own a PS3?

[Papa6]

I have a complimentary eweek subscription that covers IT businesses,hardware and software. but i read an article in the November 22 edition that struck an interest in me.

Ever wonder what they crammed into that PS3? it's a hardcore super computer!

Here's a link to the article about the hardware, how much the parts cost and the total cost of each unit. * note that sony sells the units much below what they should be but hope to gain back losses from software sales.

hope th earticle turns out to be a good read.

-Papa6

[rookie]

I noticed pretty fast, the 60gb version costs about 40$ more in production, but is sold for 100$ more. So a little bit is coming in there, of course they're still loosing too much. When I think of a MGS 4 Collector's Edition, Sony will have it's money back within one week.

Really good read, the comparsion between ps3 and 360 is also interesting.

Edited December 3, 2006 by rookie

[Sup]

note that sony sells the units much below what they should be but hope to gain back losses from software sales.

Just like microsoft and Sony did last time they put out consoles. Nintendo is the only company working with old enough hardware to sell cheap and make a profit.

[FA sear]

That is an interesting article, but I really have to wonder about some of those claims. After seeing this post by Sup PS3 screenshot comparison I seriously doubt the "power" of the PS3. Don't take that the wrong way, I think the graphics look very good, but supercomputer quality? I don't think so.

I think a highend PC will blow away a PS3.

[Sup]

I think a highend PC will blow away a PS3.

Well, the PS3 doesn't have the greatest memory, but I think it's still going to be a couple of months (maybe the first wave of Dx10 games) before the PC really takes back it's 'most powerful' place. It still hasn't really surpassed the 360 (nothing released holds a candle to GOW at the moment,) and a well made ps3 game should look pretty similar to a well made 360 game.

[FA sear]

I think a highend PC will blow away a PS3.

Well, the PS3 doesn't have the greatest memory, but I think it's still going to be a couple of months (maybe the first wave of Dx10 games) before the PC really takes back it's 'most powerful' place. It still hasn't really surpassed the 360 (nothing released holds a candle to GOW at the moment,) and a well made ps3 game should look pretty similar to a well made 360 game.

That is pretty interesting that you say that. I have read some posts that seem to indicate that an opposing opinion to yours. Now of course I have yet to actually witness these people's claims, so I am taking their opinions with a grain of salt. Another thing is that some of these people have stated that they do not even have a 360, but that they are making the comparison based on a demo they had seen at Walmart, EB, etc...

Now you have both a good gaming PC and a 360, right? I still have an old Xbox, as I am waiting for the "new" processor to make its way in in March or April of 07'. My PC is also a bit old now, and since I don't game much I just can't justify spending money on a new PC when it runs fine for everything else. Besides, it still runs GR/GRIT/DS just fine.

[Sup]

Now you have both a good gaming PC and a 360, right?

Well, actually, PC's broken as of a few months ago and x360 is broken as of a few weeks ago.

However, yeah. While, technically, I'm pretty sure that the highest end PCs outmatch the 360 and ps3 at the moment, without a single game released to take advantage of that it's pretty irrelevant to the videogame industry. Even then (with the possible exception of crysis) it seems all of the big PC games coming out are only showing a slight edge in texture size over what is (obviously) possible on the 360 and playstation.

Plus, with the allure of console development, most of the greatest art teams are working on console games at the moment. Even with the difference in power, with console exclusive games like Assasins Creed and Army of Two coming out next year, the 360 and PS3 are going to look pretty impressive for quite some time.

Ubisoft's work on Vegas and Epic's Gears of War both blow away anything anyone has devoted the money to on the PC up untill now. That should change pretty quickly with Crysis and Ut2k7, but, really. Especially considering how poorly most developers are adjusting to 'next gen' art assets, the difference doesn't seem nearly great enough to justify a 3000 dollar PC purchase in the next couple of years.

[FA sear]

Ok, that makes sense.

I thought you sent your 360 in? Did you not get a new one back yet?

[Sup]

I thought you sent your 360 in? Did you not get a new one back yet?

Not quite. Should be back in the next week or so, though.

[dporter]

I somewhat doubt the actual numbers in this article. They have said that manufacturing costs have gone down quite a bit for the 360, but I still don't think it has gone down below retail price. I think these numbers are really just estimates.

I'm sure though that the ps3 has a lot of power under it's hood, the only problem though is can developers really use the power effectively in their games? From what I have read from the game developers themselves is that it is harder to tap into the ps3's power then it is the 360. I'll have to find a link but one guy said that for the ps3 to outshine the 360 the cost of developing that game would be huge, and he says that someone will do it but not for some time.

A lot of the new games for the pc coming out look to be a lot of fun, but for me I have to build a new computer from the ground up since my other computer was so old. We also sold it so I could get my wife a laptop. I price a build out the other day for a low end E6300 if I built it myself for around $600. That is with only 1 gig of ram. By the time crysis comes out I'll have to buy some more upgrades. I just can't justify (for me anyways) spending that much money when I can get a console to last me another 5 years or so. It would be nice if they made the consoles somewhat upgradable as well. It would be nice to add some memory to the 360 in another year or so.

[Sup]

I'm sure though that the ps3 has a lot of power under it's hood, the only problem though is can developers really use the power effectively in their games?

It is harder to develop for, but I don't really think it matters that much.

Developers are doing a bad job on next gen anyway. The combination of higher ups who want large texture sizes, bloom, and OMGNEXTGEN with art leads who don't understand 'next gen' lighting, ignore spec maps, fill a 1024 texture with a flat color and a normal map, and generally make the game look bad and run worse, is making both PS3 and 360 development harder.

Seems to be even worse with the PS3, where the guys with the money but no knowledge of game development see sony's presentations and say 'make it killzone 3.'

The best example of things done right is gears of war. They dropped texture sizes a lot before it came out, but the quality of the art and style of the art direction still resulted in a stunning game.