10 Reasons Why You Should Not Buy a PS3

Let me begin my article by saying this: I do not absolutely, unconditionally hate the Playstation 3. The PS3 is a marvelous piece of equipment, and it’s clear that Sony’s engineers worked hard to put it together. But I’m getting sick and tired of people telling me how it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Of course it’s better than the other systems out there. That’s how the world works. Newer things are technologically better, not worse. Would you really expect PS3 to be worse than PS2? I don’t even hesitate to say it’s better than the Xbox 360, because it happens to be newer than that too, and they worked longer to make it a superior console. But just because it’s better in general than other consoles doesn’t make it great, and it certainly doesn’t make it worth buying. So let’s move on…my ten reasons why a PS3 isn’t as good as you think it is:

10. This may or may not matter to you, but it’s a bit large, and it’s a bit heavy. Weighing in at around 11 pounds, the PS3 is the size of a really thick textbook. If you have to move it around, it’ll start getting annoying.

9. You may have already bought an Xbox 360. Don’t underestimate the head start Microsoft got on Sony.

8. If you’re a PC gamer, why do you need a console, unless you play the few games that are exclusive to consoles these days? That used to be an issue before, but computers caught up to game consoles several years ago.

7. 256MB of system memory seems like too little. Based on my PC gaming experiences, some games use more than twice that. It may be different on the PS3, but I can’t see why. In fact, with 8 cores running simultaneously, I’d imagine you’d want more memory, not less.

6. The Blu-ray drive is unnecessary, and you can bet you’d pay a lot less with a standard DVD drive. Their games probably don’t have the need for that much space on the disc anyway, and they won’t for a while. Plus, it’s just Sony’s way of getting you to buy into Blu-ray instead of HD-DVD (their competitor in the high-definition disc market).

5. Between the two versions of the PS3, if you want all the stuff Sony’s bragging about you clearly have to pay for the expensive one. If you want a real HD output, you need the HDMI out, which is only on the expensive version. Same with the MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash card reader and the wireless network adapter.

4. Why does it come with a hard drive? Maybe I want a bigger one, like one of those new 200GB hard drives, instead of either 20 or 60. Should I just throw the other one away? I’d rather buy the PS3 without a hard drive for less money, and then upgrade it on my own. This actually falls in along with the Blu-ray thing. Sony’s basically just trying to load in as much stuff as they can to add to the price. It’s like a car manufacturer making a GPS unit standard in the car you want to buy, then charging you $3,000 for it, when you could go to Best Buy and buy one for $500.

3. After Sony’s announcement that they were going to add motion sensors to their controllers (coincidentally, a short while after Nintendo announced that their controllers would be motion- and orientation-sensing), their controller is halfway between being a standard controller and an innovation, which leaves them with neither. Microsoft has a standard controller; Nintendo has an innovation; Sony’s sitting on the fence.

2. The Cell processor looks great on paper, but IBM claims 10 to 20 percent yields when they actually try to manufacture it. Your PS3 may actually come with only 7 of the 8 cores working; Sony will accept any processor with at least 7 cores working. And if one of the cores dies…well, I hope your warranty’s still active.

1. The price is outrageous. $600 for a game console? You could buy two (yes, two) computers from Dell with that much money. Granted, neither of them would be good for much, but still, you get my point. I think you get a free upgrade to LCD monitors, too.

So there you have it. None of my reasons are good enough to turn your back on the PS3 forever, and that’s not my intention at all. But think about what you’re buying before you buy it. First and foremost, decide if the product you get is worth the money you pay for it. Then decide if all the features it comes with are of any use to you; if not, reevaluate the price for what you’ll actually use. Hey, if it’s worth $500-$600 to you to be able to play games at high definition with surround sound audio in the convenience of your living room, go for it. But if you don’t have a problem with what you have now, take the time to reconsider.

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