September launch for the PS3

[Swafe]

Sony have money.

[dannyboy83]

the ps2 cost more than the dreamcast - not just twice as much for consumers, but with 8x lower profit margin for retailers

Maybe, but I think buying a PS2 gave me more for my money than a dreamcast

the dreamcast came with online support out of the box

Who needs support for a games console?

the dreamcast consistantly supplied better visuals than the ps2 for the entire duration of its life (and I recall seeing a large crowd at a branch of Game muttering about the incredible new PS2 game they were watching, until the "sega" logo appeared)

I disagree, a PS2 connected to component cables would give better visuals that a Dreamcast

the dreamcast is host to a number of the best games (rez, jet set radio, soul calibur, shenmue, etc etc etc)

Never heard of any of the above. The PS2 has Pro Evo Soccer, not to mention all the GTA games, Tiger Woods golf, the James Bond games, and Buzz the music quiz is amazing.

the dreamcast was pleasant to develop for

As i'm not a games developer, it wouldnt matter to me

the dreamcast had a bunch of tasty homebrew stuff

what do you mean, and what examples of "homebrew" stuff

the dreamcast had 4-player as standard

Agreed, so did the N64... buying the multitap wasn't that big an issue though

the dreamcast was the superior console. marketing & underhanded business arrangements by sony killed it.

I don't agree. I tihnk the PS2 was more powerful, had better games, had better control pads, looked nicer, and to top it off...

The dreamcast was dead a long time ago, yet the PS2 lives on, and there are still (not as many but still) decent games coming out.

[beanbandit]

the dreamcast came with online support out of the box

Sega screwed us in Euroland by only supplying a 33K modem. US got 56K.

the dreamcast consistantly supplied better visuals than the ps2 for the entire duration of its life

Something to do with having twice the video RAM of the PS2. Life of the Dreamcast - Very Short.

the dreamcast is host to a number of the best games (rez, jet set radio, soul calibur, shenmue, etc etc etc)

The PS2 is host to a number of the best games (GT3+4, ICO, FFX, DMC, ICO etc etc etc) Oh yeah its also got a port of Rez.

the dreamcast was pleasant to develop for
the dreamcast had a bunch of tasty homebrew stuff
the dreamcast had 4-player as standard

Yep all true.

the dreamcast was the superior console. marketing & underhanded business arrangements by sony killed it.

Dreamcast was a good console, i wouldn't go so far and say it was superior. Sony didn't kill the Dreamcast, Sega did. If Sega concentrated on the market rather than look back at what Sony was doing then the Dreamcast would have been a sucess.

Sega failed to advertise the console to the right people, they couldn't be bothered with putting their famous TV adverts back onto the small screen, and what they did show was utter crap. Instead Sega decided to spend all their marketing money on sponsering football teams in UK, France & Spain.

Oh i almost forgot, EA didn't develop for Dreamcast due to the short life (in Europe&US) of the Saturn and general poor sales, so they decided on a wait & see policy. This alone was enough of a killer blow for the Dreamcast.

[Mike Fishcake]

Oh god. Here we go again.

[dannyboy83]

yeh sorry I got in a rant last night... not usually my style. and I'm sure DirectHex has valid arguments for his love of the dreamcast.

My memories of it are only that crazy boxing game with Afro Thunder in it....

[Silent Shark]

Sorry to resurrect this topic after 3 days or so, but I've only just got the e-mail saying "someone has replied to your post"!

I don't think I'm a fanboy. I'm not buying the PS3 because I hate MS or Nintendo and love Sony. I'm not buying it on the basis I have a PS1 and PS2. I'm buying it because I think it has the most to offer me. Looking back I think I may have mis-phrased some things.

When i said the XBox had nothing to offer me, I meant that it had nothing to offer me that the PS2 didn't also have, except for the Live service (which is definatly one of the strongest things MS offers). I didn't see any games that I really wanted. I'm not an FPS fan, so the XBox's "killer ap", Halo, didn't appeal much. Yes, as I have only owned Sony consoles, I probably only get excited by the games that come out for Sony consoles. The prospect of new Gran Turismo games, more in the Ace Combat series and MGS2 (which I hated in the end) was the killer for me. The XBox had Project Gotham, but that didn't excite me and it wasn't enough for me.

The 360 is pretty much the same situation. There is the new PGR game, and it looks stunning, but that isn't enough on it's own. I was looking forward to Pefect Dark Zero (as a friend had an N64 and we loved the original & Goldeneye), but reviews turned out poor and my friend also disliked it. The only game that I know of coming out on the 360 that would possibly interest me is Ghost Recon 3 (yes, an FPS, but I like the tactical ones), but I have a good PC, and the PC version is supposed to be more tactical, so I'm going to get that. If PS3 HUB turns out to be as good as Live, then the 360 has lost that advantage (but the PS3 hasn't gained an advantage, if you see what I mean)

Also when I said the XBox was a "PC in a box", it was based on my thoughts at the time based on what I'd read that the arcitecture of the hardware was very similar to a normal PC, and it even ran a windows core. This meant to me that many of the XBox games would at some point be released on the PC, so I had another reason not to buy the XBox.

On the hardware front, they are fairly evenly matched. A lot of noise is being made about how hard it is to code for the PS3, which while I admit it is an important point, I remember the same thing being said about the PS2, and that didn't suffer in the end. I actually see the PS3 as having the slight edge hardware wise due to the Blu-Ray drive. I know the 360 will have an external drive, which may eventually be integrated, but I think it's too late for MS, as there will be people who don't get a drive, and don't get a new 360 who will have to be catered for still, and this will handicap the future of the machine in my opinion (of course, if Blu-Ray looses the format war, then the same thing can be said of the PS3).

I don't really like being labeled as a fanboy, because I'd define a fanboy as someone who argues against something with no real reason for it other than "it's not their favourite". Maybe it depends on your definition of the term.

I feel I should finish by saying that my money is CURRENTLY on a PS3, but if Sony disappoint me (which every day does look more and more likely), I can always switch. if I see some games on the 360 that I really like the look of, then it will sway me also. I'm lucky enough to even have the money to get more than one console if I end up regretting my decision.

Oh, and I'd also feel I should say that I'm not in any way saying that it's a bad idea to choose an 360 over the PS3. If you have some valid argument for it (even as simple as you can get one now, as opposed to waiting XX months), then that's fine. Enjoy! My point was that this is MY opinion, and I really wanted to comment on what I think Sony was trying to do, which is sell to people (myself included) that will buy it based on what is coming rather than what is there at launch. When we got our PS2, we didn't get any games for 2 months (partly due to a lack of money though). When we got the PS1, we didn't get any games for nearly 4 months!

Anyway, I've tried my best to convince you that I'm not a fanboy. I hope you think I have a valid point, even if you disagree. I'll shut up now .

[beanbandit]

Long post

Good reply I never saw you as a fanboy, its just that people who like a single console get labelled. Which in this day and age is just very childish and tends to ruin threads very quickly. There's room for all 3 consoles and the PC, but everyone wants you to believe one is so much better than all the others. Your views stand out for me as being the only reason to buy a certain console.

Its about the games, nothing else! Have fun when you get your PS3, i know i will