PS3 Impressions (ongoing)

[msduncan]

A very very early rundown of my experiences with the PS3:

1.  Lift Test:   pass with flying colors.   this thing is heavy as crap.    heavy enough to make the present a little awkward to open for this weak white boy.

2.  Boxing:  Simple and easy to open.   Nice sophisticated box.

3.  NO COMPONENT CABLE!       At this point I had to stop for a night until I got down to Circuit City to find a PS2 component cable.   Found it for $24 bucks.   They wanted a LOT more for the PS3 version.

4.  The PS3 itself --  sexy.  slick.  sophisticated looking.    This thing just LOOKS far cooler than the 360 (disclaimer -- I AM an Xbox fanboi, so don't think I'm taking a swipe).    I mean I kept looking around for demonic dolls in the room with me while I set it up.   Oh...and no power brick!!!!!!!!!!   This almost makes up for no component cables!   

5.  Interface --   I like the interface.   not as good as 360, but it's familiar since I had a PSP before it became clear there were no games for it.   Again the way you set things up and the way this machine feels is very professional and slick.   It FEELS like an expensive multimedia machine, and it's quiet as hell.


More later -- about to fire up a Blueray disc to see what the fuss is about.   I only have 720p, so it will hopefully do for the impressions.

[msduncan]

Motorstorm Demo was a blast.    Download was easy, though I don't think I could leave the download screen without canceling the download.

Blueray --   maybe I was exhausted after midnight, or perhaps I just have an untrained eye, but Talledega Nights didn't look any more crisp or detailed than my regular dvd's.     I had it running presumably in 720p since I set the PS3 to 720p in the settings.     Unless there's a separate setting for the movies or something.    /shrug.     I just couldn't tell a difference, and I was expecting to say 'WHOA look at that!'.    Didn't happen.

[Hetz]

Motorstorm Demo was a blast.    Download was easy, though I don't think I could leave the download screen without canceling the download.

Blueray --   maybe I was exhausted after midnight, or perhaps I just have an untrained eye, but Talledega Nights didn't look any more crisp or detailed than my regular dvd's.     I had it running presumably in 720p since I set the PS3 to 720p in the settings.     Unless there's a separate setting for the movies or something.    /shrug.     I just couldn't tell a difference, and I was expecting to say 'WHOA look at that!'.    Didn't happen.

Supposedly, the PS3 won't output Blu-Ray movies at 720p, only 1080p/i or 480p. Try setting the PS3 to output 1080i and see if that makes a difference.

[msduncan]

Motorstorm Demo was a blast.    Download was easy, though I don't think I could leave the download screen without canceling the download.

Blueray --   maybe I was exhausted after midnight, or perhaps I just have an untrained eye, but Talledega Nights didn't look any more crisp or detailed than my regular dvd's.     I had it running presumably in 720p since I set the PS3 to 720p in the settings.     Unless there's a separate setting for the movies or something.    /shrug.     I just couldn't tell a difference, and I was expecting to say 'WHOA look at that!'.    Didn't happen.

Supposedly, the PS3 won't output Blu-Ray movies at 720p, only 1080p/i or 480p. Try setting the PS3 to output 1080i and see if that makes a difference.

Ah... is this the scaling thing everyone was talking about?   If so are they working on a fix?    I'll try 1080i tonight.

[Kevin Grey]

Ah... is this the scaling thing everyone was talking about?   If so are they working on a fix?    I'll try 1080i tonight.

Hopefully they will come up with a fix, though Sony has not promised anything (much less acknowledged an issue).  The problem, as I understand it, is that they didn't include a hardware scaler.  So they are depending on your set's scaler to convert the 1080i information to 720p. 

[Misguided]

At this point I had to stop for a night until I got down to Circuit City to find a PS2 component cable.   Found it for $24 bucks.   They wanted a LOT more for the PS3 version.

I need a definitive answer on this:

A PS2 video cable works with PS3?
Any other PS2 stuff that will work?

[Farscry]

Supposedly, the PS3 won't output Blu-Ray movies at 720p, only 1080p/i or 480p. Try setting the PS3 to output 1080i and see if that makes a difference.

Seriously? I thought this only affected games; I didn't think they had this problem with movies too. Sony really needs to get that fixed, even if only for Blu-Ray movie playback for the time being.

[Hetz]

At this point I had to stop for a night until I got down to Circuit City to find a PS2 component cable.   Found it for $24 bucks.   They wanted a LOT more for the PS3 version.

I need a definitive answer on this:

A PS2 video cable works with PS3?
Any other PS2 stuff that will work?

Yes, the PS2 cables will work.

Yes, things like the Eyetoy work just fine with the PS3. Also there are some adapters out now that let you use the PS2 controllers with the PS3.

[Kevin Grey]

Supposedly, the PS3 won't output Blu-Ray movies at 720p, only 1080p/i or 480p. Try setting the PS3 to output 1080i and see if that makes a difference.

Seriously? I thought this only affected games; I didn't think they had this problem with movies too. Sony really needs to get that fixed, even if only for Blu-Ray movie playback for the time being.

Two separate problems (with the same root cause):

1) If you set the PS3 to output 1080i and the game itself doesn't support 1080i natively (which Resistance and Motorstorm do not) then the PS3 will downgrade it to 480p.

2) If you set PS3 to output 720p  and try and watch a Bluray movie then the PS3 will drop the output down to 480p.

So for gaming you probably want the output set to 720p and for Bluray you want it set for 1080i.  Just awful stuff. 

The root cause is lack of a scaler.

[msduncan]

Supposedly, the PS3 won't output Blu-Ray movies at 720p, only 1080p/i or 480p. Try setting the PS3 to output 1080i and see if that makes a difference.

Seriously? I thought this only affected games; I didn't think they had this problem with movies too. Sony really needs to get that fixed, even if only for Blu-Ray movie playback for the time being.

Two separate problems (with the same root cause):

1) If you set the PS3 to output 1080i and the game itself doesn't support 1080i natively (which Resistance and Motorstorm do not) then the PS3 will downgrade it to 480p.

2) If you set PS3 to output 720p  and try and watch a Bluray movie then the PS3 will drop the output down to 480p.

So for gaming you probably want the output set to 720p and for Bluray you want it set for 1080i.  Just awful stuff. 

The root cause is lack of a scaler.

At the very least they could software update a script that would decide if you were in movie mode or game mode and adjust accordingly.     In other words if you had it set for 1080i for movies, it could either automatically or prompt you before you load a game what resolution you wanted to use.

[Kevin Grey]

At the very least they could software update a script that would decide if you were in movie mode or game mode and adjust accordingly.     In other words if you had it set for 1080i for movies, it could either automatically or prompt you before you load a game what resolution you wanted to use.

Yup.  All they really need to do is establish a preference resolution- ie check all the resolutions that your display supports but establish what your preferred resolution is (720p or 1080i) so it tries that first and then moves down the list from 1080i down if the preferred res isn't supported. 

[Louis Cypher]

So basically if you want to watch blueray you have to go into the PS3 settings and chage it to 1080i (for watching movies)), and if you wanted to play games(in high def), change it back to 720p? becasue my tv does 1080i or 720p.  I really want a ps3 because obviously I no other bills to pay I just obviously want the best pic i can get out of the ps3.  This problem has been holding me back from getting one, if its just a matter of changing the settings, well its not that big of a deal to me.

[gellar]

So basically if you want to watch blueray you have to go into the PS3 settings and chage it to 1080i (for watching movies)), and if you wanted to play games(in high def), change it back to 720p? becasue my tv does 1080i or 720p.  I really want a ps3 because obviously I no other bills to pay I just obviously want the best pic i can get out of the ps3.  This problem has been holding me back from getting one, if its just a matter of changing the settings, well its not that big of a deal to me.

I have every resolution my TV accepts checked (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i) and everything works just fine.  The only "issue" is that if a game happens to support both 720p and 1080i, it will run at 1080i which *may* not be optimal if you prefer 720p over 1080i for games.

I, personally, don't give a hoot.

gellar

[Kevin Grey]

I have every resolution my TV accepts checked (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i) and everything works just fine.  The only "issue" is that if a game happens to support both 720p and 1080i, it will run at 1080i which *may* not be optimal if you prefer 720p over 1080i for games.

I, personally, don't give a hoot.

gellar

Yeah, that's the piece of the puzzle I forgot to mention.  If you check multiple resolutions (720p, 1080i), it assumes that you always want 1080i if it's available. 

[Lee]

720p is better than 1080i? I run my 360 in the latter.

[gellar]

720p is better than 1080i? I run my 360 in the latter.

Theoretically, 720p has 60fps vs the 30fps of 1080i.  In practice, I bet you couldn't tell the bloody difference.

gellar

[Arkon]

I much preferred the image on my 360 at 1080i over 720p on every game I have tried thusfar.

[disarm]

720p is better than 1080i? I run my 360 in the latter.

Theoretically, 720p has 60fps vs the 30fps of 1080i.  In practice, I bet you couldn't tell the bloody difference.

gellar

720p may have more fps, but it has fewer lines of resolution...gain in one number, lose in another.  that still doesn't mean anyone can tell a difference though...

[Farscry]

1080i/p actually has a fairly significant resolution gain over 720p. However, most lcd hdtv's sold up until recently don't actually display a native resolution 1080i/p image, but rather a 1080 image scaled down to 720p resolution. I'm not sure about other television types, as I was only interested in lcd when I researched to purchase mine (I prefer lcd over plasma).

[edit]here ya go; there's a diagram showing resolution comparisons here as well as a brief write-up on the differences:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p#720p_versus_1080i

[Louis Cypher]

I much preferred the image on my 360 at 1080i over 720p on every game I have tried thusfar.

I agree, the colors seem more vibrant

[msduncan]

Blueray:    Switched to 1080i, and it does seem a little sharper than regular DVD.    I still don't see what all the fuss is about though.

PS2 games:   Can you say Jaggies on Kingdom Hearts 2?    Is there an optimum resolution for PS2 games or something that will reduce the effect?   The reports of the PS2 games looking like poo poo actually ring a bit true if I have everything set correctly.   

[The Grue]

Blueray:    Switched to 1080i, and it does seem a little sharper than regular DVD.    I still don't see what all the fuss is about though.

PS2 games:   Can you say Jaggies on Kingdom Hearts 2?    Is there an optimum resolution for PS2 games or something that will reduce the effect?   The reports of the PS2 games looking like poo poo actually ring a bit true if I have everything set correctly.   

I believe I read somewhere that if you set the PS3 to 480i before launching the PS2 game, they look a ton better.

[mikeg]

So basically if you want to watch blueray you have to go into the PS3 settings and chage it to 1080i (for watching movies)), and if you wanted to play games(in high def), change it back to 720p? becasue my tv does 1080i or 720p.  I really want a ps3 because obviously I no other bills to pay I just obviously want the best pic i can get out of the ps3.  This problem has been holding me back from getting one, if its just a matter of changing the settings, well its not that big of a deal to me.

I don't have an HD tv yet and won't be getting one any time soon I am sure, but that has nothing with me not wanting a PS3 yet.  I have no doubt that HD gaming would look much better than my SDTV, but the difference I think will add little to my liking the gameplay.  I am waiting quite patiently simply because there aren't must-play games out yet.  Put those PS3-only must-have games out there and I will grab one irregardless of 720, 1080 or any other resolution.

[Hetz]

Blueray:    Switched to 1080i, and it does seem a little sharper than regular DVD.    I still don't see what all the fuss is about though.

What movie are you watching? If it's the pack-in with the PS3, Talladega Nights....then get a better Blu-Ray movie before you write it off. I don't know why Sony put that in with the PS3, cause it is one of the worst transfers out on Blu-Ray right now.

Kingdom of Heaven: Directors Cut and Ice Age 2 look amazing, compared to their DVD counterparts.

[msduncan]

Blueray:    Switched to 1080i, and it does seem a little sharper than regular DVD.    I still don't see what all the fuss is about though.

PS2 games:   Can you say Jaggies on Kingdom Hearts 2?    Is there an optimum resolution for PS2 games or something that will reduce the effect?   The reports of the PS2 games looking like poo poo actually ring a bit true if I have everything set correctly.   

I believe I read somewhere that if you set the PS3 to 480i before launching the PS2 game, they look a ton better.

Ah ok.  I'll try it!   Hope it works better.

[msduncan]

Blueray:    Switched to 1080i, and it does seem a little sharper than regular DVD.    I still don't see what all the fuss is about though.

What movie are you watching? If it's the pack-in with the PS3, Talladega Nights....then get a better Blu-Ray movie before you write it off. I don't know why Sony put that in with the PS3, cause it is one of the worst transfers out on Blu-Ray right now.

Kingdom of Heaven: Directors Cut and Ice Age 2 look amazing, compared to their DVD counterparts.

Ok cool Hetz.  I'll pick up one of those to see what's what.

[mikeg]

Went to Best Buy today to get R6Vegas for $39 and they had PS3's in stock.  Just thought it kind of amazing is all.

[Hetz]

Went to Best Buy today to get R6Vegas for $39 and they had PS3's in stock.  Just thought it kind of amazing is all.

All Best Buys have them today. They have at least 25 per store. It's in their weekly ad.

[Hetz]

The buzz is that many Best Buys got quite a few more than 25. Seems like 40 is the average number per store. Kudos to Sony for sorting out the production issues and getting these into stores!



and yes, there were lines today as well....except this time, they were not for EBay scalpers...but gamers.   

[The Grue]

The buzz is that many Best Buys got quite a few more than 25. Kudos to Sony for sorting out the production issues and getting these into stores!

I feel sorry for them because those are just going to sit there.  They missed the big window.  I saw a few at Wal Mart today.  Now that Christmas is over, finding people to drop $500+ on a system is going to be tough, especially with the lack of games.  I will probably pick one up in the next few months, though, because I am a video game whore and I have a problem.

[Hetz]

The buzz is that many Best Buys got quite a few more than 25. Kudos to Sony for sorting out the production issues and getting these into stores!

I feel sorry for them because those are just going to sit there.  They missed the big window.  I saw a few at Wal Mart today.  Now that Christmas is over, finding people to drop $500+ on a system is going to be tough, especially with the lack of games.

They may sit there longer than they would have at Christmas, but I am sure Sony is glad to have them in stores to be sold. Come March, when the next big wave of games is out....they should have plenty to go around! 

[WinoMcCougarstein]

They only got the 60gig systems in today right?  I am somewhat interested in a 20gig system.

[CrayolaSmoker]

At 1800 this evening, the local Best Buy still had 4 of the 60GB PS3s on the shelf.

[semiconscious]

call it 'reverse forum effect'...

tho i've completely avoided any/all excitement/discussions up here regarding anything having to do with next-gen, i must admit to've gotten pretty tired of the topic-after-topic, enormous amount of sony/ps3 bashing that's occurred the last while (& was glad the mods finally saw fit to 'temper' it all recently). while i personally swore off all microsoft products about 4-5 years ago, i've never really felt the need to trash them - not so sure what the point would be...

anyway, what with my standard def tv & my complete lack of interest in available titles, i figured i'd get a ps3 maybe come springtime, whatever. & yet, when i walked into eb this morning to get something for the psp, i ended up instead walking out with one...

i figure, between demos & ps1 downloads (& the odd ps2 title), i'll have enough to do with it til some interesting stuff arrives. tho lacking the clunky-funky personality of my original-style ps2, it's indeed very pretty, & very quiet...

i think i'll keep it ...

[Hetz]

call it 'reverse forum effect'...

tho i've completely avoided any/all excitement/discussions up here regarding anything having to do with next-gen, i must admit to've gotten pretty tired of the topic-after-topic, enormous amount of sony/ps3 bashing that's occurred the last while (& was glad the mods finally saw fit to 'temper' it all recently). while i personally swore off all microsoft products about 4-5 years ago, i've never really felt the need to trash them - not so sure what the point would be...

anyway, what with my standard def tv & my complete lack of interest in available titles, i figured i'd get a ps3 maybe come springtime, whatever. & yet, when i walked into eb this morning to get something for the psp, i ended up instead walking out with one...

i figure, between demos & ps1 downloads (& the odd ps2 title), i'll have enough to do with it til some interesting stuff arrives. tho lacking the clunky-funky personality of my original-style ps2, it's indeed very pretty, & very quiet...

i think i'll keep it ...

Congrats!

Hope to see you online in a game of Resistance soon. 

[Zero]

They only got the 60gig systems in today right?  I am somewhat interested in a 20gig system.

I was at a Walmart a few hours ago...and they had 5 PS3 60gig systems.  Why are you interested in the 20gig version?  For the money (wi-fi, etc) wouldn't you want the 60gig version?

[Kevin Grey]

They only got the 60gig systems in today right?  I am somewhat interested in a 20gig system.

I was at a Walmart a few hours ago...and they had 5 PS3 60gig systems.  Why are you interested in the 20gig version?  For the money (wi-fi, etc) wouldn't you want the 60gig version?

Wifi is really the only going necessary for the 60 Gig version.  If you've got access to a wired connection there is pretty much  no reason *not* to get the cheaper 20 Gig version.  HDD space isn't a factor since you can just add in your own HDD for cheaper than the additional $100. 

[WinoMcCougarstein]

They only got the 60gig systems in today right?  I am somewhat interested in a 20gig system.

I was at a Walmart a few hours ago...and they had 5 PS3 60gig systems.  Why are you interested in the 20gig version?  For the money (wi-fi, etc) wouldn't you want the 60gig version?

Wifi is really the only going necessary for the 60 Gig version.  If you've got access to a wired connection there is pretty much  no reason *not* to get the cheaper 20 Gig version.  HDD space isn't a factor since you can just add in your own HDD for cheaper than the additional $100. 

Pretty much sums it up for me... thanks!

EDIT:  Quick question... is it possible to go wireless later down the road if you get the 20gig version?

[Kurt Stevens]

call it 'reverse forum effect'...

tho i've completely avoided any/all excitement/discussions up here regarding anything having to do with next-gen, i must admit to've gotten pretty tired of the topic-after-topic, enormous amount of sony/ps3 bashing that's occurred the last while (& was glad the mods finally saw fit to 'temper' it all recently). while i personally swore off all microsoft products about 4-5 years ago, i've never really felt the need to trash them - not so sure what the point would be...

anyway, what with my standard def tv & my complete lack of interest in available titles, i figured i'd get a ps3 maybe come springtime, whatever. & yet, when i walked into eb this morning to get something for the psp, i ended up instead walking out with one...

i figure, between demos & ps1 downloads (& the odd ps2 title), i'll have enough to do with it til some interesting stuff arrives. tho lacking the clunky-funky personality of my original-style ps2, it's indeed very pretty, & very quiet...

i think i'll keep it ...

Your story matches mine except for the fact that I do have an HDTV and I ended up walking out of Best Buy today with a 60gig instead of EB.  I ended up picking up Resistance and an extra controller too. At 12:30 today they still had 15 or so left. I even saw one lone 60gig in Target along with a husband and wife team negotiating over its purchase.  . Today was the first day Ive ever seen a PS3 in a store. I am a little pissed at myself. I managed to grab one of the boxes that didn't have Talledega Nights in it. Oh, well, I've already seen it anyway and it probably isn't something Im going to watch again and again. I did use an Amazon Gift Certificate to pick up Kingdom of Heaven so hopefully that will show off the Blu Ray drive.

On a side note, how easy is it to download the PS1 games to the PSP. That is really something Im interested in doing. It will force me to blow the dust off the PSP. I'd check on the playstation store myself but I cant get my son to stop playing Viva Pinata long enought to log on.

[stiffler]

EDIT:  Quick question... is it possible to go wireless later down the road if you get the 20gig version?

Add a wireless gaming adapter.  They plug into the ethernet port and turn it into wireless.  They work with all your consoles and you can have one for under $50 for an 802.11b Linksys one.