Finally, after a year and seven months of trying to get the Playstation 3, I can finally call it my own. Along with it, I bought Motorstorm, Pain, and Gran Turismo 5:Prologue. Coming June 12th of this year is the biggest game of 2008, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. All seemingly big games for the PS3 except for PAIN of couse, Motorstorm and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue were neither critically acclaimed nor critically smashed, with both bringing in favorable reviews.
Originally in 2005, the Playstation 3 was supposed to be the biggest console for Sony and a more powerful force for their competitors the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii (AKA Revolution) with showing some games that appeared to be lifelike like Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, and The Getaway 3. After a while, the Playstation 3 ran into some trouble with it’s E3 2006 debacle, Killzone 2 not living up to it’s original graphics shown in 2005, Heavy Rain falling out of the radar, Getaway 3 being cancelled/postponed. Especially the hefty price tag for owning the system that was supposed to come out later that same year where they shot themselves in the foot with the E3 2006 presentation. $599 US for the 60 GB and $499 US for the 20 GB versions of the Playstation 3. This created quite a stir among the gaming community and the Playstation fans complaining about the price of the game. Catching his eyes, head of Sony Game Department, Ken Kutaragi said in defense of the $600 price tag, “If you consider the PlayStation 3 a toy, then yes, it is an expensive toy. However, it is more than a toy. It is a PlayStation 3. And it is the only PlayStation 3. I hope that those who understand this will gladly purchase it.”
The year 2006 couldn’t have gotten any worse for Sony. Their future were looking bleak as games continued to slip under the radar like Afrika and the consumers continued to grow restless as the year wears on with the price tag creating unrest. Even rumors of the Playstation 3 being Sony’s last console despite the Playstation 9 ad that Sony released to hype the launch of their new Playstation 2 in 2000. The Playstation 3 launched in November 17, 2006. Surprisingly, the launch was a success, selling 687,300 consoles in the US compared to their rival’s Xbox 360’s which launched a full year before with 607, 343.
“Speaking to Japanese economic website Toyo Keizai, he stated that Sony s aim for PS3 is for consumers to think to themselves I will work more hours to buy one . We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else.”
-Ken Kutaragi on defending the PS3 Price Tag
As the years progressed for Sony, the Playstation 3 slowly got it’s rythm with releases of promising games and successful exclusives like Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortunes. Sales continued to slowly pick up after months of miserable console sales as it recently surpassed it’s main rival’s total sales in the United Kingdom. With Metal Gear Solid 4 just around the corner, already it’s getting high scores from reviewers such as IGN (UK) and GamePro. The 2008 is slowly looking to be Sony’s year of the Playstation 3 and now that I have my big hands on the PS3, it is now time to show it off.
“If you’ve ever loved any one of the Metal Gear games, or any moments from the series, there will come a moment when MGS 4 will send your spirits soaring. If you’ve loved them all, well then there’ll be many, many more. It’s a masterpiece.”
–IGN UK’s review of Metal Gear Solid 4
As I opened the box, my heart was filled with glee, the same kind of glee I would feel when I open my Christmas gifts as a child wondering what it looks like inside, hoping to get your dirty hands on the prize you hardly earned by acting good for the entire year. Pulling out an A/V cable which was really disheartening, since the fact the Playstation 3 is a high definition console. A/V cable just doesn’t really cut it to be able to access high definition graphics as it doesn’t offer 720p, 1080i or 1080p, luckily I spent 3 bucks on a HDMI cable which allows me to get 1080p on my HDTV. Then I pulled out the infamous Sixaxis controller. Why is it infamous? The lack of rumble. Rumble controllers had been an integral part of gaming since Starfox 64 (packaged with a rumble pack add-on) was released on the Nintendo 64 and games since then had rumble. The Sixaxis controller replaced rumble with a built-in motion sensor which offered “six degrees of motion.” Unfortunately it failed miserably. Again, I was lucky enough to dish out 55 bucks on the newly released Dualshock 3 that has rumble and the sixaxis. Finally, here comes the PS3 and I put my hands around the light styrofoam wrapping… what the… it’s THAT heavy? Sure the first XBox was weighing in at eight pounds but this weighs more than that. Weight aside, the machine is rather… large and the look isn’t really that appealing. Lugging the heavyweight to my TV stand with the 360 and the Wii, I plug in power cord, plug in the HDMI cable to the TV and I turn it on for the first time.
“The controls in Metal Gear Solid 3 got a little complex, so you’ll have a little more direct control in Metal Gear Solid 4,that said, I miss the rumble and even now I hope it will come back.”
— Hideo Kojima Director/Producer/Creator of Metal Gear series on Sixaxis controllers lack of rumble
As the words Playstation 3 appears on screen with a quick loud start-up jingle, I was immediately prompted to set up my account for my Playstation 3 use. After filling out some information and recieving a quick (not really) update I was taken to the main dashboard of the Playstation 3. At first it may look rather intimidating but it is surprisingly simple to use. Immediately I create my Playstation Network (PSN) account just by filling out some information just the same way you’re signing up to be a member on a website. As soon as I was done setting up my A_Zombie1223 account, I reach over to my copy of Motorstorm and pop it in hoping to gain some massive fun out of it. That I did. The game delivers my expectatations (a moderate expecatation) but I will explain more about Motorstorm in my upcoming review.
Moving on from the gaming features, I checked out the music visualizer that the console offers when you stream music on the PS3. Perhaps one of the coolest visualizer that I’ve ever seen is the space visualizer. Unlike any “funkadelic” visualizer with some trippy colors and the likes, this shows a very relaxing view of the planet Earth.
With the right music, this visualizer can easily get your mind at ease. Watching a 3-D view of our beautiful planet is a sight to truly love. Both relaxing and fun to watch, it’s something that I could never get tired of. Personally, I find it the best visualizer I’ve ever seen.
One of the biggest downside for the Playstation 3 is the Playstation Network. PSN is an online service used for the Playstaion 3 and the Playstation Portable which is just like the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live. The biggest argument I have for the PSN is the poor servers. The downloads take a very long time and it could be a very major pain in the ass. I managed to download the full game of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue which weighed in at 1.8 gb only for it to finish downloading in nearly EIGHT HOURS. But unlike Xbox Live which I’m paying 8 bucks a month, PSN is free.
The Dualshock 3 controller is surprisingly light. Lighter than the 360 controller but personally I find the 360 controller still offers the best comfort. The DS3 controller doesn’t stray far from the DS2 design. The original design for the Playstation 3 was not only an embarrassment but a complete joke to be honest. The R2 and L2 triggers feel hard to pull but after a while it became easier to pull down. The analog sticks were sensitive than it’s DS2 counterpart and the PS logo button in the middle picks up on the 360’s Guide Button on thier controller where they could access the 360’s features during gameplay.
The Dualshock 2 for the Playstation 2
The Original Playstation 3 Controller (scrapped)
The Dualshock 3/Sixaxis Controller
All in all, the PS3 is starting to become one of my favorite console that I’ve ever owned. Unless Sony gets the PSN working better, the 360 will regain my attention once I complete Metal Gear Solid 4. The downloads for game updates is very annoying. But it could be a well spent 500 bucks I’ve spent.
-Angel
The Life of a Deaf Blind Texan 