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Gadgets Microsoft and Nintendo Gloat Over PS3 Delay
Brandon Hill (Blog) - September 7, 2006 12:54 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 52 comment(s) - last by darkfoon.. on Sep 9 at 2:43 PM
Microsoft and Nintendo gear up for the holiday season

With Sony's PlayStation being delayed for Europe and launch numbers for the United States and Japan being cut due to production issues, both Microsoft and Nintendo are breathing a sigh of relief. With supply stretched thin, Sony won't be able to gain much traction this holiday season leaving the XBOX 360 and Wii in a better position.

Sony announced that it was downgrading its forecast for PS3 shipments by the end of 2006 from 4 million units to 2 million units. Nintendo countered by releasing the following statement regarding Wii: "Wii is on track to ship in Q4, Nintendo plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007."

Microsoft also decided to chime in and once again took a jab at Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray technology on the PS3:

"We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch, so it's not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced launch plan, due to the unproven technology they are trying to pack in to their console," said Microsoft's Neil Thompson. "Europe remains a priority for us. That is why gamers have been able to experience Xbox 360 from day one, and why we're confident we're going to have a great Christmas - regardless of what competitors are or are not in the market."

While Microsoft and Nintendo may have an easier time this holiday season selling consoles, they shouldn’t count Sony out altogether. Once Sony gets its production issues worked out, it should be able to get back on its regular production schedule. In fact, despite the current production snag, Sony still has not changed its global shipment forecast of 6 million units by the end of the current fiscal year.

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Ebay?
By Frank M on 9/7/2006 1:40:31 PM , Rating: 2
Just think of how much each of those 2 million units will go for though!




RE: Ebay?
By michal1980 on 9/7/06, Rating: -1
RE: Ebay?
By mendocinosummit on 9/7/06, Rating: -1
RE: Ebay?
By Vertigo101 on 9/7/2006 3:17:11 PM , Rating: 1
Maybe you should specify the best console hardware available. I guarantee you I can build a PC that can best the PS3.


RE: Ebay?
By Stalwart88 on 9/7/06, Rating: -1
RE: Ebay?
By FNG on 9/7/2006 4:24:26 PM , Rating: 2
Lets be silly about this for a second.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/configliquid.php?sys_i...

I think that competes, just not in cost.


RE: Ebay?
By tuteja1986 on 9/7/2006 7:44:15 PM , Rating: 2
Well anyone that has been keep an eye on the gaming industry since 1990 to now will know that Sony says something and does totally something else. For instance look at E3 2005 Sony press-conference, then look at E3 2006 Sony press-conference, and now looks at how many things have been takeout today. Again Sony says something and does something else. They just know that hyping it up to the max to start with and then, slowly take out features and lie about console launch date. Imagine if Sony showed non-cgi movies , PS3 20GBnon-hdmi/60withHdmi models, Price announcement , Real launch date announcement , Real spec with final features. Sony would have nothing to really hype about then and you guys would loose interest.

They been saying so much about virtual console for almost 2 years and still psp has no virtual console content. When ps2 was announced Sony had the most awesome plan for online gameplay and look at today and its no where what they told us back in 1999.




RE: Ebay?
By Phenick on 9/7/2006 4:29:46 PM , Rating: 2
..... You are rather quick to call someone an idiot... PS3 does not have 9 cpus... in fact it has 1 cell processor with 8 cores... Maybe you counted its GPU?? But by the time PS3 is out we will be around quad core time and DX10.... So trumped?


RE: Ebay?
By FITCamaro on 9/8/2006 12:04:25 AM , Rating: 1
Wrong again buddy. The cell processor is nothing more than the same shitty PowerPC based core the Xbox 360 uses. Except instead of there being 3 of them it has up to 8 SPEs on it that I wouldn't consider a processor core since they can't act on their own. They can just perform a single task and return the result.


RE: Ebay?
By darkfoon on 9/8/2006 5:55:26 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
shitty PowerPC

Sir, I disagree with you.
The PowerPC, while thermally-challanged, has very good vector(floating-point) performance.
Actually, I was disappointed when Mac announced it's transition to Intel, because Macs are most used for graphic arts, video editing, and other floating-point intensive tasks, and PowerPC is very good for floating-point.

Therefore, in a task such as gaming, where much of the processing involves floating-point math like physics and player movement, the PowerPC architecture has an advantage.


RE: Ebay?
By Tilmitt on 9/8/2006 1:11:06 PM , Rating: 2
PowerPC is not "thermally challenged". PowerPC G5's run hot but no more so than the hideous architectural monstrosity known as the Pentium 4. G4's are really energy efficient as are G3's and other PowerPC based CPU's. The Apple switch was about Apple giving up on being different and wanting the security of using the same CPU's as the common folk. Anything else is just marketing.


RE: Ebay?
By darkfoon on 9/9/2006 2:43:38 PM , Rating: 2
I only described the G5 as "thermally challenged" because it runs hot, and Steve Jobs mentioned that he was disappointed that he didn't have a G5 notebook (My God, that's the first time I've ever taken anything Steve Jobs said as evidence).
Also, the cooling system in the PowerMac G5 says it all.

Indeed, the G5 is no worse than the thermal nightmare that was the Prescott architecture. Long live the Core architecture!!!


RE: Ebay?
By Spoonbender on 9/7/2006 4:39:38 PM , Rating: 1
hahaha, most ignorant post I've seen in a while.
Yes, it has 8 cores (the last one is disabled to improve yields), but that is not the same as CPU's, and most of them are hopelessly crippled/specialized comparede to a PC CPU core.

And who cares about teraflops? Yes, if you want to stream movies, the Cell kicks ass. If you want to grind Folding or Set@Home, it has a lot of potential.

And for general purpose stuff, it might, on a good day, be able to compete with an early Pentium 4.

I don't really think you should be calling people idiots just because they know more about the Cell architecture than what Sony's PR department has claimed.


RE: Ebay?
By smitty3268 on 9/7/2006 4:49:22 PM , Rating: 2
Nothing will beat the Cell at a few specific types of computations, but for general gaming I'd say a 4 core CPU would probably be better. Those are supposed to be out soon, or you could go the MP route easily enough - look at Apple's PowerMacs. More importantly, the GPU is usually the limiting factor in games, and current ATI/NVIDIA GPU's would crush all the consoles.

BTW, when calling someone an idiot it is best not to accidentally misspell the word "an" as "and". Just a tip.


RE: Ebay?
By Xavian on 9/7/2006 5:43:15 PM , Rating: 1
Not just probably, a quad core would be better period, 4 fully fledged CPU's with their own caches linked by HTT links would best 1 CPU with 8 PPU's in anything other then streaming movies.

Cell is good for certain specialized functions, but for anything resembling general purpose, it doesn't stand a chance against quad-core.


RE: Ebay?
By smitty3268 on 9/7/2006 5:58:04 PM , Rating: 2
Oh, I agree. I was just thinking that those PPU's would do pretty well with physics and AI if a game was really well optimized for them, so I figured for games in particular a Cell might be around a decent quad-core general cpu. I've heard some developers say they aren't much good for anything, though, and I am not an expert, so maybe they aren't that useful.


RE: Ebay?
By FITCamaro on 9/8/2006 12:05:39 AM , Rating: 2
A Pentium D or Athlon X2 would kick the cells ass at gaming.


RE: Ebay?
By Sh0ckwave on 9/8/2006 1:37:47 AM , Rating: 2
LOL Pentium D? They can't kick anythings ass at gaming.


RE: Ebay?
By PrinceGaz on 9/8/2006 9:47:19 AM , Rating: 2
A Pentium D is probably as good as the Cell at running typical game code. The Cell was probably the worst processor Sony could have picked for a games console. On the other hand it is a great processor for media encoding and decoding, but the PS3 is supposed to be a games console first and foremost.


RE: Ebay?
By LtFarva on 9/8/2006 10:25:46 AM , Rating: 2
How do you guys know so much about the Cell processor? It's amazing.


RE: Ebay?
By Pandamonium on 9/7/2006 1:53:38 PM , Rating: 2
MS wasn't praying for Sony to fail. Sony knew it would fail to deliver by its launch deadline, and subsequently moved said deadline. End of story.


RE: Ebay?
By bunnyfubbles on 9/7/2006 1:55:31 PM , Rating: 1
The team that loses and allows another in isn't a true winner either.

Pittsburgh needed losses at the end of the year to help them get into the playoffs (KC and SD), but they also needed to win 8 straight (4 in the playoffs) to win the Superbowl. The opportunity was there and they took advantage of it, no excuses. They didn't have to pray for anything, they took care of what they needed to do and that was that. If Kansas City would have taken care of what they needed to do (Sony), then Pittsburgh wouldn't have even made the playoffs let alone win out throught he Superbowl...

It doesn't matter that Microsoft or Nintendo might not "deserve" to beat Sony, Sony is failing on their own. Yeah they might be kicking butt right now if they were in their prime, but the past is the past, you can't keep living in it.


RE: Ebay?
By mendocinosummit on 9/7/2006 2:16:05 PM , Rating: 2
Good analogy


RE: Ebay?
By MooseMuffin on 9/7/2006 2:28:07 PM , Rating: 2
Microsoft's launch didn't have to go smoothly since they had no next-gen competition. All of their production troubles are a year behind them now. Furthermore, all of the first gen games made with underpowered beta dev kits are done with, while Sony has to release theirs against 2nd gen 360 games.


RE: Ebay?
By kilkennycat on 9/7/2006 3:38:15 PM , Rating: 1
"...production problems a year behind them...."

Sure, and the reliability problems for the purchasers just beginning. Cleaned out the lint and junk from the internal heatsinks yet ? If not, the CPU, GPU and closely-adjacent disk drive are likely to gradually fry over time as the heatsinks continue to clog with gunk nicely piled up by the fans... Sorry, I forgot...without special tools you can't open a Xbox 360 to fully access the heatsinks and not damage the casing. M$$ was paranoid about modders and deliberately made the Xbox360 difficult to open. Opening the case also breaks a warranty seal. Hope that your extended warranty lasts long enough for you to get a replacement when the unit finally overheats. You might be able to partly access the heatsinks through the air-holes, with a long nozzle on a dusting-gas can, but the danger is that such partial cleaning can cause the lint to clump and clog up the heatsinks even worse than leaving it alone, especially the high-density CPU heatsink.


RE: Ebay?
By splines on 9/7/2006 10:46:29 PM , Rating: 2
Interested in any evidence you have of this fact. I'm not saying you're lying, but I haven't heard any of this before.

And what's to say the PS3 is going to be any better designed? Last I saw they were still made out of wood.


RE: Ebay?
By SgtJonson on 9/8/2006 11:22:28 PM , Rating: 2
"Sorry, I forgot...without special tools you can't open a Xbox 360 to fully access the heatsinks and not damage the casing."

Yes, special tools like pliers, flat head and torx screw drives...

http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=26...


"Unproven technology"
By BBQmyNUTZ on 9/7/2006 2:01:40 PM , Rating: 3
What... blue laser diodes, like the ones they will be clamoring to get in order to mass produce their HD-DVD add-on?

M$ should be more concerned about getting more quality titles on the shelves... something they didn't do with the year + lead-in they had on Sony and Nintendo to begin with. Talk about your all-time screw-ups.

Kai





RE: "Unproven technology"
By techhappy on 9/7/2006 2:10:38 PM , Rating: 3
Microsoft can gloat, but the biggest problem they face is the lack of quality titles, the same problem they had with the original xbox. Still, Sony really needs to get their act together.



RE: "Unproven technology"
By Lakku on 9/7/2006 2:12:30 PM , Rating: 2
Except you don't have to buy the HD-DVD add-on. They could care less if its mass produced, as it will only be used for movies. With the PS3, you need it to do anything at all.

As for quality titles, there are enough on the 360, unless of course you prefer the same old Japanese 'RPG' and anime style video games over and over. Both Sony and MS have the same problem with quality titles, as only Nintendo seems to be able to rehash old ideas and still make then new enough to remain fun, let alone make up all new ideas. There are some good 360 titles out there, and more will be coming.


RE: "Unproven technology"
By OrSin on 9/7/2006 2:26:59 PM , Rating: 2
MS game selection sucks. I dont see why they can't even get the same quailty of games of the old Xbox. Not the that onld xbox selection was great. If you not into sports xbox has almost nothing good. I see few good ones buy this holiday seaon but damn thats years from lauch date. I got the 360 so dont call me a sony fan boy. In fact sony sucks and sucked for years. People are still buying Sony becasue they was once great.

MS please get some decent games out. Right now I really looking at the Wii and only use the 360 to steam from my PC.


RE: "Unproven technology"
By Anh Huynh on 9/7/2006 4:25:16 PM , Rating: 2
I disagree with that, I've had plenty of good titles to play on my Xbox 360 including Dead Rising, Saint's Row, Project Gotham 3, Dead or Alive 4 and Test Drive Unlimited. I also heard Chromehounds was a blast too. There are plenty of titles as long as you don't want RPG's.


RE: "Unproven technology"
By BBQmyNUTZ on 9/7/2006 4:56:59 PM , Rating: 3
If you're happy with that selection, then more power to you. I'm not... and given the 360's somewhat lackluster sales throughout the year, with the 5 year old PS2 being highly competetive with it, I have a feeling I'm not alone.

Dead Rising is pretty fun though, and it's at least a step in the right direction for the so-called "Next gen" systems.

Kai


RE: "Unproven technology"
By FITCamaro on 9/8/2006 12:08:14 AM , Rating: 2
Yes because the PS2 had tons of good games out in the first year. Or any system really for that matter. It always takes about a year after release for more good games to start coming out on a new console.


RE: "Unproven technology"
By kilkennycat on 9/8/2006 12:12:09 AM , Rating: 2
Well, Oblivion is available on the Xbox360, but sorry that's also on the PC at $10 less and with lots of superb user-mods not available to the Xbox360 folk.


2 million this year
By casket on 9/7/2006 2:58:55 PM , Rating: 2
I wonder how they will distribute those.
50% US, 50% Japan?

128 Million people in Japan, 300 Million people in the US. Demand is probably around 8% of people, or 25 million units in the US (1 million units seems inadequate).

If they had 40 million units ready, they could probably sell out by Christmas. I'm thinking $1500 on Ebay this Christmas. If you haven't pre-ordered already, it's probably too late.




RE: 2 million this year
By fk49 on 9/7/2006 3:24:48 PM , Rating: 2
Sony said they would have a their Nov. 17th launch with a paltry 500,000 units.

They would split it 400,000 US and 100,000 Japan

I'm thinking PS3 could reach $2000 on eBay


RE: 2 million this year
By casket on 9/7/2006 3:50:38 PM , Rating: 2
At first I was thinking $2,000+.... a lot of people have waited along time for the PS3...

but if it's not available, and X360 and Wii are...

I could see a lot of people buying one of those as a "Temporary Solution"... and waiting for 6 months or so... until PS3 is actually purchaseable.

That's why I lowered the price


RE: 2 million this year
By tsxboi on 9/7/2006 4:12:54 PM , Rating: 2
Just $2000 for the PS3? I'm no PS fan, but judging by the XBox release on Ebay, easily over 3k, likely 4-5. The XBox's launch problems weren't caused by hardware problems like the PS3's, but just that they didn't make enough. Low supply, high demand, super high prices. (XBox360's were hitting 5k in the first week on Ebay, wish I'd bought a few).

Thoughts...
Let's review what a game console is. Good games + good controls + fun interface and easy to play = game console. What's with all the whining modders and HD-DVD obsessed crap that I hear about? If you wanna mod, go mod a PC and hook it up to XBox Live (if you're smart enough to do that). If you want Blu-ray, buy a player that works (or wait a couple years for a high quality one for much less). The only one who's gotten this "game" thing down right is Nintendo. Nintendo is the innovation behind all these consoles. First joystick on the control pad? Nintendo. First rumble pack? Nintendo. Light gun? Nintendo. First... two part gyro-sensor controller that allows awesome new play abilities? Nintendo. Oh sure, there was the DDR pad, but that wasn't a PS original, and I don't call installing a DVD player into a console innovative either. All the XBox and PS do are pack expensive useless crap into their "game" consoles to jack up the price. and lose money while they're at it.

As for good games... well, everyone loves Halo (Halo 3 trailer = drool) and Super Smash Brothers (Brawl's finally coming), but what's on the PS3? Crap. They don't have a single tournament worthy game. Oh well.

Fine, flame me by saying that the PS still has 70% of the market share, but in this generation of consoles, things will change.

*Note: I hate everything made by Sony. They're the most unreliable electronics maker ever. My Sony TV's broken, my camcorder has mold in it, my camera decided to give up after 6 months, and even my Vaio lags at LAN parties (I've experiemented... out of 3 Dells, 3 Vaios, and 1 HP, ONLY the Vaios have ever lagged, not kidding). Hell, now even Dell and Apple's Sony-made batteries have been recalled. Go figure. They're like the Big 3 Auto makers, GM, Ford, Chrysler. High market share, but they produce crap. Oh look, here comes Toyota and Honda. Give them another generation and see what happens.


RE: 2 million this year
By FNG on 9/7/2006 4:40:32 PM , Rating: 2
I heard a saying once, "first time it is on me, second time it is on you, third time you deserve it."


RE: 2 million this year
By Borkil on 9/7/2006 6:48:22 PM , Rating: 3
"As for good games... well, everyone loves Halo (Halo 3 trailer = drool) and Super Smash Brothers (Brawl's finally coming), but what's on the PS3? Crap. They don't have a single tournament worthy game. Oh well."

tsxboi....what are you smoking?
The PS3 in my opinion well do fine in the long run. Ya i think because of the shortages that Sony will have a hard time coming back. However saying that the PS3 has zero good games may be your opinion but that is definately not fact. For one they have Unreal tournament 2007. Unreal has always been a freakin awesome game and I can't wait for it to come out along with the PS3. Also another good game is Metal Gear Solid 4. I know plenty of people that the only reason for them buying the PS3 is for Metal Gear Solid. One thing that I dont get is the obession with Halo. Ya i agree its a good game. However people are going to far how great it is and how much better it is compared to any game on earth. In other words my opinion on all the next gen consoles is that they will do fine. I dont understand why there are so many Sony haters here but to tell you the truth M$ isnt so great either. I've had lots of trouble with M$ and their products. I've also have had problems with Nintendo. I just recently discovered that my DS screen has cracked...low and behold the Nintendo warrenty doesnt cover any physical damage only hardware damage. So to tell you the truth I'm no Sony, or M$, or Nintendo fanboy but I do plan on buying the PS3 and may be the Wii later...if i can get past the retarded name lol

T_T nintendo just change it back to revolution!!!


PC FTW
By afkrotch on 9/8/2006 2:36:09 AM , Rating: 2
Why do they bother making consoles period? Just put it all on a PC. By the time a console gets released, a PC's performance ends up eclipsing it.

When the PS3's specs were released, it would have given a $5000 PC a run for it's money. Now, that same $5000 will cost you about the same amount as the PS3. Difference, millions of ppl already own that kind of PC, while no one owns a PS3.

If there was a fully functional PS2 emulator for PC that cost $100, I'd buy it right now. Okay, not really, as I already own a US and Japanese PS2. It'd just make more sense.

Imagine if Sony did that. They create a blu-ray drive for your computer, a PS3 emulator, and usb controller. They wouldn't be taking as big of a hit as they are trying to cram a Cell proc, Nvidia gpu, memory, blu-ray, etc into a console and sell it for significantly less than it cost to produce. I'm sure plenty of ppl would roll out and upgrade their comps to get the latest PS3 games. I would. Shoot, how many ppl went out and upgraded their comps just to play Doom 3?




RE: PC FTW
By Mojo the Monkey on 9/8/2006 3:08:52 AM , Rating: 2
Consoles are, theoretically, about simplicity. The non-tech-savvy family that wants video games goes out and gets a console. also, developers know what they are programming for, and not getting bogged down with making the game engine run with different cards, os, dx7/8/9/10, soundcards, etc.

however, I do agree with you on the timeframe issue. Given what ends up happening with all of these consoles, why don’t companies just build a tiny pc, with already-available technology, proprietary simple os for gaming, and then
just mass produce the hell out of them. It would cut conception-to-market time by 80%.


RE: PC FTW
By rpgman1 on 9/8/2006 12:24:49 PM , Rating: 2
PC games have mostly FPS and strategy games, but they're really high quality. Console games have the rest of the stuff which can't be found on PCs. I agree that the 360 and Wii will gain a huge advantage over the PS3 this holiday season. PS3 is going to be incredibly hard to find compared to the 360, but let's hope eBay doesn't cap on the price of a PS3. People were tricked when buyers only bought a box of the 360 instead of the real deal or just couldn't pay for the bid. Since they're 2 different versions of the PS3, the premium version will sell for a higher value. As for games, the 360 will have a lot more compared to the PS3 and Wii overall.


PS3:
By Mithan on 9/7/2006 6:28:36 PM , Rating: 2
"both Microsoft and Nintendo are breathing a sigh of relief"

I doubt they were that worried...


Anyways, one thing is true, if I can buy 3 or 4 of these, I should be able to make 100-200% profit on Ebay :)




RE: PS3:
By eziosms on 9/8/2006 1:38:10 AM , Rating: 3
Oh yeaaa:) PS2 have 294Mhz + 32 ram and still kick ass. And he is 7 years old, and you can still play all new games: tomb raider, nfs and so on:P


Good job
By Trisped on 9/7/2006 1:51:06 PM , Rating: 3
Nice article. It covered all parties in what seemed a fair maner while presenting all relevant info.

Thanks.




By Griswold on 9/7/2006 5:13:44 PM , Rating: 3
That phrase rang in my ears when I read the headline.





Xbox360
By Crusader on 9/7/2006 5:06:27 PM , Rating: 2
Microsoft FTW

Down with Sony and Japanese consoles




I don't get it
By splines on 9/7/2006 5:24:18 PM , Rating: 2
Why do people always go back to the 360 having 'crappy' games?

Sure, if you like JRPG's, then maybe.

But the rest of the world seems to like other types of games as well. Sure, the 360 launch wasn't stellar, but it's out there in homes and we're running up to the 2nd big lot of releases between now and easter. Sony fanboys are running out of ammunition, and they know it.

The PS3 needed this christmas to make an impact. They've boned that for most of the world, and considering the numbers for the US and Japan (remember that's for both versions of the console) I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people buy something else in the meantime.

Sony's insistence on Blue-Ray as the format of choice is the number one reason for this delay. If they'd given people the choice, they might actually have it out by now. Most people aren't going to even touch the format wars until they come down in price, one wins or the players go multiformat anyway.




iptelevision iptv
By gjgiraldo on 9/7/06, Rating: -1
RE: iptelevision iptv
By TomZ on 9/7/2006 2:37:22 PM , Rating: 1
^--- SPAM


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