In a recent interview with The Guardian, Sony president Kaz Hirai was asked whether the inclusion of a Blu Ray player in the PlayStation 3 was a mistake. Here's how Kaz answered:
"Purely from a gaming standpoint there was no other choice for us. Why? The capacity of the disc. Last year's Metal Gear Solid 4 was pushing 50GB as it was. If it was on DVD it would have been a 6 disc set... So from a gaming standpoint there was really no choice if you wanted a high definition gaming experience. Kojima-san has been pushing the boundaries already. And then there is the motion picture issue. The PS3 installed base certainly went a long way to making the movie studios side with Blu-ray rather then HD-DVD or supporting both."
It's safe to say that Hirai does not regret his company's decision to include a Blu-Ray player in their game system, and as a recent convert to the PlayStation 3, I have to agree with him -- that Blu-Ray player is amazing. But since we're talking about things that Sony should regret versus things they shouldn't regret, and since I'm in a particularly ornery, post E3 mood, please click the cut and check out my list of things about the Sony should regret about the PlayStation 3:
- Lack of an HDMI cable: This isn't the biggest fault of the system, but the lack of an HDMI cable represents the first time in my entire life I was ever disappointed by a game system before I plugged it in.
- PlayStation Home
- Backward Compatibility: I don't really care that much, because I rarely play older games, but how are you going to take features away in later versions of your console? You're supposed to add features.
- Wonky Media Server: I bought my PS3 to stream media, and this thing is just unstable. Sony should regret that they never made this work right.
- The Price: You gotta figure they already regret that painful $600 launch price point and the bad feelings it engendered.
- Lack of games: Sure, now there's some exclusives that everyone wants to play, but it's been, what, over two years since launch.
- Loss of exclusives: Tekken, Final Fantasy, GTA (at least timed exclusives.) Ouch, man.
Yes, I could make just as long a list for the 360... feel free to fill it in the comment section.
Comments
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Xechatigs
Loss of exclusives? There was what, 12 exclusives revealed for Microsoft? Sony had 34. And if your reading this and asking, so what? well, that's 22 more games on the Ps3 that I'd rather play than wasting money every six months to buy a box that makes me pay to play online.
moose_
I don't regret anything about the PS3, but I do want Sony to add voice messages and party chat to PSN.
scottyrob82
I think they bit the bullet big time and they know it. Yeah six dvd's are a lot but they are still cheaper and faster to load than one BD-ROM. Plus they lucked out with the movies. If the 360 came with an HD-DVD drive blu-ray would have been history due to HD-DVD's lower cost and ease of manufacturing. It is still costing Sony a lot and they need to do something major.
Letters2Kay
They cut backwards compatibility to lower the price. You can't have it both ways. I paid $600 for my 60GB and felt it was worth every penny. I also got built-in PS2 compatibility. Hooray for early adoption.
I'll agree that HDMI is ESSENTIAL when playing on PS3. With the RGB Full-Mode set on (in the display options), there's no way to get a better picture out of any device. It's simply amazing.
Nofanboy
Wow MGS4 pushing 50GB? it doesn't even feel like it. 50Gb and you beat the games less then 30hr? that funny.
IcemanMX
Let's see, the president of Sony saying that he does not regret a decision made by the company that he is currently employed by. Yeah, I'm sure that he is really speaking his mind... as long as that mind agrees with the company that is paying him millions of dollars. Hell, I would say that the N-Gage is the greatest gaming platform ever in the history of man if Nokia gave me a multi-million dollar salary. I'd have to go home and wash my own mouth out with soap everyday after work, but I'd do it.
In addition to the tags of "PlayStation 3" and "Videogames", Mr. Johnson, you should have added "Duh".
-M
Warheart1188
Blu Ray is the PS3's only advantage against Microsoft. But the 360 does show that you don't need Blu Ray discs to make a great game, only that it can help. If Microsoft had incorporated BR tech, they would be the only console out there, really. Sony would have no chance. And the statement about exclusives...I don't recall how many each company stated but if Sony does have more...who cares? Exclusive does not mean good. So far, 360 exclusives have been great. Sony has had more misses than hits when it comes to exclusives (MGS4 and Resistance being the only two that are worth playing).
DVDAjoobs
Arent alot of those 34 exclusives PSP???
DVDAjoobs
Xechatigs
Arent those 34 exclusives mostly PSN and PSP titles??
l33t360
@DVDAjoobs
yes. announcing 34 exclusives was a another spin-move on sony's part to rile up the fanbase.
MegaMark26
its a shame how alot of the exclusives are going to the psp. i'd rather have them go to the ps3.
sony has always gotten the bad rep for making the ps3 with blu ray. sony has been always pro-innovation and i'm thankful for it. its just bad luck that most people are stuck with the dvd format. its like how long people had to transition from the vhs to dvd. i'm sure it'll take sony that long to get more attention.
r_pad
@Nofanboy Gameplay hours and disc capacity are not equatable. Obviously the quality of the graphics, texture size, uncompressed sound, etc. are the real factors.
brsterkens
i stream videos of all kinds 100 gigs of music and 150 gigs of picters all day long for over a year and half, it has never fail on me once.
RRODisBack
I guess reliability isn't important to the Xbox fanboys.
boom_f15
@RROD
Its good to see we can still count on you for throwing in a random comment about 360s hardware issues when the story is about Sony. We get it, MS screwed up the manufacturing of the 360; thats why they fix them for free.
sistokid
And don't forget that Sony gained an exclusive, Bioshock, which is pretty big. And since Epic's contract with microsoft is up Gears 3 could go to the darkside (PS3, because it's black) but that may be a strech.
sistokid
Hey guys listen to this. IcemanMX is a tool. but keep it on the tell-everybody-you-know
boom_f15
If I were sony I wouldnt regret bluray either. By putting it into the PS3 they helped win the format war which in the long run will help the company more than sluggish sales of the PS3 will hurt them.
On a side note I have a question... Is the PS3's player good quality relative to other bluray players? I havent made the switch yet and am wondering if the PS3 is worth the extra money (especially if they ever cut the price)?
EntropyMu
@boom_f15: The PS3 is a very good blu-ray player, with the special benefit of Sony being able to update some things on the PS3. It's also an excellent at DVD upscaling.
Infamous_Bizarro
@l33t
36 exclusives not 34
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