About this news article

I´m not a fan of this DRM-shit that Blu-Ray includes, but MS and HD-DVD is not better; I hope Sony will make it with BD.

This coming from the company that wants to nickel and dime it's customers with addons for it's games and for it's peripherals? 2 bux for some custom armour, how about you pay for some demo games to play, oh you want an exclusive level that SHOULD Have been included in the final game. Give me a break with this FUD. All they are trying to do is talk shit cause they know the PS3 will be better then their XBOX 360.
Yes the price is huge, and hey I am not a Sony fanboy, but the possiblities for the PS3 look good. Just kill the DRM crap

And what do you think Sony is going to do with their online setup? Give it to ya for free? LOL!

No, Sony just forces you to buy a drive that most won't be taking advantage, since most don't have HDTVs.

It doesn't take a genius to see that MS is just using a reverse psychology marketing ploy that only illustrates how desperate they are.

Let's just humor them. How many other game consoles in the past have had their own proprietary method of delivering the games in? From cartridges to discs of all kinds, so what does it matter to MS if Sony decides to use a 50gb disc to play some truly awesome HD gaming? It will be awesome when we get to have the added value of playing B-Ray movies but even if Sony didn't win the blue-ray war, their console system will be most versatile and powerful on the market (regarding market share with the ability to be backwards compatible.) As long as their pricing is understandably reasonable this console will have and will hold its value. It's unlike MS' thinking, they usually always pushing the envelope innovatively speaking. They say we should wait 1-3 years... a lot of us wanted it early last year. MS... They're jealous. Don't be a player hater (pun intended).

As i said before..im getting ps3 for the blu ray drive...all them tv series etc on just a few discs,obviously when the price drops..im not worried about High Definition at all as im happy enough with dvd quality now so drm wont effect me regarding movies as they will be ripped from bog standard dvd which will still be around for years

this is rich coming from MS, MS wants a monopoly....how dare Sony try to break it up. As far as I know Betamax was the best as most of TV companys used it. Im don't rate Ms think they are holding computing back for their own benefit as this shows.

I hope the ps3 screws the xbox....I will buy a ps3 certinaly not a xbox....

Hmm sounds like a war... but let me remind everyone that this is a GAME system and Blu-Ray at 45G is too large for any game...

So that leaves movies... but wait! In the US there are legions of HDTVs that do not have the "new" HDMI hook up and without it, this fancy new drive won't work properly! So if you are paying for this new {expensive} setup it is for something that will not likely be used. I have one of those HDTVs... only composite cable setup. Do they think I'm going to purchase another HDTV just for their system?

Lastly I have found that Sony multi use setups are really not a good match. Case in point would be the PS2.. Ever try to play DVD+R recordings on it? DVD+R is Sony's only standard..some play...others stutter..some don't. On a stand alone DVD play all play perfectly.

Bahhh Sony would be better to have the unit come out with a good quality DVD player and have the Blu-Ray as solid add on. Microsoft may have been motivated by something else, but the end result was correct.

This thing is not priced as a games machine anymore anyways, playing games just seems to be one of its many talents. I say, let those who want a blu-ray drive fork out the cash for it, i don't want it (and have no interest in it at all) so i refuse to pay a premium for a PS3 simply because Sony is desperate to cram another format down my throat. The 360 is by far the better option, full stop end of story.

Bring on th WII

Oh boy, mayhem. I love a good fight. My money is on HD-DVD. When it comes down in price and the DRM gets cracked, I'm on it like white on rice.

Well it's hard to believe anyone would want to willingly buy the PS3. Good luck to you, especially since Sony are trying to ban the sale of used games.

Why anyone would want to support that kind of business, I have no idea. I would never support Sony, and I have a similar opinion toward Microsoft.

If Sony win, especially with the ban on selling used games, we all lose.

MS doesn't really give a shit about Blu-ray or HD-DVD. They would rather all optical data storage mediums disappeared so they can shove their NET strategy down people's throat.

MS's biggest threat is Google, Not Sony. MS's dominance of the desktop is coming under attack.

I say **** MS and **** SONY. I'm using SUSE 10.1 as my desktop OS of choice and I'm quite pleased with it.

/edit: regarding ****; don't use these words, there are other ways for submitting your feelings. Thanks
[edited by H3rB3i on 02.06.2006 18:45]

Yes Microsoft is mad at Sony because Microsoft wanted Sony to do well. Microsoft is so sad Sony might not do as well because they added a drive that xbox 360 couldn't include on there drive. Only if Microsoft waited a year they probably could of added an hd-dvd drive into the system. They rushed it and they are now scared.

Im not buying anything till they agree on one standard.. Hate to buy into all the hype of one product just to see it die..

One product will beat out the other, till then Ill be at the sidelines watching and waiting.. And when the standard is finalized, Ill have to upgrade my TV to take advantage of it..

Magnetic Hard Drive Manufacturers are trying their best to brain wash people into thinking something new and untested will not work. BS !

Anybody that believe this crap from MS had better study their history books.

MS and Hard Drive Manuer Factories are full of it !

As much as I am a huge XBOX 360 fan and despise Sony right now, I must say I'm still am dissapointed that 360 relies on standard DVD 8.5 GB storage for games.

Blu Ray is not all about movies, its about storage. The more complex HD games that are coming will start to really push the limits of DVD storage. PS3 will likely be around until 2011 - 2012 based on PS2's life cycle. By 2010, a system as poweful as PS3 (or 360) with no HD storage is going to look pretty lame to me.

i hate when peole start to bitch about the DVD standard used with the 360. Lets just break down the whole argument.

1) Microsoft uses compression techniques to fit more data on the DVD anyways.

2) Every PS3 game will be on blu-ray (every, not just the later ones all of them will be), so that pushes up the price of next gen games on the PS3 right away. Its primary market is gamers, who are not going to want to have to pay a premium over the 360 especially when the difference in graphics hardly exists if at all.

3) Even if you do need more storage space for games, the 25GB offered on a single layer blu-ray disc is still over 10GB too much.

4) DVD is a reliable well tested technology. Blu-ray is not. So whats going to happen to your precious £60 games, there gona get scratched. And before you start bitching about how the 360 scratched discs, maybe you shouldn't move it while playing a game!

5) Even if the 360 goes the way of the gamecube, so what, it means you have to get off your lazy ass and change a disc over for 1 game in every 50. People are so lazythey would rather pay one hell of a premium so it means they don't have to get off their chair once in a while.

Yes... XBox360 will become cheap price-wise when DVD will be fucking dead (this or the lame "Insert DVD#2" somewhere).

You can get a DVD or a BD-DVD.
The only difference is that the BD-DVD also plays BD-disks.
You're arguing that BD-games will be more expensive ?
Yeah, I buy that one... which part of the 30 cents worth pressed disk production price is going to get expensive ?
Oh, yeah! You don't need an HD device right now, but PS3 will last at least four years...
Are you sure that there will be no HD ready TV in your house before 2011 ?
More than this:

no HDMI ? get the low price PS3.
no HDMI but DVI ? get a HDMI->DVI converter.

Not sure ?

You passed the test! I think you'll be happy to buy MS HD-DVD box since it won't run games (X360 games are DVD9 ONLY) and you're limited to component out... at the same price of a PS3.
[edited by ConteZero on 02.06.2006 19:51]
[edited by ConteZero on 02.06.2006 19:51]

I dont know how it is in Europe or America, but over here in Japan the factor to whether Sony or MS will win is not Bluray or HD-DVD. The format or quality of graphics is only the 2nd or 3rd factor when buying any gamemachine over here. It will be the games that will decide between XBOX and PS3. If the game is crap and only the graphics is good nobody will buy it. But on the other hand if the game is realy funny and superb then graphics doesnt play a big role. As to MS criticizing Sony. That is BS. Sony has the right to use any format for its games. If the games are good people will buy the PS3 if XBOX360 has the better games people will buy the Xbox. If the user only wants to watch Bluray /HD-DVD movies he buys a normal Bluray/HD-DVD player which will presumably be much cheaper and eaysier to use. So the PS3 maybe more than a normal gamemachine but I think its main target will be Gamers and not normal movie watchers. I dont think people who dont want to play games will buy either of the two. Btw some of my friends already have started to pre-order a PS3 only because FinalFantasyXIII and Grand Tourismo are likely to be released on PS3.
[edited by koba on 02.06.2006 20:16]
[edited by koba on 02.06.2006 20:22]

You've got it, SciFer. Microsoft's spokespeople are trying to mislead reporters into thinking that the BluRay drive is only for watching movies.

Sony should encourage game companies to announce which games they expect will require the massive storage space BluRay affords. That would help prevent Microsoft's stooges from misleading reporters and readers.

And on a related not, I bet there are many home theater enthusiasts who want to buy a BluRay player for movies, who will buy this "game thing" just for kicks, and who will end up liking it.

Although the headline to the CD Freaks article said that Sony was trying to ban the sale of used games, the actual article said that wasn't true. Likely more PR from Microsoft.

theres are xbox1 games that require a dvd9 already, some barely go over 4.3 gigs, the odd one gets as big as 7 gigs.

games keep getting bigger, I think it was a mistake for the DC not to have a dvd drive. Just because the games were getting bigger, and sometimes a cd doesn't cut it.

i thikn its the same way now, obviously the games will be capable of standard and high def resolution, as technology improves, so do storage requirements.

I also think that it'll be a boon for the ps3, because it'll probably take sometime for the price of BD burners, and media to come down. If the xbox360 becomes easily hacked (it already can, but with a fair amount of effort), then the dvds will be easily copied for a low low price.

I've heldoff buying a new console to see what happens, if one gets cracked before the other (cause it would be pretty cool to have something like xbmc but with the power to decode HD). I also think MS will have to included a larger hard drive, and eventually a model that has hd-dvd included.

so i'm holding off for that

@ ConteZero

Haha, your an idiot clearly. Its like the difference in price between a CD and say a SACD. You work out what i'm trying to say.

Second, yes i'm sure that by 2011 i will a HD set in my house and some form of next gen player to watch films on. But by that point i would have been sensible enough to go and buy a £50 blu-ray player from my local Tesco store than spend money on a half-breed cut down version of a blu-ray player your going to find in a PS3. Needless to say the PS2 DVD player is a pile of rubbish.

What makes or breaks any new technology is the rate of its early adoption. Sony are therefore forcing PS3 owners to adopt blu-ray early in the hope that it will win them the format war riddled with crippling DRM.

With the 360 i can choose to buy the HD-DVD seperate. So regardless of whether i buy a HD set tomorrow morning first thing, or i decide to get one in 2011 i'm not forced to pay extra for something that has no use to me when i can wait until a time that it has use and get it for a much cheaper price.

Oh no, the 360 won't support HDMI, what a big shame as its unlikely that they would ever inforce the reduction in resolution before 2010 and i would say ever as when you have a large install base of 360's and lower end PS3's you wouldn't want to enforce such DRM.

Who cares about the price anyway?

I'm going to take a Wii...Nintendo Wii. I'm not a hard core gamer, but gotta say I enjoy seeing this battle brewing. I just bought a PS2, so I'm a late adapter, but only due to the initial cost of these things.

Yes lets all buy the expensive PS3 blueray consoles so we will half to buy another one in a year or less. Look at the Playstation 2 problems with their dvd-rom drives. Everyone I knew that has/had a PS2 had their dvd-rom drive die on them within the first year. Then they bought another console, then that one dies within the first year also. You get the point...thats how Sony sold so many PS2's.

well im quiet happy with my commadore 64 due to the price i paid for it oh yeah it was free from the rubbish tip but the games are great no drm and playability remeber that ?

Well I have a first gen PS2 bought on the first day of its release and its still working fine. So no problems with this. As I said many users will not buy the PS3 because of its Bluray drive. Also I think many people in here would argument the same if Sony adopted a HD-DVD for PS3 (like Sony is forcing you to adopt a new format). Well in the past any new gameconsole did force you to adopt to a new media. Look at the NES, SuperNES etc all had a new format for there games and did anybody started complaining because of this? The thing that is important is the games. And if the games are that big that they need 30 or more gigs or whatever then why not.
Also if Sony should loose the movie war it has nothing to do with the games.

Well, it looks like MS is getting nervous about the Blu-ray. I hope they bite the dust and Sony wins this format battle. I just don't like Microsoft.

MS actually took large steps to stay competitive against upcoming PS3. First taking sides in next-gen format wars, then having a deal with rockstar about GTA4...I expect dampening prices as well in november. If PS3 games will be available from pirates, I expect MS themself to give a hint to pirates about how to run pirate games on xbox. They will do ANYTHING to match ps3 in any way, I'm sure.

Still, PS3 is a famous brand with lots of fans and PS3 console will be PS2 compatible, this being a huge win for Sony over MS because xbox can only run specially converted ports. PS3 will also be more open and able run unsigned code. Even Linux will run on it and thus be much more appealing to capable people.

Btw. selling external hd-dvd drive is not going to help the format. If Sony sells millions of drives, while most people skip hd-dvd external drive because they can run games without it, Movie studios will think that blu-ray is winning.

It is important to realize that most users don't care about HD and find DVD good enough, but if you sell millions of drives with a gaming console, movie studios (which btw. are eager to make a move to AACS) will think that it is getting adopted.

Actually blu-ray disks are going to have hard-to-scratch surface, developed (AFAIR) by TDK.

I think I already saw dvd-rw disks with such surface on sale.

The issue isn't about Sony forcing a format out, it's about price. All the speculation says that the price of the PS3 is being caused by the expensive nature of the blueray stuff. If MS could have included HD-DVD for a reasonable price, they probably would have done so.

As it stands, the PS3 will be nearly double the cost of an Xbox 360 without any substantial quality improvement in games.

I have to agree that wii is the way forward. Its affordable for a start.

Yes in the past companies have forced new formats down our throat (with the SNES etc), however the difference this time round is that the format is meant for movies not games. They never attempted to sell movies on a SNES cartridge. So basically Sony is trying to kill two birds with one stone with this.

I'm not a big fan of microsoft either, however i like them for the xbox as it brings competition to the games industry, without it i'm sure the PS3 would be even more expensive.

As for backwards compatibility; the 360 can now run over 200 xbox games and growing which i'd say is acceptable. You don't need to play every xbox game on your 360, only the good ones. If you want to relive something thats not on the list then i suggest you go buy yourself a £50 used xbox and play away.

Yes, having Linux would appeal to more capable people, however i can't name anyone i've ever known who has a PS2 who uses Linux or indeed probably know anything about it beyond its name. Therefore it does not appeal to the mass market at all. The whole of the PS3 doesn't seem to appeal to the mass market (with comments like "its not priced for the home market" and "people would get a second job just to buy a PS3").

What kind of a company spends $2 billion on research for a new kind of CPU that isn't even optimised to run games? Its so expensive cause they decided they would develop a new chip along with the blu-ray drive. God, talk about being retarded, Sony are fast becoming desperate.

Screw the game consoles. After the lackluster response to game quality on the Playstation 3 at E3 and the reviews saying that they're no more impressive than the XBOX 360 games, I'm waiting for Windows Vista and DirectX 10. Have you SEEN the games they're making for PC's using DirectX 10 technology?! They've already shown that DirectX9.0c hardware (especially SLI or CrossFire hardware configurations) can drastically outperform "next-gen" consoles in graphics performance. It's been tested and proven that the PS3 doesn't have the performance to run 1280x720p resolution with the equivalent of Pixel Shader 3.0 support, as well as 8x Anisotropic Filtering and 4x Anti-Aliasing at a consistant framerate (nor does the XBOX 360 for that matter - Call of Duty 2 doesn't even use AA at all!). I've already got a fast dual-core PC with a GeForce 7800GTX. :P Next purchase will probably be an AGAEI PhysX card (exactly like what they're putting in the PS3) and I'm laughing because I can play the games at a much higher resolution at a better framerate. And I can always upgrade. Plus on my PC, I can add more rants to this site!!!

....Em......
Four 8000GTX Ultra (SLI 4x Dx10)
and Ageia PhisiX cost more
then all 3 Console.....
(300$ Only the Ageia)
And a "Core 2 Four" is not
for Free.

The PC for Game it cost
more then a console......

Sorry for my Bad English
but my GeFoprce 6800U
and my Prescott 3Ghz
is Obsolete....and i can't
spend much money for
a English .....a need to
upgrade my PC...

I used to play alot of games on a PC, but I found the constant upgrades became a thorn in my side. Sure they've always looked better then console games, but I like consoles because you buy it, and its good for 3 or 4 years, and all the games for it, are specifically written for its hardware. My ATI 9800pro hasn't really cut it for a while now on the pc, and its only 3 years old.

A pimped out video card for a pc almost costs as much as an xbox 360.

I find some of the comments bizzarre. Personally, I've never owned a console and probably never will. And personally I couldn't really give a damn about the wars between HD-DVD and BluRay (although I believe one is slightly worse DRM wise). But I don't get why some people seem to think Microsoft or Sony are angels here. Both of them don't give a damn about the consumer and neither of their actions on using BluRay and using DVD but support HD-DVD is not related to their concern for the consumer. Even though in this case it's MS lambasting Sony, they both are equally as critical of each other and use any chance they get to mislead people into thinking the other party is worse...

How well you spit out mindless propiganda.

Funny, I seem to recall MS offering a HD-DVD drive for the 360 (waste of time imho) so how are they anti HD-DVD?

.Net has as much to do about media storage as your brain has to do with common sense. .Net is just MS's own take on Java, minus the fact they aren't porting it to any OS they don't work with or own, and before you scream monopoly (how predictable you are), go look up "The Mono Project".

Google is a MS rival? That's comparing Apples to Orange, yes they're both fruit but aside from some minor mapping things and an internet search engine (which is only a side project of MS anyways, not a core business plan) they do totally diferrent things. Although I will agree that even MS is getting it wrong the few times they think Google is a rival company.

At least when talking about the Xbox, Microsoft and Sony are apples to apples competitors.

Seriously, did you actually READ anything you said? Please put the shovel down, you're getting fecal matter on everybody's shoes.
[edited by Rhelic on 05.06.2006 16:45]

MS is adding the HD-DVD drive for movies, not for games. Seems like a total waste of time imho.

The DVD format is still more than enough for these next-gen games.

Should MS have waited on the 360? Hmm I wish they did, but then it was a very sneaky trick to get a head start on the next-gen war so maybe it was a smart choice.