So now that I have had some comparisions between the PS3 and the 360 in terms of game quality and service, I have seen article after article of programmers bitching about the PS3 and its supercomputer structure. Yet companies like Ubi and Insomniac prove that you can build a good game on the PS3. So why are some companies able to program well on this platform and others are not? Most of the sour grapes stem from porting from the 360 to the PS3. Which is ironic, because game companies were doing the opposite when they gave xbox owners port after port from the PS2.

There is really no excuse I can think of for putting out bad products and tarnishing your studio name in the process. But game studios seem to want to cash in on the hype of a particular game thus creating their own artificial window of market penetration or potential shelf life. So, they focus on making one great game from the ground up on one platform. Ultimately, the studio causes itself more problems by not building the game ground up to be playable on all potential revenues of sales. Thus, shorting the other competitors game systems and giving them a rushed inferior product. Electronic Arts is most familiar with this concept and is a repeat offender. I can only recommend building the game from the ground up or pass off the work to a third party studio who is willing to work on the port, why you polish the original version of the game. Thus giving you product the best chance at looking uniform. Building the game from the ground up to work on all systems might not be a bad idea either.

Sony has sacrificed its entire games division to push its blueray player. Whether this was a good part on Sony's part remains to be seen. On the one hand, Sony has an incredible library of games, but has slow to realize how to get the most out of the American market. Though, the PS2 still has an incredible install base just waiting for an affordable PS3.


PS3 Pros

Solid hardware
Blueray included
More open structure
Wifi
Free online service
Jaw dropping 1080i dvd upscaler
Jaw dropping blueray player
Built for the "future"

Cons
Programmers take issue with programming for the PS3 although most of this grumbling is from companies who are trying to port 360 games directly over to the PS3. If you build it from the ground up or how a smart studio would(see Ubisoft, Insomniac), the problems seem to go away. What I find ironic about this is xbox can remember all a shitty PS2 ports we received via various game companies. Now, the reverse is happening this generation with the crappy ports going to PS3. Does anyone else smell a middleware company being created to smooth this process over?

Backwards compatibility only available on the high end models. This is a feature that should have been never been removed on the low end models. It almost guarantees a smooth transition from your install base from one generation to the next. Horrible move and very Sony.

Expensive-Still a more expensive game system than its competitors despite having a better value overall. (Wifi, next-gen HD player included). The piece meal approach seems to be working for Microsoft.

Could potentially shorten its life cycle, be a finanicial disaster, and destroy all the progress the company made in the 90s in the gaming market.

It looks like 2008 is going to be the make or break year for the PS3. With delays on their exclusives, it could go the way of the Sega Saturn, 3D0, and a number of high priced "entertainment hubs" that never panned out. Due to the shear capital Sony has, it has a better chance at survivial.

It is a shame to see a piece of hardware not reach its full potential because of mismanagement and poor software development. I am still looking forward to Home and like having a machine that is fully backwards compatible with every PS game ever made. Meanwhile, I am on my third Xbox 360. My second one died to a faulty dvd drive. Lucklily I snagged a newer model with improved heat sinks and HDMI. My only advise to Sony would be to hire a middleware company to smooth over the port hassles between architectures. Plenty of companies were more than willing to put up with the PS2's architecture to get a piece of its incredible install base.

360 pros
Affordable
greater library of games
better support
better integration of software
Direct download content service
IPTV

360 cons
Online subscription fee
Hardware issues-RROD, faulty dvd players, disk eaters
Microtransaction Hell-Buy a game now, get the rest later via $10.00 incremental upgrades.
Dvd not adequate to support large expansive games.
No hard drive standard
Proprietary everything-From Hard drives to cables, it has to be done the "Microsoft" way.
Weak backwards compatibility

Overall, I think Microsoft is doing well, but should have acted sooner on the RROD 3 year warranty. I would have included the HD-dvd player on the elite with no price increase. It doesn't make sense to buy a seperate player. Not to mention it doesn't price very well against the PS3's high end model.