PSExtreme just posted a report card of sorts for the PS3 launch, system as a whole, and future potential. While the article was somewhat biased (as to be expected from a PlayStation site) and generally supportive of the system, I found a few interesting nuggets for comment.
Overall, it’s difficult to say if Blu-Ray will give the PS3 the edge in games; it’s just too early. But as for the Blu-Ray/DVD player in the PS3, it’s certainly fantastic, and clearly a better option than those uber-expensive Blu-Ray players. Finally, if there’s one thing the PS3 will excel at down the road, it’s producing sweet-looking games in high-def. That much, we know for sure.
The PS2 was my first DVD player, and I am sure it is the first Blu-Ray player for many PS3 gamers. I am just not enough of a movie buff to understand or appreciate the need for a Blu-Ray system (of HD-DVD for that matter). Is there value in replacing my DVD collection with Blu-Ray versions? There clearly was with the jump from VHS to DVD.
In comparison, the PS2 had a much better assortment of launch titles. SSX and Madden NFL 2001 landed some of the highest scores in gaming history, and Tekken Tag Tournament, TimeSplitters, Summoner, Ridge Racer V, Shadow of Destiny, and Summoner were all solid and diverse games. All we really have from the PS3, beyond the glory that is Resistance: Fall of Man is a good Ridge Racer 7 game, several very mediocre exclusive titles, and a bunch of multiplats, which are all essentially identical to their Xbox 360 counterparts.
No RPGs (unless you count Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, and I don’t wanna), no fighting games, no cool little adventure-like or unique games like Kameo or Shadow of Destiny, and no top-notch action title. If it weren’t for Resistance, it would’ve been a borderline failure. But thankfully, if you don’t have a 360, there are plenty of good games worth buying, and RR7 is quite fun. So it’s not a total loss.
This is rather damning because the PS2 launch was not that great. Sure there were a few solid titles from the get-go, but it was not that great. More than anything else, I did not go after a PS3 because I did not see anything that I just had to play.
What with all the hype surrounding the powerful Cell processor, the PS3 certainly had a lot to prove. But we believe this is a five or six-year process, so we’re reluctant to actually grade this category at launch. When we examine the history of the PlayStation consoles, we see a very large visual difference in first-year and fifth-year games; the likes of Smugglers Run, X-Squad, and Evergrace hardly compare to Gran Turismo 4, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and Final Fantasy XII.
The point here is probably valid and fair, but it almost sounds like the author is apologizing that the PS3 launch library’s graphics do not overmatch current Xbox 360 games.
If you are sitting on the PS3 ‘to buy or not to buy’ fence, I do not think this article is going to persuade you one way or the other.
