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PS3 and Blu Ray or 360 HD DVD Add on?
Bamelin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I was planning on buying the HD DVD add on for the 360 in August, but then this PS3 price drop hit. In Canada the price drop is even more substantial with the cost of the console going from $699 to $549. With another 25 dollar off BB coupon I can now get a 60 gig PS3 for $525 plus tax. Blu Ray has also made the 5 free Blu Ray Disc deal available to Canadians as well which means I'd get 5 movies free right off the bat.
While I'm by no means a huge PS3 fan, I AM very interested in some of their multiplayer offerings, such as Resistance and the upcoming Warhawk. Warhawk looks to offer some incredible multiplayer action, to be honest I'm not sure the 360 could do some of the things that Warhawk does.
I'm a multiplayer whore and I've noticed that PS3 games tend to have larger overall player limits per session ... is there a reason for this?
On the other side of the equation is the HD DVD add on for the 360. It costs $199 Canadian and comes with King Kong. Unlike our friends in the States Canadians got no price cut and we also cannot take advantage of the Toshiba 5 free HD DVD's deal (US only promotion). But for the cost of a PS3 I could get the HD DVD plus a crapload of HD DVD movies (Matrix Trilogy, 300, Aeon Flux, Heroes etc). I actually like the movies available on the HD DVD side better than Blue Ray.
What should I do? I'm feeling so conflicted right now.
While I'm by no means a huge PS3 fan, I AM very interested in some of their multiplayer offerings, such as Resistance and the upcoming Warhawk. Warhawk looks to offer some incredible multiplayer action, to be honest I'm not sure the 360 could do some of the things that Warhawk does.
I'm a multiplayer whore and I've noticed that PS3 games tend to have larger overall player limits per session ... is there a reason for this?
On the other side of the equation is the HD DVD add on for the 360. It costs $199 Canadian and comes with King Kong. Unlike our friends in the States Canadians got no price cut and we also cannot take advantage of the Toshiba 5 free HD DVD's deal (US only promotion). But for the cost of a PS3 I could get the HD DVD plus a crapload of HD DVD movies (Matrix Trilogy, 300, Aeon Flux, Heroes etc). I actually like the movies available on the HD DVD side better than Blue Ray.
What should I do? I'm feeling so conflicted right now.
Bamelin on
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To be honest (speaking for my own personal situation) the PS3 would probaly not be the most fiscally responsible choice of the two ... but Warhawk man WARHAWK! :P
Video stores in the area have a Blu Ray section, but no HD-DVD section
EDIT: Darn you dots. Darn you to heck.
UT2007 looks great but I've heard that the PS3 will allow mouse/kb functionality. I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing. I suppose the old school PC FPS'er in me thinks that's good, but the guy that likes to slouch in a beanbag chair with a controller thinks it's bad.
For the cost difference, you could go ass-wild buying HDDVDs. If the movies you like are on HDDVD, just go that route.
By the time Warhawk's out and/or the movies you want are Blu-ray only, the PS3 will be cheaper, either by Sony's hand or by the retailers'.
i doubt sony will price drop the ps3 in 29 days.
Oh where has the time gone....?:whistle:
But to me it sounds like a better choice since you get a PS3 to play games with in the process.
The add-on sounds stupid anyway. Basically to make a 360 into a PS3 (wireless, HDMI, hd player) you have to buy all this ridiculous upgrade shit (the wireless alone cost me $90). I say screw add-ons and get yourself a PS3 with a built-in hd drive and HDMI support.
I've pretty much been ignoring Halo3 as a whole (due to the fact I don't own a 360, nor could I afford one right now) but just now seeing that pic it looks so purdy. Wow..
You can always get a PS3 later if Warhawk turns out to be shithot amazing. I was tempted to get a PS3 soon but god knows I can't afford all of the 360/DS/Wii games I want this Xmas season...which starts in August this year because the video game gods want to steal all my money.
The thing is, console games like Warhawk are usually the best right at the start. I'm sort of feeling worried I'll "miss out" on the golden period of the game. I mean, do many people play Resistance anymore?
I guess what it really boils down to is not HD DVD versus Blu Ray ...
It's HD DVD versus PS3 (Games I want to play NOW). While having a Blu Ray player would be kinda neat, I think HD DVD is a better format ... and therefore my reason for getting a PS3 would be based soley on my desire to play some multiplayer titles on the PS3.
Sort of off topic but is there any reason why the PS3 seems to have higher multiplayer limits than 360? (amount of people per map/session)
Buy a PS3. You'll be able to watch awesome Blu-Ray movies, and there's some sweet multi player games out right now, with some even more awesome games coming. So go buy the thing already.
That help?
Just the types of games, I guess. What is Resistance, 32? And doesn't BF2 on 360 support 32?
Correction:
BB Online will continue to have both, while most BB stores will carry only Blu-Ray. The 250 (out of 1450) stores that currently carry HD formats will have both.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/17/blockbuster-chooses-blu-ray-is-the-war-over/
I wouldn't worry about HD DVD having better exclusives; they've only got one exclusive studio vs BluRay having 3, and BluRay seems to be picking up steam as of late.
actually they're keeping their HD DVD selection for online customers. the move to Blu Ray is for physical stores only. i know this because i'm renting HD DVD's from them right this second.
i got an HD DVD add on because i already had a 360. i've been happy with it so far. Planet Earth, Firefly, Batman Begins...it goes on.
the way i see it even if Blu Ray wins the format war, the HD DVD's i have will still work, the existing ones will go to clearance prices, the price of BR players will go down (seeing its the player of choice) and can continue my HD format collection without much loss.
edit: beaten on the BBonline bit
SSB code- 0216-0856-6886 PM me so I can add you
Except that that studio is Universal and as he stated he prefers HD-DVD's current library.
As for my own advice, I would wait till Warhawk comes out, at least, to see reviews, since that seems to be the game you're pining for. It's only a few weeks away. In the meantime, see if there are coming Blu Ray exclusive movies that interest you.
A relevant question would be if you have a PS2, cos if you didn't, that would add quite a bit of depth to the PS3's library
Planet Earth is also on HD-DVD... and it's the exact same crappy encode. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, but I had to stop watching it and just decide to wait for a deal on teh Discovery Channel version because the pulsing noise is just too distracting. It's present throughout the series, but just watch the blue sky and dark areas (rocks) in the Angel Falls fly-over in the Freshwater episode... or don't if you don't want to ruin it for yourself like I did!
But isn't it painfully obvious that HD-DVD is just far too much of a risk? Throwing your money away vs. spending more for the format that is obviously going to win the format war sounds like the LESS fiscally responsible choice to me.
In order for it to go the Laserdisc route, there would have to be a competing HIGH DEF format to beat it because they can't just shrug their shoulders and say "Hmph. I looks lke there's just no way to package and sell these high-def movies except direct download even though X format did better than/beat Y format." Laserdisc/VCD and VHS were all SD, so there was still an accepted way to package and sell SD content without Laserdisc or VCD. That same concept didn't stop DVD because it had many marketable factors over VHS and the market was ready, but consumers did still have an alternative for that content. As far as packaged high-def content, we'd have to go back to the high-definition VCRs that bombed quickly (I saw one of the HD movies on tape at Big Lots yesterday and remembered that!) and we still wouldn't have a way to package and sell or even broadcast 1080p. Of course, I jest: we can't "go back" to a format that wasn't enough of a success to still be there. That's why either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray WILL remain and it's been crystal clear which it would be when Sony first announced that the PS3 would include it. Remember the effect the PSP had on Memory Stick Pro Duos? Now, imagine if the PS2 used them as memory cards. Sure, the PS3 will likely only get a fraction of that success and remain in last-place in the video game wars, but that's still a huge guaranteed install base that will only keep getting bigger as more people buy them and as old owners upgrade to HDTV.
I'm interesting in learning more about the kb/mouse support the ps3 supposedly will get (has?) as that will make certain game types and surfing and what not a little more enjoyable.
Rich Cook.
PSN ID - WildSpoon
Most that appear to be HD-DVD exclusives come from compaies that support both and were likely paid to withold the Blu-Ray release for a timed exclusive (see the picture of a Batman Begins BD on the Blu-Ray Wikipedia page). It's misleading because only two out of VERY MANY movie studios exclusively support HD-DVD.
Blu-ray is exclusively supported by Columbia Pictures (including Tristar) and MGM which are owned by Sony, as well as Disney (including Miramax and Buena Vista), 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD are supported by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. HD-DVD is exclusively supported by Universal Studios and The Weinstein Company.
Did I miss anything?
The Weinstein Company is only a few years old, but they (temporarily) obtained and retain enough Hollywood IP for Blockbuster to trumpet their exclusive DVD rental agreement all over their stores so I guess it's important enough to "count" as a second semi-major exclusive supporter of HD-DVD. That said, with the bulk of studios supporting Blu-Ray either in addition to HD-DVD or exclusively, what are the odds that the majority of the "movies you like" will just happen to be on HD-DVD? Slim. That's why companies that support both get paid to have a larger HD-DVD catalog for the time being. With this all being quite temporary, don't act like it has an impact on a format's future. For safety, decide on the future, not what is out there now.
Sony bought MGM for the massive library of back-catalog movies because, combined with their own, that amount of exclusivity can secure Blu-Ray and any format they chose as the industry's accepted format.
You still need an HTPC. :P
But it's only $200 (well, $179... right?). I figured it was worth the risk.
Besides, stuff will still work if they stop making HD DVD. It's not like if Blu-Ray takes over that I'll have to re-buy my Ultimate Matrix Collection or anything. For a small investment, he could be in the world of HD movies now.
I was tempted by the PS3, especially with the price drop, but the only things I'd be remotely interested in were Resistance and Motorstorm. Instead, I decided to buy a tonne of 360 games: DiRT replaces Motorstorm, Halo 3 will satisfy my demand for Resistance, and then I'll have like $450 left over for all the other awesome that comes out this fall, including the great stuff that's been popping up on XBLA recently.
Memory Sticks had been used in Sony products for years before the PSP came out. There were computers with built in memory stick readers well before teh PSP came out. UMDs, that was a big old PSP success story for the first year...now the studies have majorly decreased their support.
Personally I think Blue-Ray and HD DVD are going to be the new Laserdisc, in that they are mostly owned by technophiles and people with more money than they know what to do with. They will bridge the gap between DVD and whatever the next truly big format is, just like Laserdisc did between VHS and DVD.
While I'm not doubting the truth of your statements and yes Blu Ray titles are outselling HD-DVD titles, the sales of both are miniscule compared to DVD. Outselling your opponent by a ratio of 2:1 is fine but it leaves out that the total sales might as well actually be two BR titles and one HDDVD title. There is still time for the tide to turn and HD-DVD standalone players are outselling BR standalones. Doesn't matter much since it doesn't count consoles and HDDVD are still way cheaper, but it shows a preference in those that don't care about video games.
Does the interface feel more PC'ish?
Resistance and Warhawk are the 2 games I'm interested in right NOW, with Eye of Judgement also a title that has my eye.
Snake you're right in one way ... I have been sort of trying to justify buying a PS3, but I've been trying to do that for awhile. A part of my angst right now is that the 60 gig PS3 cost $699 (Canadian) before the price drop, and the 80 gig will no doubt cost around that price mark.
If I move now I can get in now at $525 ...
BUT I still have alot of reservations about the PS3 as a whole. I hate the idea of supporting Sony's Trojan Horse Blu Ray, and most of movies I'm interested in getting are HD DVD. $525 while better than spending $699 ... it's still $525 which is alot of money for me. I do own a 360 and as we all know there are alot of killer games coming down the road for the system ...
I'm also wondering if I'm suffering from "need new shiny toy" syndrome ... which the HD DVD add on may fufill adequately.
But then I go and look at the gameplay vids for Warhawk *drool* Everything I've heard about Warhawk is that it is THE console multiplayer experience and multiplayer is important to me.
I'm really interested in multiplayer gameplay, I never really felt that the 360 managed to capture the "epic" feel of PC MP games. Even BF2 which had 24 player support, it felt like a hollow shell of the true PC BF2 version. The 360 has done smaller multiplayer games well like Gears, Shadowrun and R6, but I haven't seen anything "epic" in multiplayer scale on the console.
Warhawk to me looks epic as does Resistance .... I'm just not sure if those 2 games are enough to justify a 525 purchase just yet.
The HD DVD add on on the other hand is dirt cheap ... 200 bucks, with another 150 going on some movies to start the foundation of a collection.
Thanks for the advice so far guys, it's been helpful.
Actually, the preference of those who don't care about video games is in favor of whichever player of their format choice happens to be the best player for their money regardless of the fact that it may also play games. They prefer the PS3 over any Blu-Ray player by far. It's deliberately and wrongfully taking things out of context to ever compare stand-alone player sales unless there were BD players significantly under the price of a (superior) PS3.* My twin brother works in the cable industry and has only seen a few stand-alone HD-DVD players. On the other hand, he has seen many, many, many home theaters with a PS3 being used exclusively as a Blu-Ray player (NOT as a PS3). He stated with absolute certainty that, even ignoring the PS3 consoles which are also used as a game machine, it is clear that the PS3 is the Blu-Ray player of choice for the home theater crowd. With that in mind, it is ALWAYS out of context to compare HD-DVD and Blu-Ray stand-alone player sales because the PS3 appeals to that same customer in both price point and BD movie playback feature set.
While the sales may be miniscule in comparison to DVD, they will never be what DVD is because there is a third player (digital downloads). All they need to be compared to is eachother for one to be decided between the two because the market does still require a way to package and sell hi-def content. As things stang, the comparison that matters is gigantic and in favor of Blu-Ray by far. Any time either of the companies wants to compare themselves to DVD or say that they've got a long time to catch up is lying to you: They don't intend to do the impossible by even remotely matching the consumer adoption of DVD. It should be fraudulent to even pretend that their comparison to eachother doesn't matter because of DVD. All the comparison to DVD does is put things into perspective about consumer need (most need neither) and how long DVD will survive, neither of which will determine how long HD-DVD can survive with Blu-Ray in the market.
*As it stands, the PS3 is the only current player that can even be upgraded to BD Profile 2.0 support.
It's the same exact encode and it's cheaper on BD. Once again, it's wrong to let the current dual-release situation sway your decision when you know damn well that it will be irrelevant when a format is decided. Dealing with a few less extras until the double-dip release is not reason to board a sinking ship and lose money.
And here's HD-DVD's list.
They've been announcing new additions to each list on a rapid basis, gearing up for the holiday season.
PSN ID : HBoxx