I haven't been around the GWJ community for long and I haven't visited in awhile, but I do know that it isn't big on the PS3 This past weekend I was able to pick one up, though, so I thought I'd share my impressions of the system:

Backwards Compatability - So far so good. I tried out Sky Odyssey, Shadow of the Colossus and Dragon Quest VIII and they all seemed to work just fine. I haven't played any of those in awhile so it's hard to say for certain but I do think there's a bit more aliasing than the games had on the PS2. Not really that big of a deal though. Thank goodness Sony was smart enough to let you create virtual memory cards on your PS3 hard drive so you don't need to buy adaptors or anything.

Interestingly enough Sky Odyssey actually runs better on the PS3! The original only put out analog sound, not optical, but the audio is just fine on the PS3. The really interesting thing is that the framerate is better! On the first level there were a couple of spots that always had slowdown as you approached some falling rocks... that slowdown was gone when I played it on the PS3 yesterday. It was actually quite cool

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - Pretty standard action hack-and-slash game. It was the first game I fired up and at first I was amazed at how much aliasing there was. Checked my projector and it said it was running in 540p instead of 720p. Went back to the PS3 system settings and realized I forgot to check 720p as a valid signal for my projector. Fired up the game again and it looked far better. I can see where the downscaling would be a big issue for people who have HDTVs that don't support 720p.

The game itself is pretty decent. Only three characters which is kind of a bummer. It also feels much more actiony than dungeon crawlery; the areas seem smaller and while I'm not far in it seems like the game tends to stop you in an area while you fight lots and lots of guys that keep spawning. I was expecting somethig closer to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance or Champions of Norrath but it feels more like the recent Gauntlet game. The combat animations are kinda cool though and it runs smooth enough. Nothing new but I have been itching for some hack-and-slash action so it gets the job done.

Resistance: Fall of Man - I've spent the most time with Resistance and I'm really enjoying it. Some of the level transisions are really odd, the level just sorta ends really abrupt, but that's pretty minor. In terms of visuals and gameplay I'd say it's a cross between Timesplitters, Call of Duty and Half-Life 2. In terms of pacing it feels very much like HL2.

The game looks very nice. Nothing really stands out or pops out at you like I've seen in other games. Take Rainbow Six: Vegas for example; you'll be running around and think "Wow that glass looks awesome" or "Man that shrink wrap around those crates looks amazing!" I haven't had any moments like that in Resistance. There's some pretty cool level design and architecture and the draw distance is impressive but the whole game has sort of a muted feel to it, very similar to Call of Duty 3. The more I play, though, the more impressed I am with the visuals. It has a very unique style to it and there are plenty of little details that are extremely cool if you take the time to look at them rather than single elements really standing out.

Resistance runs really smooth which is good. I'm actually impressed at how well the PS3 controller works for FPS control. The dead zone is gone from the PS2 controller which is huge; this is probably the first FPS I've played using a Playstation controller that just felt natural. I still wish the sticks themselves had a little more resistance when moving them (like Microsoft's controllers) but it's pretty minor.

The story isn't anything too special right now but it's interesting enough to keep me moving forward through the game. There have been some tough sections which I appreciate, it certainly hasn't all been a cakewalk. In typical Insomniac style the weapons are awesome and they have little secrets for you to try and unlock as well.

Tried out some multiplayer and 40 player games are virtually lag-free which is pretty amazing. The online interface is really good, which isn't too surprising considering Insomniac did a good job with the online portion of the Ratchet & Clank games on the PS2. It pulls your username from your PS3 online account but I couldn't tell if it actually pulls your friends list or not.

Demos and the Sony Store

I was surprised how much stuff was up on the Sony store already. Lemmings is pretty cool, it seems like a great remake that works well with the controller and has some pretty cool graphical tricks here and there. I might have to pick that up at some point. Blast Factor is a straight-up Geometry Wars clone; it seemed okay but nothing too amazing. Cash Guns Chaos is a straight-up Smash TV close that I didn't really care for. GoSudoku is just that but entertaining if you like sudoku puzzles. Plenty of demos up already, the best being Motorstorm so far.

I like that everything on the store is listed in US dollars, not stupid points The interface is pretty decent, feels very much like iTunes. Navigating is kidna clunky though as it's just using their web browser but it's neat that they can easily do whatever they want with the UI. Hopefully they'll get background downloads working.

I will say that as soon as I saw Lemmings and GoSudoku on the Sony store I immediately thought, "Why aren't these games on Live Arcade?" With Gripshift coming soon (and Tekken 5 hitting at some point) I'm hoping that the Sony store will really show some strength throughout the console's life.

Motorstorm Demo

To be honest, this is one of the reasons I wanted a PS3 and the demo confirms I made a good choice At first I actually wasn't all that blown away by the visuals but the more I play the more impressed I am with the game. It looks very nice and it also runs extremely smooth... even with a full field of cars piling up into each other I still haven't noticed any slowdown.

The physics and controls will be hit-and-miss for some. It feels a little floaty but I think it has a good sense of speed, which didn't come through in the early videos I had watched online. I really like the computer AI; you'll see cars slamming into each other, crashing at corners, flying off cliffs, ramming into you... no two laps feel the same and it certainly adds some personality to the game.

Hopefully the US version will have the online mode they've been talking about. I can only imagine how much fun it'll be to race against other people. Even if the game is lacking a bit in modes I can still see myself putting a lot of time into the game. I've already played through the demo a dozen times or so and I still keep going back for more.

The Controller

Wow is it light. The syncing thing is a little odd but it works. The first time you use a controller with a PS3 you need to hook it up via USB so the controller can figure out what PS3 to talk to; guessing it actually stores that in some flash memory on the controller. From then on you can turn on the PS3 with the controller, it remembers what controller number it is, etc. Seems to work well.

Wish the analog sticks were tighter but it's not bad. As I mentioned before the dead zone on the analog control is gone which is awesome. The face buttons also feel a little more pressure sensitive which is good. I don't like the "triggers" for L2/R2 though. You gotta pull them in a ways but they are still straight down rather than curved out so my hand kinda gets stretched too much and was getting sore; haven't quite figured out the most comfortable way to hold it. All they needed to do was curve the triggers out a bit and I think it would've fixed the proble.

Bluray

Not much to say here. The system came with Talledaga Nights; we watched that last night and it looked fine but at a glance I never would've guessed it was a HD movie. I also picked up Corpse Bride and it certainly looked good. Not sure it looks good enough to justify getting a device just for HD movie playback but it was really good looking. The system doesn't come with a remote so you have to use the PS3 controller as your remote control, which is fine.

That's about it for now. I'll share more thoughts as they come up!