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Will the PlayStation 3 Go the Way of the 3DO?

In this Round of the Video Game Wars, it would seem that Sony had somehow went from 1st to worst in terms of sales. It dominated the markets with the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2, both very good systems but then the PlayStation 3 came about. The price came out at the initial number at $600, ranking at either #2 or #3 of being the most expensive system that came out in the market. Its item was made to have multiple new features such as Blu Ray for starters. Looking closely at the system, it is perhaps the biggest factor that has the price so high due to it not being a standard just yet. Though at this moment the PS3 is currently selling at $500 for the 60 GB model, the 80 GB model will however return to the $600 range. If it was expected to sell like hot cakes, it didn’t even come close as currently the X-Box 360 and the Wii are outselling it by a wide margin.

Go back in time when Sony had just entered the market, there was a system created by Panasonic that was supposed to be dubbed “ahead of its time.” It used CDs and was in the middle of the transitional stage between the cartridges and the CD bases. The name of it was the infamous 3DO, which probably has the record for the highest price to come out for a launch of any game console past or present. It had the ability to play Video CDs, used FMV or Full Motion Video, MP3 music, which was a new thing in video game consoles. It failed due to lack of exclusives and of course that price tag. No game console is ever worth such a hefty price tag and it won’t sell bottom line. How anyone could see that working out for people to rush out and buy it is just insane. Looking at it and the history behind it, it’s pretty obvious why they didn’t make another system after that. Due to being a failure, it forced Panasonic to stay out of the console division.

It seems to be a twist of irony that it was Panasonic that got beat by Sony due to the hefty price and yet Sony makes the same mistakes and gets stomped on by Microsoft and Nintendo. Too much of anything can be a bad thing as Sony may find that out the hard way. It will take years before Blu Ray becomes more of a standard due to being a relatively new piece of technology. While it is understandable why the system can’t drop in price due to that, it is also something that wasn’t necessary to have in it.

Studying and thinking about the history of the video game race, one major mistake can turn out to damage the company’s reputation in the long term. For instance, going back further Atari made one major mistake and that was E.T., the symbol of the Video Game Crash of 1983, thus damaging Atari forever on being #1 in the video game market, though at present time Atari does make some games and focuses on remaking classic systems of live casino online which is even better now compared to any old module design games that hangs a lot and the data consumption is also really high in them. Sega had made a major mistake in the form of the Add-On 32X and now they are just a game developing company and nothing more. As noted, the 3DO while not a Mainstream system, still felt the effect of the one major failure that costs them a possible reputation. If Sony isn’t careful, they will be joining the boat but it will take a major effort for them to even get back into the picture.Hopefully Sony will learn from this mistake and take out what’s not needed at this time. Maybe a slim version of the PS3 without the Blu Ray and the 7 Core Processor could be reduced to maybe a 3-5 core Processor could help. If only they would get some more exclusive games because at this moment, some of the games either appear also on the Wii, 360, or even both. It could go the way of the 3DO if Sony decides to quit being so cocky with their system, which has serious potential though. It is up to them to decide their own fate in the gaming division.

The Biggest Problems and Issues with the Hauppauge! HD PVR for Gamers

The Hauppauge! HD PVR is one of the best and most expensive capture cards on the market and is popular amongst gamers looking to capture in-game footage of themselves and friends. Unfortunately, the $200 or more spent on the Hauppauge! HD PVR won’t save you from these unfortunate flaws of the Hauppauge! HD PVR. 

ArcSoft Total Media Extreme

Most gamers that have bought or are considering purchasing an Hauppauge! When playing pkv games, these are not the things you will have to be concerned about but otherwise, it is something that you need to give a thought to. HD PVR are under the assumption that once they buy the HD PVR, they’ll have everything they’ll need to start showcasing their awesome in-game ownage, but that just isn’t the case. The Hauppauge! HD PVR comes bundled with a free copy of ArcSoft Total Media Extreme which is used to capture live video from the HD PVR to your computer – but ArcSoft Total Media Extreme is more of a problem than a solution for the HD PVR. The bundled ArcSoft Total Media Extreme software freezes often, doesn’t capture video as great as Adobe Premiere or Sony Vegas, and if you lose your ArcSoft Total Media Extreme disk that came with the Hauppauge! HD PVR, you’ll be forced to call ArcSoft’s tech support because you won’t be able to download the software from Hauppage!’s or ArcSoft’s website.

1080i but no 1080p Support

After shelling out $200 + tax to capture your in-game gaming footage, you might be bummed to find out that the HD PVR doesn’t have true HD support. If your console of choice is the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 you’ll have to switch your console’s settings because if you’re using 1080p output, the Hauppauge! HD PVR won’t work at all – and will only display a black screen.

No HDMI Out

In addition to not supporting true high definition and having crappy bundled software, the Hauppauge! HD PVR doesn’t support HDMI output – and only offers component and composite output. Having no HDMI output might not seem like a big issue if you’re using your HD PVR with your HDTV, but if you’re using a computer monitor [like me] no HDMI really limits your video output options. I managed to fix my Hauppauge! HD PVR to computer monitor problem by buying an HDMI out convertor on Amazon.com for about $45 that converts component video output to HDMI output.

Can’t Game While the HD PVR is Off

I’m not a big fan of leaving all of my electronics running all night [with my computer being the exception] and I find it a bit annoying that I have to power on my Hauppauge! HD PVR every time I want to play a game; regardless if I want to capture video or not. It would be awesome if the HD PVR had a standby mode that allowed HD PVR owners to use their personal video recorder without fully powering it on, but I guess we’ll just be stuck having to waste extra electricity running the Hauppauge! HD PVR whenever we want to play our favorite video game consoles.

Betsy Hurd

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Betsy loves to travel. She is always looking for travel opportunities so that she can check out the different casinos that are well- established across the globe.

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