Hell froze over. We've got some positive Sony news today. IGN has picked the PS3 as the best new console of 2006 despite its lackluster launch and widespread criticism. Even though there were only two new consoles to choose from and despite its lack of games, IGN says the PS3 wins the best console award on potential alone:"Judging the consoles based upon a broad perspective that includes software now available and coming in the future an entirely different argument could be formulated. However, from a hardware perspective, the PS3 is by far the more interesting console. Though the launch software hasn't blown anyone away, the 360's launch titles were equally unimpressive, and the system will certainly mature. Sony's embrace of the PS3 as a computer rather than just a console, and the availability of supported Linux distributions for the console will also develop and will likely bear entirely unexpected fruit in future."
It's refreshing to see someone play Devil's Advocate, but that reads like IGN's best new computer award, not best console award. Hardware, Linux distros ... sounds exciting! Anyone else stoked for the PS3's future potential?
[Thanks, Phil]













(Page 1) Reader Comments
Reply
Reply
You should write reviews BEFORE having your Appletinis.
Reply
Granted, nothing revolutionary but not unimpressive.
Congrats to the PS3!
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Right, because the PS3 as an unupgradable proprietary computer-wannabe is exactly what we need!
I think I'll stick to my PC instead, thanks.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
OHHHNOOooZZZZ!!!!
IT'S TEH GIANT ENEMY CRAB!!!! (oops, just a pic of a ps3)
quick!! real-time weapons change!!
RIIIIIIIIDDDDDDGGGGGEEEEE RRRRAAAAACCCCCCEEEERRRRR!!!!!!
Reply
Reply
No, just because sony hasn't had anything good to report since the launch (loss of exclusives, plethora of consoles on shelves when there shouldn't be, shoddy networking services) doesn't mean that joystiq is biased. How's Ken in bed, btw?
"...Linux distributions for the console will also develop and will likely bear entirely unexpected fruit in future"
Are they herolding the console because homebrew and 1337 haxxorz? Why else would Linux be a good thing? This is like saying the xbox won the first console war because it was moddable, or the PSP is a good system cuz you can play roms on it.
"However, from a hardware perspective PS3 is by far the more interesting console."
Can anyone explain this to me please? How is the ps3 any different from the 360? (don't say blu-ray, 1080p please, we've debated those enough). What does sony really have that is radically different from the 360. I"m honestly curious.
Reply
One quote i will strongly dicagree with is "from a hardware perspective, the PS3 is by far the more interesting console." I know we have all heard it a million times, but having a new console like four times more powerfull than the previous generation has been done countless times since the beginning of game consoles. Where as (you guessed it) the wii, with keeping the console the same, but the way you play it is apparently perfectly traditional?
Congratulations to sony on the award, but they're basing the best of 2006 on whats going to happen in 2007.
Reply
Reply
lol
Reply
The ps3 is a lame duck. There's nothing interesting about the hardware, as it's all a generation old already! Unless you count the blu-ray drive, which brings ZERO value to it as a game console. From a hardware standpoint the PS3 was released over a year ago by Microsoft. It was called the Xbox 360. Only they didn't force you to wait for and pay extra for the blu-ray drive.
Linux on the ps3 means nothing. I take that back, it means negative game sales. Because if people buy it to run linux, they aren't buying games. Which means more developers jump ship or drop exclusivity so that they can actually make money on their investment.
Reply
/not
Cmon. The PS3 has immense potential, even as I Wii60 owner I can admit that. But if that potential energy doesn't get converted to kinetic energy soon, the PS3 will be dead in most respects by Holidays 07.
Reply
In fact, I'm sending my PS2 kit to the landfill as we speak.
Reply
Reply
Likewise i wonder why people rag on the 360 launch titles. In the past few launches (Xbox, GC, PS2, PS3, Wii and 360) the 360 definitely had the most well rounded launch. Anyway, I don't blame IGN for their pick. I mean based on future potential and online alone, the PS3 is definitely the better of the two systems.
I am somewhat surprised that IGN took that route to give there opinion. Anyway, I can see why they made the pick though.
Reply
Reply
IGN is just a lackey who gets paid to write articles.
Reply
__________________
Totally stoked about the PS3's potential to do anything but gaming ;)
Reply
On the other hand, both stores are selling Wii's and 360's almost daily.
5 of my buddies bought the 360 over the last 2 months. Sony is in trouble......F--- EM!!!
Reply
I hate to break it to you.... but every recognizeable blog has posted an endless stream of bad news for the PoS3. Digg.com, Kotaku, penny-arcade, joystiq, cnn, fox news, etc. etc. etc. Joystiq isn't biased. News is news. I'm sorry that some "news" breaks your little fanboy heart, but Joystiq is simply reporting gaming news. period.
If you must hate Joystiq for reporting the issues the PoS3 has endured, then you must hate every major gaming blog under the face of the sun.
Reply
Yes, because this argument worked for.....
The first Xbox
The Gamecube (yes, it is more powerful than the ps2, go look at RE4)
The Dreamcast
Intellivision
Alienware Computers
And many many more consoles that were outpowering their counterparts that ended up losing their respective console war.
Reply
Reply
So? The hardware of the PS2 was complete shit and still won. IGN really has lost their minds. From a GAME PLAYING perspective the Wii blows the PS3 out of the water. Oh that's right we don't care about the video games on a fucknig video game site!
Reply
If you are not in favor of 'fanboyism' then I would recommend that you never read a newspaper, magazine, watch the news, talk to your friends, view blogs, talk to a Best Buy employee, or ever deal with anything ever that involves a person... because we are all fanboys of something.
So in closing... stfu.
Reply
Reply
As if that's really worth rewarding. What if a company's really dedicated to making games? If they spend all their time making money on making games, do they have to do provide more for things they DON'T make money on?
People don't want to spend any of their slacker time on a 'mini-game' console but gush over monotonous PC media traits?
Bullshit. Sony peddled this months ago and IGN fell for it.
Reply
Nintendo is generating some serious buzz.
But then again, I don't know anyone who has a PS3.
Reply
You must be really excited about the price of XNA, then.
Reply
Reply
I am not really all that excited about the potential of the ps3 beyond gaming, and I find it somewhat funny that much of IGN's excitement about the PS3 is about these non-gaming qualities. Sorry, but being able to run linux distros on the PS3 is not going to make for any richer or more unique gaming experiences (and I like linux). Or is the fact that the PS3 is more of a computer than a console -- christ I have enough computers in my house! It is a bit like saying some van is 'car of the year' because its storage capacity is a great place to put old laundry. Furthermore, I think devices that are media-centric (like the 'Apple TV') are more likely to the sorts of devices that fulfill the 'non-gaming' features that the PS3 (and to a certain extent, all of the nexgen consoles) are shooting for.
It is also possible the IGN just don't get it. As someone already said, last year they picked the PSP over the DS and I think they have a tendency put a higher emphasis on macho hardware numbers than they do on innovation to gaming experiences. Before they came out I was excited about both the PSP and the PS3 but wound up going DS and wii when I started looking at things beyond 'horsepower'. When I see folks playing it that never were in to video games before (and see old gamers who got bored of gaming, get excited about games again), I think this is more important than the non-gaming potential of the PS3.
Reply
And those titles would beeee.....?
Lair? Ok. That's one.
MGS4? Don't get your hopes up.
FF13? HA! I'll see you in mid-2008.
Also, being a Mac user, it makes me laugh hearing about the PS3 being a Linux box. $600 bucks for Linux system you can't upgrade! And they say Macs are expensive! Haha!
Anyway, this is really no huge surprise. I can see the logic in picking the PS3 over the Wii...but honestly, from what I can see, IGN is kind of over all anti-Nintendo, just judging by those cringe-inducing, juvenile podcasts and video round tables they do.
I still think it's wrong to pick it over the Wii, if we're talking about the best console of 2006. going by games only, the Wii at LEAST has Zelda. The PS3, by contrast, really has nothing.
And no. R:FoM doesn't count. It's a decent game at best, but it's no where NEAR the level of Zelda or even Gears of War (I'm not a far of the shooter/action kind of games, personally)
Reply
PS3 is not really looking so hot just yet. So far the only action mine gets is Tekken 5 DR and Resistance, cause the other games don't seem interesting at all. I'm just saying you should wait for the PS3 and buy it when the great games start to roll in.
Reply
Reply
By the way, Megaman X for the Super Nintendo has real time weapon changing (by pressing the L R buttons)
Poor Sony. I feel sorry for them.
Reply
Reply
LOL
Reply
however, thats not going to sell any games for sony,
so essentially, theyve lost about 300 dollars to give me a good deal on a computer ... and they wont make any game sales off of it ... :-\
did they think this through?
Reply
Reply
The Playstation 3 is a piece of shit, period. I don't care if it's an over-powered computer, it doesn't have the games to justify such a huge investment.
Reply
Reply
Yeh right, that's belivable. If you going to make stuff up, keep it realistic..
This post sums of the garbage that the xbox fanboys post.. Sony are having no problems shifting PS3's infact they are selling them faster than your beloved Xbox180 was last year...
Reply
Reply