Is my desire for a PS3 just gadget lust?
I want a PS3, I cannot tell you why. Sure, it's a decent Blu-Ray player and yeah I'm kinda interested in Motorstorm and Resistance, but I'm not hot on any of these things. There is not one feature about the system that makes me really want it. There is not one single game that makes me think it would be worthwhile.
With what I've spent on games this year, I could have bought one already. Money is not an issue. The wife is talking about getting an HDTV as part of our "fixing up the house" projects. She thinks of it as part of the furniture. The guy parts of me recoil at this classification, but I'll call it a damn tea cozy if I can justify spending the money on it. HDTV means there might be some point in going Blu-Ray. I'm not going to rush out and convert my existing DVD collection (225 movies and growing) but some new releases might be worth it for HD. She is already sold on the idea of getting the PS3 as our Blu-Ray player. I don't even have to sell her on the concept, I just have to be patient while we pay off the other home improvement projects and wait for this to come up next in the queue.
I'm hoping that it's not just the completionist gamer nerd side of me exerting its dark influence. This idea that I must have all three. It took me nearly three years to get all three consoles last generation. I'm going to have all three of the current generation inside 12 months? 6 months? Is that necessary? What will I even do with that thing? I'm going to keep playing 3rd party releases on the 360 for LIVE and Achievement purposes, though some like Force Unleashed are obvious Wii wagglers instead. What do I need the PS3 for outside a handful of 1st party releases that I am mostly "eh" about. Did they take Ratchet and Clank back to their roots? I hated every game past the first one. Maybe that will be worthwhile. I guess there is also Sony Tomb Raider, aka: Uncharted. That actually looks kind of cool and I won't get funny looks from the wife.
Is there really any point to me owning this console? I'm not above car lust, but I always thought I displayed a strong resilience to gadgets.
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Mine was and it has resulted in gadget dust.
But there will be games eventually that I'd pick up I'm sure. I use it for bc now and then. Still end up purchasing multiplatform on the 360 though, so I can log in and see all your smiling XBOX LIVE profiles.
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It's the media hub for all my entertainment in my house and looks sexy as hell with it's shiny, black surface just glistening in the moonlight. If money isn't an object who cares? Why are you still reading this?
Once you get it out of the box you will realize the 360 seems like a cheap, plastic toy in comparison.
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Little Big Planet
The final Gran Turismo 5
Metal Gear Solid 4
Final Fantasy 13
Playstation Home
Blu-Ray
)
Upconverting DVD player
Folding@Home (hard on the power bill but since you said money is no concern
Linux available
Streaming video
If you decide to buy it, you should probably wait until the Dual Shock 3 gets introduced.
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These are all potential points of interest, though GT5 and MGS4 are meaningless to me. Though the Dual Shock 3 is out and for sale separately, it's not a pack-in yet. I have a PS3, and I'm fairly convinced it was gadget lust on my part, but I'm not regretting it yet. Perhaps I will if this recession is really going to get as bad as all of these analysts say it will... But there is something innately satisfying about having all three consoles.
All cross-platform titles are still going to the 360, though. That's where the community is, and I am a sucker for achievements. They certainly help me get more out of a game.
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Gadget lust is definitely part of it for me, but there's finally some games coming out this year that i'm interested in playing that are exclusive. Plus the switch to BluRay also makes me want one that much more.
If all my extra money wasn't going for a wedding i'd be picking one up.
Gamer Tag: Rantyr
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Is the sound of the PS3 as loud as the one on the 360? If so, I'd look to a dedicated blu-ray player for watching movies. They'll come down in price.
In any case, my experience with these threads is that if you're already asking the board filled with hardcore gamers, you've already made the decision to buy it.
It's not even close. It barely makes a sound. As a bonus, it functions as a pretty decent space heater.
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Oh god no, you can't even hear it unless you put your ear next to it. That's one of the reasons it's my primary media hub.
XBL/Swat R2 SPORE/Swatr2 WAR/Nephlokan
Oh I'm just trying to figure out if I have any legitimate reason for getting it or am I spending that much on a toy just to have it even though I don't know what to do with it.
Also, no interest in Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, or Final Fantasy anything.
The sad thing here is that I probably will get it regardless, even if I can't justify it. If I'm not even going to get any friction from the wife, the only thing stopping me is finances, and even that will change later this year.
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* Ratchet & Clank - Yes, it is great. Maybe not the best in the series (that still goes to Going Commando) but it's a lot of fun and a graphical powerhouse.
* Super Stardust HD - My favorite dual stick shooter.
* Uncharted - Fantastic game, well worth playing through once if nothing else.
* Resistance - I think it's a very good shooter that doesn't get as much credit as it should.
* PixelJunk Monsters - Fun fun fun.
* Warhawk - I don't know what it is about this game but I'll turn it on and realize several hours later I'm still playing.
* Bluray - Yes, you will notice the difference between normal DVDs and HD movies. Heck, even my wife noticed which is pretty impressive.
* Upgradeable hard drive - You can do it yourself.
* Playstation Store - You see prices in US dollars and pay the exact amount... what a novel concept!
Coming this year: Wipeout HD, MGS4, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, probably more that I'm missing. The PS3 is a great system, mine probably gets equal play as my 360. Maybe a little bit more as it's also my movie player.
Based on your post, though, you don't sound too excited about getting a PS3. Why not wait until you are? It'll still be around.
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Really though, there are some great gems on the PSN store. The EyeToy is hands down much better than the Xbox Vision camera, and there's a bunch of cool camera games as well. Hell, the pack-in "video editor" that came with the Eye-Toy has already paid for itself with a bunch of silly home videos me and my kid made (it has a pretty decent mic built in).
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My entire plan to get a PS3 hinges on LotR coming out on BluRay. My wife has not only watched the entire extended editions of the entire trilogy multiple times. She has actually watched every minute of every extra on the disks (and yes, read the trilogy several times). We don't buy DVDs, but LotR was a no brainer.
So once it drops, I will have convince her why this is the edition we really need. Of course, then we will need a player.
For me, a PS3 is complete gadget lust. There is nothing I feel like I really need to play on the PS3. Andy's list was pretty meh to me. If I had it, I would probably consider MGS, and would give LBP a look. I am so sure, as I am with Spore, that LBP is going to really end up being a crap game. Every video of PS3 Home makes the users look like douchebgs. I could still easily talk myself out of getting a PS3, and just get a player.
Heck, my HDTV is just 36", so I have my doubts that HiDef DVDs will look much better than they do on my upconverting DVD player.
I might have just talked myself right back out again. Damn.
Well, it is quiet, shiny and solid!
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It's marginal for me. It's definately the best DVD player I've ever owned in terms of visual quality, and obviously bluray kicks that to the curb. I WAS using it as the hub for music, but ultimately the lack of flexibility and how MASSIVELY slow it is in browsing a big collection off a network sent me back to using Winamp on the HTPC.
All the "little" games mentioned are worth playing, for sure, but it doesn't get a ton of time from me. I am looking forward to a bunch of the upcoming stuff though.
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For me, even though out of the other two consoles and my PC it's probably going to get the least gaming out of it, it was worth it for the Blu-ray player and DVD-upscaler.
That said, does anyone have a good recommendation for video converting for streaming from my PC? Despite the PS3 being preferable in both scaling and lack of sounding like a jumbo jet, I'm still using my 360 because I'm still having issues with the PS3 properly playing any video file, usually the problem being that it doesn't recognize audio but it's all over the map.
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I don't know exactly what you mean, but the VLC media player (features: here and here) is able to transcode video and stream it over the network as far as I know. Plus: It's open source.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'd say I was joining the winning team, but that'd imply there existed a time when I wasn't on team evil."
As Andy and Rabbit pointed out, it's not just a BluRay player, it is also an upscaling DVD player as well. If you buy a high quality HDTV, you will see a difference and be glad you have it. (This is the primary use for my PS3, sadly.)
As for games, I haven't been to pleased with retail games, but many of the downloadable ones (Super Stardust HD, Flow, etc) are quite compelling. In my opinion Resistance was nothing special -- there are many better FPS games that you've already played on the 360, but even still some people seem to enjoy the setting and weapon design (although all that did nothing for me). Motorstorm is fun, Heavenly Sword is a perfect rental, Lair is dog feces on a stick, and Uncharted is genuinely good and I need to find the time to finish it up.
But yeah, as others have said, if you do get an HDTV and you have the spare cash you'll probably be happy to have a PS3 if only as a high quality movie player (for now, at least).
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I went through something similar recently - I bought one eventually through gadget lust, and have no interest in Final Fantasy, MGS or GT either.
It's definitely grown on me since then. Oblivion, Warhawk, Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted are great games. GT5P is actually pretty fun (it was a free pack-in), provided you don't play on realistic physics mode. If you buy the remote control it makes a very good DVD/Bluray player and with a bit of fiddling I got it to see the videos stored on my Linux file server. My girlfriend likes it for Singstar, GH3 and the Simpsons game (no idea why she likes that so much).
White Knight Chronicles and Valkyria look like interesting releases towards the end of this year.
I actually find myself using my PS3 quite a bit. Between PS3 games, my huge library of PS2 titles and movies on Blue-Ray it has been kept fairly busy. I upgraded the HDD and now I have a huge collection of music on it as well.
Bottom line: I don't regret my purchase in the least.
Enablers with your Blu-Ray and upscaler arguments.
All kidding aside, I think it's a little gadget lust, but not misplaced. Not only would it make a great player for media, but eventually there are going to be some games where I'm sure any of us would be happy to have one. I'm not there yet personally, but Little Big Planet almost by itself could do the trick if it lives up to its potential.
When I was picking up GTA last night there were Wiis for sale. Wiis in the wild. I almost bought one. I think that would have been gadget lust. Aside from one or two games, I don't know what I'd do with it. The PS3 will no doubt be more stable than a 360 and thus more reliable as a game player and a media player. And more importantly not only will games like Little Big Planet drop, but eventually there will be another Team Ico game and other original stuff. The Playstation tends to get a lot of original stuff (Okami, Disgaea, Ico, Katamari, Shadow of the Colossus, LBP) that we never see on the XBox and will never see. We got Katamari, I know. We got a really bad version.
So I can see wanting a PS3, sure.
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I echo the comments about it being a usefull BR/DVD player and media hub. I'd say it's worth it just for that.
So look think about it this way, "It's worth the money to have a good high-def movie player and I can also play some games I wouldn't otherwise have access to." Then if you're not using it as your primary games machine you need not feel guilty.
At the moment it's my only games machine and it's served me well (thanks to 60gig backwards compatibility with PS2).
*Edit* Also, yes it is gadget lust, but it's the good type of gadget lust that gets you a PS3, and not the bad type of gadget lust that gets you an NGage.
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FTW!
Don't discount the power of downloadable games. I am genuinely disappointed with the lack of good X-Box Arcade titles outside of the retro games I've already played or the Wii Virtual Console stuff that is them selling the same thing for the umpteenth time. I mean, there is something wonderful about playing Doom on a 7th generation console but they could do so much more.
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For me, at least, it's definitely only gadget lust that puts it on the radar.
The PS3's meh (for my tastes) lineup of exclusives makes it useful only as a Blu-Ray/DVD upscaler for the immediate future. Since there's no way that I'm paying more than $200 or so for that functionality, it's doubtful that a PS3 will be picked up until it goes down enough in price to make a purchase worthwhile for the small number of decent exclusives it'll eventually have.
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People who already have multiple consoles are always going to be harder to justify a machine that also plays the same games their other system does. However, as a stand alone gaming machine, if you DON'T have a 360, the PS3 is a most excellent machine with a TON of great games.
But if you already have a 360, your pool shrinks quite a bit. However, there are some really wicked games on the horizon. It's not a matter of "if" a great game that is totally exclusive hits the PS3, it's a matter of "when". I can almost hear the sounds of every gamer's head exploding once they announce Shadow of the Colossus 2. And that's just one game. But that one game alone would justify my purchase 10 times.
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Honestly, they could remake Shadow of the Colossus in true HD and I would buy a PS3 for that. Seriously.
And then wait for LBP.
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Yeah I'd pay $60 for a HD, 60FPS version. Oh my god yes.
Ok, maybe one or two new colossus to climb on.
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