PS3: The Epicentre of Home Entertainment

I recently decided to replace my aging PlayStation 2 console with its new younger sibling, the PS3 40GB console. Several factors went into my purchase decision and since then I have been blown away by the technology of this little black box. Beyond being a simple gaming console, it's also a powerful media center with powerful built-in features.

Purchase Decision, the Competition
When searching for a new game console, I was left with the three prominent choices on today's market. Nintendo Wii, XBOX360, or PlayStation 3. The PS3 stood out for me because it included built-in wireless networking, blu-ray compatibility, graphics geared more towards realism than cartoonism, and a great [and widely expanding] list of available game titles.

Considering wireless networking was a "must-have" for me, this console was actually cheaper than its closest competition, the XBOX360.

Out of the Box
The PlayStation 3 comes with the 40GB console, 1 bluetooth controller, a power cord and standard yellow/red/white cable for hooking up to any standard television and a USB charging cable for the supplied controller. There was also some other stuff in the box but this was all I needed.

Initial setup was rather simple and nothing struck me as unexpected. The one thing that was a minor pain was having to charge the controller immediately which is to be expected. It's just difficult when you've just come home after spending a small fortune to have to be strapped to it with the short USB charge cord.

One other thing to mention is, as I was shopping for the PlayStation 3, I came across various 'carrying cases' which made me think of the PS3 as a rather portable device. It's actually really a very heavy machine and not something that I would ever imagine carrying around with me. Just food for thought.

One minor concern of mine for future reference also happens to be that there are only two USB ports on the front of the machine. I am guessing, however, that I could hook up a USB hub to the machine if required. Many people don't necessarily know how to do that though so its a concern is all.

Once you turn it on
I have to say, turning the machine on for the first time was like Christmas when I was ten years old. It was truly exciting. There is a few things you need to do for the 'initial setup' of the unit. This takes only a few minutes.

Each time the machine turns on, there is a short orchestral intro that plays. After owning the unit for some time, I still find the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when I hear it. That's a good way of knowing this machine has impressed the heck out of a tech-head like me.

Graphics
I mentioned previously that a large deciding factor for me was the fact that the PS3 offers very realistic graphics capabilities. This is something I've always noticed about the Sony PlayStation lineup is that they tend to be more geared towards realistic sort of games which is exactly what I like.

That being said, however, there are people in the world whom are much more interested in cartoony or fantasy graphics and while this machine is fully capable of them, you might find a wider range of titles for such things on other consoles.

Additional Capabilities
Another deciding factor with this machine was the fact that it also acts as a media center and can play all sorts of formats including DivX, Xvid, avi, and mpeg videos. In addition to that, it can act as an mp3 player and it can do all of this using the resources of a wired or wireless network.

Running everything through a network is admittedly difficult. I feel at this time it would be appropriate for me to put up a word of caution: this system, and getting it to integrate with your network, is not for the faint of heart. I am a programmer and network technician by trade and this process is certainly not seamless and also not easy. I find that my main difficulty comes with my lack of familiarity with DLNA (media sharing) applications.

About DLNA
I'm not about to go into the technical details of what DLNA is, except that this is the type of technology that the PlayStation 3 relies on to find media on your network. Windows Media Player 11+ can 'share' media on the network but I find their support for this is sketchy at best and often crashes. Currently, the best system I have found for this is a program called TVersity which will run on a computer and share the media over the network. Things are still not 'perfect' yet and I suspect there might come a time when I just decide its easier to keep an external USB hard drive next to the PlayStation 3.

Other options are to copy the media files onto the PlayStation's hard drive which, through the network, seems very slow and tedious. I have also been using a USB Thumb drive which does the chore but doesn't hold a lot of data.

One other thing to mention about DLNA is that the popular music software, iTunes is not DLNA compatible and thus you cannot easily share your iTunes library with your PlayStation 3. I truly hope that Sony perhaps works with Apple to bring this functionality to this already powerful platform.

It's all in the details
What has impressed me the most about this console is the attention to details. I am a very detail oriented person and have noticed some truly powerful and unique features of this console.

First I wanted to talk about the use of Bluetooth technology to facilitate wireless controllers and other devices. Wow! I have my PlayStation3 inside a wooden cabinet. Unlike standard IR remote controls and such, Bluetooth can transmit data regardless of if it has a direct line of sight between the components. This is true magnificence which I wish would be more widely used in today's electronics. I'm so tired of pointing remote controls at televisions and stereo equipment. Bluetooth negates that issue and its usage was a stroke of pure genius here.

SIXAXIS is the second thing I wanted to mention. It wasn't until I found a demo of 'how to use SIXAXIS' in Grand Theft Auto IV, that I really understood what the 'eggs/crows' PlayStation 3 commercial was about some time ago. SIXAXIS is not unlike what is available on the Nintendo Wii in that, with a flick of your wrist without pushing any buttons or turning any joysticks, you can control an element of the game. No doubt this opens up massive possibilities for the PlayStation 3, including everything that the Nintendo Wii currently enjoys its fame for.

Gameplay
The game play on the PS3 is second to none in my opinion. Sony's controllers have always been favourable for me and the actual console itself is powerful enough to keep up with some really slick games.

My favourite haunt to date is Rockstar's popular Grand Theft Auto IV. I haven't yet found a scenario where the system is 'maxed out' and slows down to accommodate the amount of on-screen action. I think this goes to show that this is a quality machine that will continue to dominate for years to come.

I did note another user mentioned the initial 'wait time' for 'installing' a new game on the PS3. This can be indeed frustrating when you just want to play a new game. I usually find there is about a 7-8 minute wait while the game gets installed. Annoying, but once its done, it's done for good.

PS3 System Software -- Updating
I have to hand it to Sony on this one. They have made updating this machine super simple and thus far error proof. As new versions of system software are released, new features are added and the machine is morphing to be more powerful with each new release. Updating the software is extremely simple IF you have the PS3 hooked up to the internet.

If you don't have the PS3 hooked up to the internet, I would very strongly recommend doing so. Most titles I've played have required a newer version of the system software than is supplied by the factory. Each update tends to be around 100MB in size so its not exactly something you'd want to be downloading via a dialup connection on your home PC either.