Playstation 3: First Impressions

The long wait was finally over 3 months ago, and I was the proud new own of a Sony Playstation 3. Blissfully gaming away, its hard to believe the long struggle in attaining a PS3 in Australia. Unlike countries on the NTSC video standard, the release of the Playstation was delayed until March 23rd, 2007 for all countries on the PAL standard. Agonising as the delays were, it was worth it!Like any kid with a new toy, I marvelled at the ease in which I was able to connect to my wireless broadband connection using the in-built wireless network card, and get straight into the online store. Awaiting me was several demos, a bunch of hi-def trailers, and the full version of Tekken 5 Dark Resistance for $15 or so dollars.

Not to mention, I was comfortably lounged on the couch, with the freedom of movement that only a wireless dual analogue controller can provide.

So wireless freedom aside, here is a short highlight list, which may encourage you to join the next generation of consoles, if you haven’t already!

Games 

If some of the downloadable trailers are anything to go by, the array of games being released in the next 6-12 months looks very, very promising. Their is the impending release of Rainbow 6: Las Vegas, Collin McCrae DIRT, and of course the big one, Grand Theft Auto 4. Add to this to the current lineup which include highlights such as Resistance, FEAR (although the controls in this game suck) and Motorstorm and you’ll be wishing someone would subsidize the time you spend on your PS3!

Don’t forget, a blockbuster game on a console is now equivalent to a PC game, in that game patching and new content are common occurrence. That means new levels, new challenges, bug fixes, all that good stuff – anyone who’s ever played Battlefield 2 on PC will know exactly what a good game patch can add to a game (Jalalabad anyone?)

Resistance: Fall Of Man

My initial game purchase was Resistance, and its certainly a great insight into next-gen gaming. The graphics are smooth and highly detailed, with great level design and plenty of nifty things to shoot at. Most will notice the physics right away, as objects interact with each other in a very realistic manner. Have a read of my Resistance: Fall of Man Review here

Online Content

Owning only one game for the first 3 months is not bad as soon as one sees the delights of the playstation store. Accessed from the Playstation OS, the store contains a mix of free demos, free and paid full games, free and paid game items, and free videos (mostly game and movie trailers).

Within 8 hours I had downloaded absolutely everything I could, and between the demos, trailers and the local video shop, its still hard to get bored with the PS3. It’s all very easy to just plug in the credit card details and download the paid stuff.

Controllers

The dual analogue controller has grown up, and has some nice revisions from the previous Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 versions. For starts, the shock vibration system is gone. Bummer, yeah, but it doesn’t take too long to appreciate the newfound lightness of the controller. There is a PS button in the middle between SELECT and START that lets you do important things like:

• Turn the Playstation off
• Turn the controller off (good when the batteries and you have to switch controllers)
• Reassign the controller
• Quit a game

The motion sensor is pretty cool, although I haven’t had much opportunity to use it except as a virtual steering wheel in the frantic Motorstorm.  I’m guessing that there will be some really good usage coming into the next crop of games – in fact I hear that in Rainbow 6 it can be used to steer a mini camera through air vents!

The L2 and R2 triggers are more Xbox like, allowing for more accuracy when pressure is important, such as when used as accelerate/brake. There are also lights on top to indicate what number the controller is (eg. 1, 2, 3 or 4) as well do a bit of flashing here and there when something important is happening.

Obviously the cost of wireless controllers is that the they need charging up. But you’ll be relieved to know that the battery life is both very long, and if you have a spare controller its easy to switch. On top of that, you can always plug in the USB cable and charge it up anytime even while gaming.

Summary

When news broke of the PS3’s delayed release in Australia, I seriously considered buying an Xbox 360. I don’t want to start an Xbox 360 vs PS3 war (not in this post at least ) but I think we all know which console is superior on virtually any level. The Playstation 3 is THE console to own for at least the next 5 years. So what are you waiting for?