A belated but elated review of the Playstation 3September 18th, 2008 by Suzie
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In the corner of my living room lives a sleek black box. A Playstation 3, in fact, that I bought after many months of head-scratching over the differences between the wii, the Xbox 360 and the PS3 itself. So I came to the console war game a little late.
Two months after my initial purchase, I can honestly say I’m glad I did it. The Playstation 3 is without doubt the more expensive of the three, but it’s also the most rock-solid. It’s quiet, fast and powerful - three things I love to say about any gadgetry I own.
It also took care of ever need I had. It plays movies, music, accesses the internet, sings, dances, and occasionally even cooks and cleans. (Well, okay, it lets me look up recipes when I’m in the middle of cooking and suddenly realise I have no idea what I’m doing.)
You can use your PSP to access your PS3 - from anywhere on the planet with a Wifi connection. This means that you can turn on the PS3 when your significant other is at home, scaring the bejesus out of them and convincing them that the PS3 is, in fact, possessed. It also lets you access the massive harddrive storage on the go, which means you can save up to 80gb of movies and music and then watch them remotely.
You can also turn it into a computer. Install an operating system, plug in a USB keyboard and mouse, and away you go. Since we only have 3 computers in the house already, that extra one made all the difference.
The touch buttons lend a slightly futuristic feel to the machine, which makes my inner geek happy. The ease of use and the slick interface do as well. I’ve also loved a good interface, in my games and my gadgets. Anything that requires me to look at a help menu or - even worse - an instruction manual is simply not intuitive enough. The PS3 is right up there though, with a simple user system and easy access to everything you could need.
The Playstation Network has gotten some flack for not being as good as the Xbox’s. I haven’t ever gone online with an Xbox, so I can’t comment. But the Playstation Network lets me download plenty of demos and cheap games, saving me a trip to the nearest game store (or to Amazon). It’s almost too easy in fact - I’ve been steadily dribbling my money away on £2.99 games. It lets me talk via webcam and mic, and it lets me check my emails. That’s pretty much all I need the internet for anyway.
Finally, of course, there’s the games. Now I was never a Metal Gear Solid fan, and Final Fantasy XIII now being ported to the Xbox, there’s not really any exclusives I can name as console sellers. But I don’t think it lacks anything I would want to play otherwise - especially since I completed Bioshock on the PC not that long ago.
Now if you’ll excuse me. It’s demanding my attention.
September 18th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I’ve always thought that the PS3 was the most solid of the three. The Wii is too cutesy and fragile, and the xbox is just to oblong and otherwordly-looking, but the PS3 is sleek and black, like a ninja, and nothing can beat ninjas (believe me, I wiki’ed it).
September 18th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I’ve always been happy with my PS3. I have no need for a 360. Most of my online gaming is done on the PC, and what little isn’t is perfectly fine on the PSN.
Oh, and Bioshock comes out for the PS3 next month, which I’m extremely excited about. That’s the one game that almost made me wish I had a 360. My poor, in-need-of-an-upgrade PC couldn’t quite run it.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Ok, so I can’t tell………..Do you like it or not?
September 18th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I plan on buying a PS3 very soon too. And don’t worry, there’s nothing to comment about as far as Xbox Live: It’s everything they said it was and worse.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I agree that the PS3 is one solid machine, but I can’t say I enjoy the installs which are unfortunately becoming more and more common.
You deserve a nice big wad of moneys from Sony now at any rate :P.
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 am
@Demosthenes - yes, the PS3 is very much the ninja of the console world.
@Alyssa - I did not know Bioshock was coming out on the PS3! That makes me very happy. I’d like to play it through again, and I had to turn the graphics down so much to play on my PC that I think it will feel much better on the PS3.
@MrAnderson - I don’t like it…. I LOVE it. *ahem*. No, it is pretty awesome. And it’s nice having a controller in my hands again.
@Roo - I’m glad to hear that
@Jon - heh, I doubt Sony is too much bothered about my little review. Especially as I bought my machine off ebay. Along with the installs is the annoying fact that the 60gb isn’t available anymore
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
I’ve had a PS3 since January (a refurbished 60GB at that) and it’s definitely been a joy ride - I never did have a ps1 or ps2, so I’ve got 3 generations of gaming to work with, and yes, even Metal Gear Solid 1 on a 42inch plasma still plays great, although it does look a little dated
September 23rd, 2008 at 11:47 am
Can you play PS2 games on the PS3?… I keep reading conflicting things in regards to this…
September 24th, 2008 at 12:07 am
@stankerbell - you can’t play PS2 games on the 40gb PS3 - it’s a pared down version that’s missing backwards compatibility (along with some ports and things).
You CAN play them on the 60gb and 80gb versions, both of which have more features along with their backwards compatibility. Unfortunately, neither are available in a PAL region, although the 60gb can be found second-hand.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:44 am
If I had read this before buying my Xbox, I might actually have a PS3 now!
Oh well, I actually thought it was a lot worse!
October 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
You’ll have to remember one thing however , the newer models are removing the backwards ability.
So you’ll have to find an older 60 or 80g model. Get the medal gear solid ps3 bundle , thats the last version with working backwards comp on it.
Got myself a used 60g version which i understood had near full backwards compability, so far that has been true.
I had a 360 for a while , after about 10 red rings i got so tired , sold it for a PS3 , no problems , the online stuff works just as well , if not better. However there are less people playing on PS3 networks.
But after playing Home beta and seeing little big planet i think that might change.