PLAYSTATION®3

[toblix]

Okay bitches, I just ordered a PS3. It had better be fucking awesome at that price. I also got Uncharted, and I'm going to get MGS4 (and possibly LBP). What other gems are available for this expensive gaming platform I mean entertainment platform, uh, system?

Edited October 15, 2008 by toblix

[n0wak]

Okay bitches, I just ordered a PS3. It had better be fucking awesome at that price. I also got Uncharted, and I'm going to get MGS4 (and possibly LBP). What other gems are available for this expensive gaming platform I mean entertainment platform, uh, system?

The proper term is PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

I don't have one yet (I will when I get back) but there's a bunch of PSN stuff you can buy without ever going to a store: Burnout Paradise, WipeOut HD, Everyday Shooter, Pixeljunk Eden, Tekken 5 DR, other stuff.

[Scrobbs]

I really enjoyed Drake - which suprised me. It's quite short, but enjoyable.

MGS - you will like if you've loved the others.

Wipeout:HD - Ace.

The Last Guy - good fun.

Tekken 5: Dark resurrection - online tekken - 'nuff said.

[miffy495]

Ratchet & Clank Future. Same as the earlier ones, but I still really liked it.

Gran Turismo 5. My first GT. Really awesome.

WipEout HD. Ok, I give. After playing a bunch more the other day, my initial reaction was dead wrong.

All the downloadable stuff mentioned is also pretty rad, although I have yet to play more than the demo for The Last Guy, I really want to drop a tenner on it pretty soon. Everyday Shooter and PixelJunk Eden in particular are fantastic. PixelJunk Monsters needs some love as well. Bloody addictive little tower defense game.

[Zaarin]

You can play Blu-ray discs on it. That's the best thing about it at the moment.

[toblix]

Without having played it, I assume MGS4 is better than any Blu-ray (or BLURAY COMPUTER ENTERAINMENT DISC or whatever)

[miffy495]

Very true. And ignoring the troll-ish aspects of that comment, I'll add that the first two things I bought for the PS3 were Uncharted and Blade Runner: The Final Cut on BRD. Nothing wrong with having a Blu Ray player. If you have the equipment for it, it's nice to have some High Definition Blade Runner around. (Although I will admit it feels a bit odd supporting HD while listening to my vinyl collection...)

[toblix]

I have this urge to avoid buying BluRay movies. It feels like buying something from Steam -- paying for something I'm not really in control of and may disappear at any moment.

[Scrobbs]

Some friends gave me Planet Earth on Blu-Ray for my birthday. The quality is staggering - it appears better than HD-DVD.

However, I do have one bug-bear with the playstation BR player...when there is a panning shot, or a helicopter flying between two peaks and the mountain range behind it opening up, there is a tiny bit of frame stutter...almost like it drops from 24FPS to 22 or 23. I think the PS3 is just not capable of chucking the data at the TV fast enough. It happens very rarely, although is a little disappointing.

[toblix]

when there is a panning shot, or a helicopter flying between two peaks and the mountain range behind it opening up

Does it work without the helicopter?

[Scrobbs]

Do you mean is there any stuttering when the helicopter is not involved? No.

[toblix]

Could it be that it's just the sound of the helicopter rotor? It makes sort of a chopping sound.

Have you tried watching Japanese cooking shows on it?

[Roderick]

I'd mainly buy a PS3 for the Blu-Ray movies. I just die a little bit inside thinking about having to buy The Dark Knight and There Will Be Blood in anything less than pristine HD quality.

As far as games are concerned, with the advent of LittleBigPlanet (and I can't not think of Little Big Adventure every time I see that name) the PS3 finally has something that caught my attention. I mean, really, if MGS4 isn't your thing, then there was just nothing else that really shone [that wasn't also available on the 360].

[toblix]

Except Uncharted

[Scrobbs]

Could it be that it's just the sound of the helicopter rotor? It makes sort of a chopping sound.

Have you tried watching Japanese cooking shows on it?

Now I can be fairly subtle sometimes when taking the piss, but you really have lost me there

[toblix]

I tried doing a thing with the chopping. Maybe it didn't go so well.

[Scrobbs]

I did suspect you on the previous post as well, but took it at face value

[miffy495]

Hell, I laughed. I say toblix scored a point or so there.

[Zaarin]

And ignoring the troll-ish aspects of that comment

Troll-ish, my arse. He asked what gems are available on it, and I was honest according to my own opinion (I don't have to write IMBOHOHOHO behind every sentence, do I?). There are no games on the PS3 I find interesting. However, I do like movies and especially when they're in HD.

So there.

[Thrik]

Some friends gave me Planet Earth on Blu-Ray for my birthday. The quality is staggering - it appears better than HD-DVD.

However, I do have one bug-bear with the playstation BR player...when there is a panning shot, or a helicopter flying between two peaks and the mountain range behind it opening up, there is a tiny bit of frame stutter...almost like it drops from 24FPS to 22 or 23. I think the PS3 is just not capable of chucking the data at the TV fast enough. It happens very rarely, although is a little disappointing.

Sure that's not your TV rather than the PS3? Frame stutter is generally something associated with LCD as plasma TVs, not players. I've never actually heard of a player causing anything like you describe, nor have I noticed it on my own PS3. In contrast, I've heard many reports of TVs dropping frames and having stuttering during smooth panning scenes.

There's not really any reason why the PS3 wouldn't be able to chuck the data at the TV fast enough. It's HDMI, it has more than enough hardware to handle the task in every respect, and has a solid software back-end.

[Zaarin]

Planet Earth's a BBC production, isn't it? They tend to do their productions in 1080i50 or 1080p25 and because not all Blu-ray players can play back 50Hz material (even though it's part of the standard), they've converted their Blu-ray releases to 1080i60.

Could be that the conversion is sucky or that there's a weak de-interlacer somewhere in your setup. It tends to be the worst component, together with the speakers, on a lot of flat screen TVs.

[Scrobbs]

Hmm, that's food for thought.

My LCD is 2 years old now, 720p Samsung screen. I've never seen it before on that - although that's not to say it can't be that. I hope it is, in a way.

[toblix]

Oh, and I also got a Wii.

[Cigol]

Regarding the subtle mockery it's apparently back to just plain old PlayStation now (?) and shamelessly drawing attention to it's great legacy in order to remind those ship jumping, money grabbing, third-party whores that there is more to life than multi-platform gaming GODAMNIT!

So anyway, games.

Metal Gear Solid 4

In spite of the negativity (born from jealousy) MGS4 is absolutely frikkin awesome. A goosebumps inducing, nostalgic roller-coaster ride with sumptuous graphics, innovative gameplay, long cut-scenes, attractive ladies, heroic old men and gadgets galore. It's got it all, and it's just so tragic to know the only people who will ever appreciate it are existing fans! I'd rather play MGS4 blindfolded using a keyboard whilst nailed to a cross and being anally probed by my family than actually sit down and play the Force Unleashed properly, like Rodi.

Uncharted Drakes Fortune

Thoroughly entertaining action/adventure game which taps into the whole Indiana Jones shtick. My only complaint is that it's a little formulaic and combat heavy, but it moves along at such a quick pace you never really have time to dwell on it. Its very slick and the games cinematic overtones are probably even more effective than Metal Gear Solid. No Ewoks regrettably.

LittleBigPlanet

Alright, I've not played it, and I actually have some reservations in spite of all the glowing reviews, but it's bound to be good, and I dare say it's going to be great because other (better) people have already done just that! Imagine if you will, Rodi, LBP reconstructions of various Star Wars moments... can we say; 'instant classic'?

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

Miffy likes it so that should be praise high enough. In fact I'm always surprised when people tell me they enjoy GT5 because whilst it's not a full on 'sim' it doesn't do the obvious 'game' thing either. I get annoyed actually at how accepting of GT people can be whilst simultaneously turning their noses up at PC sims. Must be the graphics - which are awesome btw, and makes collecting the lavishly detailed cars highly addictive.

Ratchet & Clank

Okay I'm not a huge fan of these, I liked the platforming elements, but I'm not taken with the combat. That said it's harmless, cutesy, fun with genuinely delightful graphics. Didn't really hold my attention truth be told but for those of you who like this sort of thing...

WipEout HD

We already discussed this in its separate thread. Sure it's cheap, and yeah it might reuse assets from a couple of PSP titles but it's still a fully fledged game in its own right with single and multiplayer components worth playing, and replaying.

Formula One Championship Edition

Hah, alright. I'm making no friends with this but it's a very entertaining F1 game with good graphics and most importantly; a fun, and semi-realistic F1 career mode. I mean they really put some effort into it - which I personally found surprising. I play a lot of PC sim racers (nerrrrrd alert) and I enjoyed this.

[...]

I've never played WarHawk, I'm waiting for the demo to hit the European PSN store. It doesn't look all that enticing from a PC gamers perspective but considering there's a raft of addons and people are still playing it I guess it's worth checking out. Motorstorm was average, I didn't find it particularly fun or innovative, 'wow, different paths?Really?' Heavenly Sword was interesting as I had the same response to that as Yahtzee (not good), but some people swear by it so download the demo and see for yourself. I've not tried Siren, the episodic PSN survival horror title, but heard (mostly) positive thoughts from those who like that sort of thing. Resistance always looked like your average console FPS elevated to a higher status simply because it's not on the PC, hence why I never bothered with it and why its upcoming sequel doesn't exactly pique my interest. I've never played Singstar, and I'm not a teenage girl (with perky breasts) so it might be good but I wouldn't know.

[...]

Burnout Paradise is a multiplatform title, but the fact you can buy it directly off of PSN and install it to your hard-drive grants it some PS3 exclusivity bonus points. Shit, it's nice to have full (proper) games you can start up on a whim without grasping for the disc - and Burnout Paradise is just one of many in a growing trend the PlayStation network is embracing. Yeah, yeah, yadda yadda. I don't care about XBL.

Some cool PSN titles;

Super Stardust HD

Echochrome

FL0W

PixelJunk Eden

PixelJunk Monsters

PixelJunk Racers

Everyday Shooter

Oh, and I also got a Wii.

To keep the PS3 company I suppose?

[miffy495]

A lot of stuff

...Wow. Damn fine list. I don't know what my liking GT5 has to do with anything, but it looks like you've compiled a really great list of what makes the PS3 a good buy. Well played. I actually just downloaded Burnout, and bought a copy of Oblivion because I only ever played a borrowed copy of the PC version for about an hour. Both had the distinct advantage of being $30 and something I've been wanting to check out for a while. Was just about to go play Burnout for the first time, so we'll see what I think about that in a little while.

With regards to Resistance, you pretty much nailed it except that you forgot how awesome the weapons are. The shooting and enemies and pretty much everything else are really generic, but this is an FPS made by the Ratchet & Clank team, which means crazy, crazy weaponry. It actually does quite a bit to pull the game up out of mediocrity and let it stand on its own as a really fun, if shallow, diversion. Worth the discounted price I got it for at any rate. I don't know if I'd pay full price for it, but if you can get it on the cheap I'd definitely consider it.