How about Sony including a voucher that is half the price redeemable for slimline PS2s with every purchase of PS3? They can look toward the future with appealing to growing base while luring the newcomers with a deal that seem to be a steal. That is how the company can extend its brand power by extending some market leverage from a console that is now profitable to tide over some rough patches until it can really focus on the development of PS3 as platform.
Of course those who own less than the new AM2 platform for AMD will get no support whatsoever from nVidia. nVidia recently downgraded the nforce 4 chipset compatibility rating with Vista. So unless you have a PC that has the latest chipsets or are planning to buy a new one, Vista may present more headaches and disappointments.
There is nothing wrong with xp. It seems the only prerogative is the DX10 and it would be a while until games based on the platform are in wide retail channels let alone require the new tech outright. If the new interface is quite tempting, there are so many third party desktop enhancements either pure cosmetic and functional (such as Google desktop). Also Vista has this rather insidious DRM built into it that restricts your access to the features and content access / variety that you took for granted. Of course I could also mention present driver and software incompatibilities (like nVidia never seems to get the driver release quite right now). Like many others said, it would be best just to wait for around 6 months and see how the OS matures before splurging, where the money spent could might as well have gone into the purchase of either games or console systems.
This is not much of a comprehensive guide. At least, the guide should have included some flash based charts that allow performance figures of different configuration to be displayed using multiple axis. If nothing else, at least post some video clips showing the framerates for some key configuration in terms of performance levels, divided into three for high powered, middle of the road, and entry level setups. Also, if there is a patch or something that alludes to performance increases, one should at least attempt to update the guide accordingly if the editor has any kind of respect to the readers as well as cares for his journalistic integrity.
Sony doesn't give a rat's behind about gamers in their incorporation of their Blue Ray. Gamers are collateral victims here in Sony's format war. If Sony truly wanted to push a full functional next generation multimedia device, the PS3 should have had both hd-dvd and blue ray functionality. Why not? NEC and Samsung already have the know-how to support both formats. Furthermore shouldn't displays have to comply with some HDCP design in order to take full advantage of the Blue Ray resolutions? Not to mention the Blue Ray players will be the bare-bones type that will be outclassed sooner or later by what embellishments other player manufacturers would develop for the format (similar to what PS2 was to DVD). Anyways, it is a moot point since I don't think that PS3 games will require capacity of 50 GBs to begin with, and the next-next generaton console lineup will be coming around by the time Blue Ray format is mature enough and effectively used other than for mere filler CG rendered clips (Xenogears fans rejoice). Gamers would have spent tens of millions of more dollars to support their Bleh Ray format when they could just have as easily played DVD version games with no virtual difference for less.
I'm not a fanboy. I'm just being realisitic and looking at the console next gen primarily as a PC gamer. No matter how PS3 is being received right now, given its price and all, its price will INEVITABLY come down (like Radeon X1900XTX selling for less than $400 in Canada). It WILL have a bigger gamer base for which the developers will develop MORE HD enabled games, not to mention the ability to watch Blue Ray titles on your HD setups in the future. Gamers will opt to spend their valuable time immersed in HD version of games released on multiple platforms more than standard resolution counterparts, if they can help it. Third party support will not be inclined to be held back by Wii where they can develop HD content for Sony or Microsoft and generate more attention among focus groups that seem to dictate which game ideas get realised these days. The price of difference of $350.00 is rather staggering, but in the context of a $7 per hour job for around two weeks, takes nothing more than a bit of perseverance and would make your appreciate your PS3 all the more, if you wanted it in the first place. I mean, don't let price difference dictate or even make you compel yourself even for a bit that you might not want it. If you are even remotely interested in games, you want a PS3. I want a PS3 too but I don't want a PS2. Moreover I don't want to exercise while gaming or even risk myself a greater chance of hand injury while flinging about a fragile looking Wii stick. Current gaming conventions in that department can certainly wait to innovate any further. I hear that by the end of this 'next gen' cycle that 90% of all displays sold in North America will be capable of some sort of HD. The HDTV prices are falling into near affordable range, so much so that TV stations and cable providers can't keep up their number of HD broadcast to cater with the burgeoning market share. Console gaming isn't ushering in the adoption of HD any less than the glut of HD enabled TV programs. I'd really like to see Nintendo finally give in and produce some sort of HD enabled Wii at some point like Greg Kasavin cautiously suggests. Anything short of a free hardware upgrade/exchange will cause an extreme disappointment for those who would be cheated yet again by Nintendo's whim of forging their pretentious path away from the accepted mainstream. I can probably equate Nintendo not having HD to the oversight that they committed in choosing catridge over CD in their N64 era.
Save your money to buy a PS3, or else you have a good chance of having a $250 paperweight (with the useless nunchaku relegated to your little brother's halloween regalia) by next year's end. I don't understand how Nintendo can get by swindling its mindless base every single time while not being able to challenge the industry with true innovation, flooding its lineup with just niche and cutesy rehashes.
Any game released before two years ago will be able to run with playable results... Just pick any PC title of the year contenders and there you go. Even games released recently are customizable in graphical bells and whistles and can be run at acceptable framerates with enough determination on the player's part tweaking configuration files and provided that the only obstacle to reaching that plateau of gaming performance is limited to one or few PC components. I guess Far Cry is another one of those games that run rather well on dated hardware, while looking very good.
Games that make you cool? Well, I've heard more insipid things in my life... 1. Any Troika Title 2. Knightmare 3. X-Com Apocalypse 4. Ultima V Lazarus 5. Freespace
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