Be Excellent To Each Other

A mate of mine brought his PS3 around to show me. We dutifully set about hooking it up to my Hannspree HDTV.

Using his HDMI to VGA cable, we hooked it up to my TV with the VGA end in the TV. Of course, HDMI nor VGA can carry audio so we had to plug in the multi-AV cable too and put the audio RCA jacks into the audio-in ports on the TV.

We boot up the PS3 to be presented with the XMB, and no sound.

Fiddling with the settings yields no success and it's at this point that I don't know whether this is a PS3 limitation or perhaps you just can't use the RCA audio-in jacks with the VGA port on my TV, I don't know.

Either way, we power off the PS3 and unplug the HDMI>VGA cable, leaving the multi-AV one plugged in. I connect it up to a SCART socket on the TV with the composite cables. Not ideal but it's all we got.

Turning on the PS3 leads us to a "No Signal". It seems that the PS3 isn't intelligent enough to realise that the HDMI port isn't plugged in and switch to the display mode that IS plugged in, so we have to plugin the HDMI cable again so that we can navigate the XMB to switch it over to composite.

Eventually we get the display working, with sound. So, we hook it up to the Internet and it asks to download a system update. We accept it and it takes (no word of a lie) 12 minutes to download the update and then a further 5 to install it.

My friend then tells me that "Life on PlayStation" came out yesterday or something, so we download that expecting it to be like a community thing. Turns out that it's just a globe with news and weather information on it, powered by Google News. Pretty, but ultimately useless. Very Wii-like in it's implementation and even background music.

We then boot up MGS4. I've only got to see him playing it for 5 minutes from the start to realise that this is even more of a departure from Metal Gear than previous games, and I don't like it one bit. Perhaps it gets better as you get into it, but I'm afraid Sinister Agent's review has probably clouded my judgment.

So, finally we boot up Formula 1 Challenge or whatever it's called. 2006 teams. Takes me a while to realise that the reason I don't feel at all in control is because the driving aids are basically doing everything for me, so I turn them off and it gets better. I accidentally press the "PS" button in the middle of the controller, which acts similar to the Guide button on the 360. Does it pause the game on the 360? Because it sure as hell doesn't on the PS3, leading to me crashing into a wall at high speed and losing my front wheels.

Overall impressions: Not good at all. Only saving grace is that it's quiet, and it doesn't even seem that quiet compared to my 360 when I'm not playing a disc-based game.

PS3 is worse than the 360 in all ways apart from included Blu Ray drive, in my opinion.

For what its worth I dont care about fan noise, but if you are picky, its probably quieter.

The system updates are a joke.

70% of all possible play time is taken up watching that bar inch its way across the screen

At least it seems that way when you are drunk and want to sing.

Let's Dance!

The hannspree I have won't take widescreen over VGA, it takes portrait and then tries to stretch it, that's going to look awful.

At least use component or hdmi itself.

And no, the only sound via VGA on my hannspree is the 3.5mm jack.

I absolutely think the 360 is a vastly better machine but that's a horrible post mate

"Oh no, the Ps3 in composite looks a bit shit and one game is stupid enough not to pause when I'm an idiot!"

Oh yeah, and I forgot - that Formula One game doesn't appear to have a Replay function. What the fuck? A racing game without replays? Perhaps it's just in Quick Race that you can't do it, but it baffles the fuck out of me.

I think it's a little unfair to slag off the setting up woes in general. It seems to be pretty much pot luck whether or not you'll have to faff around to set up either the 360 or PS3 for the first time, from what I've heard. Not that this makes it any less frustrating when it happens, but I feel I should make an effort to defend the PS3 now and then since I moan about it so much.

Hardware wise I think the PS3 is ahead of the 360; it certainly feels nicer to use, and has some neat features the 360 can't manage (free WiFi, support for standard Bluetooth headsets, free online, yadda yadda), plus it doesn't fucking break everytime you look at it wrong. I don't hate the pad, although many people do.

The Achilles heel is the the games, which simply aren't there. However come on Gaz: you made a judgement based on playing two of the more reviled games the system has. Did you consider rounding the evening out with Lair and Heavenly Sword? You should at least play, say, Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank and give it a fair crack of the whip. Oh, for me, probably the biggest reason to prefer the 360 is the lack of PS3 Bezzies of course; Burnout Paradise would have been a perfectly valid PS3 purchase, rather than 360, but the community will always favour the 360 now.

As for the HDMI thing, you are correct, it is shit; there is some arcane keypress, holding down a button on the pad while it boots, that turns the HDMI off and drops it back to the AV out. I've only ever used HDMI on mine so I've never had to do this; it's in the manual anyway.

I know it's unfair to criticise a console based on specific games (as opposed to it's catalogue) so I wrote those bits more as a sort of "footnote" rather than console-specific bugbears. Although the PS button not pausing the game when you press it is unforgivable in my eyes, I'm sure this is probably a game-specific thing as I seem to remember the same thing happening on some 360 games too.

My mate only had those two specific games available, hence the playing of them.

The major issue I have is simply the system updates. When my 360 updates it's system it's usually a 20 second process, if that. What the hell is being updated in the PS3 that necessitates a >15 minute download and installation time?

The system updates are easily the worst thing about the PS3. And the game updates. Ugh. Sometimes I spent more time downloading updates for games than playing the games themselves. It's absolutely shocking.

Weren't you lot all moaning yesterday about several-hour-long updates to Burnout on the 360?

This, I think is the main problem.

I also hate the really unfriendly interface and menu system.

What 'TEH GAYWOOD' said, basically.

I would actually be stroking my beard now after reading this thread, if I had one, being as I finally sold my 360 last night and I am now officially a one-console man. And the PS3 is that one console.

The HDMI thing is relevant - the PS3 can be a bit of a shit to set up compared to the 360. For the record, however, sound IS carried over HDMI, so if you use HDMI for video the console defaults to output sound over it as well. That's easily changed by going into the sound options in the Settings menu. Of course, the 360 just outputs sound over all available outputs simultaneously, so you don't have this level of fucking about on that console.

Also, the number of system updates has dramatically reduced recently - Sony only tend to do 1 or 2 really big updates every few months now, rather than lots of tiny ones almost every time you boot the console up.

As for it's Achilles heel, I actually don't think it is the games. By and large, it has the same games as the 360, and some of the exclusives like Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank are pretty decent (plus, I have to admit, I really enjoyed Heavenly Sword and am getting a lot more use out of GT5 Prologue than I thought I would. Plus: Wipeout HD next week!). Certainly the only one I'm going to really miss is Test Drive Unlimited, but I can just grab that for my PC if need be.

I would say the Achilles heel is the online, which, though free, is neither as focussed or as popular as Live. But since I haven't indulged in any Live antics for over a year, I don't honestly think it's going to be something I'll miss.

God knows, it does the same with downloading demos then "installing them" for some reason.

F1 is excellent and I think you're right I don't think TDU pauses when you do that either.



* Calls in men in white coats *

I don't get this. I thought Gears of War was shit and Halo 3 very 'meh'. The PGR games are a bit too arcadey for me. That leaves TDU, which I can get on the PC, and Forza 2, which I will miss but had largely stopped playing.

Everything else I can get on the PS3. Assasins Creed, CoD4, Burnie P, GTA4, Sega Rally, Devil May Cry 4, the upcoming Fallout 3 and Mirrors Edge... all games I've either got or can get on the PS3 as well as the 360. So this whole argument of 'it doesn't have any games' falls pretty flat as far as I'm concerned.

TDU is on PC?

Why was I not informed? Is it any good?

There is a keypress for resetting the display settings, didn't you check?

Well, most people with consoles don't have a game playing PC, they have to choose a console but...

Excellent complete exclusives - Geo Wars 2, Space Giraffe, Castle Crashers, Galaga legions, Pacman Championship Edition, Forza 2 as mentioned, Amped 3, Dead Rising, Flatout UC until very, very recently, The PGRs even if you don't like em, Assault Heroes, Banjo Kazooie just off the top of my head.

Not to mention the 360 versions are almost always cheaper very quickly.

The PS3's exclusive games - An F1 game that's good but well out of date, A demo of GT5, the pile of rancid shit that is MGS4 and Uncharted, which is apparently ok. Oh, and Super Stardust HD.

Woop.

Not that I'm taking the piss out of Gaywood (as if!) but you can see the potential in the PS3. It is entirely possible to own it as your only games machine, it's just the 360 is better at everything games wise, with a few exceptions.

The problem as I see it is that it appears to have been designed with multimedia potential in mind first and foremost and the system software is very clunky in comparison with the 360s. It just feels like a very well executed but poorly thought out gadget to me.

The way I feel these days, the 360's only compelling USP is the community, in other words, Bezzies. I have 60+ friends on my Xbox list and at any given time 5-15 people online and playing. On the PS3, those numbers are 8 and 0.

For people in this position I'd bet this is an insurmountable lead. Sony won't be able to counter it.

GTA IV doesn't pause when you press the Xbox guide button.

I have only ever played on a friends PS3 so I haven't had any problems with setting it up etc but as a 360 owner, I can gladly say that the PS3 leaves me neither hot nor cold.

I have spent more time staring at update screens than playing games though... and installing games? That's something I'm glad I don't have to put up with.

I prefer the Xbox pads but I guess that just comes down to personal preference but on the whole, I'm not going to go crazy for a PS3 when someone up there rightly said the games I want to play are cheaper, quicker.

Also, after the shock of spotting you online on PS3 the other evening I tried to ping you with a message and gave up after five minutes when I couldn't actually find anyway of sending the damn thing - there simply wasn't a "done" or "send" button readily spottable and "start/return" was just deleting the last two characters I had entered and selecting "done" just took me back to your profile. Clever, that!

However, having said all that, I still think the friends list isn't the only compelling reason for owning a 360 over a PS3. There's a much bigger back catalogue of cheaper games and more exclusives for the 360. The PS3 is largely a media player to me and the 360 is a games machine.

I was fully expecting this generation to be like the last and that by now I would have felt compelled to get a PS3 and a Wii as well as my 360. I can't see it happening though, I don't think I'll be getting a PS3 even in a couple of years.

Not because you spend all your money on planes and telescopes?

Still totally not interested in a PS3 at the moment. The only thing that will tempt me is when the next Ico/SotC Studio title comes out.

I'll probably get one when they're as cheap as the PS2s are now. Just because by then all the PS2s will be knackered and it's a good way of preserving a way of playing your old games.

Apart from the ones that aren't forwards compatible.

Why can arguably the most technologically advanced console of this generation not detect which AV cable I have plugged in and adjust its settings accordingly?

I suspect there's going to be very very few PS3s that can run PS2 games by that point. Of the europe ones it's only the 60giggers and they've been out of production a year already.

So they never sorted out the software backwards compatibility? Mind-boggling.

Pure software would be impossible. The PS2's GPU is too good. They've not put the GPU back in with subsequent models no.

There goes pretty much the only reason I wanted one. I'll just buy a slimline PS2 instead.

EDF, Crackdown and Dead Rising are six hundred thousand miles better than Gears of War and bloody Halo. There's no exclusive game on the PS3 that's half as fun as a handful of the 360's exclusives - only the media really thinks gears of war or Halo are the 'must have' 360 games. And idiot fanboys, natch. Even after a year without buying or keeping up with 360 games, the PS3 has nothing to challenge its exclusives, and the only things coming are a couple of flabby grey driving instructor simulations.

Sony need to get some decent, original exclusives. If they do that, they'll make the PS3 even worth considering as an alternative to the 360 or wii, as it's potentially a far better console. But it doesn't look too likely so far.

Ooooh I forgot those 2.

they've got a few interesting looking exclusives in little big planet, infamous and the agency.

I have to point out that, despite the slagging that they're getting in this thread, GoW and Halo are very good games, and some of the best fun I've had on my 360 has been the Halo 4 player runthroughs on Legendary.

Gears of War in single player is rubbish. In co-op it's quite fun, but almost any game with co-op is fun. Halo is the very definition of mediocre.

I can't help but chuckle at the Sun's quote on the Halo 3 box - that it's the 'game of the decade' (which is utter bollocks - Grand Theft Auto is, if anything).

Halo's goodness comes from its sandboxy-ness. Many of the levels are comparitively open so you have a lot of room to run around and try different tactics and weapons, and there's also so much you can do with it in multiplayer (the zombie blockade thing, for example).

Yes, which was a half a gig update, which is essentially an entirely new game. A fair bit different from the usual patches that you get.



You actually have to put code in to pause the game when the guide is displayed, overall it's a pretty easy task. Obviously with things like internet play, you can't pause, so it needs to be constantly running. But in general, it's highly recommeded to pause during single player stuff.

I don't think I've turned on my PS3 once in the last 3 months. It's certainly not a pirchase I would recommend.

A friend of mine was reduced to using his PS3 as his PC while his Alienware was off being repaired (and he then just got a refund on it, so sick was he of its problems).

The controller manages to be even more uncomfortable to use than the PSP.

I fucking love Halo 3. It's fantastic and you're all wrong.

FTFY.

Another Halo fan here. It's not the world's most innovative or groundbreaking game; it's just a solid, enjoyable FPS.

Not wanting to start a new thread for this - I can't get Stardust HD from the shop - there's no buy button. I can preview it and there's money in my wallet, and I can buy other things fine. Anyone have any idea?

Also, Halo is ace and the PS3 is awesome*.

*At playing Bluray films

My main issue I have with the PS3 compared to the 360 is the rubbish online functionality. A lot of the guys I work with own a PS3 and earlier this week when trying to set up a simple game on COD 4 it was just a complete pain in the arse.

On the 360 I like the option of clicking on your friends to see what theyre doing, are they playing multiplayer? are they having a go at the campaign? can I just click on join game and play with them? The PS3 just doesnt seem to have these options, although it does now tell you what games your friends are playing but I dont think it tells you what theyre doing nor does it give you the option to join them (as far as I can tell anyway)

I think the PS3 online will catch up with the 360 eventually as even in the last 12 months Ive owned the console the online stuff and tools etc have vastly improved on what they were when I first saw them. They'll definitely require a major revamp if they want Home to work when its released.

Also, I know a lot of the 360s main criticism is its noise, but for the record, our PS3 is now just as loud as our 360s.

Obvious Q, I think there's both a demo and a full game download totally seperate for Stardust.... sure you're not being a bit daft?

Otherwise I don't remember buying it near launch to be much different to any other game.

Sort of on-topic, have you unwrapped Halo 3 yet, Duds?

Yes, to give the month free Xbox Live to my brother. I've not yet played it.

I have no idea why.

Yeah. There's only four options, and three of those are addons.

The PS3 has plenty of games if you don't have any preconceived notions gleaned from Xbox360 fanboys. Personally, I see no reason at all to get a 360 (especially considering the terrible build quality). Still, as usual, it's more a question of taste, isn't it? Do I want more games that will eventually come out on the PC or proper console games? (see, us PS3 owners can generalise too!)

What are they?