I don't want to get into a rant about games, the consoles, and all that stuff (as I've a lot to say…Most of it bullshit of course) but this is rediculus:

"Them good 'ole CDs still work just fine, so this is obviously an unnecessary change."

Blu-rays are friggin' amazing, and can hold incredible ammounts of space in comparison to simple DVDs. This, of course, means HD video, but it also means larger games, greater engines, and all that good stuff. It's utterly rediculus to have that as one of your anti-ps3 points. It's like buying a new computer after 10 years, but deciding to stick with your good ol' 2GB hard drive, because obviously, it's cheaper, and stuck with you for the years. Your new computer has incredible power, but most games that would utilize that power, are usually over 1.5 gigs (Windows takes up like 500MB or something, I forget). Good ol' DVDs were fine for PS2 (although, some games had to have multiple disks), but that doesn't mean it'll use the ps3's full potential. If you like the capabilities of the DVD, just stick with a ps2, and don't upgrade. ps2 has the highest quality games you can fit on a DVD that will [probably] ever exist, due to everything going with the HD disks now. So yeah…Saying the blu-ray is useless is a rather bad point.

Also, as was pointed out by some other people, motion sensor technology was not a blatant rip off of the wii. They may have felt they needed to include it in the ps3 once they saw what wii was capable of, but the wii was not the first thing to come up with motion sensing. It's not used too much in gaming, but it's used in thousands upon thousands of industrial and comercial products.

Another thing was the internal hdd. It is generally cheaper in the long run for the consumer, if the hdd is instaled with the device, rather than purchasing an external hdd at a later date. (unless it's a REALLY later date, and the price has dropped) It's like buying an external hard drive for your computer…I personally own three externals, and they're just normal maxtor hdds, but with a little plastic case around it, a power supply for the hdd, and a USB plug…But it cost me roughly 50-75 more than simply purchasing the hdd to instal off my motherboard/power suply's IDE and power cables. I've had these for a couple years, back when 80gig hdds were like $120, so I can't really give that good an estimate how much more the case, power, and extra plug cost, but it was a huge rip-off.

Now, I don't think it was a good idea to force buyers to purchase the hdd right along with the system, however, it's never a bad thing to have a hdd on your ps3…And since it's mandatory, I can't wait to see games putting that to use.

Oh, and how can a blu-ray disk be buggy? There really isn't that much involved in writing binary onto a disk, and I'm pretty sure their compression algorithms are quite good by now…This technology isn't nearly as new, untested, or unpopular, as you make it sound. And obviously, the ps3 won't be the first blu-ray disk player either…There are already enough players out there that commercial movies are being distrubted as blu-ray disks. For more info on it, check out wiki. They've got the support of 20th century fox, Walt Disney, Apple, Samsung, and all these other huge media companies.

"The Linux and web browsing capabilities that have barely anything to do with gaming"

Now…I'm split at this point. On the one hand, I FUCKING HATE how consoles are becoming more like PCs now. On the other hand, they've already got this technology from the PSP, that they've been using for…I dunno, however long the PSP has been out, and I doubt the cost will be too signifigant. I won't start to get into what web browsing and linux have to do with gaming, 'cause that's a whole other topic.

"I mean, unless you have some serious issues putting disks in their repsective place when not using them, CDs can last a lifetime."

Disks will get scratched whether you like it or not. The reader in the PS might scratch it, there may be particles on your disk drive/cd case that will scratch when you place the disk on it/when the disk drive makes the CD spin. And how many times have you dropped a CD?…Well, I mean, dropping a CD is a small ratio, but when you handle a shit load of CDs every day, you drop a lot…I don't know how many a normal gamer handles, but that's not the point. Most gamers aren't as tech-savy as you or I, and don't understand how things work, and all that stuff. A CD is a pretty durable thing, I mean I've hit them with hammers, run them over with a car, thrown them at walls, used them as coasters, and shot them with guns, and most of the time they worked fine (except for the shooting the CDs with the gun). But like I said, disk scratches will happen. It's like wearing shoes…I mean, what are the odds your feet will fall off from walking around barefoot? Shoes just make you feel more comfortable, and prevent you from cutting your feet. The same with scratchproof disks. I'd rather have a sturdy CD that I can feel fine with doing whatever I want with it, as opposed to delacatly taking it out of the machine, placing it gently in it's case, then tiptoeing slowly back to the shelf, to slide it back into it's velvet-lined area. It's not like it'll cost an extra $10 to make it scratchproof anyway, so wtf?

"The super-powerful specs?"

Fuck yeah the super-powerful specs are a good selling feature.

"Welcome to the electronics store sir. I assume you're looking for something for gaming?…Excelent, come right this way…Now, over here, we've got an Atari. It can play a couple games, you know, the classics and such. Over here, we've got the PS3. It's incredibly powerful, and it's blu-ray disk compatibility allows for incredible engines and graphics. These amazing specs will allow you to do incredible things, and view awesome renderings of the most profound worlds you're likely to see for the next couple of years…But of course, that's not important to you. No one likes playing games that require super-powerful specs"

Similar to say

"Ah, you're a race car driver! Come right over here, and let me show you a few models. Over here, we've got a GM…Top of the GM line. Only 40 grand!…Of course it's shit, the engine only has four cylinders, and it's the most horribly designed internal systems you've ever seen. Now, I know you love this car, but I'm required by the owner to show you this Ferrari. It goes 0-60 in like 3 seconds, and corners like a fish. Of course it's half a million dollars, and you don't actually care about adreneline rushes, winning races, or getting to spray girls with white t-shirts with wine in the winners circle, right?"

Now, I could also go into a huge thing about games, but I just wanted to say that it's not the graphics, sound, and all that, that you need the specs for. Well, I mean, it sort of is, but it's more of the physics and the engines to display the graphics that are what you need the specs for. I don't really think it's the gaming industry that's going in the wrong direction, but rather the gamers themselves. Go play Oblivion. It's got amazing graphics (for the scale of the game), awesome physics, incredibly huge world, voice-overs for the tiniest thing, and just…It's amazing. People just get sucked right into it mostly BECAUSE of the realism. Every single object is moveable/stealable. You know in RPGs how there's usually sprites of swords and stuff on the wall in shops and stuff? In Oblivion, you can actually steal them.

Is this all bad stuff? Nah. But most FPSs are usually the most inovative with new technology (engines and such) and thus, most gamers only try the games to see the physics/weapons/graphics, and concentrate so much on those, that they only play the game for a little bit, and then just stop playing. Gamers seem to have a very short attention span, and once they've seen how the game works, they just stop playing, and that's that. They seem to rely on the game engine to keep them fully entertained. However, all that stuff you said about how all the FPSs are the same, apply to RPGs even more. Most FPSs even allow you to build your own mods for the game (HL/2, UT/2kx, and Quake, are the most famous for this). However, an RPG, you hardly ever see any physics in them, the graphics are usually low quality, and there is hardly any actual interaction with the environment. You walk up to a crate, press X on it, and that's it. So, a player starts to think "wow, this engine is incredibly crappy", so they stop paying attention to the story, and attempt to get into the game through the story and stuff. Most FPSs I've played have great story lines (nothing extremely inovative, but that doesn't mean it's not good/fun), as well as amazing features and interactivity. Gamers just need to learn to pay attention to both the effects, as well as what's going on in the game.

Morrowind is a good example of what I mean by "the player expects the effects to keep the game going" (or whatever I actually said). There's not much of a main story, but as the player plays through the first hour of the game, they find so much, and are able to interact with so much, and they just keep finding more and more stuff that they're able to do, that they just sit there, and try find new stuff they can pick up, or the ammount of stuff they can stockpile in their little cave, etc. You spend most of your time either playing around in dungeons, or slaughtering a town, taking over a house, and putting everyone's belongings in that one house. After a while you get bored with that, so you finish your mission, and that opens up a whole bunch of new stuff for you to do.

But like I said, very few games can keep those "people who are in it for the effects" stuck on the game long enough for them to get sucked into the story.

Now, there's a reason these "generic games" make the gaming industry money…Because a LOT of people enjoy them. It's kind of ignorant to say "I think the gaming industry is going in the wrong direction, just because I would rather play Zelda, rather than smack head-crabs with a crowbar like everyone else."

It's like saying "fuck red stop signs. I like the colour black. Let's make all the stop signs black. I mean, sure cars won't see it at night, but I'm too young to drive, so what do I care if people die in car accidents?"

k, that wasn't a very good analogy, but you get what I mean, right? If not then whatever, I'm going to bed.

Edit: Oh, and while I was writing this, Eternal posted tthat post above mine. I just wanted to ask wtf is wrong with Sony being like that? They make good stuff. I don't get why whenever a company has a lot of money, and are capable of [and do] making quality products, and decide to branch out into other fields to spread their quality, people are like "oh no, look at them! Sure they make good products, and I use them, but THEY'RE FUCKING EVIL!"

I think I'll be the only one to have read that lengthly reply…

O_O

That's one long post, fsx. I won't quote everything, but I'll adress the paragraphs:

Paragraph 1: Yes, Blurays are freakin' amazing, that's not a problem. The problem is that it's an extremely new technology. This technology arriving doesn't mean that the DVDs are outdated at all. The 360 and Wii games are living proof of this. This just means that Sony is trying to stick it down our throats when it's not needed. Someday, the world WILL have to make a change towards the Blu-ray or some other device, but now is not the time.

Paragraph 2: No one said that the Wii's sensor stuff is new or that Nintendo made it. In fact, I think a company is actually suing Nintendo for "borrowing" their technology for a sensor device patent they produced in 2001. The thing is that the PS3 ripped the IDEA of a sensor in console games. Think about it: for many months and maybe even a year, Nintendo has announced the Wii's main selling point as the sensor controller (anyone remember the "mystery controller" deal Nintendo pulled for a while?), and it JUST so happens that a long time later, Sony announces there's going to be one for the PS3. If that's not "idea borrowing", I don't know what is.

Paragraph 3: Nothing really to comment from me :P

Paragraph 4: Maybe I didn't say it right. The Blu-ray might be buggy because it's new, not because Sony sucks at life. Razrs, Fords, Toyotas, and iPods are some random things I remember that got recalls from their respective companies because they didn't function perfectly. They didn't suck at life either, but because their technologies are so new, there's bound to be a problem somewhere along the road. The Blu-ray is no exception and because it's so new, it's very probable it will have an issue. Certainly not welcome when you pay $600 for the damn thing. My point is that the Blu-ray is very premature technology. Because it's new it's expensive and not perfect yet, so forcing it on gamers is most definitely a horrible idea.

Paragraph 5: Nothing to add either.

Paragraph 6: I agree with you except on the last statement. A scratch-free disk IS going to raise their production costs for obvious reasons, so you bet your ass the expenses will be brought to the consumer.

Paragraph 7 and Multiparagraph unit making up Paragraph 8: The thing is, I have no problem with technology advancing. In fact, I support and sometimes demand it, even in gaming because we all know technology advances like a maniac. However, we don't NEED a top of the line supercomputer like the PS3 for $600. We just want an update in technology. We don't want THE BEST technology for obvious reasons, we just want an update of it. This is very true especially because all the PS3 is worried about is about the super-powerful specs. This shouldn't be the ONLY thing that the system should focus, as it has barely anything to do with gaming itself.

Paragraph 9: That's true. People do like them, but it's kind of like a monopoly. People buying from the monopoly don't realize how better things could be if they were different. Similarly, the people that enjoy the millionth WWII game just don't realize how better and "funner" it could be if they got ahold of a truly revolutionary FPS. It's not a matter of what my preferences are like, it's a matter of how much better the gaming industry could be doing. People don't realize how much better the gaming industry could be, and since the millionth FPS is all they see, they'll like it because they haven't seen anything else. But I've played and deeply loved old games that are nothing but revolutionary and I terribly miss the making of those games.

Like your mom…