I've got a PS3!

[Zero]

I heard entire UK froze over. Another electric heater isnt a bad thing for now i guess. enjoy your extra source of heat.

my old desktop, aside from relieving stress by kicking the **** out of it, kept my room warm. :fuzzy: just thinking about tose winter times~

btw i always thouhgt of you as a dual console owner... is this ur first ps3???

[DrSpike]

Yeah, there's been no reason until recently to get one.

I've been doing lots of testing tonight. I think my existing DVD player edges the PS3 on SD DVD playback (I don't have another Blu-ray machine to test unfortunately) but the PS3 edges it on my burnt .avi/mpeg files etc. I haven't tested as much, but the PS3 looks like it edges the 360 on streamed .avi/mpeg files as well.

At one point I envisaged playing all media content on the PS3, but I think I'll keep my standalone DVD player for now.

[Asher]

There are settings in the absurdly retardedly designed playback menu for SD upconversion settings -- try those. Depending on the data source you can do a lot of things including noise reduction, etc.

What is your PSN name?

[DrSpike]

DaHorde (same as on the 360).

I've tried those upconversion settings. The PS3 is pretty good in this regard, and I had a lot of success upscaling the divx files I tested. Less so on DVDs though (relative to other upscaling options that is).

I guess it makes sense that Sony would focus on Blu-Ray quality not SD DVD quality. I've got room in my AV cabinet to keep my old DVD player so it's not a problem. I can have the PS3 as a spare.

Have you done any streaming tests 360 v PS3?

[DrSpike]

Random PS3 thoughts:

1) I don't really like the PS3 controller very much. It has several dubious design choices, in that the thumbsticks have no indent, the thumbstick placement is last gen (both analog at the bottom), the thumbsticks are too loose, the triggers don't have enough resistance, and it's too light and flimsy. A lot of this is that I am used to the (I would say superior) 360 controller but still, that's a lot of flaws.

2) It's soooooo much quieter than my (old model) 360.

3) The PS3 community is quite funny - most of them seem to think the PS3 has better exclusives.

4) Wireless networking out of the box - nice. Take heed MS.

5) Uncharted 2 seems good so far.

6) The dashboard seems more grown-up than on the 360, though having said that some things like the store seem less well designed.

7) It's really slick for media playback - on top of the strong streaming and a media server application written for the PS3, all the small things like the interface for playing files and the information available are top notch and better than the 360 I'd say.

Overall my early guess is that I'll probably play multi-platform games on the 360 because of Live, the better controller, and because the 360 version usually edges it performance wise. But given the low price of the slim now (£240 I paid), it's totally worth getting one for PS3 exclusives (more good ones coming this year), Blu-Ray's and streaming.

[Quillan]

So, do you plan on getting Heavy Rain?

[DrSpike]

If it's good. There's also God of War3 and Gran Turismo 5 this year, and I expect FFXIII will be better on the PS3.

[Dauphin]

Is GT5 actually coming out?

[DrSpike]

Supposed to be March this year in Japan, then later in Europe/US. And with Forza 3 not being as big a step forward as Forza 2, GT5 has a chance to make the PS3 the best console for racing games.

[Asher]

Random PS3 thoughts:

1) I don't really like the PS3 controller very much. It has several dubious design choices, in that the thumbsticks have no indent, the thumbstick placement is last gen (both analog at the bottom), the thumbsticks are too loose, the triggers don't have enough resistance, and it's too light and flimsy. A lot of this is that I am used to the (I would say superior) 360 controller but still, that's a lot of flaws.

2) It's soooooo much quieter than my (old model) 360.

3) The PS3 community is quite funny - most of them seem to think the PS3 has better exclusives.

4) Wireless networking out of the box - nice. Take heed MS.

5) Uncharted 2 seems good so far.

6) The dashboard seems more grown-up than on the 360, though having said that some things like the store seem less well designed.

7) It's really slick for media playback - on top of the strong streaming and a media server application written for the PS3, all the small things like the interface for playing files and the information available are top notch and better than the 360 I'd say.

Overall my early guess is that I'll probably play multi-platform games on the 360 because of Live, the better controller, and because the 360 version usually edges it performance wise. But given the low price of the slim now (£240 I paid), it's totally worth getting one for PS3 exclusives (more good ones coming this year), Blu-Ray's and streaming.

I pretty much agree with all of this.

[Nikolai]

Asher and Spikie in agreement, that's not an everyday event.

[Asher]

Spike had a couple years to understand my opinions on the PS3 so he can echo them as he starts to use his.

[DrSpike]

Asher and Spikie in agreement, that's not an everyday event.

True, but there are times he starts to see reason. I take personal credit for this evolution.

[Asher]

Supposed to be March this year in Japan, then later in Europe/US. And with Forza 3 not being as big a step forward as Forza 2, GT5 has a chance to make the PS3 the best console for racing games.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/01/sony-continues-to-tease-gamers-with-gran-turismo-5-delays.ars

SHOCKING NEWS!!!!#$

Gran Turismo 5 "delayed" in Japan, release TBA worldwide

Despite the recent promotion and exposure, Sony has removed the March release date for Gran Turismo 5 in Japan... without giving a timeline for release. No such date has ever been given for any other region, which means the release remains in limbo. A troubling development in production, or another hint of a company chasing perfection? Ars explores.

Just when it seemed like Gran Turismo 5 was a soon-to-be reality, Sony dashed the hopes of racing enthusiasts around the globe. Originally set to be released in Japan this March, Sony announced that the release date had been pushed back again, and is refusing to give a new date.

Readers may remember that the game was initially delayed in 2008, with Polyphony Digital saying that its epic racing title probably wouldn't appear on store shelves until some time in 2010. The initial March release date was announced at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show. So what does this mean for the rest of us?

Unsurprisingly, Sony made no mention of what caused the delay—other than saying "circumstances" had something to do with it—though the announcement is a jarring note; the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Demo was released on the PlayStation Network last month, and the prologue version (which was arguably a $40 demo) was released for the American market in 2008.

Sony has been promoting the game as well. Not only did the company recently release box art featuring the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, but Sony also had the game on prominent display at CES last week; Ben spent some time with a 3D version of Gran Turismo 5 and came away with good impressions about the game itself, though he is still not sold on 3D video games in general.

Sony made a point of mentioning that the game will only be delayed in Japan; the North American and European versions of the game won't have their releases delayed. Of course, that would be much more meaningful if those versions had actual release dates other than "TBA." What this means is that there is now no firm estimate anywhere for when we may see the game's release.

Looking back
Gran Turismo 5 was originally announced at E3 2006, with Sony providing sporadic updates and previews of the title since. It will feature realistic mechanical and external damage to the cars (previous titles in the series only featured mechanical damage), approximately 1,000 cars will ultimately be available, and a number of NASCAR vehicles and tracks will be playable. Kazunori Yamauchi revealed that the game had cost $60 million as of last November. Sony is obviously taking the game's development seriously, but we have to wonder if the developers' desire to squeeze so much content into Gran Turismo 5 is now starting to be more of a problem than an asset.

On an odd note, according to Yamauchi in an interview with Eurogamer, "I want to release [the game] as fast as I can... it's at a point we can release it any time we want, but we can always keep working on it. It's very important for us to make sure everything is done perfectly and everything is done in detail."

It would be tempting to call it vaporware if it weren't for the fact that footage has been released regularly and playable demos have been put on display. Not to mention the game's exceedingly high cost, consistent assurances from the lead designer, and its rather long development time. It's clear the game is real, but the question is when the title will be "good enough" for release. In the meantime, Microsoft's Forza 3 is enjoying both critical and commercial success; Turn 10 is likely happy if Polyphony takes all the time in the world to release its competing product.

The fact that Sony didn't even provide a tentative release date with the schedule adjustment is troubling, but at the same time, no one should really be all that surprised with the latest delay: the PSP incarnation of Gran Turismo arrived to the console four years late.

FWIW, GT5 never looked to be a big step up on Forza 3. Maybe you could tell me what was supposed to be better. Last I checked, they only reluctantly implemented damage modeling and the last previews I saw showed it to be comically bad at damage modeling in particular. I'm sure it'll be a gorgeous game and will have its hardcore fanboys praising the physics of it, but the bottom line is I don't see what's special.

[DrSpike]

@ the new delays.

I don't think Forza 3 is bad, it's just I was hoping for more given how amazing Forza 2 was. You know how much I played that game.

I wouldn't expect players like yourself to pick it up but the fact 99% of class/track combos are dominated by quite similar feeling AWD cars undermines it a bit for me. In some ways the physics are better and more realistic (it's easier to drive, but as hard as ever to set the fastest times) but there isn't as much diversity in hotlapping across the classes now. And there are lots of small niggles - MP options for instance, where they've removed public lobbies and replaced them with matchmaking hoppers (which covered only a few classes on release, bizarrely). And shift glitching to keep revs is now basically standard for most classes if you want to compete at the top level.

It's a good game, and the new tracks are great. I'll come back to it for sure, but I've no great urge to play it right now.