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PS3 BioShock Apparently Looks BioShitty, 2K Responds to Demo Texture Criticism

Dan Landis — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:00:44 +0000

Some screen grabs from the recently released demo of the PlayStation 3 version of BioShock show some rather pixelated textures when compared to the Xbox 360 version. While this is just a demo, the retail release is just over two weeks away. Is that enough time to fix this issue?

Screen comparisons and 2K’s response follow.

Xbox 360

PlayStation 3

These screens (blatantly stolen from the BioShock forum on Giant Bomb) clearly show a slight difference in quality, which apparently is leading some people to cancel their pre-orders of the game. Elizabeth Tobey, 2K Community Manager, had the following to say about it:

“When we saw a post asking about issues found in the demo, we jumped on it immediately. And you know what, you’re right. The texture in the PS3 demo of the downed Big Daddy does not match our level of quality either. This slipped by. We admit it. However, I want to assure you that this is an exception, and not a rule, and while I regret this oversight, we put a lot of love into making this game look amazing for the PS3 and I’m sure that when you play the rest of the demo you will agree that the textures are not all like this one instance.

As for the other issues and concerns, we are currently diligently working to replicate any bugs, and will report back to you with what we find. Thank you for your vigilance here and moving forward.”

I’m fairly confident that 2K doesn’t want to put out a turd, but we’ll just have to wait and see what (if anything) slips by when it releases on October 21st.

*UPDATE: Contrary to the vocal PS3 defenders, new screenshots have surfaced that show a blurry PS3 BioShock when compared to the Xbox 360 version. Head here to see the images.

Japan: Xbox 360 Outsells PS3 for the Entire Month of September

Dan Landis — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:31:45 +0000

The month is over and stats are in: The Xbox 360 has sold more units in Japan than the PlayStation 3 during the month of September.

Attributed mostly to the price cut, Microsoft’s jolly green (but sometimes red and not all that jolly) giant sold almost twice as many consoles as Sony’s black box. Shifting 53,547 units from store shelves to Japanese homes, the Xbox 360 was the preferred “next-gen” console as the PS3 moved a mere 33,071.

Of course, both systems were greatly outsold by Nintendo, selling 109,548 Wii’s and 234,477 DS’s. Not really a surprise when you consider the fact that there are more casual douches in the world than there are hardcore gamers, and we all know that Nintendo is catering to the casuals.

To be completely honest, I still find the number of Wii’s being sold every month to be confusing. Apparently nobody does research on the thing before buying one, otherwise they’d know that most Wii owners are bored out of their minds.

Yeah, I said it.

Source: Yahoo!

Xbox 360 Is King Of The Consoles – Microsoft’s Spin On NPD Data

Dan Landis — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:33:22 +0000

See, it’s not all doom and gloom for the 360 after all! According to the NPD Group’s data, Microsoft is leading the videogame industry in several areas. They had a big year overall – December hardware sales were on par with the Wii ,while 360 software sales took the lead with games like Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and Assassin’s Creed.

Microsoft sure is proud of their accomplishments and wanted to let you know how awesome they are. Read on to see their take on this information.

Xbox 360 Drives the Video Game Console Industry in 2007:
NPD data released today confirms consumers spent more dollars on Xbox 360 in 2007, with more than $13.7 billion in total consumer spending. Xbox 360 won 2007 with $4.8 billion in total consumer spending compared to Wii with $3.5 billion and PlayStation 3 with $2.2 billion. This wraps up a historic year, with NPD reporting consumers have spent nearly 45 percent of total industry figures on Xbox 360.

Here is a quick snapshot of what is driving revenue for Xbox 360, based on the latest reports from NPD and Microsoft data:

* XBOX 360 WIDENS THE GAP OVER PS3 WITH CONSOLE SALES: According to NPD, Xbox 360 sold 1.3 million consoles in December alone, and has steadily widened the gap between Sony’s PlayStation 3 console sales. In December, NPD stated that Sony sold 798,000 PS3 hardware units. Since PS3′s launch in November 2006, Xbox 360 has outsold PS3 by nearly 2:1 on average, bringing a total U.S. Xbox 360 install base of 9.2 million consoles, compared to and installed base of 7.4 million Wii consoles and 3.3 million PS3 consoles.

* GAMES DRIVE INDUSTRY GROWTH: Xbox 360 robust games portfolio spans across the highest-ranked AAA titles to the largest collection of “Everyone” and “Teen” rated games. According to NPD, of the top 20 best-selling titles in 2007 for this generation, 11 were on Xbox 360; while only seven were sold on the Wii and two sold on the PS3.

** NPD reported that this holiday’s leading multiplatform blockbusters continue to sell better on Xbox 360: + “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” for Xbox 360 was the leading game last month with 1.5 million copies sold, outselling the PS3 version nearly 3:1.

+ “Assassin’s Creed” for Xbox 360 was the fourth best selling title, having sold 894,000 units. It outsold the PS3 version more than 2:1.

+ “Guitar Hero III” outsold the PS3 nearly 2:1, having sold 625,000 copies.

+ “Rockband” continues to rock the charts, selling 463,000 units for the Xbox 360 platform, compared to 174,000 units for the PS3

** To date, 33 third party games on Xbox 360 hit the top 10 list across all consoles compared to five third party games on PS3, and four on Wii. These results confirm that third party partners create better games and reap more sales on Xbox 360 than any other platform.

** In its fourth month on the market, Halo 3 continued its strong performance and was the sixth best selling title in December, selling another 742,000. In 2007, NPD projects that Halo 3 has sold 4.8 million units in the U.S. since its launch in September.

** Xbox 360 continues to lead in number of games sold per console, setting another record with an attach rate of 7.0 games per console.

* XBOX LIVE SETS NEW HEIGHTS: Xbox LIVE’s network is 10 million members strong and growing, achieving membership goals six months ahead of schedule. Only on Xbox LIVE can members experience the largest catalog of on-demand, high-definition content in the U.S., including movies and television shows from our most recent partners: Disney-ABC Television Group and MGM Studios.

We’re not slowing down in 2008. The next versions of powerhouse franchises like “Grand Theft Auto,” “Resident Evil” and sports games like “Madden”, “FIFA”, and “Pro Evolution Soccer” open up a new arena for game play on Xbox 360. This year we will make great strides toward improving our brand appeal to consumers interested in more physical game play. With titles like “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock,” “Rock Band” and “Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action” we’re creating interactive experiences on Xbox 360 for the entire family.

Whether or not you believe this information makes Microsoft the market leader is entirely up to you. Regardless, these numbers certainly are positive for Microsoft and the gamers currently enjoying their Xbox 360s. Now if only they could sort out these hardware issues…

Source: Team Xbox

Xbox 360 Outsells Playstation 3 In Japan, But Handhelds Still on Top

Ian Ennis — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:18:51 +0000

Thanks to Ace Combat 6, the Xbox 360 is on top of the Japanese console market this week, slightly ahead of the PS3. The last time Microsoft saw a nice victory like this was two months ago, when Halo 3 topped the charts in Japan.

According to numbers released by Media Create, sales in Japan last week had the Xbox 360 selling 17,673 units, while the PS3 sold 17,434.

Yet, despite the tight console competition, the DS Lite is still outselling both by more than 3:1, with sales ringing in at 78,552. The DS is not alone however, as the PSP is also outselling the 360 and PS3 at a 3:1 ratio as well, with sales at 59,714 and counting.

With both handhelds now available in the popular “lite” format, more afforable than ever, and offering a solid line of growing titles, it is easy to see why the PSP and DS are turning heads in Japan.

Sony Still Optimistic Despite Sluggish Sales Of Their PS3 Next Gen Console

Paul Hamilton — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:49:28 +0000

A little over a week ago Sony reported sales numbers for its slow-out-of-the-gate PlayStation 3, pegging units sold in the three months to June at 710,000. This is compared to the unexpected success of the Wii–still tough to find on store shelves–which sold 3.43 million units in the same period.

Sony tried to look at the glass as half full, noting that they sell each PS3 at a loss so the low sales numbers actually worked out to mean less money lost than they had expected. Price cuts in both Japan and more recently in the US have yet to make a discernible difference in the disappointing adoption rate of the PS3, although those cuts are recent their full impact has yet to be determined. What will remain constant is that Sony’s losses will continue for some time as they struggle to keep pace with the Wii and XBox 360 while selling at an estimated $200 loss per unit.

But Sony’s plan to deal with that is to lower the manufacturing costs of each system, first by removing the Emotion Engine from the system but also by reducing costs for manufacturing the pricey Cell processors, RSX graphics chips and Blu-ray components. Sony would like to achieve this by the end of the year and get back to the break-even point so they can focus once again on getting more PS3s into homes. It should be noted that rivals Microsoft also sell their consoles at a loss, although that margin is suspected to be lower and Nintendo’s bargain priced unit is actually a profit stream for the company.

And in spite of all the doom and gloom, there is actually some silver lining on the cloud that’s hung over Sony since their lackluster launch a little over a year ago. Many have pinpointed the inclusion of a full-featured DVD player in the enormously popular PS2 as one of the catalysts for that system’s success last gen, which came at a time when DVD players were still expensive and mostly still firmly stuck in early adopter land. Some of the slow pickup rate on the PS3 may have to do with the uncertainty of the comparable technology this time around due to the format wars of high definition DVDs. But lately Sony’s Blu-ray technology has made some promising inroads, scoring exclusivity as the HD format in Blockbuster rental stores and getting the nod from the US’ second-largest retailer, Target as their featured high definition DVD hardware platform. Target insists they’ll continue to carry the competing HD-DVD discs but will sell only Bu-ray players for the time being. East Coast warehouse chain BJ’s Wholesale Club announced a similar decision.

With Blu-ray starting to pull ahead and the PS3′s recent price dip putting it squarely into the position that worked so well for the PlayStation 2 as a competitively priced Blu-ray player that also happens to play next gen games, PS3 may finally be ready to compete this gen. Add to that a fairly strong showing at E3 which showcased several AAA-level titles coming in time for the holidays such as Heavenly Sword and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and perhaps the reports of Sony’s early demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Like Sugar, Sony Says PS3 Price May Get “Refined”

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:38:18 +0000

Not willing to dish out $600 dollars for a Sony Playstation 3? Well you aren’t the minority on this one. Apparently the insanity that is the PS3 price point is about to calm down a bit.

Sony Corp., was quoted in the Financial Times saying that they are looking to “refine” the PS3′s price.

Sony is already well on their way to losing $488 million this fiscal year according to the Financial Times. They believe it is a combination of factor, one of which is a less than attractive price point, another is a passable list of titles. The software issue will eventually correct itself, but the price point is something that Sony may not be able to delay any longer.

Many analysts believe that the drop in price will be in the ballpark of $100 bringing it down to the price of the now obsolete 20 Gigabyte version of the system. However, it would not surprise us one bit to see the PS3 match prices with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. What is a few million when you are already losing a half a billion already?

PlayStation 3 Feeling Left Out – Sony Ready To Slash Price On PS3?

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:10:05 +0000

In terms of the next-gen console race, the PlayStation 3 finished last month in last place. Rumors are circulating that Sony will drop the price of the Blu-ray capable PS3 by $100, however Bank of America analyst Mike Savner has been quoted saying that he believes it may not be enough.

A drop in price by $100 still has the PS3 on top as the most expensive console of this generation, and one can not rule out a drop in the price by Microsoft on the Xbox 360 which first hit store shelves back in November of 2005. So how much will it take to get Sony back in the conversation … $100 … $200? Already losing an estimated $200 per unit as it stands, can Sony afford to drop the price any further? Maybe the better question is can they afford NOT to?

“An important driver of Sony hardware last cycle was exclusive games, such as Grand Theft Auto” says Mike, and we couldn’t agree more. Now don’t get us wrong, the PS3 has superior specs and the Blu-ray player is very nice, but if a consumer isn’t in the market for one, Sony may find its race for next-gen console supremacy over before it even began.

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