The Official Sony Playstation 3 Thread

[Cognitive Gear]

You can easily buy a Blu-ray burner for 900$. You can easily build a media center PC for less than what they are charging. However, that's really beside the point since most people that want that sort of thing don't care too much about how much it cost anyways.

Gran Turismo HD demo is up for free download. Apparently, somehow the replay graphics are supposedly better than the actual gameplay, which I find interesting. But nonetheless, this free demo looks beautiful, and I hope that the replays are representative of what we should expect from GT5. Here's a couple of screenshots from replays that I found on other boards:

[Bobtheduck]

*Jaw drops*

Why does that look so beautiful while Ridge Racer looks worse than the one on the 360? I really thought GT4HD was going to be yet another embarassment, but... A free game that looks THAT INCREDIBLE??? Holy crap...

Of course, I know the answer to my question... Because people can't figure the Cell out... Sony worked a little more directly with GT4HD...

Too bad Playstation Network crashed yesterday... There would have been a lot of happy Sony fans today...

EDIT: I didn't believe you on the burner, but I looked it up, and found one for 990

What I find very odd is that the Rewritable media is the same price as the single write discs (20 dollars a disc) when it has always been more expensive in previous formats (CD and DVD)

Still, though, to set up a media center PC to record high def content (which would require an input for a high def signal) and thereby act as a high def DVR... It seems like it would still be absurdly expensive, though I'm shocked to see the burner drives be cheaper than settop blu-ray players... How is that possible? What about the decoding software? I'm sure that plays into the price a little, at least, as well as the hardware to decode it... I've heard that on today's new machines, Blu-ray movies are a bit difficult to run... Sorta like DVD movies were on computers a few years back... I know the DVD software is still a massive memory hog. I can't imagine what blu-ray would do to my system... Though it would be nice to watch movies even in 720p (I saw some trailers in 720p and it is gorgeous... Oh, I can't wait till I have a decent job... After the Japan trip I intend on, I mean)

[Cognitive Gear]

Most people are surprised to find just how cheap it can be to build a great and powerful system.

Anyways, the only reason the announced $2500 PS3 bothers me is that Sony has said in the past that the PS3 would be the new high-def media center of your home. I, as many others did, took this to mean that the normal PS3 would serve that purpose, not an unannounced $2500 version.

Otherwise it's a great idea. Sony will be making money off of these (2500-900= 1600$ I doubt that these upgrades cost that much.). The only thing they'd be doing is adding 512mb more ram (for a total of 1GB) giving it a "more powerful power supply" and adding a second HDMI port. Nothing else was announced. I think it would be safe to assume that there will be a blu-ray recorder and more HD space.

This could be a great move for Sony. They just need to find the right people to buy it.

[Sync]

I didn't believe you on the burner, but I looked it up, and found one for 990

Wow I never thought someone would out do Plextor on the price of an internal writer drive , theirs is $845 at Newegg, the cheapest two are Phillips & Lite-On for $599.

As of Saturday night I still have yet to get a chance to really use a PS3 for more than 20 minutes on anything other than Need for Speed: Carbon .

[Bobtheduck]

The question I'm wondering... One thing I love about my PS2 is it plays both DVD+R and DVD-R,so when it comes to home movies, I know if my DVD player won't play it, the PS2 will.. Will the PS3 be able to play burned BD-Rs?

EDIT: Or, perhaps the more important question, do settop players natively play burned media? Also, if Blu-ray ends up being standard, will there be multiple formats of Blu-ray to worry about (+ and -)? If HD-DVD becomes standard, will blank media for Blu-ray disappear?

[Bobtheduck]

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/impressions/motorstorm-im-in-love-224844.php

This article gives me hope as a sony fanboy... Then there's the article that says PS2 will continue to keep Sony alive, but I'd much rather get a next gen system, and if PS3 fails that only leaves me with the Wii, and a new controller isn't really next gen (Oh, my PS1 could be next gen if I get the DDR mat! Ooh, my PS2 is next gen with this cool Eyetoy!) because that innovation could be done on the last gen...

Keep in mind I don't much like racing games, except for vehicular combat games like Mario Kart and Twisted Metal. This isn't quite vehicular combat, but it's more halfway between pure racing and combat game... And, considering how beautiful the game is supposed to be (not the kiosk demo, that was a much older version of the game, and you can't judge it based on that) I may actually give this one a shot, as a second tier game.

As I am a big fan of eyetoy, I also wanted to show this concept video off for Eyetoy HD. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_MPB6H67jc If they end up doing that, PS3 will have all the innovation I need. That coupled with that card game they showed at E305... Well, I hate trading card games, but that technology doesn't have to be limited to that.




Hey! At least I warned everyone the fanboy would return in full force.

[Link Antilles]

Seeing how E3 '06 is long past and the system has launched, this thread will be unstickied. You may continue the talk of the PS3, Blu-Ray, and it's other features here, but feel free to make new threads for the games.

If the board gets over-loaded with PS3 threads (which I doubt), this thread with be re-stickied and the others will be locked.

[Bobtheduck]

Rather than troll up another thread, I'm gonna move this here (in other words, it would be borderline trolling to put it there, it would be on topic to put it here)

Unless Konami decides to be smart and decide that they can make more money by making a 360 port.

That looks smart right now with the Sony hate at its fullest. That may continue to be the case, or that may stop being so eventually. PS3 may be another Dreamcast, pushing Sony out of the game industry or into portable market only... PS3 may be another PS1, starting with crazy distrust and ending with suprising victory... It may lost title after title, until their strongest holdings (previously GTA, now FF and MGS) migrating, or a renewed late interest may be created by the new Halo (not referring to an FPS but an insanely popular game no one saw coming)

PS3 isn't dead yet... It's only been out for two months yesterday... I wouldn't completely count it out yet. Even though I did, until the other day, due to people at CAA and reports on Kotaku... Then I found out that the opinions on CAA and Kotaku weren't the be all and end all, and that the PS3s weren't stockpiling the way people said, at least not in the store I went to... It's about location and what's coming.

There are problems with all the systems... Trust me, I've been playing a lot of a very buggy Wii, and I remember the mess over the 360 at launch... The sony-hate may, not will but may, wear out by the time some other big games come out...

With no Japan trip in the future due to my lack of Job in soon enough time to save 3200 by November, I'll be saving for next Gen now... That will take a while, whether I get a job soon or not... By the time I have enough for a PS3, it may allready be dead, or it may be just starting to pick up. Either way, by that time there will be reduced prices on a lot of games and possibly a price drop on the 360, though my hatred for MS goes deeper than my love for Sony... If there is another MGS or Final Fantasy 8 (the two games that finally moved me off Nintendo and onto Sony) on the MS by that point, I'll have enough to get it, but if not, I can still get a PS3 in time for MGS4 and FF13... Honestly, patience can only help me in the long run.

Sony, on the other hand, doesn't have that luxury... They need to get a killer exclusive as soon as possible... Next November isn't soon enough... Heck, even July (07-07-07, a rumored launch for MGS4) may be too late... That's why I'm pushing for a quick (but not too quick) release of Warhawk. Think wii-style control on a prettier system with Cell backed crowd behaviors... Of course, it isn't out yet... It may yet suck.

With a friend losing 3 wiimotes after 2 months of use, and knowing about the problems with the 360, and the horrible software support on PS3, and the mystery of the Cell that game developers haven't unravelled yet, the only option I see is patience...

On bluray, bluray is winning right now with support from more companies and an almost exclusive holding in Japan. I have said the whole time, Bluray will be the death or life of the PS3... The race is close in the US and... not a race in Japan (with 96% of the HD-media market being Bluray) With more companies supporting Bluray, and with Warner Brothers dualformat discs that may end up being industry standard, and a Bluray player that doubles as a game player, PS3, for this very reason, may end up being the sleeper hit. But, Patience is my most needed virtue, so I'll wait and see....

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I wasn't bashing the ps3 really. I was just saying they could make more money if they made a 360 port. (Though it would also lose Sony some money) I honestly don't care what happens to Sony as a result of this. In fact at the moment I don't care about them all. (Much like when the 360 first came out. I didn't care at all, now I own one) All I know is if MGS4 comes out on the 360, that's one more reason to get/keep a 360 and one less reason to get a ps3.

[Tommy]

I'm not in a "Sony Hate Stage".
I only have a PS2 right now and I'm loving it.
I personally would prefer a PS3 purchase out of all the three systems, but due to my longing for a PSP, the price just doesn't work out.
Plus, there's only three games on the PS3 I'm looking forward to at the moment.

If PS3 costs 300$ and it wasn't backward-compatible, I would be all over it.

[Nate]

I hope that the dual format discs become standard, because having a format war in this day and age is absolutely absurd.

[Bobtheduck]

Well, kaemmerite, *cough* (just joking, Nate), I agree it is unfortunate... The only thing is, bluray is a better technology that was owned by a very few companies, and some other companies didn't want to pay those companies so they made their own that was slightly different... The reason for the competition is HD-DVD, not Bluray... Bluray has been in development since early in the DVD cycle... It came down to "Sony (and a couple others) made it so we don't want to support it" So, you can't really blame Sony for this one.

Rather than pulling for dual format, I'd rather see triple format... Movies that are released Blu-ray, HD-DVD, DVD all on one disc. Buy your movies, play them on whatever is available! That's a beautiful thing, right there.

Onto the games:

I'm glad to learn we didn't lose Virtua Fighter... Even if I'm not a fighter fan, many people are (DOA)

Warhawk, Motorstorm in early 07... These games might keep the PS3 from completely being buried... The only problem is, store kiosks are still using old demos of Motorstorm... The newer demo is much better and shows off the system more (or, at least, that's what one of the kotaku editors said...) And hopefully it doesn't crash like the old demo does (know this one first hand...) Warhawk, man... Moving Shmups into 3d... It's beautiful... The ground combat is weak, but the aerial combat is awesome! It's no Metal Gear... It's no Final Fantasy... It is something different that will be at least a partial reason to go PS3. It should help keep the system afloat, though definately neither one will drive Sony to dominance.

MGS4 and FF13 in late term. Much too late to save the system if no games come before them... I'm crossing my fingers...

I finally have a friend with a PS3, so I'm gonna get in some demos, maybe try out some Bluray movies (she has a Wega with 720p, which is good enough for me, and good enough to play Resistance in all it's glory) She also has the Japanese version of Warioware, which is apparently very... perverted. Hmm... That's an entirely different topic, however.

[Bobtheduck]

I hate having two posts in a row, but I think I have a right to defend what I love.

Everyone talks about the Sony corporate BS... Being a somewhat isolated Sony fan, I think it's time I retaliated in a more systematic, thought out way... I'm gonna keep track of the anti-sony BS that people shovel.

Case 1: Kotaku's "Nintendo 64 is outselling PS3" report.

Reason why it is BS: The stats on Amazon depend on how well it sells... on Amazon. That scared me at first, I'm thinking "So, it's not selling well on Amazon?" Turns out, someone pointed out that Amazon doesn't sell the PS3 themselves, but only handle resales. If you compare their native sales + resales ONLY to bloated resales when you can pick the system up for cheaper at any gamestop or target. Conversely, PS3 is on top at the UK site because people are selling japanese and american systems. What makes this hillarious is that imports of a system like this are outselling those sold natively on the site, but there may be an explanation for THAT which I don't understand, part of which includes the updates, in which the order fluctuates wildly. Or, Sony did right in waiting 5 months to release in Europe and the US launch was an experiment. Hmm... Lets' see, 2 good games at launch + sports and racing games that the European audience is going to go crazy for, vs 1 good game at launch with a very small number of launch titles... Europe wins...

In the UK, the bloated 2000 dollar used american PS3 is beating everything except Final Fantasy XII at the moment of this posting... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=pd_ts_c_th_more/026-8586939-0732447

I could go and say that means Sony will wipe the floor with the competition in the UK. I could also say that it measns something that resistance is above the DS lite but I won't do that. Instead, I'll acknowledge that Amazon isn't the best source of info on how a system is doing, and that a lot of factors (the different versions of the DS lite, for instance, vs only one version of resistance) can influence these positions

Case 2: Sony loses nearly all of its exclusives.

Why it's BS: I won't argue that Sony lost exclusivity on a few of the top profile games. Virtua Fighter 5, Assassin's creed, and GTA4. There are still a LOT of exclusives... I didnt' realize this until looking at a PS3 fan forum, mostly because there is no other way, Sony's website included, to see this information consolidated. One of the bigger surprises is the once PC only (for good reason) FPS "The Wall" is now PC and PS3... I'm mixed about that, but the fact stands there are a lot of exclusives coming. Not as many as 360, but keep in mind it's been out longer for one, and hasn't had nearly as much bad press, warranted or not.

The list on PS3 forums, not counting some more iffy games (like the Team Ico project upcoming, which won't likely get here until 2009)

Afrika * (looks beautiful even if no one knows what it's really about)
Angel Rings
DMC 4 (looks a lot better now than it did last time I checked)
Eight Days
Eyedentify
Unnamed Eyetoy game.
Fifth Phantom Saga
F1 CE
FFXIII
FFXIII Vs
God of War III
Gran Tourissmo 5
Some crappy gundam game
Heavenly Sword
Heavy Rain (seriously, go check out the trailer on gametrailers.com... It looks like crap at first, but then it goes sorta "art house" and really got me interested)
Jak and Daxter
Killzone 2
Kingdom Hearts 3
Lair
Metal Gear Solid 4 (THE killer PS3 game of 07, and everyone knows it.)
Monster Hunter 3
Monster Kingdom
Motorstorm (Have you seen the updated game, not the crappy demo? That game is gorgeous, though it doesn't "surpass" the target renders like Sony BSed, it basically matches them now)
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ni-Oh
Rachet and Clank 5
Redwood Falls
Singstar PS3
Super Robot Taisen
Tekken 6

Eye of Judgement (Honestly... Magic the Gathering fanboys are going to be buying PS3s in droves after this is released... This concept is allready huge in arcades in Japan. Oh, and if they dont' know about it, I'll get it (as much as I hate card games) if only to show it off, heh) I figure this one deserves some explanation. It's a trading card game, like Magic, but the eyetoy is set up to see a board of 3x3 cards, and it reads the cards to produce monsters on the screen on the cards. You play just like real trading card games, literally tapping the cards to activate them. This thing is genius.

The getaway
The Wall (PC and PS3 only)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Wardevil
Warhawk
Way of the Samurai
White Knight Story
Wipeout

Finally, the most anticipated game of all time, "Super Rub-a-dub" The game that uses the LoD engine... Lots of ducks. You finally get to play that duck demo that Phil Harrison showed off at E3 05. Hahahaah! I'll SO be getting that.

I want to fight the doom train, at least the car that prevails here at CAA, so even if I AM the only one posting, I'll do it... This list will be updated with more BS watch (I won't be pointing out Sony BS, because people see more of that than there is in the first place) as I see it.

EDIT: I know there are some exclusives missing from my list, even those that were on the PS3 forums... That's because I thought a crappy Gears ripoff, an RTS that looks like it was from PS1 era, and a couple others like that were too embarassing to include in the list.