Tripping at the Gate: A History of Marred Launches |
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There's a lot of grief in Europe, North America, and Japan over the recently-reported setbacks in Sony's PS3 launch, from being postponed to spring next year (Europe), from initial numbers being cut (North America), and from initial numbers being cut way back (Japan). As the streets run red with blood from both the PS3's jilted supporters and vindictive skeptics, it pays to calm down (on all sides of this so-called "console war"), take a step back and see things from a bigger, and historical, perspective. Botched launches are a dime a dozen in this industry, and they happen to the best of the lot as often as they do to the worst.Even the most recent launch, that of the Xbox 360, had its own share of problems. Today, Microsoft's game console is running steady - all the more given that its closest competitors have yet to launch - and in most accounts, smoothly. Its launch was anything but flawless in the eyes of some observers: first with having only a limited number of units available for the launch, then with hardware problems from hardware issues and that Ring of Death popping up unexpectedly, to disk scratching issues (although the latter was admittedly caused by users who didn't pay attention to the manual).
But such things are not new to the industry. Like what's written above, it happens to the best of us, it happens to the worst of us. Even the legendary PlayStation 2 had a just-as-limited initial North American release of 500,000 units. Even the revered Sega Dreamcast had hardware problems at launch - not to mention a number of games that simply refused to work as advertised, such as Mortal Kombat Gold (remember that "Hot! New!" label they added to the re-release?). Both Panasonic's 3DO and the Sega Saturn also fell apart at the gate, but in those cases they became mere footnotes to gaming history. And it's not unique to the industry, either. Even Apple, for example, had to contend with a host of issues that came up after the MacBook's debut.
Call it the price of innovation and competition. Nothing in life is perfect, no matter how much we may demand it be. There may be a lot of grief in the streets of gaming tonight, whether we're talking about the supporters or skeptics of the PS3. But, having taken the long view, we would prefer to think in the long-term. All the bad press, in the long-run, is noise-deafening, yes, but noise nonetheless. We can't speculate or concentrate on noise.
As with all the other consoles in gaming history - and all other innovations in the history of technology - we will simply wait and let the PS3 prove itself come launch day. We don't have to expect perfection, we just expect it to work decently. It's the only fair thing we can do.
Via GameDaily.com
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Comments [refresh]
comparing the ps3 to the dreamcast?...hmmm dunno about that
1up Did a whole Feature comparing the 360 to the Dreamcast.
I think the problem we have here is what Playstation has to offer. I don't think alot of people have a problem with when the PS3 is coming out let alone, afford one at the moment it comes out. By the time it gets to Europe it is a year delayed since the last time Sony announced they would release it.
However, I think with what the console itself will offer it should prove worth the wait. People want more and more and more. When it does come out, people will just ask, "What next Sony?" and then you all get mad cause you feel like Sony has left you hanging again. So let's just sit back and wait for it to happen. You guys can't possibly be serious about buying WHEN it comes out. For some of the gaming audience getting mad about a delay, I feel like y'all are kids. The rest us working folk don't find a problem waiting. Our money can wait and it isn't eager to leave our banks. ;)
I think Sony's reign is over!!!
5 years from now we will look back at this and go mgs5 is teh bombz
nocomment
You them right!!
PS3 will be on top like the PS2 did.
Anyway, in 5 year there will be no more console fight. Because all the people who brought an Xbox360 will have a PS3. Why?... because all the xbox360 will be OUT OF DATE!!!
Eventually M$ will realize that the xbox360 will be no match. And they will have no choice to release an other console.
Nintendo it's an other thing...I have respect for them!
Come XBOX FANBOY I'm waiting for you! I'm here to love my PS3. No one could change my mind. Except GOD !
Like gamers with a memory have always known.
NES was King in the mid 80's.
Nintendo was slain by the Genesis.
Sega is overcome by SNES eventually.
Nintendo back on top hires Sony to make a CD Add-ON for the SNES.
Big N dumps the idea for 64 bit cartridges instead.
Sony is pissed and releases it anyway against Sega.
Sega is big in Japan but Playstation owns U.S. Market.
N64 releases but not as many casual gamers care.
Dreamcast is Sega's Next-Gen but turns out PS2 is more Next Gen, Microsoft tosses its big hunky chip into the mix and releases with Nintendos first CD based console.
M$ sits poorly in Japan but is #2 in U.S. (a market that even Japanese developers are catering towards) Sony is King. (yea... and it is a weaker system)
360 owns the Next Gen Market at the present. Sony had that 1 year lead last gen and it was the "inferior" the system. Time will tell but it seems M$ is playing its cards correctly in the Markets that really matter U.S. and Europe. Japan is gonna be pwned by the "Wii".
Basically it takes time... but a changing of the guard might be in order.
-V
I have a xbox360 i think the graphics are pretty good but some games dont look so next gen.The pics and vids i of games i seen for ps3 look a whole lot better than any 360 game i have and another thing is my 360 and my friends also glitches alot in most games or just stops working so i have to reset it thats seems very cheap to me if they would have waited a little longer for a launch it could have been a better system.
"The pics and vids i of games i seen for ps3 look a whole lot better than any 360 game i have"
Pics and vids are no indication of gameplay graphics. We've seen very few footage of ACTUAL gameplay. And from those that play-test at E3 2006, it was supposedly underwhelming.
Time will tell guys just wait a little.
>"I have a xbox360 i think the graphics are pretty good but some games dont look so next gen"
But that's true for every new console in history!
Gamers will be saying exactly the same about certain PS3 games in future. :|
"just chill my babies"
it's too early to tell who will be number one when all the smoke clears. system performance is secondary to software in my book.
@Viphid: Japan owned by the Wii? Well, the pre-orders on Amazon and the Famitsu Most Wanted chart tell otherwise although these are of course indications of hardcore gamers only.
Id rather have a console that:
- Works right
- Doesn't burn my house down
- Doesn't scratch my disks
So if there's ANOTHER delay, I can only assume that serious problems like these are being fixed. I'm willing to wait; it's 'investment security'.
"Id rather have a console that:
- Works right
- Doesn't burn my house down
- Doesn't scratch my disks
So if there's ANOTHER delay, I can only assume that serious problems like these are being fixed. I'm willing to wait; it's 'investment security'."
seeing as both the ps1 and ps2 really had some major problems worse then the 360...i don't really see the ps3 becoming a miracle no-problem free system in a couple of months.
"I'm here to love my PS3"
Thats nasty, get a girlfriend
" Sony had that 1 year lead last gen and it was the "inferior" the system."
sony was actually second to hit the market in that generation... dreamcast had a 1 yr lead on sony.
"seeing as both the ps1 and ps2 really had some major problems worse then the 360...i don't really see the ps3 becoming a miracle no-problem free system in a couple of months."
last time i checked neither of my playstations burned down my house or had any serious in game glitches (although after 5 yrs of service my ps2 finally came down with the cursed disk read error) and i tend to think things on fire are WORST than disk read errors!!!
Anyone knows any updated news on how many of each of the two PS3 versions there is going to be at launch?
It's silly to think the PS3 won't sell. Dead before it's out? The PS3 and XBox 360 are going to be real close for a while. As long as Sony can supply by Christmas 2007 everyone will have a different idea of what's going on compared to today.
Consoles also hit their stride in the 3rd or 4th year of their lifespan. #20, The projected split between the two versions is 80% high-end. Which would give about 320,000 on launch day. Sony's high-end alone is on par with the amount of units MS had sold days after the launch of the X360.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157399.html?action=convert&click=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;0
The author of this article may be right about one thing: History has shown us that companies often miss their launch dates and have shortages and problems. But he isn't right about another thing, his last sentence: "We don't have to expect perfection, we just expect it to work decently. It's the only fair thing we can do." How can you not expect perfection from a company that promises you that a piece of hardware will do this, but it fails to do so. Like the PS2, probably the most popular system of all time, it was probably the worst piece of hardware invented. You know why over 100 million PS2 units have been shipped by Sony since 2000? Because everyone and his brother have had a PS2 with multiple problems. I myself have had over 5 PS2s. Most with Disc Read Error Problems. I refuse to play DVDs on a PS2 because you have to spend 20 minutes trying to get it work. I remember 2 of my PS2s wouldn't even read Blue bottom discs. My point is: if a DVD won't play, why even have DVD support, and if you do, make it work.
There is a company that is an exception to this article that promises and delivers, and makes a great piece of hardware in the process, Nintendo. I have never heard of any widespread problem in Nintendo products. Hell, most NES systems still work, it's the cartridges that are going bad. I've never had an SNES go out on me, or an N64, or even a Gamecube. The only problems I've ever had with Nintendo hardware is one time I had a dead pixel on my Gameboy SP, but Nintendo gladly paid for my shipping to fix it. And right now I have a cracked hinge on my Nintendo DS Lite, which Nintendo is also fixing right now for free. And those problems didn't even affect gameplay, it was just aesthetically unpleasing.
If Sony is making us wait this long and most of us won't even get to see a PS3 in stores until next year, and they are charging us 600 dollars, it better be damn near perfect.