to it just as MS had the time they alloted to the 360. There was no extra year. One came out last year one this year, thats like saying MS should not have release the 360 until 6 march b/c they just got the console to d/l in the background. Again sony did not have another year. their timeline differed from MS timeline, and thats it.
 
I did not say you had to connect a cable for the 360, i stated that you have to go to the front of the 360. you have to press a button. what is the difference in linking up that way over connecting it to USB for 2 seconds.

They didn't have an extra year. They had the time they alloted to it just as MS had the time they alloted to the 360. There was no extra year. One came out last year one this year, thats like saying MS should not have release the 360 until 6 march b/c they just got the console to d/l in the background. Again sony did not have another year. their timeline differed from MS timeline, and thats it.

I suppose the difference is that between being wireless and not being wireless. Of course it is not a big deal to have to hook up a controller once in a while. But those little things can annoy.

And of course Sony had an extra year. They have to be aware of the advances being made in the industry. If I were to release a console today, would reviewers compare it to Pong or to the 360, Wii, and P3? Sure, Sony started after Microsoft. They also started in a more advanced environment. You can buy both consoles now, today. Comparing the P3 to a version of the 360 that is not even available anymore is not being fair to the P3. It is being an apologist for the P3.

And don't think I am some fanboy. I frankly don't care how well any of these consoles do. I have a 360 because I was able to get one basically for free. The success or failure of the P3 or Wii won't have any affect on my enjoyment of what I have.
 
Your not going to go to a store and get a 360 that still has the original launch software. All you can do is compare the PS3 to the 360 that exists right now. I think the article makes a fair comparison of the two. If you were reviewing two cars your not going to compare an 07 Accord to 95 Camry your going to compare it to the model that is available now. You can't say oh well when the Camry first came out it didn't have ABS.

Obviously if sony fixes the interface this makes this guys review completely irrelevant but until then compared to the 360's current interface the PS3 one stinks. It doesnt matter if a year ago the 360's interface stunk because it doesn't exist anymore.
 
Your not going to go to a store and get a 360 that still has the original launch software. All you can do is compare the PS3 to the 360 that exists right now. I think the article makes a fair comparison of the two. If you were reviewing two cars your not going to compare an 07 Accord to 95 Camry your going to compare it to the model that is available now. You can't say oh well when the Camry first came out it didn't have ABS.

Obviously if sony fixes the interface this makes this guys review completely irrelevant but until then compared to the 360's current interface the PS3 one stinks.

i agree that it stinks, but one cannot compare a console that has been out a year to one that has been out for 5 days. its not a fair comparison at all.
 
does anyone here realize that the 360 out of the box could not do MANY MANY of the things it can do now. A lot of people did not have a launch console like I did and got a post launch console with the newest firmware and do not realize the 360 had many of the same flaws the PS3 does now. SO DONT TRY TO FEED THAT BS TO ME and its wrong to try to give that misconstrued info to the public

Stop feeding us with this BS - PS3 has to compete with 360 and Wii NOW, not a year from now.
 

Bloomberg: Sony missed PS3 ship targets

Xbox 360 bundle for $100 at Amazon?

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