PlayStation 3

drbrain@segment7.net (Eric Hodel) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:11:50 -0700

I like my PlayStation 3. I bought it in November when my PS2 was dying of a hacking cough because it couldn’t read disks. I thought the PS3 was alright then, it didn’t make horrible noises and it let me check the Blu-Ray box on Netflix.

I’m semi-disappointed that the PS3 DVD player lost the L3/R3 buttons that subtitles and audio settings that the PS2 had. Now I have to bring up the onscreen menu to turn on and off the subtitle tracks in case I missed or misheard some dialogue.

Since I bought my PS3, the software updates have improved it into a decent console. The PS2 Hitman games now all work on the 80GB (which I bought) and the store was fixed so it isn’t totally stupid for the majority of its users.

The pricing on the store’s downloadable content is reasonable. I’ve bought PixelJunk Monsters, a tower-defense game, flOw, a game where you eat stuff by using the motion-sensors in the controller, Lemmings and PAIN, a physics game that involves slingshotting a character into stuff and watching them scream. Lemmings is slightly handicapped by the PS3 controller, but I really like PixelJunk Monsters and flOw, I’ve certainly gotten my $10 of enjoyment out of them. PAIN is too hard to unlock and doesn’t have enough single-player content to keep my interest.

The most recent PS3 update replaced the old store with a brand new one that’s faster to navigate, unless you want to look at something. It downloads item images as you navigate and doesn’t cache them between runs which is annoying. The new store now knows which demos you’ve downloaded which is a really nice feature, though.

The DualShock 3 controller is much nicer than the SIXAXIS, by both being slightly heavier and having slightly stiffer buttons. Compared to the PS2 controller, the vibration doesn’t seem as powerful and the motors seem noisier. (I’m not sure, as my PS2 is in pieces and I doubt I can keep it alive long enough to start a game.)

The one extra thing I bought for the PS3 is the NYKO Blu-Wave remote so I could control the PS3 with my universal remote (which doesn’t speak Bluetooth) through the Blu-Wave’s USB IR dongle. The remote can be found on Amazon for under $20.

Segment7: PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3