PS3: Ohhh Shiney!

[caption id="attachment_3131" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Like this but with more than one button."][/caption]

Last week was a bit of a hell week for me, hence my absence from our community here. It was 7-8 days of work > gym > recording > rehearsal with a show thrown in. It ended well, however, when a brand spakin' new PS3 was delivered to my doorstep. Its quite the little machine and I'm feeling an entire world, a world I used to know well, of gaming open up before me. Now I know what you must be saying “Joseph, you're not going to give impressions on a console that was released in 2006 are you?”

You bet your sweet ass I am.

The first thing I noticed when I took the PS3 out of the box, and found a rightful place for it among my other entertainment machines, was just what a sleek and sexy little bitch it was. Unlike the 360, which towers like a mighty red brick (RE5 Elite), the PS3 actually tends to compliment the room quite well. A slight and aesthetic consideration, sure, but one that's part of the overall package because the sleekness extends into the menu systems of the console as well. All in all, the PS3 oozes sophistication inside and out.

For its part, what the 360 lacks in aesthetic it more than makes up for in ease of use and accessibility. Though tending to be clunky, I find the 360 to be a better organized experience which is partly the keystone to its domination in the online community aspect in this generation of consoles.

I mentioned in my introduction that the PS3 “opened up an entire world of gaming.” The fact is that the PlayStation has been around for a long time now and had a large part in sculpting console gaming as we know it today. Because of this Sony has a vast library of classic titles, many of which I'm seeing on PSN for download right now. Unfortunately there is a complete lack of PS2 games available but there have been rumors that Sony is working on a PS2 emulator for the PS3 and will then be selling PS2 games through PSN. Oh happy day.

On a personal note, I've also always found the controller on the 360 to be much more comfortable and ergonomic than on the PS. The directly parallel analogue sticks on the PS cause me to have to change my hand position from a “button ready” position to a “stick” position whereas the 360 doesn't require any shift at all. A minor point, but one that could add to fatigue during those 6+ hour gaming marathons.

There are a mountain of games I need to get through on the PS3 right now and I'm going to begin by focusing on 2009 titles in preparation for our end of the year show. Demon's Soul's will possibly be purchased today, GameStop is sold out of Valkyria Chronicles and Uncharted 2 is coming down the rental chute.

I have a few weeks left (I think)...will I be ready?

(maybe?)

-Joseph-