22nd June 2013, 10:01 PM
Huh... Well that means the 360 S is the best model of the 3. It adds a LOT more than it taketh away (the only thing it takes away is the custom memory card slot the first model had. This isn't any real loss because no games specifically targeted those slots (they were chosen in the OS), and standardized flash memory of all kinds can easily substitute. Worst case scenario, someone needs to transfer data from an original 360 to the 360 S, but even there a far better option is to use a standardized memory card, which a firmware update allows the original model to use. So while it does technically "take away" the slot, all actual uses for the slot are far better replaced with standardized memory solutions so nothing is really missing.
As for the PS3, while the third remodel only takes away the automated disc slot, remember that Sony's been taking features off the PS3 ever since the system came out. Even before the PS3 Slim, they had cut out two of the original four USB slots, memory card slots (in this case, these were standardized memory card slots, so they mattered just a little more, but only a little because one could use a USB adapter and plug the same 3 types of memory into that, but this does take up yet another USB slot, cutting it down to one), and let us not forget PS2 hardware slowly being leached out of the system. In the case of the PS3, the very first model, of which I'm lucky to be an owner, ended up being the very best one.
Ya know, the 360 S, a second revision model, actually being superior to the first model is a very rare thing in video game consoles. I can't really think of any consoles off the top of my head where a revised model was actually superior to the first (outside of internal revisions to fix fatal hardware flaws, like the poor quality disk drive in the original Playstation, or the faulty hardware in the original Famicom). In fact, only two systems come to mind. The A/V Famicom which added a higher quality video cable (composite instead of R/F) and removable controller ports, without removing anything else. Hmm, actually even there they never released a controller w/ microphone so games that used the microphone on controller 2 were out of luck. Hmm, the Sega Genesis 2? Yeah, that one was an all around superior version... well if you got the right internal hardware. Too many of the early revisions of that remodel had really poor audio and video. I happened to know exactly what to look for and snagged a later revision that had extremely good quality components, so mine's got great sound.
With portables it is a different story. There's actually a long line of success stories with portable revisions. The Gameboy Pocket is generally superior in about every way to the original, the Advance SP is essentially the DEFINITIVE Advance to get (it does lack a headphone jack, but this can easily be remedied if you have the headphone adapter, which isn't that big a deal at all to me). The DS Lite is superior in just about every way to the original DS, if you don't mind advance games sticking out a tad (it still ends up shorter than the original). Even the 3DS XL, a system I had originally brushed off as "something for old people", ended up becoming an extremely popular revision of the hardware which, as of the release of the Circle Pad Pro XL, is fully compatible with anything you could want from the original 3DS (though I still think the Circle Pad Pro's features should have simply been built into the remodel).
Weird thing about the mini? If ANY system this gen didn't need a smaller compact revision, it's the Wii. Very odd, but expected considering Nintendo's history.
As for the PS3, while the third remodel only takes away the automated disc slot, remember that Sony's been taking features off the PS3 ever since the system came out. Even before the PS3 Slim, they had cut out two of the original four USB slots, memory card slots (in this case, these were standardized memory card slots, so they mattered just a little more, but only a little because one could use a USB adapter and plug the same 3 types of memory into that, but this does take up yet another USB slot, cutting it down to one), and let us not forget PS2 hardware slowly being leached out of the system. In the case of the PS3, the very first model, of which I'm lucky to be an owner, ended up being the very best one.
Ya know, the 360 S, a second revision model, actually being superior to the first model is a very rare thing in video game consoles. I can't really think of any consoles off the top of my head where a revised model was actually superior to the first (outside of internal revisions to fix fatal hardware flaws, like the poor quality disk drive in the original Playstation, or the faulty hardware in the original Famicom). In fact, only two systems come to mind. The A/V Famicom which added a higher quality video cable (composite instead of R/F) and removable controller ports, without removing anything else. Hmm, actually even there they never released a controller w/ microphone so games that used the microphone on controller 2 were out of luck. Hmm, the Sega Genesis 2? Yeah, that one was an all around superior version... well if you got the right internal hardware. Too many of the early revisions of that remodel had really poor audio and video. I happened to know exactly what to look for and snagged a later revision that had extremely good quality components, so mine's got great sound.
With portables it is a different story. There's actually a long line of success stories with portable revisions. The Gameboy Pocket is generally superior in about every way to the original, the Advance SP is essentially the DEFINITIVE Advance to get (it does lack a headphone jack, but this can easily be remedied if you have the headphone adapter, which isn't that big a deal at all to me). The DS Lite is superior in just about every way to the original DS, if you don't mind advance games sticking out a tad (it still ends up shorter than the original). Even the 3DS XL, a system I had originally brushed off as "something for old people", ended up becoming an extremely popular revision of the hardware which, as of the release of the Circle Pad Pro XL, is fully compatible with anything you could want from the original 3DS (though I still think the Circle Pad Pro's features should have simply been built into the remodel).
Weird thing about the mini? If ANY system this gen didn't need a smaller compact revision, it's the Wii. Very odd, but expected considering Nintendo's history.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)