PS3 (very) initial impressions

I finally entered the new so-called next generation of gaming by purchasing a PS3 from Circuit City online.  I use their “pick it up” option for major purchases, and Circuit City was running a deal where you get a free Sony Wireless Six Axis controller.  I also ordered a Sony Memory Card Adaptor; figured I would need it to transfer my PS2 saves.  Final tally was $658.03 including tax.

Circuit City had a crap collection of PS3 games; nothing I wanted.  I also could not quickly locate the Blu-Ray movies, so I quickly took my goodies and left the store.  The Circuit City mall complex also features a Toys R Us, an EBGames, and a GameStop.  I figured I would try Toys R Us first, because I hate getting repackaged games from EB and GS.  I left Toys R Us almost $200 poorer with Resistance, Elder Scrolls, and Formula One.

After getting the system home, I disconnected the PS2 and started unpacking the PS3.  My first impressions of the system are great packaging job by Sony, and the system itself is solid as a brick; a super sexy brick.  You may laugh at the packaging comment, but that sort of thing matters to me when I am sending several hundred bucks.  Reassuring?  Maybe.  Thankfully my HDMI cable arrived today from monoprice.com; no idea why Sony ships this system with an old fashion composite cable (cost savings no doubt).

System setup was quick and painless.  There were a few options to setup a user profile, date/time, and screen resolution – the PS3 automatically switched me to 1080i.  Next up was the network setup.  The PS3 easily located my home network, and after entering the connection info (network password), I was connected to the internet.  I was then told that I needed to update my firmware.

This particular system came with 1.51 firmware.  The system told me that 1.80 was available, and I started the update at 8:08PM.  The download was completed at 8:21PM.  Next up was accepting the end user agreement.  Applying the update took 5 minutes.  By 8:28PM, the PS3 was rebooting, ready for me to play some games.

I threw in Formula One Championship Edition, and my oldest son remarked at how nice the graphics looked.  My wife was obviously not that impressed; she said she can “make milk.”

At this point I am not going to comment on the games; that can come later with some more play time.  As it stands now, I have a lot in front of me.  How long does it take to charge the controller?  Does the controller charge while the PS3 is off?  How do I upscale my DVDs?  What sort of adaptor do I have to buy to use PS2 accessories (assuming I need them)?  What sort of DVD/Blu-Ray remote should I purchase?  How do I connect my PSP and what are the advantages of connecting the systems?  How do I transfer other media to the PS3 (i.e. iTunes music library)?  And so on and so forth.

I think I am going to need a drink.

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5 thoughts on “PS3 (very) initial impressions”

  1. I will probably get a PS3 for the BlueRay disc player. I haven’t done much research yet (BlueRay vs. the Xbox version of HD) but I do know that a BlueRay standalone player will cost me about $800. Makes the PS3 a more attractive option, but I can wait for the price cut :-).

  2. Chris, to be honest, I was in the same boat. I really wanted the Blu-Ray player. A few posts back I wrote:

    “Where it stands right now, if I squander $599 for a PS3 system, I am buying it for 40% Blu-Ray format, 30% PS3 games, 20% backwards game compatibility, and 10% who knows what else.”

    I should have waited for a price cut, but I have no idea when the price cut (and I assume new and improved hardware) is coming.

  3. There’s a good chance Sony will remove the PS2 EE and GS chips from the PS3, as they’ve already done in Europe.

    It would make a lower-priced PS3 more likely but you’d sacrifice come backwards compatibility, unless Sony has made software BC bullet proof.

    Perhaps they’ve made progress since they’re now offering upscaling of PS2 games.

  4. wco81 – one of the main reasons I decided to buy now intead of buy later was to make sure that I had a unit with the PS2 EE and GS chip sets. Sure, I am a graphics whore as much as the next guy, but I also still play a decent number of older games. At some point I am sure the emulation will improve, but until then, I would rather get a PS2/PSX included in my PS3.

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