My perspective is from being a PS3 owner:
Games: A few 1st/2nd party gems have come out (Resistance, Motorstorm, F1, etc), but multiplatform titles have been pretty crap. I suppose that view point is effected by how those multiplaform titles are on 360 ... which obviously has a significant dev advantage due to a year headstart ... but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
To a certain extent, the 360 versus PS3 multiplatform title quality doesn't bother as much as the fact that most of the titles are less-than impressive to begin with ... regardless of this console's engine is smoother. Too many last-gen titles with a new coat of paint IMO.
I have however found enough titles to keep me happy for a while ... so I suppose I'll list myself as 'met' given how long the console has been out. The stuff in the pipeline (Gamers day, etc.) looks very impressive though. If most of those titles do make it out this year, I think I will end up moving to 'exceeded' ... as it will be the one of the most impressive year 1 lineups I can recall.
More importantly then graphics though, is the game scope and design improvements, and the creative ideas coming. There are a number of titles in the pipe that really seem to push the boundaries Â… and that is really what I was hoping this gen.
Online: I suppose I should probably break this into two categories; content and service.
For content, it's been a bit of slim pickens. What is available though, I've been pretty impressed with. I like the direction Sony has gone with their 'arcade' games. They tend to be wider in scope and depth than the 360 counterparts. A bit of a quality versus quantity decision. So to a certain extent, I'd have to place the content as 'exceeds' ... but then I consider the quantity. I can live with the arcade titles quantity at the moment. The demoes - especially 3rd party - that has been quite crap so far. Similarly, the number of PS1 titles has been paltry. I can understand if they were waiting a bit to get the PS3/PSP versions out ... but now that it is working, the titles are still coming in at a trickle.
So for content, I'll say the arcade stuff 'exceeds', but other than that it has 'missed'.
Service on the other hand, I suppose I had low expectations coming in (it is a free service, and MS has had a generation to refine Live) ... but I've been pleasantly surprised. There have obviously been some hiccups, and sometimes the PSN store goes into a random slow mode, but in general the speed has been quite good. Probably the only issue is the lack of mandatory voice support, but all-in-all … I’ve got to say ‘exceeds’. Playing Resistance online really opened my eyes up to what PSN can do.
Multimedia, etc: Though a little slow in coming, the 1.8 update has really opened up things. WeÂ’ve all known that Sony and MS are going for the set-top box, living-room-do-it-all thing Â… but they were supposedly envisioning that last gen too. Obviously, they didnÂ’t really even come close the last time around.
This time however, things are completely different. I suppose the central piece is the UI, and I think Sony really hit it out of the ballpark with the XMB. It ainÂ’t perfect (and they are continuing to refine it), but damn does it ever look nice. In general, most things are easy to get to Â… and itÂ’s quite logical in design. It really is what IÂ’d expect to see from a good media center device.
Compatibility is great for PS1/2 titles, and the new upscaling and smoothing certainly helps in many cases Â… DVD upscaling is just fantastic, competing with many more expensive products Â… and we all know how good BD is on this beast. IÂ’m glad they finally god 720p (not that I personally need it) and 24fps.
Probably the biggest thing for me now however, is the DNLA. While still in its infancy, IÂ’m already blown away with what IÂ’m getting using TVersity. The fact that it is true DNLA really makes it a slam dunk, since it will be compatible with far more computers and CE devices (once the kinks are out Â… on both sides). This really is where the promise of the set-top box shines through. You know have a device that can play CDÂ’s, DVDÂ’s, BluRay, games, and media files stored on its HDD, a network, and USB devices. Oh yeah, it goes on the internet too.
A bit of a wildcard is Linux (and whatever other OSÂ’s show up). ItÂ’s certainly a nice extra, but is obviously going to remain limited until nVidia releases RSX drivers. If it doesnÂ’t happen, again Â… itÂ’s still a nice extra and does have its uses. If it does happen though Â… wow. On a random note, I love the fact you can boot off a thumbdrive. That was a nice addition!
I haven’t even mentioned the PSP connectivity that is starting to show itself. If they can get wake-on-LAN going for the PS3, then the PS3 really becomes god-in-a-box IMO. Sorry for the long ramble on the ‘extras’ … as you can obviously guess, I feel this category is an easy ‘exceeds’
HW design, reliability: I'll keep this short ... 'exceeds'. I love the look of the console, even if it's a bit big, and find it's I/O to be quite impressive for a console. Sony's direction of being open (standard USB 2.0, standard card slots, standard 2.5 internal drive) has definitely made me happy. I like being able to upgrade things, and having everything standardized is more than welcome.
The touch buttons for power and reset, and the slot loading are obviously teh sex.
Also, it appears the reliability is quite good - I know I haven't had any issues. Nice and quiet too.
), no Ratchet & Clank, no God of War 3.
