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[JimH]

I took a look at the PlayStation 3 this weekend.  It's got HDMI plugs out that I could use to hook it up to a TV and play games or BluRay DVD's.

Anyone doing this?  Any games you recommend?

[Magic_Randy]

I purchased 2 PS3 for my sons for Christmas. They are pretty incredible devices.

1) Yes, they have HD HDMI outputs.
2) You can also have component outputs (special cable) if you do not have HDMI hookups.  You can also have optical out for the audio (again different cables).
3) You can also have regular A/V output, but these won't be HD outputs (still looks good).
4) The bigger unit (60gb drive) has a wireless connection.  So you can run it through a wireless router.  Don't buy the 20gb unit.
5) It has an internet connection (wired or wireless) with a browser.  You can shop for games, download games, and do other internet browsing.
6) The controller can be wired (which recharges the controller) or wireless.
7) It has a Blu-ray DVD player.  This is the media for the new games.  It also plays old games.  There are some compatibility issues with some of the old games.  These will most likely be resolved through software updates.
It also plays Blu-ray DVD movies and regular DVD movies.
9) I believe it plays CDs/MP3s/DVD-Audio, but I'm not 100% sure of this - the dedicated Sony Blu-ray player will not play these formats.
10) I do not believe the Blu-ray does any upconversion (so it does not improve the regular DVD movies) - the dedicated Sony Blu-ray DVD player does upconversion.
11) The Blu-ray DVD player is rated better then the Samsung dedicated Blu-ray DVD player but not as good as some of the other dedicated Blu-ray players (e.g Panasonic,  Pioneer Elite, Sony).
12) The graphics are very very nice - as you would expect.

I don't know anything about the games.  I gave up video games when my kids first beat me at pong.

[Matt]

Gabe Newell's recent PS3 comments:

“The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted. I’d say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a ‘do over’. Just say, ‘This was a horrible disaster and we’re sorry and we’re going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.’ The happy story is the Wii. I’m betting that by Christmas of next year, the Wii has a larger installed base than the 360. Other people think I’m crazy. I really like everything that Nintendo is doing."

And I think Blu-ray may end up like Sony UMD.  HDVD has been choosen by Microsoft (100,000+ units sold), the adult film industry, and is currently more readily available to the PC market.  Hopefully dual-format players will make the debate irrelevant.

Of course, I'm not convinced we need too much more quality than a good DVD if it means lots of DRM silliness.

[iCamp]

If games are what matters (and it should be considering it's primarily a game machine) I'd wait a bit on the PS3.  Let the game library grow beyond the rather pitiful offering which currently exists.  If you need a console now get an Xbox 360 which has a strong line-up of games and a robust online service. 

[glynor]

I'd have to second what Matt said.  Another huge problem with BluRay is the production cost of the discs.  HD-DVD is far more cost effective for the content producers and manufacturers, and I suspect that will become more important as smaller studios start making the switch.

The PS3??

Never underestimate Sony's capacity to mess up a perfectly good piece of hardware with terrible execution and unnecessary (and intentional) obstruction.

Interesting story just came out today about PS3 sales: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5721

The biggest PS3 issue is that if the console was doing well, with the numbers of them they've shipped, you shouldn't be able to get one.  But you can.  They're in stock everywhere now.  Doesn't really bode well.

[Robert Taylor]

I was a long time user of Sony PS1 and I own a PS2 (just about to try and flog it off with all it's games etc).

I used to think the PS1 was an amazing piece of gear. At the time, there was nothing that could touch it (Those were the days when Wipeout and Destrcution Derby ruled). When I bought my PS2, the promises of network use and built in hard drive etc. took ages to appear. When they did, they were less than inspiring and expensive here in Aus. I still enjoyed using my PS2 purely as a games platform. I briefly played with it as a DVD player, but it's inability to play multi-region (without hacks - and I buy quite a few DVDs from overseas), and it's extremely noisy fan stopped that pretty quickly.

When I bought my PS2, I don't think the XBox was out, but when Xbox came along, I thought "there's no way people will go for it over the PS2. The PS2 is way sexier". And, IMO, it is a slicker looking piece of gear. However, about six months ago, I decided to grab an xbox (they are really cheap now), and modify it (new case, modchip, 250Gb hard drive etc), and I now believe it's a far superior machine to the PS2.

Now the Xbox 360 is out, and PS3 is just around the corner (here in Aus anyways), and I find myself thinking that the xbox 360 is a far slicker design than the PS3. MS have taken a leaf out of the ipod design book, while the PS3 looks like a PS2 inside a hamburger bun. Sony are just trying to introduce their gaming network now, while xbox-live has been around for a while now.

I used to say to people "Ya know, I'd never buy any piece of Sony gear, apart from my playstation". Now I'd say "Ya know, I'd never buy any piece of Sony gear". I hate they way they try to force people to use their tech, even if it's not as smart a design as others on the market. I used to think they were cutting edge, now I just think they're cutting the cheese...

[glynor]

LunchmeatVoom, I agree with you in almost every single way, except one.

Sony displays are still very nice.  Their projectors are hard to beat, and they make a number of very nice (though expensive) High Def LCD Panel displays.  It's almost as if the Sony Displays business unit is a different company entirely...

[KingSparta]

I Think UnReal Tournament 2007 Will Be Out Soon.

[BartMan01]

I don't think the PS3 sales issues have anything to do with the quality of the hardware.  They have to do with the PRICE.  It is a video game console that costs $600 for the 'full' version.  The 'mass' market is just not ready to drop that kind of cash on a gaming console - especially when you can get a similar product from a competitor (the 360) for 30% less, and a 'lower end' Wii for much less.

Much like video cards - I see it only selling to the hard-core market until the price comes down quite a bit.

[Robert Taylor]

Glynor,

I'm glad you almost agree with me   (it's funny how we always like people who agree with us!!)

I wasn't really saying that their stuff is not of a high quality. Where they choose, they can make very good equipment indeed (although, as you say, the good stuff is expensive). Even the PS3 looks like a nicely engineered piece of gear. It just looks kinda "silly". Man, I would hate to be one of those people who try to come up with "The Next Big Thing", or "This Weeks Look"(tm).

It's just that they seem to be missing the mark in a lot of cases somehow. Look at their range of laptops. Would you say they are good value for money? I certainly wouldn't. And yet I know plenty of people who would go and buy one.

Maybe it's because the company is so huge, I mean how can you manage and control such a large corporation in any kind of efficient way? I guess as a company increases in size, it becomes more and more like a government.

ie.

No one wants to accept repsonsibility for any actions
No one wants to be the one to make a crucial decision (in case they're blamed later)
All decisions are made by committee, so they take ages to make one
They want to seem like "your friend", when in reality, the only interests they have at heart are their own
When questioned, they respond with answers to some other question

I could go on for hours...

[Robert Taylor]

Price for the top model of the PS3 here in Aus is apparently going to be $995

What a bargain...

[datdude]

Glynor,

I'm glad you almost agree with me   (it's funny how we always like people who agree with us!!)

I wasn't really saying that their stuff is not of a high quality. Where they choose, they can make very good equipment indeed (although, as you say, the good stuff is expensive). Even the PS3 looks like a nicely engineered piece of gear. It just looks kinda "silly". Man, I would hate to be one of those people who try to come up with "The Next Big Thing", or "This Weeks Look"(tm).

It's just that they seem to be missing the mark in a lot of cases somehow. Look at their range of laptops. Would you say they are good value for money? I certainly wouldn't. And yet I know plenty of people who would go and buy one.

Maybe it's because the company is so huge, I mean how can you manage and control such a large corporation in any kind of efficient way? I guess as a company increases in size, it becomes more and more like a government.

ie.

No one wants to accept repsonsibility for any actions
No one wants to be the one to make a crucial decision (in case they're blamed later)
All decisions are made by committee, so they take ages to make one
They want to seem like "your friend", when in reality, the only interests they have at heart are their own
When questioned, they respond with answers to some other question

I could go on for hours...

I work fairly closely with Microsoft on the IIS side and their more like the feudal system with everyone kisssing ass to become a Lord.  Allthough I have never worked at a large ocmpany, I can only imagine that is is hugely political that the bottom line becomes secondary and only comes into play at the day of reconning if that ever comes for who's ever ass it may be if they haven't allready moved on.

[jgreen]

I like to remember Sony as the company that brought the world the Walkman.  Morita's reasoning at the time was that people had music in their homes, and they had music in their cars, but they didn't yet have music when walking from their homes to their cars.

Nowadays, Sony's difficulty bringing out ANY useful gadget is fairly analogous to GM's difficulties bringing out the Fiero, where the Corvette division took one look at the plans for an economical, sporty coupe and killed the project, saying it would cannabalize Corvette sales.

Sony is no longer a (relevant) gadget company, IMO.  The primary driver of their profits is content (the thing that DRM hooks onto), and they own 50% of the movies out there.  So you can forget them bringing out any sort of media-related gadget that's any more revolutionary than the Fiero--the content side of the company simply won't allow it.

And Glynor, the reason their monitors are still world-class is simply that the content side hasn't gotten around to seeing them as a threat.  But you just wait and see.  Their catalog of 50% of the world's movies will be protected, no matter what the cost to innovation. 

[glynor]

I agree completely.  The root of all of their problems is that they "married the enemy".

It's hard to believe that at one time, they actually were fighting the good fight.  Sony couldn't release a Walkman now.  If they did, it'd be broken to the point of being unusable for real content, all in the pursuit of the illusive dream of an all-Sony media ecosystem that no consumer wants.

And I certainly don't think the PS3 is bad tech.  I think it's broken tech... And tech that sacrificed too much to the BluRay pipe dream (which was itself inspired by the DRM-inspired lust of the content people for reselling the same content over and over)... And tech that the average Joe doesn't want or need (and certainly not for $600+)... I also think it was strongly influenced by an arrogance of power.  The PS2 ruled the marketplace, and they thought they had Microsoft and Nintendo whipped, and that the quality of the device they released (and the quality of the developer tools and the experience of using it) didn't matter.  All was sacrificed to (and expected to come from) the Brand God.  Brands can lose their shine quickly though, especially in the tech sector.  Just ask Gateway.

We will see.  I just think that digital downloads are the way of the future, and everyone but the RIAA/MPAA seems to know it.

[Magic_Randy]

I mostly agree with all of the comments regarding Sony.  Time will tell what happens with the PS3.  All I can tell you is my kids love the unit.  Of course they didn't have to pay for them.  $600 is a lot of money.