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Jut wanted to show this breakdown of the ps3 compared to other lesser consoles

Other lesser consoles?

How can the WII be lesser when it's been a run away success (just like the PS2) and re-launched Nintendo into the home console market? Personally I have found very little difference between games available on the PS3 and Xbox360 consoles and that's only because I have worked in the industry and can tell subtle differences produced by the different architectures. In fact I would say Sony has nothing in the pipeline that will show off the "better hardware we are led to believe it contains" of the PS3. Also many games run better on the 360, GTA4 runs at a higher resolution on the 360, how does this make it superior?

In fact IMHO it shows how they completely got their business model wrong. While MS went after the monopoly that the PS2 shared on exclusive titles (main reason I purchased GTA4 on the 360 was the future exclusive downloadable content) and focused on development of their online gaming service with the 1st Xbox; Sony wasted all their cash on developing this super console. MS achieved the same by developing their platform using the existing technologies and manufacturing processes in place. Sony neglected what the gaming community wanted and now it looks like they will never recover to the heights the PS2 reached. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last console they produce, that is certainly what the industry is indicating at the moment.

In the past the software houses relied on the exclusivity deals with individual platforms to make a profit. They now appear to be following the similar business model to movie making where the smaller studios align themselves with large distributors/studios (not MS or Sony); do you think EA or Take Two want to lose a large chunk of their potential market by releasing exclusive titles on a particular platform? In fact these large distributors now hold all the cards, that's is why industry analysts believe that with have seen the last console war with games being run on the same standardised hardware in the future. With the costs of producing and distributing a game now outstripping the many movies, EA and the likes will push to standardise hardware much like movie studios don't like supporting different video formats (Blu Ray vs HD DVD, VHS vs Betamax ect...).

Back to the post though, in the UK an Xbox 360 with WiFi adapter (not everybody needs Wi-Fi too) will cost 205 quid from Amazon. The equivalent PS3 80gig (that's what Sony are comparing) will cost 280. Comparing the cost of the PS3 to the cost of an Xbox model no longer on sale is, the HDMI output comparison, is a load of balls. In fact the Sony propaganda department must think we are all idiots. There are lots of hidden costs with a PS3 HDMI cable, Headset, Dual shock 3 (I got mine with crappy Si-Axis controller) ect... I don't think they are very objective in their comparisons.

Also the term Blu Ray gaming is a huge red herring, I can't think of any studio that is planning to release games exclusively on Blu Ray due to the development/distribution costs involved currently, this may change but then I think due to the modularisation of the Xbox hardware, MS can introduce it or more likely they will move to a download service model. You can also bet though MS have looked at these options already. In fact the industry agrees that we will eventually move to a download/subscription model for games (Studios will go for it because or the lower packaging/distribution costs involved); by the time Blu Ray games start to appear they may already be obsolete.

Finally Xbox Live is far superior to PSN. The popularity and number of people registered on the service confirms this and people don't mind paying for what they see is a far superior online experience/product. If you look at the EULA for PSN you will see they reserve the right to charge for the service at any time, something Sony admitted they may look at in the future. You can be sure if they ever get PSN sorted or the popularity of their platform increases to Xbox levels, they will start charging. In fact while I had RRoD on the Xbox I was play Call of Duty 4 on PSN (before you start on the RRoD – I'm currently on my 3rd PS3 since release while I have only had to get my Xbox fixed once. Although Sony replacements are there within 24 hours much better than a week or 2 with MS), the servers on PSN are so slow; it takes around 20mins to get into a game. This is virtually instant on Xbox live. The quality of opposition on PSN is inferior too  Especially on FIFA 09 and Pro Evo 09 ;-)

Personally I think if the PS3 came out at the same time as the Xbox it would have been a run away success. Unfortunately for Sony it didn't and now IMHO I think it's a total flop and I don't think any Sony marketing propaganda can cover up the facts. I just have to look at how often I buy a game for mine over the Xbox version, its always just exclusive titles to Sony I purchase, which are very little at present.

I know a chap that bought an ipod yet has no broadband thus has no means of putting songs on it and i would say it is still in the box.

The ipod is nearly 2 years old! I can also confirm it is still in the box. Just playing the waiting game Minder.

why not just load your cd's into itunes? you don't need broadband to use your ipod. wise up

Well people, how did Christmas day go for you?

i had a great Christmas day, kids were delighted with presies, dinner was delightful, even if I say so myself, then rounded off with a small family gathering for drinks and sh1t talking in someones elses house, so not even any clearing up to do.

Only down side.... doing the dinner dishes

Who cares, personally i think its none of your business or I don't care what you did. Although gimps like ziggy, who never get the ride, will love this thread as he can tell you every stroke of his cook he took over chrimbo.

Was singing this tonight (drunk) and decided to check Itunes for a copy to put on the old Ipod.


Johny Borrell's version of Carrickfergus is excellent; even though I hate Razorlight.

Jeez, it's a good job yis aren't doctors or something. Some friends.

If it was a good mate I'd go round to the house, ditto for the family and in-laws. It's the c***ts in work who think they can just drop the PC off at your desk, with the 'he's probably got nothing better to do with his evenings and sure those Techies just sit around fixing stuff all the time attitude' that start to piss you off very quickly.

I had a few issues with my brother dropping off his in-laws machines every weekend to get fixed out of the goodness of my heart. Was getting every weekend until I started organising him to put down floors, hang doors, put on a bit of skirting for my mates or in-laws for free. That soon put the fixing computers out of him

Why is Firefox "handier" though? What benefit has one got over the other?

and its performance is better.

Is it?    I seem to remember FF has had quite a few issues with memory leaks which they still have not appear to have been fully rectified. Although I use Safari on a Mac which does render pages quicker than FF. I think though it could be the opposite way round on the PC.

I believe that would be classed as cyber squatting and therefore you would have to hand it over if challenged in court. Most high profile cases lately have sided against the owner of such domains.

Atul Kochhar's place Benares in London is some spot - http://www.benaresrestaurant.com/. I always try to get a booking every time I'm in London. Its not cheap but then if it's a feed your after, you'll hate it. Always a good choice to impress women 

or another gem of a place I come across , The Crooked Inn in Taupo, NZ. One of the best seafood places I ate in NZ, plus their 38 day aged rump steak was unbelievable.

Its a lifetime warranty. You dont have to send it away. Simply keep your receipt and the place you bought it will replace it immediately as the Microsoft warranty covers them too.

Dont buy a PS3. I have both and the X-box 360 is by far the superior machine, with superior games. The only advantage the PS3 has is Blue Ray, but SKy movies HD has come down to 149 now so you dont need Blu ray to watch HD movies.

Thats a bit of a silly thing to say,Sky Movies don't always have the movies you want so what happens if you wanna watch a movie on HD that isn't on Sky...
Buy the PS3  Far superior games and with the added bonus of bluray

Bluray is rubbish, the discs are far too expensive. Until they can be pirated cheaply, they'll never become mainstream. Usually what drives new video formats is the availability of porn on it, VHS and DVD benefited from this. Unfortunately for Bluray, the good old t'internet supplies this more easier :-)  As for games, very few studios are developing games to take advantage due to the extra cost involved and the fact they instantly reduce their targeted market for game.

As for superior games, I think more people in the industry would seriously disagree with you. Apart from the massively superior library of games on the Xbox; nearly all the games being released now are available on both consoles, with minimal graphics differences; differences the average gamer like yourself would barely notice unless pointed out. In fact GTA4 runs at a higher resolution on the XBox but like I say, you would never notice the difference.  There are a few exclusive titles on both consoles and that's where you need to make the choice to buy either, or both like myself, but i'd say there is nothing i've played exclusively on the PS3 that cannot be replicated on the Xbox.

an once the 3 red lights come on it's buggered....

Naw your not MS extended the warranty to 3 or 5  years can't remember which . You have to post it to Germany and you'll have in back with in 2 weeks if it happens at no expense too yourself

I think it's still 3 but I do know as soon as its repaired they will cover it for another 3 years. Plus if it does go, you can be sure they will replace it with the new motherboard and chipset configuration. Microsoft also replace accessories as well,

IMHO the PS3 is not much better, I'm already on my 3rd and I use it no were as near as much as the Xbox. First one went a week after it was out of warranty and had major issues getting Sony to do something about it. In Sony's favour though they do try and get a replacement out within 24 hours.

I set up a Facebook Group for you hardstation. Can't say fairer than that.

Only reason you set up the Facebook group is incase all the girls on here register. Then you can creep over their profiles, no offense :-)

I asked a computer technician about this at the weekend and he says it cant.  Its something to do with iPod being read only or something.  All very technical for me but I still think there must be some software out there that does it.  he was pretty sure there wasn't 

It can be done quite easily, Senuti works really well on the Mac. What you can't do is download DRM protected music to another computer without the user password who purchased the track. Even then you are restricted from moving the track to more than 3 machines I believe.

Try Sharepod - worked really well the last time I used it.

http://www.getsharepod.com/

Engineering firm 'lays off' staff 

The engineering company is based in Dungannon, County Tyrone
A County Tyrone engineering company has introduced a programme of temporary lay-offs for much of its workforce.

Powerscreen, which is based in Dungannon, said it made the decision due to a lack of orders.

Three hundred of the company's 485-strong workforce will be laid-off for a week on Monday 15 December.

This will be followed by another four weeks without pay in January and February. The Easter holiday week is also being brought forward to January.

I've a few friends who work there, bit of a dirty act the week before christmas after being told they were safe till the end of January right up until yesterday. Technically they will not be off for 4 weeks without pay in January, as then everyone woud be entitled to ask for redundancy. I believe they have them in training at some point for a week to break it up   

I know my friends can't wait around till Febuary to see if they have jobs or are entitled to their redundancy.

I have two outstanding speeding fines and an outstanding parking fine for Oz.  They were sending letters to the womans house all the time while we were away with photos of me behind the wheel.  She wrote to them when we got back saying that she wasnt driving and that we had split up and i was in India somewhere, heard nothing back since.  This was all in rental cars where they took a copy of your licence when hiring which is where they get the address from.  Also got a fine for driving through a toll bridge in around Sydney which was meant to be paid afterwards but to this day i have yet to see a toll sign!  although the feckers we rented the campervan off at that time managed to take the money from our credit card about 5 months later with a nice wee administration fee for himself!  My advice would be to ignore it.

Good point, if you were in a rental car and paid by card, you will have signed something to allow the rental company to deduct any incurred fines from the card. Only way round that is to cancel the card you used to pay    I still say ignore it, they have no way of making you pay and I have not heard of anyone being refused entry because of an outstanding fine. In fact I know of one person who had totalled up parking/speeding fines in multiples of thousands when they left after a working holiday. They have been back twice since and no issues.