Not really news, but just a recap:
24 things you need to know about the PS3:
Touch-sensitive power and eject buttons are a nice touch literally
The eject and power on buttons on the face of the PS3 are touch sensitive, not unlike the iPods wheel or the Chocolate phones softkeys. Its a nice, classy addition that helps give the PS3 a more cutting-edge look and feel, especially compared to the somewhat clunky clicky Xbox 360 power and eject buttons. A small detail, perhaps, but on worth noting.
15,000 kiosks across the nation by the end of November
Sony is doing a huge retail rollout of their newfangled system, and these units will be networked to provide updates and new content when necessary. Phil Harrison says that the days of promo discs inside these units is pretty much over. No more physical distribution hassles; new demos can be deployed nationwide in a matter of hours, securely, without assistance by us mere mortals. An elimination of demo discs also means more space on the delivery truck for things that can actually be sold, rather than being dedicated to promotional material. Also, the kiosks will use Sony Bravia HDTVs, which we understand are rather sexy.
We predict that SkyNet will be fully operational just in time for Christmas. Hope youre not on the naughty list!
The PS3 is not just a cheap Blu-ray player
Nothing about the unit looks or feels cheap. The build quality of the console itself seems to be sturdy and substantial. The familiar red and blue/green LED lights, which indicate the system status, make a return from the PS2, but look more slick and futuristic. There are also tiny feet on the units left side handy for standing it in a stable vertical position. And the chrome trim is a surprisingly cool bonus on the $599 premium model, for purely aesthetic reasons.
Not all games will be 1080p
Although the hardware is certainly capable of delivering 1080p at 60 frames per second, certain titles will not reach this destination. In some cases, its a matter of not having enough time or resources before launch to include the feature. In other cases, the game is so visually complex that ensuring 60 FPS 1080p might be more trouble than its worth. We were informed that Resistance: Fall of Man maxes out at 720p but this is understandable in light of its ambitious multiplayer. The game uses some pretty advanced physics calculations that require a ton of horsepower. Motorstorm also does not support 1080p and requires some serious calculation for its crash sequences, if appearances are any indication.
The Sixaxis controller doesnt feel too light
In fact, it feels just about right; light enough to move easily for motion-sensing controls, but still sturdy enough to withstand some serious grip pressure (we tried). So much for those other reports that called it cheap, plasticky and uncomfortable, huh?
Speaking of which, the Sixaxis motion sensing takes some getting used to.
Dont get us wrong: its a blast guiding Lairs dragon around using tilting motions on the controller. But the controller seems to respond a bit better to subtle, gentle motions (tipping the controller slightly left made the dragon veer left; gently dipping the top forward made the dragon descend). Wildly jerking the controller around will not only clip your wings, but raise your temper. Remember: easy does it!
The PSP will connect via Wi-Fi to the PS3s hard drive
While using the PSP as a rear-view mirror in Gran Turismo would necessitate a mutation of controllable limbs, Sony has come up with something much more intriguing lately. You can access the PS3s system menus via the PSP, wirelessly, using a feature called Remote Play. Big Kahuna Phil Harrison also says that the PSP will eventually be able to access the PS3s hard drive from any Wi-Fi spot in the world, rather than just on your local wireless network.
The Sixaxis gets roughly 30 hours of battery life
Though there doesnt seem to be a way to swap out the battery once its been exhausted. Oh, well we officially entered the age of disposable technology with the iPod anyway.
Theres no lag on the wireless Sixaxis controller, either
Bluetooth technology has come a long way, apparently; to see an example of poorly implemented Bluetooth wireless controllers, just check out the wildly erratic performance of Apples Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. But theres no need to worry about the Sixaxis in our experience, it stayed smooth, lag-free, and responsive in wireless mode.
The Sixaxiss wireless range tops out at over 65 feet (20 meters)
This should be plenty of room for players with big, huge living room setups (thats surely not us
curse tiny San Francisco!).
A new controller will set you back 50 beans
Sony confirmed this bit of news in their Gamers Day 06 presentation. The price is roughly in line with the Xbox 360s wireless controller, though in the case of the PlayStation 3, theres only one version of the controller.
Your PlayStation 2 save game files can be transferred to the PS3
With a $14.99 adaptor, youll be able to move over all your saves, something you cant do with the Xbox 360. Backwards compatibility in the PS3 is a hardware solution theres actually PS2 and PS1 silicon inside that shiny black machine. Because of this, neither the games nor their saves have to be altered to operate on the new system. (The 360 requires its developers to go back on a case-by-case basis to add support for each title.)
The Blu-ray disc drive is slot loading, and it works like a dream
When nobody was around, we tried using the PS3 eject button to eject a demo disc (were naughty like that). It shot right out, MacBook-style, and the game (Formula One) kept right on playing. No, we didnt keep the game, though it was printed on a BE-ROM disc.
One LED on the PS3 seems dedicated to tracking hard drive activity
This isnt exactly a sexy revelation, but it does prove two things. One, that Sony has structured the entire system around having a standard hard drive. And another, that the PS3 is a notch closer to a personal computer than any video game console yet.
The first 500,000 PS3s will be packaged with a free Blu-Ray feature film
And no, its not titled How Staggeringly Awesome Sony Is, Part One. Its The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, starring Will Ferrel as a NASCAR driver. It might not be your cup of tea, but it will definitely show off the capabilities of Sonys new media format. Youll get your fancy 1080p visuals, support for 7.1 surround sound, and hey, a free movie that you didnt have to download from BitTorrent like a frickin pirate. Besides, it would have taken a week to download all that data anyway. Those audio channels dont come cheap! On a side note, the BD-ROM spec goes up to 200 gigabytes. Thats a lot of
family-friendly home movies.
Theres still a hard power-off switch on the back of the system, just like the PS2
We used it at one point to power down the system manually when the unit wouldnt shut down during a loading sequence. It works just like youd expect.
The PS3 is very, very shiny
So shiny that its hard to take photos of it without capturing a mirror like reflection of a nearby light source. But its an interesting design choice, and should look super-sexy in a living room lineup.
As a whole, the PS3 itself looks incredibly sexy
Its a unanimous opinion from the journalists we spoke with at the Gamers Day event that the PS3 is one slick piece of consumer electronics magic. Its big, but beautiful, with an elegant shape and a certain undefinable presence.
The PS3 is super quiet
At a rating of just 22 decibels, its only slightly louder than a human whisper. All we know is that we could barely hear it running. Thats definitely worth something.
You may have heard rumors on the Internets that the PS3 was practically setting people on fire at last months Tokyo Game Show. Whether or not thats true, we witnessed dozens of units performing flawlessly for several hours at a press event recently. While the air conditioning struggled against a small army of PS3s, enormous HDTVs, and excitable game reporters, the PS3s themselves hummed along quietly and solidly.
Of course, theres always the possibility that one of them burst into flames just as we were leaving. But were pretty confident in the systems ability to stay cool under pressure.
You can plug in a USB keyboard and surf the Net
The PS3 will come packaged with a free Internet browser. The front end has been highly customized, to the point where its impossible to tell if its using Mozilla, Opera, or Internet Explorer (but since the console runs on Linux, its probably not IE). You can place multiple Web pages within view and stream media from several Internet locations simultaneously. However, its unclear right now if any USB keyboard will work, or if you have to get a Sony-approved model. They have not announced a USB keyboard of their own.
The power supply is integrated directly into the system
Phil Harrison told us that Sony made this choice for performance reasons, to keep the power supply as close to the CPU chipset as possible. And though the Xbox 360s external power brick is hardly a massive disadvantage, having the power supply integrated in the main chassis is sleeker, slicker, and all around preferable. We like, we like.
Re-download all your merch to someone elses PS3
The stuff that you bought on the PS3s online store wont stay imprisoned on your console. Just log in with your account info on someone elses unit, and you can pull everything down although each item has a limit of five transfers before Sony smacks your grubby fingers with a ruler.
First-party games are priced at $59.99
Which is in line with the Xbox 360 software pricing structure. This is comforting news, as there have been rumors that the games would cost even more thanks to more expensive Blu-ray manufacturing. No word yet on third-party game pricing; its still possible those prices will lean higher.
Full story here:
http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/10/23/24things/index.php
