Advice please... PS3

[Olf]

After years of resisting I'm gonna try a PS3. What do I need to know to make sure I'm not taking it back after xmas?

My main interest will be Driving and 3rd person shooters...

I have a 32" screen with DVI and a decent amp and surround.

I have a DVR for recording tele and DVD watching to it won't really be part of my AV set-up unless you know of a reason why it should be?

In the past I have struggled with the controllers and have preferred playing games on a PC with keyboard and mouse... I guess practice makes perfect?

Any advice welcome.

[Steve Evil]

First off, why not consider an XBox 360 as an alternative, the PS3 is still in it's infancy as far as games go and is easily outshone by the 360 as far as racing and 3rd person shooters go.

There isn't a DVI connection for the PS3 that I know of, ideally it should be connected via HDMI, but there are other options, not all of them will give High Definition quality though.

You should consider the PS3 as part of your AV setup as it's a highly capable blu-ray player and does an excellent job of upscaling DVDs.

And yes, practice does make perfect, I'm about as good with a gamepad on any FPS as I ever was with a mouse and keyboard.

[Olf]

Doh! I did mean HDMI not DVI. Okay that good.

I thought the xbox 360 was older technology and also less reliable...?

[scorp]

Olf said:

Doh! I did mean HDMI not DVI. Okay that good.

I thought the xbox 360 was older technology and also less reliable...?

The 360 has better graphics hardware and its CPU isn't that far behind the PS3s. Most developers (programmers) are having real difficulty working with the ps3 because of it's over complicated design so quantity and quality of most games are suffering because of this. Thats not to say its inferior, a few studios with enough time and talent can scrape a decent game out of the system, but this is unfortunately a rare thing.

I work in the video game industry too, so this is not something i read of the internet

[R1 GTR]

Steve Evil said:

There isn't a DVI connection for the PS3 that I know of, ideally it should be connected via HDMI, but there are other options, not all of them will give High Definition quality though.

What about a PS3 HDMI cable + a HDMI to DVI adapter from Maplin?

[scorp]

R1 GTR said:

Steve Evil said:

There isn't a DVI connection for the PS3 that I know of, ideally it should be connected via HDMI, but there are other options, not all of them will give High Definition quality though.

What about a PS3 HDMI cable + a HDMI to DVI adapter from Maplin?

Thats what i use since my TV doesnt even have HDMI. Works fine and is digital too.

[R1 GTR]

scorp said:

R1 GTR said:

Steve Evil said:

There isn't a DVI connection for the PS3 that I know of, ideally it should be connected via HDMI, but there are other options, not all of them will give High Definition quality though.

What about a PS3 HDMI cable + a HDMI to DVI adapter from Maplin?

Thats what i use since my TV doesnt even have HDMI. Works fine and is digital too.

Good job it does work as im going to do that when i get mine. Should work on my Hanns G monitor at 1280*720(?)

[scorp]

R1 GTR said:

Good job it does work as im going to do that when i get mine. Should work on my Hanns G monitor at 1280*720(?)

Thats a good question, it might not as 1280x720 isn't a standard vga-like resolution, nearest one i can think of will be 1280x768.

[R1 GTR]

scorp said:

R1 GTR said:

Good job it does work as im going to do that when i get mine. Should work on my Hanns G monitor at 1280*720(?)

Thats a good question, it might not as 1280x720 isn't a standard vga-like resolution, nearest one i can think of will be 1280x768.

I just assumed it would be 720 for 720p? The monitor supports both 1280*720 and 1280*768 though

ETA: supported resolutions by it: 1440*900, 1280*768, 1280*720, 1152*864, 1024*768 and 800*600

Also, apologies for the thread hi-jack

Edited by R1 GTR on Saturday 8th December 21:20

[scorp]

R1 GTR said:

scorp said:

R1 GTR said:

Good job it does work as im going to do that when i get mine. Should work on my Hanns G monitor at 1280*720(?)

Thats a good question, it might not as 1280x720 isn't a standard vga-like resolution, nearest one i can think of will be 1280x768.

I just assumed it would be 720 for 720p? The monitor supports both 1280*720 and 1280*768 though

ETA: supported resolutions by it: 1440*900, 1280*768, 1280*720, 1152*864, 1024*768 and 800*600

Also, apologies for the thread hi-jack

Edited by R1 GTR on Saturday 8th December 21:20

Sounds good then. Some monitors don't support 1280x720.

[BigAlinEmbra]

You can use a mouse and keyboard with the PS3 if you want.
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2005/0...

[hodgy587]

The only thing you'll need thats not in the box is an HDMI cable as stated and maybe a network cable if you dont have a wireless router.

Games wise id recommend Warhawk, Its a bloody great online 3rd person war em up with tanks, jeeps, planes and dropships in the next update in a week or two. Addictive as hell and only £20 to download.
Others of note are, Ratchet and Clank a beautiful platform shooter thats great fun. Call of duty 4, a short single player game but brilliant online and my current fave Uncharted drakes fortune, a mega pretty adventure game in the vein of tomb raider and Indiana Jones films. (best looking console game ive seen with gameplay to match)

Try not to listen to the Naysayers they seem to be a bit stuck with an idea of the system from 6 months ago and dont realise that things have moved on. Theres plenty of good games now and loads coming over the next few months. Early reports on games like Burnout paradise, Unreal tournament III and devil may cry 4 where the ps3 has been used as the lead platform mean its starting to show its true potential.

Feel free to add me on PSN when your up and running, PSN id is hodgy587.

[Olf]

Cheers hodgy an all. Sounds good. Not sure I'll sure go for the keyboard and mouse - it's about time I got used to the controllers.

Any other tips?

Is the bluray disc the one that blockbusters in the states have backed?

[Polarbert]

Olf said:

What do I need to know to make sure I'm not taking it back after xmas?

An Xbox 360. HTH

[RobDickinson]

scorp said:

R1 GTR said:

Steve Evil said:

There isn't a DVI connection for the PS3 that I know of, ideally it should be connected via HDMI, but there are other options, not all of them will give High Definition quality though.

What about a PS3 HDMI cable + a HDMI to DVI adapter from Maplin?

Thats what i use since my TV doesnt even have HDMI. Works fine and is digital too.

Be carefull with this though.

The DVI por has to accept digital (not all do) and also has to support HDCP too, most dont.

[Riknos]

Olf said:

My main interest will be Driving and 3rd person shooters...

Sounds like you need a 360 then. They have the market completely owned in these two genres. Only games that the 360 seem to lack are RPGs, PS3 being japanese I expect it to have the market in this genre in the future, as yet there is naff all on the 360 for any genre..

[Steve Evil]

Riknos said:

Olf said:

My main interest will be Driving and 3rd person shooters...

Sounds like you need a 360 then. They have the market completely owned in these two genres. Only games that the 360 seem to lack are RPGs, PS3 being japanese I expect it to have the market in this genre in the future, as yet there is naff all on the 360 for any genre..

Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect, Oblivion...

On the way is Lost Odyssey, it's certainly not the RPG desert it was before.

[Silverbullet767]

Also on the Xbox360/reliability 'issue'

New Xbox360's use a new 75nm processor now which runs ALOT cooler, you can tell from the outside of the box if the power consumption reads 175W instead of the 205W older power supplies.

Oh and I have a launch console, no problems as of yet

[OrangeBob55]

hodgy587 said:

Try not to listen to the Naysayers they seem to be a bit stuck with an idea of the system from 6 months ago and dont realise that things have moved on. Theres plenty of good games now and loads coming over the next few months.

Absolutely right! There are enough very good games now to warrant someone buying a PS3 - It did have a slow start, but certainly now there is plenty to keep even the most demanding players busy...

Even some of the early games are still very much worth getting, especially if you are not averse to picking them up pre-owned to save a few quid - Heavenly Sword and Resistance are just two examples.

But the new stuff and the release schedule for the coming months looks very appetising!

Also check out the downloads available when you get your PS3, especially the playable demos - and get a US and Jap account set up to get at their stuff also (search on here or on the web for details - very easy to do).

[scorp]

Silverbullet767 said:

Also on the Xbox360/reliability 'issue'

New Xbox360's use a new 75nm processor now which runs ALOT cooler, you can tell from the outside of the box if the power consumption reads 175W instead of the 205W older power supplies.

Oh and I have a launch console, no problems as of yet

The last time i made such a claim my console died 2 days later