PS3 Leaves You Twitching For More

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

PS3 leaves you twitching for more

Nov. 17, 2006. 02:51 PM

CHRISTIAN COTRONEO

STAFF REPORTER

 

 

Scarcity, thy name is Sony.

 

We don't know exactly how many PlayStation 3 units are available in Canada today, but we do know North America is supposed to get some 400,000 consoles for the launch.

 

It's about 100,000 units shy of Sony's launch for the PS2 and raises the question: do they like seeing the shivering masses line up like they're on a Soviet breadline?

 

It might make good TV. Perhaps Sony is trying for some sort of cultural phenomenon, with images of hopeful gamers camped out at major toy and electronic stores across the land.

 

But it also builds impossibly high expectations.

 

At $659 for the premium version, besides the dignity it costs to wait in line a day or two, this thing better whip up a dirty martini or two.

 

Though no drinks were flowing, the PS3 drew its own posse of gawkers, even in the depths of the Star's headquarters at One Yonge St.

 

Admittedly, I prefer the puckered grey-white look of the Xbox 360 to the PS3's uber-blackness.

 

Standing alongside the 360, the PS3 looks like Darth Vader in his prime â diabolically efficient in all its gleaming blackitude. Only without the heavy breathing.

 

Indeed, the PS3 is deadly quiet. The 360? Not so much.

 

Judging by how hot the PS3 gets, on the other hand, it may not have been such a bad idea to throw an extra fan into the mix.

 

While the PS3 looks like Lord Vader, it drives like Knight Rider.

 

There are no push buttons on this thing. Glide a finger over a symbol on the edge of the beast and it whirs to life, slurping games and movies effortlessly through a slot in front.

 

The Sixaxis controller needs to be charged through a USB cable for at least the first few hours, before it can roam free and wirelessly on Bluetooth. It still feels rather angular and waferlike in the hand, not nearly as sturdy and sculpted as the 360 controller.

 

But time, I imagine, will teach our hands to cradle, and maybe even someday love, the Sixaxis.

 

Most of the campers who managed to pick up a PS3 will be glued to Resistance: Fall of Man for the next few weeks. The other notable release game, Genji: Days of the Blade, is a typical Japanese wandering, fighting slice-and-dice fest.

 

Resistance, on the other hand, is Sony's Halo: a first-person shooter with a grand, rollicking storyline and franchise written all over it.

 

The game, set in the 1950s, pits a slightly supernatural American G.I. against an army of wretched ghouls.

 

It shows, at least among this early raft of titles, exactly what the PS3 can do.

 

Flames dance high into the sky from the wreckage of buses, planes and, well, people. Watch your step here. Because when men burn, they really burn, dancing a pirouette of agony before crumbling to the ground. Every now and then, when evening settles, you might catch a glimpse of a full moon peeping between buildings.

 

Don't get caught gawking.

 

The enemies in Resistance are always creeping up behind you looking to do something outrageous, like maybe implant some horrific virus and make you one of them.

 

Called Chimera, they are flawlessly fearsome creations.

 

And no matter how many of them you plow through with your trusty machine gun, the PS3 never hiccups.

 

Ultimately, it could be compared to the 360's flagship shooter Gears of War. And in that respect, Resistance ultimately falls short. Though utterly gorgeous, it's hard to see the clear graphical superiority of the PS3's much-touted Cell processor.

 

Make no mistake. Resistance is a pretty black hole just waiting to suck up your weekend. But Gears of War, which marks the maturation of games for the older 360, is just better. It keeps the PS3's pace in every respect. And ratchets it up when it comes to game play.

 

Both titles, however, are a testament to the fact that the next generation is finally, fully, upon us. The pixel is dead.

 

Indeed, watching those wretched ghouls from Resistance lumber toward me, as lifelike as anything we've seen on the screen before, it's hard not to imagine the PS3 spawning another sort of army of wretched ghouls.

 

Us. Sitting in our living rooms. Twitching to the PS3's every dictate.

 

If, that is, Sony can actually deliver this thing. And judging by lineups across the land, that may be the only place the PS3 truly gets bogged down.

 

But for those bold souls who do decide the shiver and bother is worth it, one piece of advice: savour the unpacking.

 

You only get to unbox a next-generation console every four or five years.

 

That's right, take your time. Pour a glass of something bubbly. Maybe dig up that old Barry Manilow album.

 

And peel back the layers ...

 

Source: The Toronto Star

 

I'm still sticking to my 360. Maybe in a few years when I hit university, I'll get myself a PS3 as a desktop

 

Your thoughts?

[jimmy89 0]

I was expecting to see a huge excitement when these things came out! i know that when the 360 was released almost all of my friends had one on the day. I'm now starting to wonder wether this is going to be the same for the ps3. as for me, i'm just sticking to my pc for now! much more customizable and can do almost everything a ps3 or 360 can do! i spose, only time will tell what happens!

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

no, PS3's didn't get a launch as big as with the XBOX 360 with the Zero Hour.xboxrulz

[austiniskoge 0]

I love my PS2.:PSeriously. I still don't get that feeling that my PS2 is outdated. I haven't heard much of the PS3 besides "oh wow, it's great". No comparisons to the PS2, no comparisons to anything, really.I'm waiting. Just like thousands of other passive gamers. We're the market that videogame companies really wants to tap into, but that giant price tag just scares me. I'm waiting, no doubt.

[Alegis 0]

PS2 will still get great games. But if you're eager for new exciting games like assassins' creed, it is time to move on!

 

However, I think the Xbox 360 makes a much much wiser choice than PS3. Much.

For all their arrogance, they have lost all the good exclusives. Don't blindly pick a PS3. Check the games. The launch line-up of PS3 is dissapointing. Sure there is Resistance: Fall of Men, but it isn't a killer-ap. X360 shouldn't give you a lesser experience. It is much cheaper, with your choice to get the HD DVD (rather than shoved down your throat).

 

Games that are $30 now are full price for the PS3 (55+) which is even more cash lost. and for what? So you have a 'cell processor' with no better games to play on?

Edited November 25, 2006 by Alegis (see edit history)

[Chesso 0]

The PS3 seems more or less an upgrade from the PS2, rather than a whole new system ,it basically means alot more power so developers can throw alot more crap at it and it won't bust or lag.The more recent PS2's out seem to lag/stumble or take forever to load some more recent games which means it's definitely time for an upgrade .

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

wow, this is the first time I've ever saw PS gamers bashing PS3 :PI'm glad that I chose the 360.xboxrulz

[Chesso 0]

I only like Fable on the xBox, nothing else tickled my fance , haven't seen anything different for the xBox 360 and it still has a hefty price tag, I think it'll be the Wii for me if anything.

[kgd2006 0]

With the publicity that PS3 has recieved recently I hope it lives up to its hype. But I certainly will wait a year or two before I get my hands on the PS3, because I learned from experience that the first shipments of PS3s are always the buggy ones. I dont understand why some people would be so eager to whip out 3,000 dollars for a PS3 on eBay. I mean there are like units being sent weekly. Offers that are going on eBay right now are just ridicalous. Either people are impatient or they just have a lot of cash laying around, because if you think about it doesnt it take at least a week or something for the winner of a bid to recieve their product due to certain shipping methods and payment confirmation?Now by that time the next shipments of PS3s would have been in, and easily those that reserve it at the store of their choice would have recieved it at market price and not at a over-priced rate like on eBay. I just wonder sometimes why people would bring themselves to the level that they need to purchase it at that price. Not only is the system that they are buying on eBay over-priced but it is also buggy. From reading some of the reviews of the system I am already hearing certain bugs from the first shipment.It is just like this every year, console developers always try to push the system out at the date without making sure that the system is completely 100 percent bug free, its only until 1 year in or 2 years in before they address the bugs and redesign the system with better hardware like the recent PS2s.For example, PS2s were also attacted alot of publicity durings its launch, then bugs such as lens had problem reading after the 1st or 2nd year of owning ths system, so that problem was addressed by sony and they realeased a 2nd shipment of new hardware models of the PS2s. And as of now they have released a even newer model called the PS2 Slim, which is newer hardware that is smaller.So in conclusion if people have more patience with items such as these then they would actually be buying a better system that is worth their money. Time would also alow price of launch system prices to fall into market economies price range. I for one will be waiting for my PS3s when I hear the "OK" that the system is bug free and safe to buy. Because 600 dollars is a rather steep price for a game console.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Yes, I too do not understand why people would waste their money by having it first. By having it first, it may run into other problems. Like, I waited for more than 6 months for my XBOX 360, waiting for them to fix all the crap that's wrong with the system. I haven't had a single problem since I got the XBOX 360.The one thing people is lacking is patience, including me. Which is why the secondary market works, else people wouldn't buy PS3s to sell.xboxrulz

[Chesso 0]

It's a good thing we have people like that though (so don't bash them LOL), because they pay the huge prices and keep it floating until they drop it for the rest of us, mwuhahahaha .

[unimatrix 0]

If I had a choice between the PS3 or 360, I'm going with the 360 with the HD-DVD drive. Frankly I see optical media being replaced with some kind of subscription based service (like iTunes) for downloading movies and tv shows, but I think most people are going to go with HD-DVD. I do HDV (High Def Video) work and so far this year I've gotten requests for 2 projects in Blu-Ray and six with HD-DVD. I have both an internal Blu-Ray Burner and an External Firewire HD-DVD burner and it looks like HD-DVD is going to win because 1) the 360 is cheaper than the PS3 and people think "DVD" and "HD" And put "HD-DVD" together welll. "Hey, that's a DVD for High Def." Ask them what blu-ray is and they aren't entirely sure unless they are techie types.

[Chesso 0]

I dunno, I like the sound of Blu-Ray, basically it has more capacity (alot more if I remember correctly) so you can fit more on it (which can be quite important and also means things won't need to be compressed if necessary and lose quality).As far as I know, that high definition junk isn't any use unless you have a tv that supports it and man they are expensive junk, to make it look a little nicer meh >_<.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

I've also heard that the Bluray is easily dented too, so I don't know. I, myself is backing the HD-DVD format.xboxrulz

[Chesso 0]

Oh I dunno how easily broken or anything either of them are, but High Definition is useless without an expensive TV that supports it..... as far as I know atleast.Blu-Ray is just a bigger DVD .