PS3 Poll Police: Was the PS3's first year the best, or worst?
by Nick Doerr 
{ Nov 18th 2007 at 5:00PM }
So, this weekend marks the advent of the PlayStation 3's birth and like most children, it experienced what can only be called Growing Pains. It gets into hilarious situations in which Kirk Cameron and Alan Thicke must reconcile their differences and ... oh, wrong scenario. Anyway, the Poll Police are charging you with assessing the progress of the Sony brand and the PlayStation 3 over the past year. What did you think? What will happen from now on? The future is unknown, until it, well, becomes the present. So: will the PS3's first year be remembered as the worst, or does it mark itself as the high point in its life cycle?
That's that, then. Last week's poll was interesting, because we focused on a single demo to see how the world was receiving Sony's latest title in Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. How did it fare? Well, you'll have to take the jump to find out.
Many people complained about "too much action" in this game. Really? Well, you'll have to wait for our review on the game, but those people will have a much harder time deciding whether they want to get the game or not. There's action, there's puzzle-solving, there's exploration ... so the demo was showing off the fighting, clearly. Anyhow, most of you thought the demo was excellent and we're glad to hear that. We'll tell you what we thought of the game in our review tomorrow.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andy @ Nov 18th 2007 6:03PM
Do you guys here at PS3 fanboy fudge the results?
I already see 700 votes yet zero comments.
Neon @ Nov 18th 2007 6:15PM
Andy, I would assume that we're just lazy (or too busy playing Assassin's Creed or Uncharted! ;)
chris.westermann @ Nov 18th 2007 6:18PM
Compared to the Xbox360 andits first year the PS3 has had an exceptional year. No massive failures, more amazing exclusive title releases and faster growth (especially as this holiday season starts). I think we will easily see the PS3 take the number 2 spot in console sales in 2008 and start to give the Wii a run for its money.
Wayne @ Nov 18th 2007 6:22PM
While your in the mood for voting:
http://ps3features.blogspot.com
organic_shadow @ Nov 18th 2007 6:56PM
I voted for the OKAY one. PS3 hasn't done well sales-wise but it's holding it's own in Japan decently and Europe seems to like it a lot, so with the game flow getting better and better recently and with all the games coming spring 08 I would say that it's should do well from here on out. The worst is over, but I would say that overall it's been a surprising year.
ndoerr @ Nov 18th 2007 7:38PM
@ Andy -- methinks you underestimate our readership. The phrase "the silent masses" comes to mind.
Besides, I wouldn't even know HOW to fudge the results. I'm not the most techno-savvy person around...
Phil @ Nov 18th 2007 8:02PM
Pretty freakin HORRIBLE.
Seriously, I expected a lot more when I bought this thing last November.
Not a crapload of 360 ports that look and play worse than the 360 versions.
All of the quality exclusives are on the 360.
I guess that's why I bought a 360 last night and my PS3 has been on Ebay since Thursday.
F you Sony.
Joshua @ Nov 18th 2007 8:20PM
I voted this was the worst year, because I want it to be the worst year. The only releases from 2007 (none in 2006 interest me) that I care about and own are Ninja Gaiden Sigma and The Eye of Judgment. I hope it gets better from here.
Secura @ Nov 18th 2007 8:42PM
@ Joshua
You don't care about Uncharted? It's a great game.
Popfrogs @ Nov 18th 2007 9:56PM
"All of the quality exclusives are on the 360."
Change that to "were on the 360" and you're getting warmer. Seriously, with R&C, Haze, MGS4, Uncharted, etc. etc. this is a good time to own a PS3. In my opinion, this year sucked for Sony, but things have definitely turned around. If they do better than this year, every year, we're golden.
Titty Pink @ Nov 18th 2007 10:07PM
Phil I have to go ahead and out you Oct 26th 2007 4:43PM No shocker here. The PS3 is an overhyped P.O.S. that I wasted my hard earned $600 on.
At least I can admit it. And unlike most of the dummies who post on here, the PS3 isn't my only console. THANK GOD for the Xbox 360. Those with only a PS3 must be BITTER and JEALOUS. I sure know I'd be.
Sounds like you had a 360 since October, which means you're a 360 Fanboy and a phony! Halo is overrated, so was Gears. COD4 blows away anything the 360 had out in its first year. Want an exclusive? OK, Ratchet and Clank is better than anything that came out on the 360 in the first year. Now get the hell outta here you troll!
Titty Pink @ Nov 18th 2007 10:14PM
Man you guys are crazy. The early ports sucked, but R6 was tight. Warhawk, Resistance, Assassins Creed, NBA 2K8, COD 4, Motorstorm, Ninja Gaiden, Super Puzzle Fighter, man. What do you want in the first year? When you look at it, who else had this many titles that were this good in the first year?
joshua @ Nov 19th 2007 12:25AM
It was terrible. There is a good list of exclusives (most of which came out in the past month, and if we are going to evaluate a full year we have to take that into account), and the PS3's sales have been lackluster most of the year. The SKU juggling did not help, either. The fact that Sony had to cut backwards compatibility (once considered so important to the company) to cut costs was a tacit admission they bit off far more than they could possibly chew.
The PS3's games in the past month MAY have been better than what the 360 had in its first year (I would argue no, though), but one reason for this is the fact that the 360's excellent lineup in 2006 raised the bar for current generation titles.
The good thing is the prospects for 2008 look much better. The system is cheaper now and developers are finally starting to put solid games on the system. If they can build off this to a decent holiday season and survive through March or so (when the next wave of good games start to hit), they should be alright.
Titty Pink @ Nov 19th 2007 3:59AM
The past month? Name one game the 360 had in the first year that was better than Resistance or Motorstorm, and Ninja Gaiden. I had a lauch 360, so I KNOW all people did was play Halo 2 until Gears came out. Come on dude. The early months of the PS3 were dry, but the entire first year for the 360 was. Call of Duty was tight, but the buck stops there. I mean King Kong and Kameo?
Emophia @ Nov 19th 2007 4:43AM
It wasn't bad, for it's first year... I only payed $400 for a Canadian 60gig and I got Motorstorm with it for $20...
And I have around more than enough games for it to keep me occupied, and I love the PS3's style...
And besides Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Call Of Duty 4, and soon to be Time Crisis 4, something you can't get on the 360, or even the Wii yet (surprisingly) all my games are exclusives...
Seeing as how I reserve most of my online playing time for PC games (an experience yet to be beat by any console), and how I hate matchmaking (server list FTW, why have to let me down COD4?) Free online play is great...
So no, it wasn't a bad year, it wasn't teh best either...
Though, I would still like a 360 someday too though... I really don't need one, my PS3 has more then enough to occupy me for now, and the near future...
Who knows what the future holds though...
Emophia @ Nov 19th 2007 4:46AM
Oh, I forgot to add, besides COD4 not having server list, the only PS3 game I've bought so far (I have bought a lot) to let me down is Motorstorm... So boring... Especially with no in house multiplayer...
And for non eclusives I also own Stranglehold Collectors edition, but half the reason I bought it was for hardboiled... The main game is much better than I expected...
Sammy @ Nov 19th 2007 9:34AM
Could it really have been worse this year?... I think it was an absolute joy for most people who hate Sony's hardware to watch a huge lead and strong software support degenerate with near farcical mistakes from a marketing standpoint.
The gaming press smelt blood and there was near tabloid frenzy with every minor move Sony made.
The ports were poor, software was not of the highest standard for the most part.
It is actually amazing that now the mist is clearing Sony has managed to address many of its early mistakes and things are starting to turnaround. I would actually in all honesty say that there is still some catching up to do...not just in terms of sales.
But Sony has been forced to listen, adapt and have dug themselves out of a huge hole.
How can next year not be better. I think with developers finally getting a grip on the hardware the port fiasco will come to an end. Sales seem to be rising.
Now Sony need some truly amazing titles to sway things in their favour again (As good as Unchartered and R & C may be...we know they need something just a tiny bit stronger to convince those on the fence). But the hope is a lot more realistic than it was at the start of the year.
Good luck to them :)