Digital Trends

Sony Playstation 3

November 15th, 2006 | by Scott Steinberg

Setup and Use Part 2

Initial skepticism aside, though, we have previewed upcoming smashes like Assassin's Creed and Indiana Jones 2007, and can say with certainty that things will soon change for the positive. In fact, once developers have had time to learn the console's ins and outs and get a handle on its staggeringly future-proofed capabilities (yes, as Sony suggests, you'll probably be keeping this gizmo around 10 years, and not just because of the hefty purchase price), all bets are off. The future of gaming involves jaw-droppingly gorgeous 3D worlds that designers build, but don't truly control. In other words, because enemies are so intelligent, the laws of physics so realistic and scenarios so unpredictable, anything can happen each time you play, ensuring it's never the same interactive outing twice. And as soon as Sony and friends start trotting out the big guns like Gran Turismo HD (let's not forget the system will play home to Metal Gear Solid 4, Resident Evil 5, Tekken 6 and other record-breaking franchises), the number one console manufacturer may start creaming the competition just on depth and quality of selection alone.

As a side note, we should further pause here and mention that saved games – no matter how big or small the title in question – are stored on hard drive using virtual memory cards. Therefore you'll be spared the cost of additional memory card units (a big plus), with PSOne/PS2 fans able to buy a $14.99 adapter that lets them rapidly transfer such data over from older platforms onto HDD.

Conclusion

Amusingly, all of the above ranting is just a very long-winded way of saying this is a system that's ostensibly destined to dominate the videogame industry, but not necessarily this holiday season. Right now, it's a premium purchase primarily aimed at high-end home theater enthusiasts or hardcore gamers with serious cash to burn. If you buy one before year-end, you're doing so just to show friends and acquaintances that you've got the biggest stones (and checkbook) on the block, and don't screw around when it comes to multimedia playback. But anyone else who goes to the trouble of picking one up now is just asking for a world of disappointment.

The revolution will indeed be televised, and, given that Blu-ray discs currently hold up to 50GB of data, with 200GB discs on the way – the kind of space needed to power games we can't even presently envision – quite possibly be done so entirely on Sony's terms. Be that as it may, it's still a good ways off, making PlayStation 3 a good value only if you're presently looking for an inexpensive Blu-ray player (of which it's amusingly the cheapest at market), fancy-pants digital media hub or simply a way to impress pals and relatives, who truthfully probably won't be that envious after an hour or two anyway.

We're just looking at the beginning of something big here, though – a year or two from now, it's wholly feasible that this will be the true player's sole console companion of choice.

Pros:

• Awesome sound/video output
• Built-in Blu-ray drive, wireless networking
• Tilt-sensing capability
• Online shopping features
• All games HD-ready
• Multimedia functionality
• Free online multiplayer
• 60 GB hard drive

Cons:

• Temporarily middling game selection
• No force-feedback (rumble) features
• High purchase price
• Fingerprint-loving casing
• Component/HDMI cable sold separately
• Size/weight
• Some backwards-compatibility issues