Got a PS3 (blu ray player)

[jrphoenix]

Last thanksgiving shopping season I picked up an HD-DVD player on sale. Needless to say it didn't last long in the format war (even though I loved it). I was going to pickup a blu-ray player and my wife didn't want to get caught with another piece of junk now that we're digitally downloading movies thorough netflix using the 360 I have. She suggested getting a PS3 so if blu ray goes coput, I can still game with it.

Unfortunately after using it for a day, I am very disappointed. I like the blu ray movies but there are some things I really don't like.)

* The controller is tiny (no my hands aren't huge)
* The system (80 Gb) came with a wireless controller and a really short USB cable. I have to either stand close to the TV or just leave the system running when I'm not using it to charge.
* The interface seems really clunky compared to the NXE. It just doesn't seem very intuitive.

I do like the built in wireless. I played MGS (after the 8 min install) for a little while before going back to my xbox. I guess I just overpaid for a blu ray player. Maybe I'll give LBP a try... Just having buyers remorse.

Adding a poll just because I'm curious. (now back to loading software / games on the new laptop I just picked up)

 

[FuryofFive]

as a ps3 owner... the controller is pretty much the same its ever been since its inception from the ps2 days.
you are aware that the Ps3 HDD can be upgraded to a higher capacity to be used as a media center pc?

 

[mugs]

I actually think the interface is one of the areas where the PS3 is better than the 360. It's really fast and organized.

I think you can plug the controller into a PC or even a USB wall plug adapter or powered hub to charge it. I'm not a fan of their battery choice either. I don't want to play with the controller plugged in, so I like that on the 360 you can remove and replace the battery easily. I always keep one battery on the charger, and when the one I'm using dies I just switch it. Or you could go the much cheaper route and use rechargeable AAs that are useful for countless other devices as well. People say Microsoft is cheap for leaving out the battery, but I'm glad they did.

 

[tdawg]

I've got both machines and like 'em both. Blu-ray is amazing; I too went with HD-DVD first, and after getting over the disappointment following it's demise, I knew I'd never buy a standard dvd if there was an hd/blu-ray equivalent. I actually bought the PS3 so I could play MLB '08 The Show, too. Besides the slow update speed and some longer install times, I'm happy with it and wouldn't give either one up.

 

[Piuc2020]

You can use any USB cable and port to charge the controller. If you don't like the controller you can get a third party one, I think Logitech makes one that is a little beefier, I have both a 360 controller for my PC and a PS3 and I find the PS3 controller works better for certain genres and the 360's for others.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The USB cable is standard so you can get any cheap longer cable from newegg, monoprice, etc. as long as it has the right plugs.

The DS3 is almost the same as the DS2 and DS1 from the PS2 & PS1 so it seems normal to me. When I finally get a Jasper 360 I'll probably be ranting about it being too big

Download demos of more of the exclusives like Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted and Pixeljunk Monsters.

Subscribe to Netflix and fill your queue with blu-rays. Wall-E looked very nice though my favorite "wow the colors!" movies are still The Fountain and Curse of the Golden Flower.

 

[hans030390]

I don't think those reasons warrant being "very disappointed"...they're small and pretty silly, IMO.

 

[Tu13erhead]

.

 

[jrphoenix]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive
as a ps3 owner... the controller is pretty much the same its ever been since its inception from the ps2 days.
you are aware that the Ps3 HDD can be upgraded to a higher capacity to be used as a media center pc?

I guess it's just because I have been using my xbox 360 only for gaming for the last 2 years. My hands have gotten used to the larger controller. With a little more time maybe the DS3 will grow on me? I have to say I like the trigger feel of the xbox controller much better?

 

[jrphoenix]

Originally posted by: mugs
I actually think the interface is one of the areas where the PS3 is better than the 360. It's really fast and organized.

I think you can plug the controller into a PC or even a USB wall plug adapter or powered hub to charge it. I'm not a fan of their battery choice either. I don't want to play with the controller plugged in, so I like that on the 360 you can remove and replace the battery easily. I always keep one battery on the charger, and when the one I'm using dies I just switch it. Or you could go the much cheaper route and use rechargeable AAs that are useful for countless other devices as well. People say Microsoft is cheap for leaving out the battery, but I'm glad they did.

Maybe the interface will grow on me (only day 2 now). I'm definitely getting a wall plug in usb connector. I finally bought the plug & play for my xbox controller and the cord is long enough for me to sit on the sofa and play. Up until now I have been using batteries only (Sam's club in bulk).

I think I'm just the typical American gamer... I just want to plop down and play now (no waiting). I was a little ticked I couldn't just jam some batteries in the controller and then I had to wait for MGS to load....

 

[BassBomb]

I am probably going to buy a xbox at boxing day (I own a PS3)

I want it for the unique games like GOW2 PGR4 Forza and it will be pretty cheap then

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you buy a longer USB cable you can play with the controller plugged in to the PS3 when the battery power gets low. No wall-wart charge-n-play thing needed.

The PS3 will tell you while you're playing if the battery is getting low, then you pause, plug in, and keep playing.

 

[TheUnk]

The short cable they give you is really pathetic. I don't know what they were thinking.

I agree, the controllers suck, but thats Playstation and always has been. It's also silly that the system has to be on the charge the controller... And what happens when the battery fails? It's going to happen eventually, how do you replace it?

I rarely game on my PS3 anymore, it's turned primarily into a Blu-Ray player..

With so many games on multiple consoles, I'd never buy a game on PS3 over PC/360. The only ones I will are exclusives.

 

[mmntech]

I had some misgivings about the PS3 when it first came out but its really shaped up to be a great system. I find it odd that you complain about the controller since most gamers seem to like the DualShock 3 better than the 360 one. Myself included. I have the 360 controller for my PC and it just feels overly big, chunky, and less responsive. The DualShock 3 is identical to the PS1 and PS2 controllers other than being wireless. You can buy longer USB cables or an extension cables if the stock one is too short. It's really meant for just charging or connecting a PSP rather than use as a wired controller.

The XMB also is a little clunky in some respects, I agree with that. I don't like the way it stores data. But it's not something to get bent out of shape about. The PS3 still offers the best value of the current systems, in that you get more bang for buck out of it. Try some other games like LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

 

[erwos]

I have some real quibbles with the PS3, too. For all its initial reliability issues, Microsoft really nailed the human-interface aspects down. My personal favorite example is what happens if you turn on the PS3 with wired controllers plugged into it using a wireless controller. Yep, you guessed it - it sets the wired controller as controller #1, not the wireless one you're using. The 360 gets it right, and uses your wireless controller as controller #1.

My only real whine about the 360's HCI is that it doesn't make multiple profiles as intuitive as they could be.

 

[destrekor]

Couple of things you can do:

For the short USB issue, Sony likely hadn't intended on it to be used for 'charge and play' purposes, just there to charge when done. Sad thing is, when launched, the system had to be left on to charge. While the system still needs to be left on to charge, you can now set the system to turn off after a set amount of time, I think you can set it for 3 hours or so. And that works, because you don't need much more than 3 hours to fully charge... might need a little longer but not too sure.
Or you can go the route I did: get a 3rd party controller charging station: the one I have, I believe from Pelican, allows you to plug in 2 controllers into a cradle, and has 2 more USB ports on the side. It plugs into the wall for power, so I will put controllers into the cradle and use one of the USB ports to charge the PS Headset. It's a great set up that completely frees the USB ports in the front and doesn't require the system to be on to charge.
You could just get a longer USB to mini-B cable for real cheap too, so you have your options. Should Sony have included a longer cable from the start? Certainly, but oh well.

The interface is extremely intuitive imho. And I got a PSP AFTER getting the PS3, so I had no familiarity with the common interface between the two (XMB).
Really, if you are used at all to the old 360 blade-style system, it's basically the same, everything is categorized, moving left to right to get new categories, and then all the options are down (or up) from the main category. Instead of multiple things being scattered around on the 'blades', everything is simply up or down, pretty fast once you adjust to the system.

The controller: yeah, not for everybody. It is definitely kind of small, but I've grown so used to it over through the past generations, that its familiar and I'm comfortable with it. My only complaint is analog sticks: I just don't like them that much. I prefer a mouse and keyboard, so no matter where the sticks are and how they are shaped, it won't matter for me. I like the range of motion of the sticks better on the DS3, but *kind of* prefer the placement of the sticks on the 360's controllers, but the difference in size makes it kind of important: on the DS3, it just doesn't feel like an analog stick in place of the d-pad would work, because my thumbs more naturally fall on the sticks, but maybe that's just because I'm so used to that position.

Games: I don't think you're trying hard enough. What game types do you prefer? MGS4 and LBP are definitely not going to be for everybody. Try games like Ratchet and Clank and Resistance/Resistance 2, as well as say the Motorstorm games, and a host of other games but can't tell what you prefer. MGS4 is definitely a game you'll either love, hate, or not able to get into... really helps to have experience in the other games, or else it's just going to be a shock because the gameplay is kind of ancient but keeps to the roots of the previous games in the series. Hint: don't play it like an FPS game, or else it'll probably suck hardcore.

And the best thing about the PS3 as a Blu-ray player is it's completely future proof, no worries about movie compatibility.

 

[Rage187]

I was going to buy one just for the BluRay aspect. Now though, with standalone players getting down to the magic $99, it is hard to justify 3X the cost for the PS3.

I would never use BDLive.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I was going to buy one just for the BluRay aspect. Now though, with standalone players getting down to the magic $99, it is hard to justify 3X the cost for the PS3.

I would never use BDLive.

I always said this myself, but for some movies, they seem to be putting some cool extra features in the BDLive connectivity. I am probably gonna fire up Transformers to see the stuff they added to the BDLive section.
Granted, I will still RARELY touch BDLive extras, as hell, I rarely even play any extras that are included on discs. But sometimes a movie comes along with such a nifty feature or bonus that I can't help but access them, and that will be the case with BDLive too... I'll rarely venture there, but sometimes a disc will come along that has a nice bonus online.

 

[Genx87]

Hmm are you sure the PS3 has to be turned on for it to charge? I bought my PS3 with an LCD last June and leave the controller plugged in but the PS3 off. I have never had the battery die. Granted I only use it for watching movies but it should have died on its own over the past 6 months if it isnt being charged.

I assumed it is like any other USB device on a PC. The trickle works provided what you are plugged into with the USB is also plugged into the wall.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Hmm are you sure the PS3 has to be turned on for it to charge?

Yes. It used to leave one USB port "on" when it was off, but that was changed a few firmwares ago.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead

Originally posted by: mugs
I actually think the interface is one of the areas where the PS3 is better than the 360. It's really fast and organized.

Agreed. I have a 360 only and this is one of the things I like most about using friends' PS3. Even with the NXE, it's still damn sluggish and the setup is SO unintuitive.

ditto.

the xmb is lightyears above and beyond the old dash for the 360, and i still think it's better than the NXE.

as for your other "complaints", well the charge cable is the same as any other USB cable you get (with digital cameras, vid cameras, etc) as far as the length goes. it's not supposed to be a "plug and charge kit" like the xbox360 has, it's simply a usb cable to charge. i rarely use my ps3 to charge my ps3 controller, usually it's my PC or Xbox360 heh.

and the controller being "too small", while I like the 360 controller better myself, to not know that the PS3 controller is identical to pretty much PS1 controllers before you bought a PS3 is pretty bad on your part.

and your poll options are weak. why are you forcing people to pick 1 console over the other? where is the option for "i own both and play both whenever I feel like it" ?

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
and your poll options are weak. why are you forcing people to pick 1 console over the other? where is the option for "i own both and play both whenever I feel like it" ?

Because you should obviously know which console you play more! Even if just by one second!

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: jrphoenix

Originally posted by: mugs
I actually think the interface is one of the areas where the PS3 is better than the 360. It's really fast and organized.

I think you can plug the controller into a PC or even a USB wall plug adapter or powered hub to charge it. I'm not a fan of their battery choice either. I don't want to play with the controller plugged in, so I like that on the 360 you can remove and replace the battery easily. I always keep one battery on the charger, and when the one I'm using dies I just switch it. Or you could go the much cheaper route and use rechargeable AAs that are useful for countless other devices as well. People say Microsoft is cheap for leaving out the battery, but I'm glad they did.

Maybe the interface will grow on me (only day 2 now). I'm definitely getting a wall plug in usb connector. I finally bought the plug & play for my xbox controller and the cord is long enough for me to sit on the sofa and play. Up until now I have been using batteries only (Sam's club in bulk).

I think I'm just the typical American gamer... I just want to plop down and play now (no waiting). I was a little ticked I couldn't just jam some batteries in the controller and then I had to wait for MGS to load....

dude man, u can charge ur ps3 controller from a laptop... why bother heh

 

[derdrache]

I recommend getting the ps remote control. Its great for movie watching controls and its bluetooth so you dont need line of sight to use it. Anotherwards, you can be in any room of the house and hit pause or play or power and the console will respond. Also, the remote takes 2 double a batteries.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Pla...c-Remote/dp/B000M17AVO

I use my ps3 to stream music and videos from my computer to my tv. Thanks to its built in wireless card i didnt have to run an rj45 cable like for the xbox. Tveristy and WMP work great for streaming.

Definitely rent Ratchet and Clank. I cant get enough of that game, it looks like a pixar movie with the graphics.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jrphoenix

Originally posted by: mugs
I actually think the interface is one of the areas where the PS3 is better than the 360. It's really fast and organized.

I think you can plug the controller into a PC or even a USB wall plug adapter or powered hub to charge it. I'm not a fan of their battery choice either. I don't want to play with the controller plugged in, so I like that on the 360 you can remove and replace the battery easily. I always keep one battery on the charger, and when the one I'm using dies I just switch it. Or you could go the much cheaper route and use rechargeable AAs that are useful for countless other devices as well. People say Microsoft is cheap for leaving out the battery, but I'm glad they did.

Maybe the interface will grow on me (only day 2 now). I'm definitely getting a wall plug in usb connector. I finally bought the plug & play for my xbox controller and the cord is long enough for me to sit on the sofa and play. Up until now I have been using batteries only (Sam's club in bulk).

I think I'm just the typical American gamer... I just want to plop down and play now (no waiting). I was a little ticked I couldn't just jam some batteries in the controller and then I had to wait for MGS to load....

Don't quote me on the wall plug, I haven't actually tried that myself. Some devices work with those, some don't.