...and I am happy with it, since I paid under $80 for it, and have mostly rented HD DVDs from Netflix, paying on average $10 each for the 10 HD discs I have (Yes, I am a proud "Cheap A** Gamer!"). As far as I'm concerned, the HD DVD drive has more than paid for itself and been worth it since with HDMI it functions as an upscaler for DVDs as well. I never invested heavily in HD DVD/Blu-ray (I recently got the PS3 Spidey Bundle, but only have the Spiderman Trilogy & Casino Royal...
...not to mention that it would be a disaster for gamers. Look what competition has brought to us gamers in the last year... price cuts, innovative games, an explosion in games development, games/systems on sale almost every week--- did I mention price cuts?
If you want innovation and better prices to continue, then mergers like this are NOT what you want....
...between MS and Sony. Things are definitely heating up.
FOR SONY:
1. Great Holiday Season numbers (got me with the Spidey BUNDLE)
2. It is catching up with the 360
3. All the momentum is on Sony's side now, with Blu-ray's big wins and a year full of killer-apps upcoming, you know, games so big they're known by initials-- FFXIII, MGS4, KZ2, ROM2, GT5.
FOR MICROSOFT:
1. Great Holiday Season numbers (Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, C...
...and can't wait for the sequel. In a way, I compare Saints' Row vs. GTA to Forza Motorsport vs. Gran Turismo, with Saints playing the part of Forza Motorsport, new kid on the block with new customization features the veteran superstar hadn't utilized. Forza 2 was a big hit, and now all of the pressure is on GT5 to deliver the goods, hence GT5 Prologue to hold fans until GT5 gets here (2009?). I thought the first Saints was great and I cannot imagine what Volition's got up their sleeves f...
...is the best course right now, at least through GDC and maybe even up until E3. Between the price cuts, upgrades, and new SKUs there will be plenty of goodies for us gamers to decide on in the upcoming months ahead. I'm particularly excited about bigger hard drives (HDD STANDARD for Arcade? Brilliant!) for Xbox 360/PS3 and possibly Slim models for both consoles as well. Lord_Ash, love the idea of GTAIV console bundles--- for BOTH Xbox 360 and PS3? See what competition does for us gamer...
...22 minutes on the toilet? You're gonna need some reading materials, or maybe it's PSP time? I guess if it means faster loading times, than the 22 min. wait is worth it....
... that eventually a PS3 Slim is coming, it's inevitable. I agree that now is too soon; I think that more likely is a new model (120GB with DualShock3?) and/or a price cut? Sony is feeling the momentum of a very successful Christmas, and unlike Microsoft, which had the chance to pounce on Sony when it was down but didn't, Sony is poised to pounce now that things have slowed down a bit for MS. MS doesn't give up easily however, so this is going to be some fight in '08. All of this heated ...
...games if you ask me. Gears 2 (Gears TRILOGY really, at least) was a lock probably BEFORE Gears came out, so no secret there. Epic was probably working on Gears 2 while they were working on the PC Gears. Forza 3 was a lock before Bizarre Creations left the PGR series, but Bizarre's departure from PGR makes Forza 3 that much more important now. I agree with the comment that MS would like to counter GT5. Not sure if it can make it out before 2009 though, unless it is announced at GDC (wh...
...that we'll still see the rumoured price cuts for both Xbox 360 & PS3 this Spring/Summer, around the releases of GTA IV (Xbox) and MGS4 (PS3). Sony's upcoming software slate is-- as the man in black with the red lightsaber would say-- "Impressive. Most impressive," and as such it wouldn't be surprising to see an upgrade (PS3 Slim? 120 or 160GB Hard Drive?) rather than a price cut. Microsoft on the other hand may NEED that price cut to spur sales in the light of an upcoming...
... it's all about the PRICE of UMDs. The format was dead from the beginning. DVD quality movies at LOWER THAN DVD PRICES would have been a huge momentum bringer to the PSP, but instead, they decided to sell UMDs WITHOUT THE FEATURES OF DVD at full DVD prices. Just plain' ol' DUMB DECISION. I got a PSP Slim Daxter Pack for Christmas, and racked up on cheap/clearance UMDs for $4 and UNDER. But now with Blu-ray downloads to PSP upcoming, UMDs are pretty much history. Still, I think UMD Mo...
FIRST: Yes, we get it, Blu-ray is the big winner...
SECOND: Not sure that the PS3 is better than the Xbox 360 simply because of Blu-ray.
I own both consoles now (FINALLY, took a lot of saving, shopping around, coupons, and even layaway!), and each console has strong selling points over the other. The PS3 has Blu-ray built-in and that is sweet, but it cost Sony big-time and actually helped Microsoft build its big lead. On the other side of the coin, the 360 has...
... that Star Wars itself is due for its own FIGHTING GAME, wouldn't you think? No one remembers "Masters of Teras Kasi" for the PSOne? Call me an old fart for taking you back to the 1990s, but that's how long its been since Star Wars had a fighting game, as far as I remember. Can you imagine a Star Wars fighting game NOW on next-gen consoles (PSP too please), with all of the prequel trilogy, classic trilogy, clone wars, upcoming tv series & even extended universe (the books)...
I'm going to keep my HD DVD Add-on for my 360, and I'm rubbing my hands greedily in expectation of the inevitable HD DVD fire-sales. Can you imagine HD DVDs going for $9.99? Can't wait. You say that I'm taking the death of HD DVD very well? Of course I am... I'm picking up the PS3 I've had on layaway for almost FOUR months on Thursday....
...when are those damn prices for HD discs going to go down? I swear if it weren't for BuyOneGetOne FREE (BOGOs), I probably wouldn't own ANY HD DVDs or BLU-RAYs. With HD DVD now biting the big one, are prices on HD discs going to come down? Have to admit, the HD DVD v. BLU-RAY format war was bringing the prices down fast....
...and this stupid format war cost Sony, Toshiba, Microsoft and the other movie studios two years of profits they'll never get back, not to mention giving fanboys an army of flamethrowers--- it'll take YEARS to put all those fires out. That's two years closer to Digital Distribution, two years of more DVD domination. Technology is advancing these days alright, EXPONENTIALLY, and DD is much closer than you think. All HD DVD/BLU-RAY have really accomplished so far is to buy more time for DD ...
Everybody's going back to the bargaining table. Just because Warner went Blu does not end the format war immediately. Paramount and Universal aren't going to just give up overnight, and could conceivably hold out for awhile, dragging this out. Sony now has the leverage to negotiate a single format with Toshiba to completely and swiftly end this whole mess.
...Kristen Holt!! She is too damn fine, and I'll never get the image of her playing Guitar Hero on Cheat out of my mind... Let's see, gotta bump 11. Blair Butler and put in Kristen at #4, sliding the rest each down one spot....
...does that matter when COMBINED they make up 10% of disc sales? Blu-ray fans need to stop gloating about the so-called "format war" and focus on the real enemy: DVD. Good 'ol DVDs are stomping BOTH HD formats, and until Sony & Toshiba get together and come up with one format, that's not going to change. Well you say, "No, Blu-ray will win and it will be over," right? No, not right away. Blu-ray can win and this war will STILL drag into 2009. By that time there ...
...if Warner switches to HD DVD there would be an absolute stalemate in the format war? That could be what Warner wants, since a stalemate WOULD FORCE BOTH SIDES BACK TO THE NEGOTIATION TABLE. Think about it, do you think that Warner, Paramount, even Disney and Fox really want to be beholden to Sony's proprietary disc format LONG-TERM? Sony is a competing movie studio after all. I think a fully-negotiated NEW DISC format (backwards compatible with BOTH HD DVD AND BLU-RAY) agreed upon by a...
As Sean Connery playing superspy James Bond said to Q in the movie classic "Goldfinger," "You must be joking."
These things cost $30+ a pop, and you would turn down 100 free movies because it's a "dead format?" You do the math, that's $3000+ you're talking about, not to mention the inevitable $10 or under fire sales coming for HD DVDs. Dead format or not, you cannot deny that as Toshiba/Paramount/Universal try to work something out with Sony for ...