PS3 Vs. XBOX 360

I have played my PS3 on a SDTV

 

you aren't poor dude.

I lived on dorm food and 99 cent whoppers back in the day in college.
I didn't have a car. And video game consoles didn't cost $500 back in the day. I played DOOM on my computer cause somebody hacked it and gave me a copy.

A PS3 is a luxury item dude, a HDTV is NOT a luxury item.

go save up some cash and buy a used $300 CRT HDTV. you can find them all over craigslist. they are 1080i.

the definition of POOR COLLEGE STUDENT has definitely changed.

I live in Austin, back in the day we had used CD stores on the drag, now they have expensive designer jean stores. what kind of POOR college students can spend $150 on jeans?

 

I'm glad you got rookified for doing that!

 

I just hit the enter button on accident, lol. Can't edit, and didn't want to post 2 times in a row.

What I was going to say is that when I first got my PS3 I played it on a SDTV for a few weeks. I played my PS2 solely on a SDTV, at the time, I didn't have any complaints.

Even on a SDTV you can see the improvement. It's not like playing on a SDTV makes the PS3 useless. It's better on HDTV, but if I didn't have an HDTV, I would gladly play it on a SDTV.

 

The definition of luxury item must have changed then, because buying a $500-$1000 HDTV when I have two perfectly good TVs would be considered a luxury item for me. I sold some stuff on ebay and used some bday money to purchase my PS3. While I am not poor by the real definition of "poor", I made $0 dollars in income last year and will be in over 6 figures of debt at the end of this year, if I'm not there already.

Why are you arguing about my finances with me? If I had enough money to buy an HDTV, I'd already have one. It's really that simple.

 

I'm glad you stepped your game up and got an HDTV!

 

they didn't design those things to played on SDTV. Where's RC Cola? he can inform you about that.

school debt? big freaking deal. wait til you buy a house and tell me how debt and taxes feel like.

you have two TVs? what kind of POOR COLLEGE STUDENT are you?
put them on craiglist and buy yourself a $200-$300 used HDTV.

 

Well to me it comes down to cost of incremental enjoyment. It's not about the game in HD vs. the game in non-HD. It is about a next-gen system in standard vs. current gen system? PS3 and even the 360 have some limited amount of titles right now compared to current gen. You can't tell me you've played every single game out for the current gen system right now, so any game you can get for next gen, you can probably find a gem you've missed for current gen (at a fraction of the cost), especially since there are still some good new current gen games coming out (Persona 3).

As far as gameplay, I haven't seen a game that's more revolutionary, if anything it's a step back on SD vs. a current gen system since the game interphase was meant for HD first. So my question back would be why spend $500 bucks on something that in my opionion wouldn't be a significant increase in entertainment vs. a current gen system (if you have one). I faced the dilema myself, and I decided a HD with current gen gaming system was better than a next gen with a SD TV.

 

Personally, I like having a TV in my own room and in my family room, so I'd prefer not to sell 2 perfectly good TVs to get one. As far as the TVs, since you are questioning those also, one TV is an old TV that was given to me by a relative when they bought a new one, and the other one is some mediocre brand that I bought on sale back when I had a job in undergrad.

Let me spell it out for you a 4th time; I'll even put it in all caps to help you out: I CAN'T AFFORD AN HDTV RIGHT NOW. Seriously, what else do you want? Do you want to see my monthly and semester budget?

So, should I stop playing PS3 until I get an HDTV? Apparently it was only made to be played on an HDTV, but it's weird that I didn't see a warning sticker saying that when I bought it (purchased used from a friend, no less). It's also funny because it has been working perfectly on my SDTV, I've been having a ton of fun playing it, and the graphics are the best I've ever played.

 

If its big enough...almost. You can see individual hairs on faces. It's night and day really.

 

I have a question. Just how big of a deal is the RROD for XBox?

I originally planned on just getting a PS3, since I'm not that rich. But right now, Xbox seems to have enough games for me to worth putting down some money on it. But I'm really concerned about the failure rate. Just the time wasted having to find a replacement, even if Microsoft covers the cost, is a major concern for me.

 

Shame on Sony and Microsoft for not making the system HD compatible only.
This shows why Nintendo was so smart not to make their system that powerful.

Especially Sony, the PS3 was meant to bring their customers into the HD Era, I'm sure they ASSUMED someone would have a HDTV/surround sound system (Sony brand they are hoping) on top of that buy tons of Bluray discs.

but this case shows that the public isn't educated enough about HD/Bluray/Surround Sound to achieve that type of attach rate.

Not only are they missing the entire point of the system (having the best graphics (which naturally means better resolution), they lose out on digital sound and HD-discs/movies).

they failed to correlate that advantages of the system was directly related to having a better display device. Bluray on SDTV? Metal Gear Solid? TV speakers? 7.1 digital sound? for what? TV Speakers?

I think this also why Microsoft stresses the online portion of their system as opposed to the graphics. the average consumer doesn't get the HD stuff.

 

Maybe that's where our opinions differ then. I only play a handful of games, the primary of which is the NCAA Football series. I just don't have much of a desire to play games other than NCAA and the small handful of other series that I continue to play, so looking for gems on current gen doesn't interest me much. So, playing the games I like to play is a significant increase in entertainment over the alternative for me (not playing any games).

To me, SD next gen was a significant upgrade over SD current gen. For me, the graphics are a significant upgrade over their respective versions on current gen even without HD, and I'm not a videophile or graphics w**** so a game's graphics aren't my number 1 priority anyway. Maybe I'm just easily satisfied by next gen graphics.

I also bought my system used, so I didn't have to pay full sticker price. If I was playing MSRP and all associated startup costs for buying a new system (cables, controllers, etc), then I likely wouldn't have purchased a PS3 right now. But at the price I received, my incremental enjoyment (marginal utility) was just right and higher than current gen (which I sold over Xmas anyway because I needed the money - at that point I wasn't getting enough use out of the system to justify keeping it).

Back to the beginning of this post, I guess it really comes down to personal preference and opinion. You seem to value graphics more than I do, and your choice to hold off on a PS3 until you had HD reflects that. Give me great gameplay and a game I enjoy playing, and I'm pretty happy overall. I also don't have the time, inclination, nor the desire to look for hidden gems. If I played a wider catalogue of games like yourself, I could probably squeeze a couple more years out of my PS2, but I only care about playing certain games. Someday when I have the disposable income I'll upgrade to HD, but right now I just can't justify it.

 

the newer models have a much lower failure rate, they have improved on their design. you should make your decision on what games you like to play.
if your friends have xboxes you should get one, if they have ps3s then get the ps3.

 

Okay. That's what I wanted to hear. If they have improved on it, I think I'll get one.

Although what my friends have don't really affect me. Don't play anything online... because I sucked at them. Tried with Doom and kept getting killed. Tried with Starcraft and kept getting killed. Never tried anything since. So just offline vs. computer for me.

 

I think Microsoft will probably redesign the motherboard again (and possibly even the 360 itself?) by the end of the year, possibly combining the CPU and GPU onto a single chip. Basically, this should make it less likely to fail, or at least there should be less heat generated. It is a pretty big difference from the current configuration IMO. Might want to wait for that. The newer models are an improvement, but I think the failure rate is still above average (maybe ~10% instead of 20%-30%...of course, kind of hard to tell after only 6-9 months on the market).

edit: BTW, would you be ordering a US 360, or one from another region? Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I thought you were located outside the US (maybe just temporarily?).

 

you upgraded for that game?

oh widescreen allows you to see all your receivers and the sidelines.
I have the NCAA 09 Demo.

 

Thanks for turning this conversation around to something a little more interesting other than whether I can or cannot afford an HDTV.

I know you're being facetious, but you are probably spot on. I'd say that the average consumer doesn't think the cost of an HDTV set justifies the marginal utility they gain from using one, especially with the way the economy is right now (and with the confusion over the different types of HDTVs in the average consumer's eyes). You may even be right about Sony hoping that their focus on graphics, blu ray, and the possiblity of consumers buying Sony brand HDTVs and related products would give them an advantage over Xbox 360. However, Sony is still losing money on the PS3, so their assumptions about average consumers are appearing to be incorrect.

Right now I enjoy playing my PS3. I enjoy it more than playing PS2, and despite not being in HD, I think the PS3 graphics look much better than it's PS2 counterparts. When I finally get an HDTV, I'm sure that I will get even more enjoyment out of it.