Compared to CD? Sure. Compared to the Compact Cassette it was intended to replace, or 128kbps MP3/AAC as most often employed by the devices that did eventually replace the Walkman? Not so much. PCDPs were a joke at the time MiniDisc was introduced.
When it came to SONY, I only cared about the gaming side of the company and I loved the Playstation 1 and Playstation 2. However when SONY announced the PS3, It soured any relationship I had with the company... * The console cost far too much for me to buy * The big reason for the price tag was due to them making it more of a home entertainment system than a console...All I wanted was a console * I can understand why they want Blue Ray but end of the day price is a big factor for most people. I am happy having 2 disk games at the end of day if you can't fit everything onto 1. * X Box LIVE was a huge factor, as I love to play CO-OP with a old school mate of mine and SONY online just blew when released and its not much better since that day. * Sony loss all there major exclusive games bar 1 or 2, so the 360 was cheaper with the same games plus there own stuff with LIVE. 360 is probably not as good as SONY in terms of specs in that its a little too loud with a lousy Disk reader and of course the red ring (I've never had it and too be fair, it's now fixed plus the whole warranty thing) end of the day it came down to price. (must stop typing)
PS1 & PS2 were hardly "top notch" on the reliability side (not as bad as 360 before someone mentions it. Thankfully the ps3 is a much much better design
I don't know anyone whose PS1 & 2 broke down...only counting those (who did not modify or chip there PS). They always seemed very sterdy items
^There was a class action lawsuit against Sony due to the significant failure rate of the DVD drives in some early PS2's.
there was problems with original playstation and also ps2 drives. Went through quite a few original playstation. The most common problem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation
My PS2's drive had this problem. It would eventually stop being able to read CD-ROM discs. Not DVDs, just CDs.
Howard Stringer is decidedly British though :P The PSOne and early PS2's were definitely notorious for their hardware problems. Great libraries though.
Stringer is a naturalized US citizen but he was born in Cardiff and most likely still considers himself foremost as Welsh. A complete shift in corporate management style is totally unnecessary and most likely not going to happen.
I dont really get why people think the PS1 and PS2 were such great products. As far as I am concerned they were pieces of shit that would always break. Interestingly enough though, the PS3, what seems to be their least successful home console thus far, has proven to be their most reliable and well built product thus far. It's come as a shock to me since I've been burned by them so many times but it is very sturdy and very sleek. Its a shame that the only exclusive it has thats worth a damn is MGS4
^ To each his/her own, but I think there are quite a few really awesome exclusives on the PS3 (Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, Motorstorm, GT5: Prologue).
I've had 2 PS1s fail on me and my Wii exploded a month back, but my 360 never gave me any problems. I guess I'm just weird. Not even Microsoft would get away with charging 20 quid for a glorified demo.
Whoopth, never knew he was Welsh. As far as a complete shift in corporate management, I dunno about company-wide changes, but the gaming division's been shuffled quite a bit in the past 2-3 years. Not to mention the awesome stuff on PSN, Warhawk, Q4B, Siren, SSHD, Eden, Monsters. The whole idea that the PS3 has no worthwhile exclusives is about as valid an argument as "PSP has no games", it's rhetoric from a bygone era. Prologue is the equivalent of a PSN game like Warhawk or Siren, it's got online rankings and online play as well as a dedicated Motorsports channel, 76 cars and 6 tracks with 12 layouts... how is this in any way a demo? It's got more content than most full priced racers.
^ Oh yeah, Eden totally kicks ass. In a way I agree with you. But OTOH GT5:P is more then just a demo. You get a decent amount of tracks and cars and there's a decent MP. I do think they should have some sort of a discount on GT5 to people that bought GT5:P though (even though I know it's never gonna happen).
Agreed, I feel what should happen is that owners of GT5P should be able to just pay to update their game to full GT5 status via the PSN store, or else buy an update disc at a reduced price.
If my wife wasn't so obsessed with Wii Fit, I'd have sold the blasted thing months ago. As a gaming platform it's turned out to be a spectacular waste of £200.