PS3 vs. Xbox 360

[Emperor]

So... being the tech geek that I am, and disguised under the pretense that I need a Blu Ray player, I bought a PS3 over the weekend.  I will admit there are some things I need to learn about the system before giving a full and complete comparision, but after a weekend here are my impressions.  BTW, I also bought a headset, Unreal Tournament 3 and one Blu Ray movie.

 

Observation 1:  Ummm no one talks in the games.  This irked me the most.  I bought a game that basically only has a multi-player component.  It basically looks like a better graphical version of Doom (which isn't a big compliment).  I jump into the game with very little prep and... dominate.  What?  I think first place had 23 kills, I had 19 and the next person had 7.  WTF?  Either I am that good or PS3 players suck.  But lets get back to my gripe.  No one talks.  I do not remember a Xbox online game where at least one person wasn't talking.  I enjoy online gaming to meet new people and... maybe talk some smack.  Also, Sinister... get a mic dude. 

 

Observation 2:  Blu Ray is awesome.  If the PS3 did not have this feature it would be a dud and I would have returned it already.  I am disappointed that there are only like 50 Blu Ray movies out though.  I really wanted to buy a few movies, but most of them sucked. 

 

I played Unreal Tourney maybe 3 times over the weekend... the rest of the weekend I was playing Rock Band or Army of Two on the 360.  So far, I still enjoy the 360 much more for gaming than the PS3. 

[SinisterDeath]

Observation 1:  Ummm no one talks in the games.  This irked me the most.  I bought a game that basically only has a multi-player component.  It basically looks like a better graphical version of Doom (which isn't a big compliment).  I jump into the game with very little prep and... dominate.  What?  I think first place had 23 kills,

 

Well, I had said I hadn't played much multiplayer (was still trying to beat the single player, and what I did play online was fun). However, I didn't really know about the issue with no 'mic'.

I later found out, that the reason why is apparently, you can only hear people on your friend list talk. Yea, its kinda odd. Though, in death matches, you don't really need a mic. You should try the warefare maps, Those are flippin fun as hell.

 

Secondly, we did dominate that day, I was the guy with 23, you were with 17. ;)

Were you useing a mouse/keyboard, or the ps3 controller?

I was using the Mouse/Keyboard

 

Also, Sinister... get a mic dude. 

Mics are for wussies! ;)

 

Observation 2:  Blu Ray is awesome.  If the PS3 did not have this feature it would be a dud and I would have returned it already.  I am disappointed that there are only like 50 Blu Ray movies out though.  I really wanted to buy a few movies, but most of them sucked. 

 

So, which movie did you buy? Cause, you know No Country For Old Men came out last weekend right?

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/

Supposedly a list of all the movies available, so there are far more than 50, maybe only 50 in your local best buy...

 

Btw, on your netflix, you can set it to automatically send you the blu-ray version of your movies. The only problem is, if theres a movie you WANT to see, like NOW, then switch it to dvd, as blu-ray can be a very very long wait time. (Though its speeding up ever since blu-ray won.

 

Anyways, if you like the mic in gameplay alot, the game Warhawk & Resistance fall of man, have a lot of mic talk. Though, I don't know how 'alive' the resistance servers are. And warhawk might be to 'cartoony' for you. ;)

[Emperor]

No country for old men is the movie I got.  I wanted to pick up American Gangster as well... but they only released it on HD DVD.  Bastards.

 

What?  You can only talk to people on your friends list?  How do you make new friends if you don't talk to them first.  Thats insane.  On the ps2 I could talk to people in the game when I was playing Socom (are they coming out with a new socom?)  I do not have a keyboard... and had no idea how to check messages while in the game.  Actually I may still have a keyboard around somewhere from my ps2.  But I don't want to type and play... I want to talk and play.  "Hey the flag is over here!" is much easier to coordinate when talking instead of typing. 

 

 

[Segurant]

Which version of the PS3 did you get?

[SinisterDeath]

No country for old men is the movie I got.  I wanted to pick up American Gangster as well... but they only released it on HD DVD.  Bastards.

It'll be on blu-ray soon enough.

 

What?  You can only talk to people on your friends list?  How do you make new friends if you don't talk to them first.  Thats insane.

Yes, yes it is. I really don't know the logic behidn it.

 

On the ps2 I could talk to people in the game when I was playing Socom (are they coming out with a new socom?)  I do not have a keyboard... and had no idea how to check messages while in the game.

 

You can check your in-game messages, by going to the 'start' menu, hitting R1/L1, till you get to a thing I believe called 'friends' taht allows you to read messages.

 

Actually I may still have a keyboard around somewhere from my ps2.  But I don't want to type and play... I want to talk and play.  "Hey the flag is over here!" is much easier to coordinate when talking instead of typing. 

 

Like I had said, you can use any standard USB Mouse/Keyboard to actually PLAY the game, not just type.

Aka, you can use the mouse to aim & shoot, and keyboard to move.

[Emperor]

40 GB Seggie.  It has already frozen up on me once.  Oh what was I doing...scrolling through the main menu. 

 

 

[SinisterDeath]

I was just doing a lil research on the mic issue on UT3, it turns out its a compound problem.

Its not that you can only hear people on your friend list. (Though, apparently it makes it easier)

But apparently theres an issue with Mics only working half the time.

And due to the fast paced nature of the game, there isn't much time for 'talking'.

So escentially there isn't much talking because

A) The mics only work half the time

and

B) its so fast, that theres really no point in talking.

 

So, if you want talking your best bet is to go into warfare maps, where there is a bit of strategy involved, and not death matches.

That, or we could just duel for 4 hours. ;)

[Emperor]

Well you could say the same thing in COD4.  You can die just as quickly and the game moves just as fast.  Sometimes it is not about chatting about game but making friends while playing.  In a flag game, it would be nice to say something like "They are in the center of the map" or something.  Sure you may die but now you have communicated with your team.  I guess I am spoiled by the Xbox 360 system always supporting chat in their games. 

 

Nice Socom 4 comes out later this year. 

[Tenshin_Xo]

I think Socom 4 and MGS 4 might both be enough to justify getting a PS3 for me, with the blu-ray putting it over the edge.  It won't be for quite some time yet though (6mos).  ;)  From the sounds of it though I'll stick to the 360 versions for anything remotely multiplayer. :P @ SD.

[Shendare]

I have a 60GB PS3 with the RSX chip for hardware PS1 & PS2 backwards compatibility for my Final Fantasy games, upgraded to a big and fast 200GB 7200RPM SATA-300 hard drive... with nothing on it. Took way too much work to get the original hard drive out of there, too, since one of the screws was stripped. Dremel tool saved my sanity on that one. Bzzzzzzzt!

 

I went through every single Blu-Ray movie available on Amazon, and ended up picking 17 that I actually wanted to own. I'm sure it'll get better, though. I'll be checking the "What's new" section at the beginning of each new month and seeing what comes out that I'm interested in.

 

I loved playing through the remake of FF1. That was some nostalgia, yet the perks of the remake (high-color graphics and several gameplay improvements and new cutscenes) made it really worthwhile to try. I was really hoping for more CGI movies on the discs, since the games themselves are old enough to take up a small fraction of the CD-ROM they come on. But after popping the CDs into my computer and browsing the files, I was disappointed to find that most of the remake games have only an opening CGI movie and possibly an ending one.

 

Oh well, now I can finally finish FF8 and can give FF9, FFX, and FFX-2 a try when I find the time. And I do enjoy Blu-Ray, even if my old LCD TV only supports 1080i.

 

The PS3 generates a lot of heat, though. Not a scary amount, but plenty more than I expected. It helped a little when I made sure it had at least 4" clearance on all sides and above, but the shelf surrounding it was still quite warm to the touch until I bought a little 6" multi-speed fan and hooked it up to blow over the unit at the low speed. Now it's nice and cool.

 

I'm not a big online gamer, though, so I don't have a headset or mic, either.

[SinisterDeath]

I went through every single Blu-Ray movie available on Amazon, and ended up picking 17 that I actually wanted to own. I'm sure it'll get better, though. I'll be checking the "What's new" section at the beginning of each new month and seeing what comes out that I'm interested in.

 

I just go through netflix. ;)

And I own very few dvds/blu-ray movies.

I only buy dvds that are worthy of my collection.

Aka,

5th Element

Alien, Aliens, Aliens 3. (Don't have Aliens: Ressurection, but I have the VHS copy of the aliens 1-3, need to get em on dvd)

Need to get predator 1&2.

And a few other choice movies.

And yes, Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. ITs far better than people give it credit for.

 

I loved playing through the remake of FF1. That was some nostalgia, yet the perks of the remake (high-color graphics and several gameplay improvements and new cutscenes) made it really worthwhile to try. I was really hoping for more CGI movies on the discs, since the games themselves are old enough to take up a small fraction of the CD-ROM they come on. But after popping the CDs into my computer and browsing the files, I was disappointed to find that most of the remake games have only an opening CGI movie and possibly an ending one.

When I got my psp, I bought FF1 *couldn't find Disgaea at the store, had to buy it online, and wait 2 weeks on shipping even though I spent $10 on expident 1 day delivery. /grumbles*

Beat it, and it was actually suprisingly fun. Though, I didn't go for 100% completeion, there really was no point, I was already 'uber'. ;)

 

Oh well, now I can finally finish FF8 and can give FF9, FFX, and FFX-2 a try when I find the time. And I do enjoy Blu-Ray, even if my old LCD TV only supports 1080i.

 

I still haven't gotten around to re-beating FF8, beating FF9, have no plans of beating FFX/X-2 again, let alone XII. Waiting for FFXIII. ;)

 

The PS3 generates a lot of heat, though. Not a scary amount, but plenty more than I expected. It helped a little when I made sure it had at least 4" clearance on all sides and above, but the shelf surrounding it was still quite warm to the touch until I bought a little 6" multi-speed fan and hooked it up to blow over the unit at the low speed. Now it's nice and cool.

 

The main difference with the ps3 vs 360, is the ps3, even though it runs just as hot as the 360, it doesn't 'die' from the heat as easilly. Its a very durable machine!

The fact that the fans are pumping that hot air out, is a GOOD Thing, last thign you want, is that heat, inside of it, building up. ;)

 

I am, and I'm not an online gamer. I used to play mmorpgs for 15hours aday, but I can't put that time nor energy into it anymore.

I have a strict rule of not playing the online aspect of a game, until I beat the single player.

 

Oh, and just to mention it.

You can still play PSX games on the 40gb ps3, just not ps2 games.

Rumor has it, that the 40gb has a higher failure rate then the 60/80/20gbs, but its just a rumor. Rather, just a coincidence. However if anythign does go wrong with your ps3 empy, I'd highly sugjest bringing it in.

Though, Empies ps3 should run cooler then ours does Shendare, Ours has a 64nm cell processor and his has a 45nm cell processor, I believe.

 

Btw, Empy, I can not believe you have absolutely no USB keyboard/mouses in your house. :P

And if you want chatter, make sure you have the voices turned on in the settings, and go to a game like CTF, or Warfare. You can probably spur up chat by talking your self. I believe talking is the right D pad button.

 

(Btw, I'm kinda suprised you were able to keep up with my score on that one non-laggy game, or that one game I got disconnected out of. Though that 2nd game I played with ya, there were some pretty good players in that room.)

[Emperor]

I am not sure if we were playing newbies in that first game or not.  I mean, they just stood there and made themselves easy targets.  Again, the second game were I got owned, it was a capture the flag.  I had never seen that board before, no one was talking and I kept getting lost.  So I was working at an extreme disadvantage.  By the end of the map I knew were everything was and actually grabbed the flag once or twice.  It didn't matter, it wasn't like I was getting support from my team.  Give me another week of learning the maps and I will be pretty good.  How do you get rank in that game?

 

Socom 4 will come with a mic for those of you that dont have one.  Shendare... what is your username?

[SinisterDeath]

I am not sure if we were playing newbies in that first game or not.  I mean, they just stood there and made themselves easy targets.  Again, the second game were I got owned, it was a capture the flag.  I had never seen that board before, no one was talking and I kept getting lost.  So I was working at an extreme disadvantage.  By the end of the map I knew were everything was and actually grabbed the flag once or twice.  It didn't matter, it wasn't like I was getting support from my team.  Give me another week of learning the maps and I will be pretty good.  How do you get rank in that game?

 

Socom 4 will come with a mic for those of you that dont have one.  Shendare... what is your username?

 

 

Like 53,000 but only because I haven't played much online multiplayer. (but its still fun as hell)

I finally beat the single player campiegn so I can now devote my time to the multiplayer aspect.

[Emperor]

I would play the single player more if it wasn't exactly like the multiplayer.  I mean basically you are playing the multiplayer versue bots.  The only value I got was learning a little about some of the guns.  I would rather learn in MP.

[SinisterDeath]

I would play the single player more if it wasn't exactly like the multiplayer.  I mean basically you are playing the multiplayer versue bots.  The only value I got was learning a little about some of the guns.  I would rather learn in MP.

 

Well there is a story to it, and it is great practice, and in some cases, the bots are harder then the real people are. ;)

Seriously, theres this one level, that was a fricken pain in the ass to beat... Imagine, everyone having a very accurate, 1 shot kill gun, now imagine that being a CTF, in close quarters. I barely won it with 5 seconds to spare. ;)

 

Oh, and you can most definately use the singleplayer, to get to know the maps...

+ Theres this one map that is totally trippy.

Imagine a level, that has altering levels of gravity.

Zones of space that time moves faster/slower.

And to top it off your on a space station, looking down on a planet.

+ 1 turret that looks down over the entire level.

[Shendare]

Shendare... what is your username?

 

Care to make a guess? :P

 

I haven't even started looking into the Friends system yet, though I did go through the PSNet account registration rigamarole after doing the unit's first-time setup.

 

I haven't bothered much with the PS3 internet browser, either. It's weeeird with a controller instead of a mouse, and rather defeating the purpose to plug a mouse and keyboard into a console.

[SinisterDeath]

Shendare... what is your username?

 

Care to make a guess? :P

 

I haven't even started looking into the Friends system yet, though I did go through the PSNet account registration rigamarole after doing the unit's first-time setup.

 

I haven't bothered much with the PS3 internet browser, either. It's weeeird with a controller instead of a mouse, and rather defeating the purpose to plug a mouse and keyboard into a console.

 

It doesn't defeat the purpose of plugging in a keyboard/mouse into a console.

The purpose of a console is not a joystick, the purpose of a console is to have 1 unified system specs, operating systems, ect, so that games made for it, will work on all machines across the board; This also means, video games can be fully optimized to there greatest potential on the said console, where as on the pc, the games are not really optimized for anything, rather they are optimized for a general system specs, with high/medium/low, and even then thats assuming those high/medium/low are running at there optimum settings so optimization is done by the player optimizing it them selves.

The mouse/keyboard is just another human interface controller, only better at typing then an analog controller is. ;)

And really, the mouse/keyboard is superior in every way to the console controllers. :P

[Shendare]

So... Apple is the console of the PC industry?

[Segurant]

LOL

[Shendare]

That would make Linux the anti-console. Ooooooooh.

[SinisterDeath]

So... Apple is the console of the PC industry?

 

No, because each apple has different processor speeds, memory, ect. every 360, has the same processor speed, video card, memory/ect.

 

If anything, the mac OS just requires less resources...

[Shendare]

Heh, you misinterpret the reference.

 

Apple is a company. The Xbox 360 is a single product model (yet with different configurations under different SKUs).

 

At least for a while (I don't follow them closely), Apple had particular models (such as the Apple IIe), and any particular Apple computer model was going to be the same across the board. Apple controlled the hardware, so every computer under a particular model number was pretty much identical, unless the owners upgraded something themselves.

 

My understanding is that since the change-over to Intel-based processors, Apple has opened up significantly in their view of hardware, so you can purchase a Mac with an ATI graphics card, Intel processor, Seagate hard drive, etc.

 

My reference was to the traditional closed-set vision of Apple.

[Barmacral]

You'd be amazed at how hard some bots can be in this game. There is one bot that on the 3rd difficulty setting (of 8) took me 6 hours and 1 broken keyboard to beat. (Means I broke the thing out of frustration), and yet I can destroy a team of bots at the 5th or 6th level difficulty setting.

[SinisterDeath]

You'd be amazed at how hard some bots can be in this game. There is one bot that on the 3rd difficulty setting (of 8) took me 6 hours and 1 broken keyboard to beat. (Means I broke the thing out of frustration), and yet I can destroy a team of bots at the 5th or 6th level difficulty setting.

 

I assume your talking about UT3.

Yes, some of the bots can be annoyingly hard, even on the easy difficulty levels.

[Shendare]

One thing that took me a little while to figure out while I was watching my first Blu-Ray movie was the feeling that the high definition picture didn't seem as brand spanking new as I'd thought. I felt like... I'd seen it before. Many times before, like for years, and I couldn't figure out where this weird deja-vu feeling was coming from.

 

Finally, after about twenty minutes of movie, I placed it. I had been seeing it for years, though it was one of those things you just took for granted and ignored, if you ever noticed it.

 

It was strongly reminding me of the way TVs have been portrayed in movies and on TV itself for decades... you know? How the pictures on TV screens during the TV/movie scenes are always far too clear to be showing an actual TV, thanks to blue screens and "simulated imagery" and such?

 

That's how it felt to my poor confused brain. Like I couldn't really be looking at a TV picture this clear. It was obviously a simulated image. Computer generated blue screen picture or something. And yet, there it was, staring me in the face.

 

What's going to be sad is getting used to "high def" and then laughing at how horrid the picture is on "standard def". It won't be many years before even "high def" sounds silly, like "high density" 5-1/4" floppies sound today. Now we'd say "360KB on a single disk? Oh wow!" laced with heavy doses of sarcasm and amusement. Soon enough we'll look at a 1080p "high def" TV and say "two whole megapixels on a screen? Oh wow!" with just as much sarcasm.

 

C'est la vie. Progress is progress. *laugh*