The PlayStation 3 Thread!

[Ghadrack]

Well that helps the decision process a bit.

Looks like the 5 free movies deal lasts until October... the question is will the 60gig systems last until then? It's not like I'm strapped for cash or anything, I just really want to see more Blu Ray movies that I want to buy show up before I commit to this thing. At the moment if I ran out and bought a PS3 on my way home from the office tonight I'd have to buy some movies to watch... and as it stands now there are not many movies that I want on Blu Ray. But movies that I will want will be coming out on Blu Ray soon (Cars, Ratatouille, Surfs Up)... I think... damn is this a hard choice to make.

I already own a Xbox 360 and it's HD DVD add on is $200 and there are currently HD DVDs that I want out right now... with more coming out soon that I want (Hot Fuzz, Shawn of the Dead)... but those are all Universal movies, the last holdout of HD DVD.

I hate format wars.

You do need to buy your own HDMI cable, don't get screwed paying 50+ dollars for one though, they are just a few bucks online at monoprice, do some research, But I have ye tto find any compelling reason to buy a more expensive cable and I can't tell a difference. I bought a 50 dollar Sony HDMI cable when I bought my PS3 and I ordered a monoprice cable for 7 bucks a few weeks later for my DVR, I have swapped them out between units and I can't tell any signal difference ( and you shouldn't be able to with a digital signal.)

Amazon's deal to toss in the remote and a 6th free movie on the spot isn't going to last very long I suspect, I ordered one for my brother's birthday last night. I already have the bluetooth remote so he gets that too but I am keeping the 6th movie

As far as movies go, I think HD-DVD has a lot more of the fun action movies out right now, but 20th century Fox has an exclusive deal with blu-Ray so it is very likely that a lot of the classic action and sci-fi flicks will make it to the system soon, and of course anything Sony pictures made. I pre-ordered "300" last night.

[JsARCLIGHT]

Fox, Disney, Paramount and a few others are hard core Blu Ray at the moment, Universal is hard core HD DVD, and everyone else seems to be releasing dual format. It's not so much a bad thing when you can get -most- movies on either format but the "set piece" "I really want them" movies like the Pixar movies only being on Blu Ray and then others like Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead only being on HD DVD drives me up a wall.

I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place... I really only want ONE format but when movies I like are being divided between formats with their holders being staunch supporters of only that format it really pisses me off. Someone's going to win and someone's going to lose... eventually. In the meantime if I want all the movies I want in HD I have to buy both formats and both players... knowing full well that one of them is going to go tits up before this is all said and done. At least my logic in getting the PS3 is that it's a fall-back game console... so if Blu Ray gets blown away at least I still have the game console... the same goes for the HD DVD add on for the Xbox, if HD DVD goes bye bye I still have the Xbox console.

What I've been planning on doing was buying the HD DVD add on for my Xbox, getting the movies I want for it now as they come out and waiting to see what movies come out on Blu Ray in the mid to distant future (Cars, Ratatouille, Surfs Up, etc.) before buying the PS3... the problem is this current "price drop deal" has turned out to be a carrot and not a true "price drop", meaning I "have" to buy the PS3 sooner rather than later if I want the "deal" (the carrot). As a consumer I really dislike being given the carrot and the stick treatment... at the same time I know full well that later on down the line I'd be spending another 100 bucks and get no free movies. It's fish or cut bait... you want to do both but you can't.

As for the HDMI thing I already have two extra HDMI cables and a few extra optical cables in my entertainment center parts drawer, so from the sound of things it would be pretty much "out of the box" for me... it's all coming down to do I really want to 'commit' myself to a PS3 right now with this current 'deal' rather than waiting until the movies I want are out? Perhaps Disney will jump the fence and release HD DVDs of the Pixar movies? If that happens then the only exclusive Blu Ray would have would be Surfs Up and I can live without that... on the other hand if HD DVD goes down in flames I'd be buying my PS3 late and most likely getting no free movies and no extra 100 bucks off...

GGGGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH. <- (Frustrated AV Dork Noise)

[Radd]

I'm sure it would make a lot of people happy if the PS3 tanked and Sony was booted out of the video game market.

I'm sure you're right. Should we start another thread, though?

But then what would we be left with? Pointing dildos at cute little gamecube graphics characters with a Wii, or wondering everytime we turn on our 360 whether or not it's going to be "ring time?" THREE YEAR warranties. Yay. I just can't wait to get my system refurbished again and again and again and.... I guess I'd get a Wii, so I can experience gamecube all over again - but this time with a nunchuk.

On second thought, probably not a good idea to introduce such a thread if we can expect comments like these.

Edited July 13, 2007 by Radd

[Ghadrack]

I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place... I really only want ONE format but when movies I like are being divided between formats with their holders being staunch supporters of only that format it really pisses me off. Someone's going to win and someone's going to lose... eventually. In the meantime if I want all the movies I want in HD I have to buy both formats and both players... knowing full well that one of them is going to go tits up before this is all said and done. At least my logic in getting the PS3 is that it's a fall-back game console... so if Blu Ray gets blown away at least I still have the game console... the same goes for the HD DVD add on for the Xbox, if HD DVD goes bye bye I still have the Xbox console.

It does suck for the early adopter/consumer right now especially if your goal is a video player and not a game console. The problem with this format war that previous wars have not had is that the sides are entrenched with a vested interest in keeping their format alive and prorietary, and they have deep wallets. The creation of dual format players further muddies the water. You hit nail on the head though, the real problem here is that the line has been drawn by movie studios so your content is limited to a certain format by the manufacturer, if you go Blu-Ray and you really, realy want your favoraite movie by Universal in HD, then you are hosed, you have to buy an HD-DVD player or watch the film on regular old DVD, unless the players get extremely cheap, extremely fast that just isn't going to get it for your average consumer. Grandma ain't gonna toss her video tapes and Mommy isn't going to re-buy her DVD collection and 2 seperate players for HD/BR movies.

If they continue to fight the format war, and the consumer does catch up to the technology, the fact is that people are going to tell both sides to jump in the lake, vote with their wallets and HD-Download will bypass the physical disc formats (which it is bound to do eventually anyway) and then they both lose. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out in the end.

As far as the PS3 goes, the next two months seems to be a pretty good time to buy if you were thinking about getting one in 2007/2008, the price cut and incentives may not be stellar, but they are better than a poke in the eye.

[myk]

Sony to gamers: Screw(ed) you, again.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/13/sony-swi...-us-after-july/

Hmm...There's an update to the first link, which supposively has SCEA refuting the idea of the 60g version disappearing. Official word is still pending apparently...

[Gaijin]

Just out of curiosity, how much heating up is normal for the PS3? While I haven't had any waarning light blinking or shutting down problems, I've noticed all exhaust vents seem to heat up decently, as does the upper casing.

Vented air is hot but the case on mine stays cool to the touch even after running folding @ home for 16 hours once. The hot air venting out is normal though.

[GutsAndCasca]

Lair got pushed back to August 14th! AUGH

[mikeszekely]

Now that the price has dropped a bit, I think I might actually pick one up in the near future. I think I'll mostly be using it as a Blu-Ray player, though, as there is yet to be an exclusive title that I can't wait to play... nor is there any in the near future.

Maybe I'm the minority here, but Lair isn't looking all that hot to me. Definitely not $60 good. White Knight and Heavenly Sword are the only blips on the radar, as far as I'm concerned. I don't see Metal Gear Solid 4 or Final Fantasy XIII actually making it out anytime soon, and I'd care more if I a) ever got around to playing Metal Gear Solid 3, or b) gave a rats ass about Final Fantasy anymore.

Of course, there's always the inevitable God of War...

[David Hingtgen]

I'll say it again: Lost Odyssey looks far more FF-like than any recent FF. If they call it FF 14, nobody'd know the difference. It has Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Nobuo Uematsu. FF 13 looks better than 11 and 12 IMHO, but LO I bet will be better. If you think FF has "lost its magic"---it's because it did and it's all been put into LO now. (Of course, all this is just based on early impressions of trailers etc)

[GutsAndCasca]

MY radar is full of stuff. Devil May Cry 4, Lair, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Bladestorm, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy 13/and the other one, Heavenly sword, Kill Zone, GTA 4, mercenaries, and of course, God of War. There's more I can't think of right now, but those are the ones that are burned into my mind. Yes yes I know, some of these aren't ps3 exclusives, but like I care. I can't wait to get my modem router so I can play resistance online! ...if anyone is still playing it, that is. By the way, my wireless router I ordered is 108kbs per second I think, most I looked at were like 50. What do I need for games? I hope I got the right one.

[jwinges]

Can anyone tell me if a Japanese region playstation 3 will play America region ps3 games? For some reason I recall hearing that they were getting rid of the whole region coding thing. Thanks.

[mikeszekely]

Can anyone tell me if a Japanese region playstation 3 will play America region ps3 games? For some reason I recall hearing that they were getting rid of the whole region coding thing. Thanks.

As far as I know, yes.

And GutsAndCasca, multiplatform games are great when you only have one of the platforms. But when you have (or intend to have) both, I find that Achievements have me leaning toward the 360 version. So for me, I'm looking more at the 360 versions of some of the games on your list, plus stuff like Rock Band, Ace Combat 6, Bioshock, Mass Effect, and while we're at it, Metroid Prime 3 for the Wii (sadly, that's it for me for the Wii this year). I'm not following as closely, but I'd be surprised if something didn't come out for the DS that I want, too.

Oh, and David, I've seen some Lost Odyssey screens, and I'm inclined to agree that it's looking more Final Fantasy than the last couple, but I think I'm tired of JRPGs in general, what with their androgynous males, the ridiculous plots that still wind up cliched, and their sad attempts at reinventing the turn-based wheel. I'm much more interested in games like Mass Effect.

[Apollo Leader]

Mike, hey long time no see. Been noticing you XBL a little more often recently.

[Keith]

Vented air is hot but the case on mine stays cool to the touch even after running folding @ home for 16 hours once. The hot air venting out is normal though.

Sony should have marketed it as a game console, Blue-Ray player, and space heater....and coume out with an airconditioning model, which I would have preferably snagged

My game library has jumped to 3 now though:

-Resistence

-Gundam Crossfire (I know, but it's Gundam)

-Blazing Angels (since there's no new Ace Combat on the Horizon).

Also downloaded the DW Gundam, Gran Tourismo HD, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo's, as well as the new E3 Metal Gear Trailer....awesome trailer!

[Ishimaru]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_ent...stories;title;3

Well thats just great.

Announce a price cut and discontinue making it.

I mean come on, discontinue a product at its most reasonable price in which it would grow some reasonable sales and offer something with only a minor increase in value and have that at the ridiculous $600 price; which could then offer a bigger loss for Sony?

Honestly I don't understand where they come up with these marketing plans.

Some people just need to get shot for their stupidity ...

Edited July 14, 2007 by Ishimaru

[Keith]

It's not too surprising considering how sales were on the 20 gig model, it's sly yes, but not shady, considering it is beneficial to both sides right now (sony who want to clean out their stock, and consumer's who don't want to pay $600 for a PS3).

[eugimon]

It's not too surprising considering how sales were on the 20 gig model, it's sly yes, but not shady, considering it is beneficial to both sides right now (sony who want to clean out their stock, and consumer's who don't want to pay $600 for a PS3).

I just find it odd that sony watched their PS3 sales basically stagnate until they dropped the price down, then overnight the PS3 starts selling out, and now they want to get rid of all that and go back to a 600$ SKU. Frankly, I don't think the 80 gig model is worth the 100$, especially without the emotion engine.

[Keith]

Oh I agree, but when have video game companies ever learned anything from the past. The simplest solution would be to pump some more cash into decent game developement to make some actual "must have" games, take a bigger hit in the PS3 by contining the $499 veriosn, then recoup that cost when said "must have" games start selling to players who pick up those discounted systems. It works everytime, but is continually forgotten.

Edited July 14, 2007 by Keith

[eugimon]

Well, I think Nintendo learned the lesson well, and they're taking it to the Bank. It's too bad Sony continues to leverage their brand name when that reputation has been tarnished somewhat, imo. And MS is just plain arrogant.

[-JP-]

Can anyone tell me if a Japanese region playstation 3 will play America region ps3 games? For some reason I recall hearing that they were getting rid of the whole region coding thing. Thanks.

I'm not 100% sure about this

so anyone can correct me here

but i think that it's still region coded

but Japan and America are both in the same region now(Blu-Ray)

[Keith]

I'm not 100% sure about this

so anyone can correct me here

but i think that it's still region coded

but Japan and America are both in the same region now(Blu-Ray)

Yup, the U.S. & Japan are indeed in the same region. One of the single smartest moves made since region coding/lockouts came about. I just wish Sony would disable the region coding on PS & PS2 games. Although I'd settle for a suped up PS3 Gundam VS game, preferably an all universe one that uses the newer AvZII Plus crazy speed & beam attacks + GVZG's "awakening" abilities, all with hugely detailed PS3 Gundam models....someday!

[Radd]

Well, I think Nintendo learned the lesson well, and they're taking it to the Bank. It's too bad Sony continues to leverage their brand name when that reputation has been tarnished somewhat, imo. And MS is just plain arrogant.

Like the song goes, "It's all just little bits of a history repeating!". Nintendo pulled plenty of crap like this when they were king of console gaming. When making gamers pay more, making things difficult for developers, and trying to force the market in the direction they wanted to go even in the face of competition, they wound up tumbling down to the bottom of the heap.

Sony is playing a bigger game here, though. They want BluRay to become their new money maker, even if it means driving their Playstation money maker into the dirt by screwing over their loyal fans. They know all this means the PS3 won't sell as much, but they expect brand loyalty will make it sell enough to make BluRay a bigger contender. If the PS3 lags behind the other consoles, it will become less and less appealing to developers, meaning less and less games. Sony isn't exactly bending over for developers like Microsoft and Nintendo have been for two generations running. Now they may not have the market saturation to warrant developers giving the console lots of support. Especially given how expensive it is to make a PS3 game. Developers will likely go to greener pastures, and gamers would then wind up with this generation's $500-$600 Gamecube as far as developer support goes. Well, probably not that bad, more like the Xbox. Or maybe the PSP versus DS.

We'll see, though. Sony just needs to make a few right moves to turn it all around. Will they? Can they? I'm not certain they could afford to drop the console price at this time, outside of a temporary situation like this. They're already selling at a loss as far as I know.

[Dangard Ace]

I expect that they will sell out of their 60GB version stockpile by Christmas time. When that happens they'll drop the price of the 80GB by $100. By that time it'll seem like they're "listening" to their consumers and dropping the price for them.

Personally I don't care since I've already had the 60GB since launch. Got about 5 games and 4 movies. I just want HD-DVD to die so Universal will bring their moveis over to BluRay.....and bring on the games!

[GutsAndCasca]

HEY KEITH - exactly how bad IS the Gundam game for Ps3? I've thought about getting it... but I've read horrible, horrible things. That's why I'm waiting for Dynasty Warriors Gundam... there's no way that'll disappoint me.

One thing I must say: If there is going to be a next-gen Macross game, which I suspect eventually there will be, I'll wager all my cash that it'll be exclusive on the PS3. Same goes with a Berserk game. Two more reasons for me to be happy.

Hey, has anybody played any racing games on Ps3? Is NFS Carbon better than Motor Storm? Which one is recommended here?

[Keith]

It's kinda like campaign mode on the early Gundam Vs games, way stripped down. There's no target lock on (that I've found), so it's kinda a crap shoot when you're trying to take out smaller magella tanks & such. I actually like the MS models, and as many others have said, if bamco would tighten up the engine and finish up the game, it'd actually be pretty fun. With a normal frame rate, more responsive controls, target lock, and a less floppy camera, it'd be quite playable

Although as I said, I'd much rather have a suped up Gundam Vs game, or perhaps a 3rd person version of whatever that Gundam game in arcades is now that has all the crazy multi-player linkable cabinets, but in this case make it online mulit-player.

[David Hingtgen]

Any issues/reports/rumors/theories about "wear" from using a PS3 to play movies? Because using a PS2 to watch movies is often cited as one of the main reasons for them wearing out/having read errors.

[Uxi]

No signs of anything yet. A great many of us on AVS Forum are using the PS3 as our primary Blu-ray players, given that it's the cheapest and one of the best (fastest of either HD format, 1080p24 capability, BTB/WTW, 8CH LPCM, Dolby TrueHD decoding etc). I have 30 Blu-rays and have probably watched each one 2 or 3 times not counting when I'm doing my demo show off. I've also watched the entire Star Wars sextet and LOTR EE trilogy on DVD (if/when I get a Blu-ray burner, I intend to compile the SD versions onto a single BD-RE: probably Prequel Star Wars trilogy, Original Star Wars Trilogy, and LOTR EE trilogy ), if not SD series / anime to a single disc or two since that's one of the best features of Blu-ray IMO.

[eugimon]

well, it looks like some target stores are also dropping the price.

Then again, most of the targets I've been to have ps3s sitting in their cabinets with nice thick coats of dust on them, so maybe this is just CC and target trying to get rid of some inventory.

so I guess I was kinda right, it's not a price drop, it's just sony trying to get rid of unsold stock, so they can replace it with new unsold stock.

[Gaijin]

so I guess I was kinda right, it's not a price drop, it's just sony trying to get rid of unsold stock, so they can replace it with new unsold stock.

Once the 60 is gone, expect a price drop on the 80 to keep it flowing.

[eugimon]

Once the 60 is gone, expect a price drop on the 80 to keep it flowing.

Probably, once Sony sees the sales dry up again. They'll probably release a 120 gig model in time for the holidays.

[David Hingtgen]

I plan to try to hold out and see how long emo-chip ones last. Backwards compatability is a big issue for me. I *need* to replay certain RPG's (and Ace Combat games) every once in a while.

But I really don't want to spend 500 bucks just to get a PS3 and like 1 game, just to get an emo chip before they're gone.

[Ishimaru]

I plan to try to hold out and see how long emo-chip ones last. Backwards compatability is a big issue for me. I *need* to replay certain RPG's (and Ace Combat games) every once in a while.

But I really don't want to spend 500 bucks just to get a PS3 and like 1 game, just to get an emo chip before they're gone.

Does it really matter?

They just use firmware updates to increase the list for more backwards compatible games anyways.

[GutsAndCasca]

Has anyone else bought Motor Storm? Holy crap! this game is addictive as all heck!!!!!!! Playing it with the sixaxis controller is so much fun, it's just crazy. WoW is all I can say. I LOVE it! Rainbow Six Vegas is pretty cool so far too - aside from the fact that I'm stuck in Mexico at the moment. Oh man, next month I'm going to be one giddy 28 year old kid. If all the strictly-ps3 titles are as beautifully executed as motorstorm, then this is truly a good time to be a gamer.

Hey, does anyone remember being a kid, and for nintendo and genesis there would be maybe like 3 games for each system per year that were any good, and so you HAD to get and beat those, and then you felt whole and complete somehow? Nowadays there are so many danged good games out there, that it's impossible to beat them or even play them all. Especially the role playing games. I'm happy to be in the middle of so much great vid-game entertainment, but flustered as well. I never thought I'd hear myself complain about something like this; but there's just too much goodness to go around! I need to live to be like 200 or something...

[Gaijin]

Motorstorm is great. The demo in stores didn't do it justice.

[myk]

I plan to try to hold out and see how long emo-chip ones last. Backwards compatability is a big issue for me. I *need* to replay certain RPG's (and Ace Combat games) every once in a while.

But I really don't want to spend 500 bucks just to get a PS3 and like 1 game, just to get an emo chip before they're gone.

Well, I figure that if we just hold on to our PS2s then we won't have to worry about compatability. Also, why is having the 'emo chip better than having the 'emu software? As someone else stated, firmware updates will increase the library of older games. I had been planning to hold out for MGS4, but the 'emo thing is making me antsy...

Edited July 16, 2007 by myk