Rounding out the collection - belated PS3 first impressions

I guess until now, I've not really thought too much about how I've felt about the PS3. I own one, and love it, but I do concede to the valid cons you've pointed out.

I'll just say in preface that I used to work in a vide game store in Australia last year, and when people asked which next gen console they should buy, I actually pushed them in the direction of the 360 simply because for many of the consumers, a greater library of titles was more important, AND the only PS3 available in Australia is the 40gb, which lacks backwards-compatability.

When I moved to Canada this year, I purchased the 80gb PS3 almost straight away. Granted, the main reasons for the purchase were the throes of excitement for a new relationship, and also in preparation for MGS4, because both me and my (then) boyfriend are very big fans of the franchise.

Overall, I've been indifferent towards the console, I suppose. Aside from Metal Gear, and titles like Unchartered, there weren't any games that were ps3 exclusive that superexcited me. All of the games that thrilled me in recent years (Lego Star Wars, Orange Box, to name a couple) are also available on the 360, and I found myself missing Halo a lot, too. The fact that I owned a blu-ray player was impressive, but the fact that I owned no blu-ray dvds, nor a television of high enough quality to appreciate such technology only acted as a depressant.

I'll be moving back to Australia shortly, and I'll be leaving the PS3 behind (divorce type situation, no less), but I think I'll be okay without it. I'll stick to my PS2 and 360 and SNES and cope just fine.

Good lord - my apologies for such a lengthy rant. But thank you for allowing me the forum to address these issues!

Again, I think this validates my decision not to buy one until Final Fantasy XIII forces me to.

Agreed, FF XIII is about the only game wise thing that interests me enough to buy one.

A friend of mine has just bought one purely for Metal Gear Solid 4, and in the mean time lent me 2+3 to try and get me excited enough to buy one. I have to say that having poked around at the games I'm sort of both interested and annoyed by them.
While they are detailed, impressive and cleverly thought out they are just ruined for me by vast areas of clunky plot lines and twists that end up making no sense to me and just cracking the sense of immersion that has been built up over time. But I'm getting off topic.

Still on the up side, I'm very interested in the capability for a PS3 to have a user upgradable hard disk, unlike paying a fucking fortune for the xbox 120gig one which is awful value. It will also be possible to get an addon for it that allows you to watch (at least in europe) free digital TV and use it as a tivo like box. Which sounds pretty neat.

I'll probably end up getting one for God of War 3 and Kingdom Hearts 3.

I bought my PS3 solely because it had backward compatibility.
I never owed a PS, or a PS2 and I wanted to play God of War and Okami far more than Resistance: Fall of Man, which was the only decent game on the PS3 when I bought it.
Since then, Drake's Fortune and Ratchet and Clank have helped validate my purchase (I bought MGS4 last night and haven't started it yet).
All your statements reflect my feelings toward the system exactly, though when I went to play Shadow of the Colossus, it required a memory card and wouldn't use the hard drive as a virtual memory card like GoW did. It did allow me to use the memory card from my PSP to store the data, which means I didn't have to go out and by a PS2 Memory Card to play the game.

I am glad I have the system, especially that I got it before they removed the backward compatibility, because I'm certain the system will prove itself as a great gaming system in the future.

I only have one "friend" on my PS3 list and that's only because we were friends from work.
I haven't met anyone online through the PS3 which is how I met 95% of my Friends on the 360.
Maybe the next PS3 update will help fix that.

Only the first con is one that everyone can agree on. Don't worry, not every game is like MGS4 with excessive loading times (it's on a 50GB disc). Let's not put achievements on a pedestal alongside real innovations. A copy of that is coming your way, ironically. Dubbed "trophies".

A con should be the lack of in-game communication, and you get what you pay for. Free online is a double edged sword.

Pros include:

- Standard WiFi.
- Non-proprietary HDD. Any 2.5" SATA works.
- Controllers are rechargeable without the need for batteries, or an adaptor.
- No restriction on PSN game sizes. XBLA is now 350MB, after some developer pressure.
- Standard HDMI (v 1.3). It took a while before this was standardized on the 360, and they opted for v 1.2.
- Many games support lossless LPCM audio. Some up to 7.1.

Odd ones:

- Online is free.
- XMB design is well done, and very user friendly.
- The heat sink is impeccable. Even a 7200RPM HDD doesn't heat up much.
- Very well built and reliable.
- Relatively quiet.
- Customizable themes. Even the audio, whereas MS actually sells those.

Game library-wise, if you're not into any of the exclusives, you've just wasted your money. The vast majority of games are multiplatform after all.

PS2's are cheap nowadays, and they run games better. If you use a Toslink for audio in particular, you're in for a rude awakening.

I purchased a 60gb PS3 when it was announced that the supplies to be found in stores had almost reached zero — this was after they discontinued manufacturing it— and I bought it specifically because it was the last model to be found with hardware based backwards compatibility and I did not want, at any time, to put a disc in the console and be told it would not play.

The console is a mixed bag for me thus far. I find it terribly unattractive as an object but, I suppose, that is a small thing. Most of my complaints come from the game selection. I love Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank, but those have really been the only standout titles for me thus far. Resistance was a competent shooter but nothing special. As for MSG4, I'm still wrestling with it. I keep playing but, if I'm honest, I can't be sure that I'm actually having fun. All the other games that I find interesting I purchased for the 360, if only for the achievements and while I realize that firmware 2.40 will have, among other things, Sony's long promised trophy system, I'm not sure if it will matter.

I have nothing against Sony, I want their system to engage me more, but as of now it is probably the console I use the least.

I have owned all three consoles for a while now, the PS3 being the last one I purchased. I was lucky enough to snag one while the 60gig version was still around, and should... technically have the best ps2 backwards compatibility out of the bunch. The upscalling wasn't that great, but it never is.

Anyways, it's mostly used as a blu-ray aside for Uncharted and MGS4 so far. I never feel the need to go over the fence when I have to make a decision on multi-console. It's always Xbox and for two reasons player install and achievements. I don't feel however that this makes the PS3 a console that's unworthy of any of my time, money, attention or anything of the sort.

As for FFXIII forcing or promising something so grand that it drives people to purchase the console, I wonder why that is...

What do we know about this game other that it's part of Square-Enix's long line of games. It's an RPG, it will have multiple elements that will be used to market the game to a wide amount of people often the same person multiple times. It will use a graphical engine that this other project called Rapture will use.

I don't know, I've seen the video release a few years back, or so it seems now... and I'm still looking forward to other RPG titles like Level5's White Knight or whatever Mistwalker is working on next a tad more.

You really need a disclaimer stating that you work for Microsoft - the whole completely transparent, full disclosure deal.

I don't really disagree with you, though - at least on the cons. There's a bit more to the "pros" though. It's a very nice Blu-ray player.

I still don't own one, though. I'm a fan of, you know, video games.

Also, I have no idea what your new logo is supposed to be. The joystick with sound waves I got - this new thing - no clue.

Hooray for PS2 games! I'm glad I finally get to play Kingdom Hearts, but I'm still so obsessed with TWEWY that it's hard for me to even pick up another game right now (other than Rock Band). I'm almost through the 4-hour tutorial on KH though...almost.

Something that matters to me is that my PS3 feels like a more solid piece of kit than my 360. When I turn on the 360 and that jet-engine-esque fan fires up and the optical drive starts clicking like it can't get a lock, I get nervous. It's only a matter of time before the thing dies. That's not fun.