It is no secret that everyone was expecting, or even deserved to see, a drop in the price of the PS3. With a console that started at $599 USD three years ago, everyone was waiting to see when Sony would begin to appeal to the majority of consumers who aren’t willing to drop that much on a video game console. But, the question is now that it has come, is it enough to bring Sony back into the console war?
The PS3 Slim is a console that is going to retail for $299 starting in early September. It will come with a 120GB harddrive and is 34% lighter and smaller than the original PS3; this PS3, however, has a matte finish and no longer features the option for installing a secondary operating system.
The Nintendo Wii has heavily dominated the market and brought countless people who have never played video games into the market, but the Xbox 360 has been the console of choice for most people who can only purchase a single console and want a more adult experience than the Wii. The PS3 has always had the advantage of a built-in BluRay player, but the reasonable price difference that Microsoft has kept between it’s console and the PS3 and exclusive games made the BluRay feature more of an added bonus for buying a PS3 than a true decision changer in choosing a console.
The game changes a bit now that the Xbox 360 Elite, the version of the Xbox that is most comparable to the PS3, is $100 dollars more expensive and lacks a Bluray player. There is still a version of the Xbox 360 at the $299 price-point, but it features a 60GB harddrive unlike the 120GB that is being shipped with the PS3 slim. Rumors are now circulating that this version will be completely phased out and the Xbox 360 Elite will drop in price to $299.
Contrary to previous reports that Home would be launching later this month, possibly the 17th, Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that Play Station Home will be launching everywhere tomorrow! Although it will still be a beta, everyone will be able join. Hit the link to get the entire official announcement.
A perplexing message was found on Konami Productions official website yesterday. The message can be seen above. There are many theories about what this message can mean, but mostly everyone is certain that there will be some sort of Metal Gear Solid released on platforms other than the PS3 or PSP. Some theories are that MGS will finally be making the move to the Xbox 360, which is both indicated by the color of the text and the power ring, which is present very prominently on the front of the Xbox 360. But, another theory is also that MGS will be releasing a mobile version for the iPhone as indicated by the ‘i’. Right now, everything is up in the air and your guess is as good as mine, but I’m going to put my money on the iPhone or mobile version. A Xbox 360 version of MGS has been rumored since MGS4 was announced years ago, but nothing has come to fruition and the evidence in this message is a little bit to coincidental (after all, that is the UNIVERSAL power symbol); however, I don’t want to rule anything out. You can hope, just don’t get too excited.
X-Play has revealed the release date for Killzone 2 on their daily show. The date: February 27, 2009. This date was made official for only the United States, but the other dates (for PAL regions) should be around that date. The game was originally slated for March of 2008, and then pushed back to Q4 of 2008, but now it has an official date of February after a slew of delays, problems, and few details about the game. The FPS does have some of the best graphics in any console game ever giving even Crysis, a PC game, a run for its money. The game is definitely set to impress with extraordinary multiplayer from what I’ve seen. The Playstation 3 desperately needs a game like this to thwart the rise in popularity of the Xbox 360 and maybe take some more market share. We’ll wait and see if this game can do it, but from what I’ve heard about it so far it might actually hold a chance of getting a lot more PS3’s off the shelves.
With the recent downpour from various film production companies announcing full support of the Blu-ray high-definition media format, Microsoft seemed, simply put, screwed. As the backers of the rival format, HD DVD, Microsoft created an optional HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360. Most speculated that this feature would be rendered obsolete in the near future. Although, of course, Blu-ray will never work on this particular drive, Albert Penello, director of global marketing for the Xbox 360, stated that the company would be able to ship a Blu-ray drive if Sony’s format became the new standard. Apparently, Microsoft never even considered plans for integrating the HD DVD drive into the 360 itself. Despite opening up this new option, Penello still assures us all that Microsoft will not give up on HD DVD just yet. Saying, “Until Toshiba goes out of business, this war is not over,” he argued that consumers actually prefer HD DVD, and the studios simply made the wrong choice. If, as is currently most likely, HD DVD dies out, all Xbox 360 users can rest assured that Blu-ray will be available for them as well without a standalone player.
Paramount Pictures, which have released many top tier movies on both HD formats up to now, has decided to call it quits on their Blu-ray content and to only put out HD DVD flicks from now on. By switching back to HD DVD exclusivity, the company has ensured that big holiday releases such as Transformers and Blades of Glory will only come out on HD DVD discs at the end of this year. It isn’t just the Paramount branded movies which will only see HD DVD releases from now on though, as Dreamworks Animation movies will be coming to HD DVD alone as well. This means that movies like Shrek the Third will only be available on the red format this holiday season as well.
The Home Media Expo 2007 is underway this week in Las Vegas and HD DVD has used the forum to show off their latest sales numbers as compared to Blu-ray’s. According to Nielsen Netratings, HD DVD player sales are up 37% from Q1 to Q2 of this year, and software sales are up 20%. Blu-ray sales on the other hand have dropped significantly over the same time period however, with player sales dropping 27% and software sales down 5%.
Since HD DVD’s new marketing tactics have been applied, which include things such as price drops and movie offers, sales have been much better for the format. For the previously mentioned quarter, HD DVD dedicated player sales are up 183% and 80,000 players have been sold since April. This brings the total number of HD DVD player sales up to about 180,000.
Ready to make that step up to HD movie viewing but cant decide which format to choose? Here’s a little somthing to make that decision, well, harder. The powers behind both digital video standards are giving you a chance to nab five free HD films if you lean towards their format and lay your money down for a player. This kind of deal is not exactly new to HD DVD, but this is the first time that we have seen this kind of value coming with a BD player. Exciting!
The Blu-ray deal will be going live this weekend, so if you are planning on supporting BD, I suggest you wait just a little longer. The preliminary details of this offer came in the form of a news post on Bluray.com, but no word on what free movies consumers can choose from, or on how they will get to them. The HD DVD offer on the other hand allows you to choose from 15 titles, ranging from sucky (The Dukes of Hazzard) to downright kick-ass (Apollo 13). The movies in between aren’t bad either, with options such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Seabisuit available as well. Just mail them this form and you are ready to go!
The catch? Not much of one really. All you have to do for the Blu-ray movies is buy any player (including the PS3), and for HD DVD you just need to pick up a Toshiba one. What more reason could you need to jump up to an HD movie format?
Update:
Ars Technica has found a list of movies that you may have a chance to get with Blu Ray.
# The Guardian
# Babel
# Invincible
# Chicken Little
# Corpse Bride
# Blazing Saddles
# Kiss of the Dragon
# The Phantom of the Opera
# The Devil’s Rejects
# The Italian Job
# The Last Waltz
# The Omen (2006)
# Stealth
# Invincible
# Resident Evil: Apocalypse
# Species
# Hart’s War
# Stir of Echoes
# Underworld: Evolution
# Pearl Harbor
# Black Rain
# Underworld
# Transporter 2
(5 votes, average: 4.2 out of 5)
Loading ...
