Considering that there are plenty of PS3s sitting on the shelf right now, I don't think this is any kind of concern. The promise of a "cheap blu-ray player" is not panning out nearly as well as Sony had hoped. In order to lose market share, there has to be a market first. I just don't think that enough people care about HD format discs yet for it to make a difference.
How to piss off 8.13M people
- Thread starter theacoustician
- Start date
personally, when I buy a hi def dvd player it will do both or hd-dvd...I couldn't care less about sony
You're right, no one really cares about the format. But plenty of people care that they have the ability. Its just a selling point. Kinda reminds me about 16x oversampling or whatever that buzzword was when CD players first came out.
CES - Warner is coming out with a disc with both formats pressed onto it. LG is coming out (finally) with a player that will play both. I don't see the disc as catching on as much as the player.
I heard about the dual format discs and the LG player on headline news this morning
But the one-up-manship is important for the fence sitters. M$ got a 1 year drop on Sony which was great for them. However, its likely that their next console is still a couple of years out. That means that if someone was to pick a console strictly by hardware and/or newer components, Sony will win hands down until the next console.
The average grandmother buying Johnny a birthday gift, "This one is newer, it must be better, right?"
Microsoft has a 7 million unit install base lead on Sony right now. All the fence sitters I know of (including myself) aren't waiting based on hardware factors, they are waiting because a. they don't have an hdtv, b. there aren't enough games they want to play on the system yet, or c. all of the above.
As for the "grandma" factor, I think that assessment is incorrect. Grandma would look at the display for Xbox and see it has more games and is cheaper and buy that if they had to make the choice themselves. Even then, I don't think that scenario represents what will usually happen in real life.
Reality : most old people wouldn't dream of trying to buy one system or another with explicitly asking the kid what they wanted. They simply don't know enough about them and don't care to learn. They want junior happy and that's about the end of it. They'll buy whatever the kids tell them to buy.
I do think the biggest factor in people picking up consoles is price, though. Once the PS3 is priced near the 360, then they become more comparable based on capability. One need only look at the Neo Geo to see how much difference that makes.
The thing I find amusing is that I believe Blue Dragon is multiple dvds on the xbox. So much for not needing more space. (supposedly it takes 3 dvds.)
The thing I find amusing is that I believe Blue Dragon is multiple dvds on the xbox. So much for not needing more space. (supposedly it takes 3 dvds.)
I heard that a while back, but I wasn't aware it actually shipped on 3 DVDs. What the hell is on it that takes up that much space? Regardless, I don't think the arguement was as much "do we need more space" as it was "do we need more space on one disc"? I think sticking with the smaller discs to keep production costs lower is the smart move.Correct but I also dont think many grandparents go out buying there grand kids 400 dollar video gaming systems, well at least not in my world.
are we talking 3 DL discs??
that's 25.5 freakin' gb!!
I honestly couldn't tell you. It is supposedly a very good game, though. And evidently the game world is huge.
Saving money is thrown out the window if you have to press 3 times as many disks, though. I guess it works out for those that only need a DVDs worth of space. (Sorta how the PS2 could read cds and dvds. Most gen 1 games were cd.)
Raw material cost, you're absolutely right. However, think of how many DVD reproduction facilities there are and how many HD-DVD reproduction facilities there are right now. Volume pricing on HD-DVD from what I can see is $2500 setup, then $2 a disc min. order 1000 pieces. DVD is $1500 setup and then $0.35 a disc min. order 1000 pieces. I can't even find Blu-ray pressing costs, but I'm guessing its even more than HD-DVD. I'm quite sure this cost will go down over time, but right now its still much more cost effective to ship multiple DVDs than 1 HD-DVD.
This will not be the case with DRM which is on both formats. Only now has there been a way to *maybe* crack it on HD-DVD. There currently is no way to do it on Blu-Ray.
I was of the understanding that they both use the same DRM. One just has a clause in the contract requiring a lowres copy free of the DRM.
As for the other point. I see what you are saying, but long term the material costs should far outshine any other costs, no?
Doesn't change the fact that Sony priced themselves damned near out of the market.
I am curious what the state of pirating games on the consoles will be like. Seems the main thing keeping it at bay right now is the online presence of the consoles. If you are willing to do without the online functionality, how hard is it to copy of Wii or 360 game? Anyone know?