bornonce

Well, I have played XBOX 360 Burnout Revenge, and, quite frankly, much preferred Full Auto (talking about a game that taxes a system's resources!). I didn't care much for the scenery graphics in Burnout Revenge, and the game has just gotten too ridiculous to be much fun anymore. After logging more than 60 hours of incredibly fun gameplay with Full Auto, I was very dissappointed with the look and feel of Burnout Revenge (the car models are fantastic, however).

I will reiterate a post that I made on gamespot exactly one week after E3 05: Sony will release TWO versions of the PS3.

The reasoning is as follows:
(1). Sony cannot possibly launch a PS3 with ALL of the feature they promised at E3 and still be cost-competitive with the XBOX 360 and the Revolution. They will have to offer a "gamer's version", for about $400.00, with possibly slightly reduced performance and NO Blu-Ray Video capability (a 2X Blu-Ray drive would just be too expensive).

(2). They will launch a "Media Center" version for about $700.00, including a 2X Blu-Ray drive and the full features shown at E3 05. This will be targeted at "households", for use in your Home Theater center.

I based this on the history of CPU's and GPU's, and the fact that yields vary too much to guarantee that all of the components can meet the required specs.

JMHO

Edit no. 8. I meant Microsoft and SONY.

The problem is, both Microsoft and Nintendo figure in retail game sales as part of their marketing strategy, whichiswhy they sell the console hardware at a loss. Used game sales completely disrupt their marketing stategy, and probably contributed to the losses both SCE and MS gaming divisions suffered. I know that it is a very unpopular idea, but I think that Sony in particular will use a technology in the future (primarily Blu-Ray and the PS3) that REQUIRES you to reactivate a game for a fee if you have to (or want to) install it on another machine. Such a dual-purpose disc (which has a dedicated sector for ONLY writing a machine's private key) is not beyond the realm of comprehension.

Simply put, both the PS3 and XBOX 360 are targeting different markets than Nintendo. The PS3 and XBOX 360 are targeting hard-core gamers who like realistic graphics, simulations, and FPS's, and who are willing to spend (or can afford to) several hundreds of dollars all-told on a gaming console.

Nintendo seems more interested in providing entertainment to everyone, and making it affordable. However, most potential PS3 and XBOX 360 owners have stated that they would likely also get a Revolution.

Without a doubt, Nintendo will "win" the next-gen console wars in terms of number of consoles sold because they will offer a product that is almost universally affordable, and appealing to a very broad base. Sony's direction with the PS3 seems to be away from a "gaming console" and more to a rather expensive home entertainment center, as is to a lesser degree the XBOX 360. Not the same market at all for the REV, which will not even support HDTV, but in all likelihood will be bought by current PS2, XBOX, and Nintendo owners, alike, as well as first-time gamers.

Considering the initial success of XBOX LIVE ARCADE, graphics are not as important to gamers as some seem to imply.

There is NO WAY that the ESRB could have accessed the "hot coffee" sequence. It required an action replay device on the PS2, modified code on the PC, and modified code on the XBox. In fact, the ONLY way that you could access it was to VIOLATE the ULA. Although I HATED GTA:SA because it was basically awful, I do not in any way hold Take-Two responsible for the "pornography - badly pixelated intercouse, what a rush!". They might not have even known that the code was even in the game since I seriously doubt that management has ever looked at every line of code the programmers write. What a waste of time and expense for our legal system.

Thanks, Jellodyne. That was truly funny!