Microsoft -For The Win

[Melf]

$200 cheaper, GTA 4 on launch day, and Halo 3 announced.

Gates wins. FATALITY!

[Obviously]

I was done with GTA at Vice City and done with Halo after the first one. The Halo 3 video is pretty nice though.

The Wii still has my interest out of all three of them but if I end up buying a second next-gen system it's going to definately be the 360 and not the PS3.

I wasn't too impressed with Microsoft's show to be honest but I'm not angry at them either like I am with Sony.

[David J.]

Halo 1 sucked and was overrated, had an awful PC port
Halo 2 was good in one area -- the city level, after that it stunk, still no PC port
Halo 3 -- I don't care.

Grand Theft Auto is only good for fifteen minutes at a time, and isn't this the sixth or so game in the series? The 2D ones where the best, and I want to see Rockstar release GTA London for the PC as freeware, as a part of their Rockstar classics line, and make it compatable with the obscure (but official) GTA 1961 addon.

[Joe Redifer]

I don't care about Halo 3 or GTA. I'd rather buy 5 Wiis than one Xbox360. Well maybe not 5. But at least 1. I'll probably get an Xbox360 someday, but I will never again pay for Xbox Live. It can't have GTA 4 on launch day because the system is already launched.


FATALITY!
God I despise Mortal Kombat.

[Russman]

Wow Melf, another GTA and Halo =game over for the competition already? Highly doubtful. How about the Wii is yet another $200 cheaper than the 360(probably), and there's a high probability that Nintendo's system won't be a buggy piece of shit for it's first generation release.

What is the 360 offering other than prettier graphics at this point? Just a cheaper price than PS3 thats all, nothing new, nothing innovative...just faster framerates and more polys, the same exact model that has been stagnating home console design since the Atari Jaguar.

I know it sounds fanboyish as fuck all, but damn, the Wii is exactly what I'm looking for, new games, a chance for totally unique and NEW game experiences. You can't tell me that Wii Tennis isn't just going to be the fucking bomb and blow away the typical FPS, GTA, Racer X game design we've seen for the past 10 years. And it's all cheaper than the competition. The X-box will beat the PS3 in the States, but the verdict is definitely still out on Nintendo....they could very well wind up taking back the World Throne.

[Joe Redifer]

But Russman, you can't rape hookers in Wii Tennis. Until Nintendo lets me rape hookers I will not buy their games. :)

[Melf]

Wow Melf, another GTA and Halo =game over for the competition already? Highly doubtful. How about the Wii is yet another $200 cheaper than the 360(probably), and there's a high probability that Nintendo's system won't be a buggy piece of shit for it's first generation release.
I'm not arguing about quality. You can't deny that people still lap up GTA games and Halo like water in the desert. They're sure fire sellers.


What is the 360 offering other than prettier graphics at this point? Just a cheaper price than PS3 thats all, nothing new, nothing innovative...just faster framerates and more polys, the same exact model that has been stagnating home console design since the Atari Jaguar.

C'mon! You can't honestly tell me that the Wii's controller is all that's needed to conquer the world. Nintendo's been innovative with their controllers for what, 3 generations now? And each console has sold worse than the last. I'm hoping that the Wii does well, but it will take more than a controller to conquer the competition. Xbox Live is a big factor this time around, and the options it opens up gives the 360 some decent ground. And I wouldn't comment about polys and frame rates after seeing the Wii trailers....


I know it sounds fanboyish as fuck all, but damn, the Wii is exactly what I'm looking for, new games, a chance for totally unique and NEW game experiences. You can't tell me that Wii Tennis isn't just going to be the fucking bomb and blow away the typical FPS, GTA, Racer X game design we've seen for the past 10 years. And it's all cheaper than the competition. The X-box will beat the PS3 in the States, but the verdict is definitely still out on Nintendo....they could very well wind up taking back the World Throne.


So, GTA and Halo are tired and more of the same, but more Mario, Zelda, Tennis, and Metroid all rock?

[j_factor]

If MS drops the 360's price, then they just might have it. Personally, I think they should "drop" the price by getting rid of the core and premium and offering one system for $299 that has some of the premium stuff (ie, have a hard drive, but maybe have a wired controller). It wouldn't actually be that much of a drop for them, and it would get rid of the two systems conundrum, and they could make a big deal about their price drop. Time it to right before the PS3 launch and you've got gold.

As for Wii, well.. I think it could do really well. The controller really is a big thing. I'm getting really excited about Wii, and the more I hear and see, the more I want one. Pretty much every Wii game I've seen stuff on looks to be of interest (except maybe Madden :p).

Xbox 360 has been out for months now, and I'm still not seeing any reason to make it the object of my desire. So far there have only been a few games that interest me, and I'm not seeing that much 360 stuff coming out of E3. Disappointing. I was expecting them to hit us with a shitload of game announcements. Halo 3 and GTA4 ain't it.

And what's so great about Xbox Live that won't (or probably won't) be on Wii and PS3's online services?


So, GTA and Halo are tired and more of the same, but more Mario, Zelda, Tennis, and Metroid all rock?

The new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games (not sure what tennis game you mean) all look to be offering significant departures in gameplay compared to their series' previous games. I can't say the same about GTA4 and Halo 3.

[Melf]

What exactly, have you seen of GTA 4 and Halo 3 to make that assessment?

Metroid Prime 3 looked too much like the others, and Zelda was the same thing with prettier graphics. Hell, it even has the same 1 second delay when you hit foes. The trailer I saw was Ocarina/Majora's Mask/Wind Waker with better visuals.

Granted, the controller is really going to make an improvement on the way they're played, but to say that the Wii's controller kills everything is absurd. By the same token, I'm not saying that the 360's line up is sent from heaven. It's just that MS seems to have all the sales bases covered this time around, which is something they didn't do last time.

In any case, it looks like Sony's fucked either way.

[j_factor]

What exactly, have you seen of GTA 4 and Halo 3 to make that assessment?

Nothing new.


Metroid Prime 3 looked too much like the others, and Zelda was the same thing with prettier graphics. Hell, it even has the same 1 second delay when you hit foes. The trailer I saw was Ocarina/Majora's Mask/Wind Waker with better visuals.

Granted, the controller is really going to make an improvement on the way they're played, but to say that the Wii's controller kills everything is absurd.

I don't think the controller kills everything, but I think the controls in Metroid and Zelda look to be so different that it's... something different. I mean, this isn't just a different number of buttons or something. They didn't just change the scheme around. Metroid Prime 3 is going to play very differently.

[Russman]

I'm not arguing about quality. You can't deny that people still lap up GTA games and Halo like water in the desert. They're sure fire sellers.

Yep, there's no getting around it, people fear change.


C'mon! You can't honestly tell me that the Wii's controller is all that's needed to conquer the world. Nintendo's been innovative with their controllers for what, 3 generations now? And each console has sold worse than the last. I'm hoping that the Wii does well, but it will take more than a controller to conquer the competition. Xbox Live is a big factor this time around, and the options it opens up gives the 360 some decent ground. And I wouldn't comment about polys and frame rates after seeing the Wii trailers....


Perhaps Nintendo's consoles like the N64 and GC have not sold as well as the competition, but NONE of them have been unsuccessful, they've all made Nintendo buttloads of money. That's more internet mythology, that if a console sells less than the current Playstation, it must be a failure. Anyway, Nintendo is banking on that controller defeating the competition, the system was designed around it, and the games look fun as hell.

X-Box live has the advantage of having the network up and running right now. I don't see how it'll be a big advantage after the new consoles are out, unless the wii network is complete ass. Wii also will have the virtual console.


So, GTA and Halo are tired and more of the same, but more Mario, Zelda, Tennis, and Metroid all rock?

I didn't say that. Well, Tennis yeah because, well fuck...look how you have to play it. That's the whole thing, the Wii is going to be able to just do things that the competition cannot, much like the DS vs. PSP. The DS can just do stuff thats impossible on the PSP, like Trauma Center. I can't wait for the inevitable Ping Pong game....I can already imagine a first-person view ping pong game using the Wiimote, you know it'll happen, and that is innovation. Red Steel looks sweet too, it looks more like an arcade FPS, and I love those.

It's $200 I'll bet. There's not really any complaints there. I'd consider a PS3 or 360 if Sony and Microsoft figured out a way to bring gasoline back down to $.99 per gallon.

[Melf]

Did Nintendo show anything of their network? I know the press conferences were pretty much summaries of what the companies have in mind, but I don't recall reading anything, and I was really looking forward to them shedding light on the whole DL old games thing.

Hopefully they saved that info for later this week.

[janus]

Neither Sony or Nintendo have said anything on their online plans, and it took five years for MS to get where they are with Xbox Live. I think people who are expecting Sony and Nintendo to have a 100% working, reliable and user friendly online service on day 1 are being unrealistic. One thing that is certain: Sony will copy the achievements thing.

BTW, Wii Tennis sounds like it will be fun for ten minutes. I also expect Nintendo to fit a lot of square pegs in round holes by trying to adapt existing franchises (swing a hammer as Mario!) to suit the controller when they would be better off coming up with completely new ideas.

Maybe it's just cause I'm a MACHO FPS ACTION GAMER, but Gears of War, Shadowrun, Lost Planet, Street Fighter Live, Luminines Live, Forza 2, Fable 2, etc. look really exciting to me. But even it they didn't, and I didn't own a 360, there's no way in hell that I'm paying $600 (which in UK shop means they'll merely turn the $ into a £) for a glorified blu-ray player. ESPECIALLY when you consider Sony's record with proprietary formats.

[Obviously]

Lumines Live caught my interest and it shows the prospect of more Japanese developers going over to Microsoft.

Nintendo isn't really going after the same demographic, I think Nintendo fans especially have to realize this. The internet flame wars are really starting to irk me and the only ones who aren't involved are the people who can afford to buy all three.

It's a really psychological thing going on recently. People know they can't have them all at least right away so the one or two they don't want are being villified.

Granted I saw a lot of Nintendo fans really warm up to the X-Box 360 after Sony's conference, but I'm sick of Nintendo fans all over the internet bashing people with different tastes.

Unless Sony lowers their price I'm picturing a close race between Nintendo and Microsoft with Sony pacing in the background.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

$200 cheaper, GTA 4 on launch day, and Halo 3 announced.

Gates wins. FATALITY!


Sony will sell as many PS3's as they make. This I promise you.

Gates doesn't win, and it's good that he doesn't.

[j_factor]

Sony will sell as many PS3's as they make. This I promise you.

It will take Sony at least 6-8 months after launch before they've made as many PS3's as the 360's that have already sold. Also, Sony will be producing their new console in smaller initial quantities than Nintendo. This I promise you.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

It will take Sony at least 6-8 months after launch before they've made as many PS3's as the 360's that have already sold. Also, Sony will be producing their new console in smaller initial quantities than Nintendo. This I promise you.

I prefer salted pork to unsalted pork. The pro-lifer's dilemma can be solved if sexual education in classrooms is more extensive and condoms are sold on the street. Give it away, Give it away, Give it away now, Give it away, Give it away, Give it away now. Un gato es en su madre's pantalones.

Confused? So was I when I read your post. I don't care what kind of sales the xbox 360 and Wii have, I only know that Sony will sell as many PS3s as Sony makes. Should we bring in Atari for further incessant noise or do we understand?

[Melf]

Sony will sell as many PS3's as they make. This I promise you.

Gates doesn't win, and it's good that he doesn't.

Um, how is this any different than what you were complaining about in the Sony thread? You mean you want Gates to fail?

And to reply directly: Sony will sell out their inventory of PS3s, no doubt. What you have to ask is: how many will they be able to manufacture for a worldwide launch? How soon will stocks replenish? Will there be enough for Christmas?

They may actually be facing a bigger launch problem than MS did, and that was one hard fuck up to top.

[j_factor]

I prefer salted pork to unsalted pork. The pro-lifer's dilemma can be solved if sexual education in classrooms is more extensive and condoms are sold on the street. Give it away, Give it away, Give it away now, Give it away, Give it away, Give it away now. Un gato es en su madre's pantalones.

Confused? So was I when I read your post. I don't care what kind of sales the xbox 360 and Wii have, I only know that Sony will sell as many PS3s as Sony makes. Should we bring in Atari for further incessant noise or do we understand?

Sony will sell as many PS3's as Sony makes.

They will be making fewer PS3s than MS has sold 360s.

Being outsold is a bad thing.

[Joe Redifer]

I agree that Sony will sell as many PS3s as they make. It's called supply and demand. When the demand goes up, they'll make more units to meet those demands. Kind of like how Microsoft will sell every Xbox360 they make and Nintendo will sell every Wii they make. They may not fly off the shelves the second they are stocked (and this goes for the PS3 as well), but they'll be purchased eventually.

[taitbb]

Is Sony officially the new SEGA of gaming?

Don't get me wrong, love me SEGA, but Sony certainly seems to be doing as much as possible to tick off the gaming community, and developers. Much the same way as SEGA did.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

Um, how is this any different than what you were complaining about in the Sony thread? You mean you want Gates to fail?

Misintrepreted. I don't believe winning in the game industry is good. That's what I meant. Winning creates less competition which could decrease creativity. I suppose winning could mean turning a profit, or it could mean being the best selling console. But I interpreted Sega leaving the hardware business as Sega losing, so that means there had to be winners, and that I don't approve of.



And to reply directly: Sony will sell out their inventory of PS3s, no doubt. What you have to ask is: how many will they be able to manufacture for a worldwide launch? How soon will stocks replenish? Will there be enough for Christmas?.

Hell no. In fact, I believe Sony stated they were going to create that supply and demand that Microsoft had accidentally, except on purpose!


They may actually be facing a bigger launch problem than MS did, and that was one hard fuck up to top.

Again, I don't think Sony considers any of that a failure. I could be wrong, but I believe Sony will try to sell as much of their product as possible that gives them the best profit overall. IN fact, I think that's any companies mantra.

[Melf]

All true, but the question remains: will they have enough supply to keep people from going to the 360 and Wii? MS screwed up big time with the 360 launch, and Sony could be in for worse if they don't have enough PS3s to go around. 2 million for the whole world is far from enough. They've promised 2 million more before Christmas, but somehow I think that might not be enough for just Japan, let alone the U.S. and Europe.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

All true, but the question remains: will they have enough supply to keep people from going to the 360 and Wii? MS screwed up big time with the 360 launch, and Sony could be in for worse if they don't have enough PS3s to go around. 2 million for the whole world is far from enough. They've promised 2 million more before Christmas, but somehow I think that might not be enough for just Japan, let alone the U.S. and Europe.

I don't think Sony has to worry about the Wii or the 360 for that matter. I think it can be assumed that Sony will sell every console they make, and if they create demand for their console it would likely induce people to wait rather than go other places, or people would go other places and return to the PS3. It's all about marketing, especially when they start pushing the Blu-Ray down people's throats and they feature it in a Will Smith movie.

I'm telling you, wait till August, you'll be bombarded with Blu-Ray from the industry.

[Melf]

I'm not so sure about Blu-Ray. It remains to be seen if the public is going to embrace it as eagerly as hoped. The same can be said for HD-DVD. The jump from a standard DVD to Blu-Ray isn't that pronounced as the jump from VHS to DVD was, and the majority of the public still doesn't have the set ups to truly appreciate what change there is.

[Obviously]

I don't think the question is "Will Sony fail?" but rather "Will Microsoft and Nintendo do better than they did last time and will Sony still be the leader?"

There's no doubt all three companies are going to make a butload of money and still be here come the next generation.

As for Blu-Ray, very few people outside of the motion picture industry and Sony are feeling very good about it. I still say there's absolutely no need for it right now.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

I'm not so sure about Blu-Ray. It remains to be seen if the public is going to embrace it as eagerly as hoped. The same can be said for HD-DVD. The jump from a standard DVD to Blu-Ray isn't that pronounced as the jump from VHS to DVD was, and the majority of the public still doesn't have the set ups to truly appreciate what change there is.

People aren't sold because A. Most people don't know it exists and B. It hasn't been marketed yet.

Believe me, you'll see a ps3 ad in several months that'll make you want to buy. Marketing is America's finest drug, and it works every time.

(That's why I drool over every insignificant EA game, despite the fact that I don't purchase EA games.

[Joe Redifer]

Marketing is America's finest drug, and it works every time.
Then why are there so many unsuccessful products as well as unsuccessful marketing campains? New Coke anyone?

[Kikoskia]

Sega Nomad could be another. Oh, and 32X. Oh, and Gizmodo. Oh, and the 3DO...

The list can go on for a long time. Marketing isn't everything. You can only wrap so many band aids around a wound before they don't make anymore difference. If the product is bad, marketing usually doesn't make much difference.

[Melf]

Betamax? Mini disc?

Sony's a hype monster, but I think they have their work cut out for them this time. Hopefully, they'll announce some more games (they said there would be around 15, which is a number Sega shot for first with the DC) that'll make it more enticing.

I will be getting one, no doubt, but just not until it's a lot cheaper.

[Kikoskia]

Betamax? Mini disc?

Don't forget the Game.com. :D

[Joe Redifer]

Betamax? Mini disc?
Speaking of which, ever since Beta Sony has desparately wanted to "own" a format more than anything else in the world. It is their dream. A dream they have failed at many, many, many times. Poor Sony. I shed a tear for thee.

Beta = Failed. Sony = PWND!
8mm/Hi8 = Failed. Sony = PWND!
MiniDisc = Failed. Sony = PWND!
SDDS = Failed. Sony = PWND!
UMD = Gonna fail! Sony = Will be PWND!
BluRay = ? Sony = ?

Poor Sony. Poor, poor Sony.

[Kikoskia]

Well, I dare say that is one very, very bad track record. It doesn't shine well on BluRay.

[Drixxel]

Some products are doomed to fail. There is a lot more to successful marketing than just good advertising. The single most important step in creating a marketing plan is correctly identifying your target market, and whether or not it's large enough to make the proposed business venture turn the desired profit. You need people to buy your shit, after all. You also have to consider strength of the competition, the unique selling point of your product, etc. etc.

Blu-Ray does nothing for me, personally. I like DVDs, I don't want to change formats just yet, and I don't have a fancy television. Sony has their work cut out for them if they hope to convince people like me that Blu-Ray is worth my time and money, and they may have made a serious miscalculation as to the willingness of adpotion within their proposed target market. Are any of you genuinely excited about Blu-Ray as a format? If not, what would it take for you to be?

At any rate, Sony's going for prestige pricing with their spiffy PS3, those frisky bastards. They're hoping that you'll associate an outrageous pricetag with outrageous quality, which will conjur a strong sense of materialistic pride within your gluttonous soul and have you falling over yourself to buy one immediately in order to be the coolest and most trendsetting fucker around. That's the kind of thought that goes into deciding on a launch price, and these are the kind of people Sony will be banking on.

As always, we'll let the games decide. That being said, even a weak launch title buffet didn't stop the PS2 from setting the Dreamcast ablaze, but ehhh, I expect the 360 to do just fine. It, like the PS3, has sway over the brand loyal of the current gen.

[Melf]

I think it has a lot to do with consumer apathy towards upgrading. Telling people that they're going to have to buy a new DVD player (though their existing collections will be compatible) kind of makes them say "what for?" Remember Super VHS? We still don't know if Blu-Ray will beat HD-DVD or if both will fail. Neither have been really warmly received so far, and the time when the general consumer will own a set up that takes full advantage over the new format is still a ways off.

Moreover, people comparing Blu-Ray in the PS3 to DVD in the PS2 are forgetting one thing: DVD was already the accepted format by consumers when the PS2 launched. People were going to upgrade eventually anyway, because that was the accepted successor to VHS. It's not so clean cut this time around.

[David J.]

IIRC, when the PS2 launched in Japan a tad over six years ago, DVD players where very expensive, and as a result, at first the PS2 sold very well mostly because it was a cheap DVD player.

I brought this up, because maybe the same will hold true for the PS3 since it is a Blu-ray player, and maybe cheaper than current blu-ray players? In Japan they are expensive and kind of scarce, so...

[Melf]

Yeah, but that success was attributed to the fact that the DVD format was already established as the clear successor to VHS. This is different because we don't know if Blu-Ray will be accepted, or HD-DVD, or neither. People may just opt to stick with regular DVD, like what happened with laser disc. It's not going to be so simple.

Personally, I hope both formats fail. I'm sick of companys trying to shove their proprietary formats down our throats. DVD has barely started and already we're supposed to upgrade? By the time these next gen players are cheap enough to buy, regular DVD will be firmly entrenched as the home video option. People can now buy a DVD player at Wal-Mart for less than $50, and I doubt $500 and $600 players are going to look attractive to the general non-gaming public. Most people aren't even aware that there are two new formats being pushed.

[David J.]

I still fail to see the reason for new home video formats, and I'm not going to deny that VHS -> DVD was a huge difference. But now it's getting insane.

So, was (or has) DVD pushed to it's limits? Maybe someone like Joe can confirm or deny?

[Joe Redifer]

DVD was pretty much pushed to its limits the moment dual-layer discs were introduced. It won't be tremendously long before blank dual-layer DVDs become common, further entrenching the format. DVDs run in 480p and 16:9 (when authored to do so) and they look more than good enough for most people. Even with advertising, the average consumer won't give a shit about BluRay or the inferior HD-DVD. DVD is plenty fine. The ONLY way BluRay could EVER be an advantage is if you had an HDTV. Not enough people have them yet. BluRay is being pushed too soon. It's a good format, but it needs to wait at least 2 more years.

[Drixxel]

As far as DVD being pushed to its limits, at least in terms of picture and audio quality, the Superbit series of DVDs is pretty much it. The whole deal with Superbit is they drop the wasted space of special features and such, devoting nearly 80% of the DVD's storage space to the video alone. As far as I am aware, it's as close to high definition as DVDs come. And they have really ugly packaging.

[Russman]

Superbit DVD's are fantastic. And Joe is right, there's nothing more we can do with DVD to upgrade the picture quality, even though like most of you said, for the average consumer the pq is fine as it is.

DVD is not a high definition format though, as it can only display in 720 x 480 pixels displayed in progressive scan format, which is only HALF the resolution of HDTV. The pixel count on an HDTV is typically 1280 x 720(720p) or 1920 x 1080(1080i) I know you guys think that the current DVD picture quality is fine, and that the new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD won't be a significant upgrade, but honestly if you wait to judge this until you actually see Blu-Ray up and running and what it looks like, I think you might be pleasantly suprised by the upgrade.

It's certainly not the jump that VHS->DVD was, but then, it's not being marketed to the mass consumer either. This is something for the HDTV owners out there, and the price in HDTV has come down very far in the last 2 years, and it will continue to drop, so many of you don't know it, but you might be upgrading to HDTV in the near future...and why not?

Look, I don't know about you guys, but when I play a game on the computer I play the game in atleast 1024 x 780 resolution. I like the crisp image displayed on my monitor, and with HD-DVD/BD I'll be able to have this kind of resolution on my HDTV set, thus I'm pretty interested in this new format right now. It's too expensive right now, but I'll wait for a year and then look at it again. I won't buy a PS3 for the Blu-Ray though, I prefer to have dedicated hardware on my DVD players, and I don't really like Sony brand electronics. I'm sure Toshiba will have a superior product in the near future, and I wouldn't be suprised if some company makes a HDDVD/BluRay combo player. Not to mention these new formats will both be backwards compatible with DVD, so it's not like anyone has to get rid of their current DVD collections....just keep your DVD's and buy the new formats from there. Seems simple to me.

[Russman]

As far as DVD being pushed to its limits, at least in terms of picture and audio quality, the Superbit series of DVDs is pretty much it. The whole deal with Superbit is they drop the wasted space of special features and such, devoting nearly 80% of the DVD's storage space to the video alone. As far as I am aware, it's as close to high definition as DVDs come. And they have really ugly packaging.

Hey Drixxel muh man, which Superbits have you seen that you saw an obvious upgrade in quality? I have about 10 of them, and from my experience, Starship Troopers is hands down the best Superbit DVD on the market. I think Desperado was actually rated the best upgrade from what I've read around the net, but it's hard to say, though it is damn awesome.

This is a good time to get Superbit movies. Best Buy stores are clearancing them out at $9.99 for any Superbit title. I've been going there every weekend and buying a few before they get rid of them. It wasn't a very successful format, and I can sense that the superbit line will soon vanish from retail shelves.

So far I bought:
-Jonny Mnemonic
-Black Hawk Down
-Lawrence of Arabia
-Desperado
-Starship Troopers
-Heavy Metal
-Cliffhanger
-Snatch
-The Patriot
-Seven Years in Tibet
-Gattaca

[Drixxel]

Hey Drixxel muh man, which Superbits have you seen that you saw an obvious upgrade in quality? I have about 10 of them, and from my experience, Starship Troopers is hands down the best Superbit DVD on the market. I think Desperado was actually rated the best upgrade from what I've read around the net, but it's hard to say, though it is damn awesome.

This is a good time to get Superbit movies. Best Buy stores are clearancing them out at $9.99 for any Superbit title. I've been going there every weekend and buying a few before they get rid of them. It wasn't a very successful format, and I can sense that the superbit line will soon vanish from retail shelves.

So far I bought:
-Jonny Mnemonic
-Black Hawk Down
-Lawrence of Arabia
-Desperado
-Starship Troopers
-Heavy Metal
-Cliffhanger
-Snatch
-The Patriot
-Seven Years in Tibet
-Gattaca

I've had the opportunity to watch three Superbit DVDs in addition to their non-Superbit brethren, and they were all improved enough for me to vouch for their better quality, at least when watched on a top-notch television.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Leon the Professional
The Fifth Element

I watched the Leon Superbit on my pansy 24" random brand television and the experience really was nothing noteworthy compared to the standard DVD. These discs need a good screen. For the most part I'm willing to settle for the overblown special edition DVDs with the features I'll never watch, but when I eventually invest in an absurd entertainment center years down the road, I'll undoubtedly wish that I had snapped up more of these Superbit DVDs. For now, though, lower resolution and occasional artifacting doesn't bother me.

[AmyDoesn'tDouche]

Then why are there so many unsuccessful products as well as unsuccessful marketing campains? New Coke anyone?

Perhaps I should've said "When done right".

Whatever the case with former Sony formats, they didn't have a successful game console pushing it. And, while DVD may have been the clear cut successor to VHS, the Japanse market didn't know it until Sony showed them the way.

Also, as previously stated, home entertainment is becoming incredibly expensive. People are treating themselves to sub-cinema stuff here, buying outrageous ss and HDTV.

If a person spends thousands of dollars on a TV, a sound system, a stereo, and they want to get the max out of it, a PS3 seems like a good choice.

Alot of it depends on who buys what, but there are plenty of whos. Rich whos, poor whos, extravagant splurging whos.

Sony will sell their PS3, they just need to find their who.

I do believe that the HD-DVD, Holographic Media, and Blu-Ray will be the final true "hard" format before everything is digitally uploaded to blocks holding memory. Blu-Ray has the most support, so it will probably be the main choice.

[Joe Redifer]

If a person spends thousands of dollars on a TV, a sound system, a stereo, and they want to get the max out of it, a PS3 seems like a good choice.
Well, yes and no. A person like this would unquestionably purchase a PS3 if they were into videogames... big "if". But this same person, gamer or not, would most likely have a stand-alone dedicated BluRay player. I am one of these pretentious assholes. I never settled for playing movies on ANY of my game systems. Ever. I bought the first LaserDisc/DVD combo player that came out (still have it) and made sure to get a really nice DVD player with all of the required outputs and capabilities. Playstations are known for their horrible drives, so I didn't want to ruin it even more quickly by playing movie DVDs in it as well. The same will go for BluRay if that format takes off.

Does anyone think the PS3 will be a durable machine?

[j_factor]

LaserDisc/DVD combo player

I want one of those.

[Joe Redifer]

I'm amazed mine still works! It is limited to s-video, though. No progressive scan and no DTS out for DVD, but DTS LaserDiscs work. It also has a dedicated RF output for LD Dolby Digital.