Best Next-Gen System

[Jrecee]

DVD was introduced spring 1997. The PS2 came out October 2000. About 3 and a half years later. Within 2 years of that, VHS tapes were becoming very hard to find. We're 4 years into the life of blu-ray, and the DVD section at best buy, wal-mart, target, etc. is still far bigger than the blu-ray section, which is usually reduced to one aisle.

There is a real reason not to buy blu ray even if I have an HDTV: $$$.

Aside from the first Blu-Ray I bought (Paprika), I never spent a lot more on a Blu-Ray than I did on a DVD back when DVD was the only option. Yes, Best Buy charges out the ass for them, but it's freaking Best Buy. What the hell do you expect?

I got the complete Samurai Champloo Collection on Blu-Ray for $38. I got Ghost In The Shell 2.0 on Blu-Ray for $12. Boondock Saints on Blu-Ray was $10. Ocean's Eleven cost me $7 on Blu-Ray. You can't beat these damn deals with a stick.

Sure, Blu-Rays were expensive as hell for the first 2 years, but they've come down A LOT in the past year. You just gotta know where to look.

Everyone uses this argument. If I "know where to look" I can get the dvds for even less than that. Yeah I can get a blu-ray for $10 during a super special savings amazon ultra discount midnight sale, but I can get a dvd for $5 during the same sale, or for $10 from the target 5 minutes away.

My point is when new release tuesday rolls around, and I want to pick up a movie I've been waiting for, I can spend $25 on the bluray, or $15 for the dvd. I am starting to see blu-rays in the "$5 more range" now, and if I had a player, I'd splurge for the HD version on certain movies (district 9? Iron man 2? That sort of thing) but I'm not paying a premium to watch Pineapple Express in HD. For blu-ray to be the only game in town (which could only be good for sony, I think) it's got to match dvd on price.

I don't know, maybe there's room for a "low-end" and "high-end" format. As long as a large portion of homes are still using CRT tvs, I think dvd will be sticking around. It took about 8 years for vhs to vanish 100%, but dvd had the advantage of being able to be used by anyone.

[the7k]

Well, when "Knowing where to look" includes places like Wal-Mart and Target, I don't really see finding cheap Blu-Rays as being some mystical, esoteric activity.

I certainly don't blame you for buying Pineapple Express on DVD instead of on Blu-Ray. In those cases, it doesn't matter unless you can find it cheaper on Blu-Ray. (Which has happened. I got The Hangover on Blu-Ray because it was $1 cheaper than the DVD version.) But it's not like Blu-Rays are still $35 - with the exception of places that are known to charge out the ass (like Best Buy).

[MrPopo]

I still cling to my "the packaging is ugly" defense against buying BluRay. At least the PS3 cases have the decency to look aesthetically pleasing on the shelf, even though the switch from standard DVD case to the new case was unnecessary.

[the7k]

I actually like the Blu-Ray packaging - plus, they take up less space on shelves than typical DVD cases or PS3 cases. Just a matter of preference, really.

[Limewater]

You will never convince me YLOD is even CLOSE to RROD. I used to do console repair and I literally made a living fixing almost nothing but RROD (I would say 9/10 repairs was RROD) Besides, the Slim PS3s have been nothing but solid thus far.

Yeah, man. Those people who bought the Xbox 360 before the RROD was a widely-known problem were pretty dumb. How on earth could they have not seen that coming?

As for the "shiny new controller," that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Yeah, man. It's almost as dumb as buying a $600 video game machine when there are thousands of amazing games out there that you can buy for under $10 and play with $10-$50 hardware.

Consumers often don't make the smartest choices. They make the choices they want to make. They make the choices that make them happy. Shiny new stuff makes a lot of people happy.

you're right, they didn't think ahead, if they did, they'd be playing PS3s and PS3 would be getting all of the great new exclusives. The PS3 capabilities haven't even really been touched on yet, it will still be totally relevant in 10 years.

So the Xbox 360 is getting all of the great exclusives, but people were dumb to pick it over the PS3? I don't see how this follows.

BluRay also allows for more game data, that's the real reason, it's not just an afterthought.

I don't think too many games are coming that close to filling dual-layer DVDs yet. Games themselves are usually pretty tiny. It's all of the artwork, video, and sound that takes up all of the space. You would be very hard-pressed to make a game that wouldn't fit on a DVD unless you were including a whole lot of video.

More on topic-- Sony was attempting to sell a lot of consoles and games to the public. I think they've actually done really well over in Japan. They just haven't done a good job of that over here in the United States. Blaming the consumer is a poor excuse. Their strange and fickle nature is part of the game.

[dsheinem]

I merged these as the "mistake" thread was becoming a 90% console war thread and this is where those go. If any of the other mods disagree and want to move it back, feel free.