Playstation 3 discussion thread

[madmac]

I will say this, I LOVE what the PS3 can and does do for my photos. Really slick !! Love it!!.

[Hdale85]

Chris, I haven't had a PS3 for a few years lol. I just recently got an Xbox 360 again. There just wasn't ever any titles I was dying to play. Now I would like to play GT5....but I'm not sure it's worth buying a PS3 to do so. Depends on how cheap I could get a used one? Right now funds are all in my new racing sim cockpit and so on

[Nick M]

I use my PS3 as the primary source for my Stereo/"HT". I think it does an amazing job with Blu-Ray and Audio CDs. I actually sold my Rotel dedicated CD player after doing random AB comparisons and being unable to tell the difference between sources (which in context of my enjoyment is all that matters!).

While I own some popular titles such as Assassins Creed, Resistance, and Call of Duty Black-Ops, I don't get much enjoyment out of the big console titles. Even being someone who purchased a PS2 just for GT3, I wasn't overly impressed with the GT5 demo.

What I actually enjoy are the simple arcade style games purchasable on PSN. I am absolutely addicted to Stardust HD (recently made it into the top 5000 people in the world for high scores!).

Here is a quick amateur video of game play. Turn down your volume before playing!

[youtube]Jhhocl7jf3o[/youtube]

The game is like a modern update of old school asteroids.

[madmac]

No Difference between a Rotel CD player and PS3 in CD playback????. Wow !! Hummm....I guess that could be possible if you are using the DAC converters in your receiver/amp rather than the DAC's in the Rotel player. In that case, you are using the Rotel/PS3 as a simple transport. However, I am sure the DAC's in the Rotel are likely better than the one's in your amp/receiver. If you played the Rotel via the analog outs, I'm quite sure it would outperform the PS3 sound wise.

I tried CD's in my PS3 and also in my Oppo DVD player (via toslink to my Rotel) and the sound was somewhat one dimensional compared to the warmth and soundstage my Marantz CD67SE produces via it's analog outs.

[Nick M]

I have separates (Rotel RC-1070 and RB-1080), and indeed I was using the RCD-1072 DACs (I also use the DACs in the PS3).

I don't have golden ears, although I have an above-average bandwidth for my age (I get a moderately extensive hearing test each year at work due to working in an industrial environment).

I've never liked links in my sound system that impart "warmth" (a common result of lower frequency distortion many people like - often accompanied by rolled highs when found in amplifiers), nor do I enjoy poor quality sources or components that are "sterile" (lacking information through improper sampling, compression, or filtering).

Big supporter of blind testing, and I couldn't identify the sources with much more than 50% accuracy. It could be that I don't have enough Au in my cochlea.

[madmac]

Your PS3 has DAC's ??. The ONLY option for audio in my PS3 IS HDMI or Toslink (Optical) which are digital only. I need my receiver to do the DAC conversion from anything coming from the PS3.

I did a blind test (Using my wife to change the sources!!) comparing my Oppo dvd (via optical cable letting my Rotel do the DAC conversion) and my Marantz (Letting the Marantz do the DAC conversion, sound being sent via analog RCA patchcords to the Rotel) and the differences were very apparent. I guessed the right source 100% of the time. Warmth, transparency and soundstage being the main difference. Detail was roughly the same with both. It was more the musical 'presentation' of the Marantz that differentiated the two. :E

[Nick M]

The Rotel RC-1070 is a stereo pre-amp. I have HDMI from my PS3 going direct to my LCD, and analog out from my PS3 to my Rotel pre-amp.

I guess I'm just lucky that I don't require a dedicated CD player for audio-only enjoyment.

[M.Roberts8]

[IMG][/IMG]

I used my 20.00 amazon credit from killzone 3 for this. Haven't tried it out yet but it feels good maybe slightly front heavy. Supposed to work well from an online video I saw prior to purchase. I figured what the heck!

[Chris D]

I used my 20.00 amazon credit from killzone 3 for this. Haven't tried it out yet but it feels good maybe slightly front heavy. Supposed to work well from an online video I saw prior to purchase. I figured what the heck!

Arrrrghhh... I keep losing posts that I make, due to the server errors.

That's awesome, dude! I looked at that one heavily, but ended up buying a simple pistol for the Move. Perhaps I should look at this one more. I'd like to hear more about how it's functioning for you, like the button placement. Are you finding accessibility to all the buttons, including the circle and the (triangle, is it?) that is not mapped by the trigger.

I didn't realize the stock extended out that far.

[M.Roberts8]

hat's awesome, dude! I looked at that one heavily, but ended up buying a simple pistol for the Move. Perhaps I should look at this one more. I'd like to hear more about how it's functioning for you, like the button placement. Are you finding accessibility to all the buttons, including the circle and the (triangle, is it?) that is not mapped by the trigger. I didn't realize the stock extended out that far.

I have yet to try it out officially. ops: Had to put in a water heater over the weekend. Now that I got that out of the way I plan on trying it out this week or weekend.
Overall the buttons feel nice seem easy to reach. Just above the trigger is the square and triangle buttons (on both sides). The Nav stick seems to give good access to all of its buttons the only buttons on the Move wand you can't reach are the X/O which are on the Nav stick too.
The reload button is mapped to both a button under the "clip" on the gun or you can "pump" the front of the gun where the nav stick goes.

We will see after I go a few rounds in killzone with it. I'll be sure to report back.

Here is the video that I watched that led me to pick it up.Video

[nikbrewer]

not sure if i want to get a move. Im old fashioned. If i want to wave a controler around, I have my Wii for that

[Chris D]

For those who haven't discovered this yet, the Playstation Network had a hacking attack, and has been down for the last 5 days. Every time you try to log in, it says that it's "down for maintenance". Quite a bummer, as I'd like to just log onto the basic network, much less download some junk from the store.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13169518

Now, something that's interesting, is I still have a large game demo download file that I'm working on. I can still connect to the internet and continue to download the file, even though I can't log onto PSN itself.

[krips]

I did notice that...figured something must be wrong with my PS3 since it was saying that for so long...good to hear my machine is fine .

[Silver1omo]

"Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure."

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/23/latest-update-for-psnqriocity-services/

[Chris D]

Looks like it's worse than just a hacking attack, looks like they actually got some users' personal account information, including mine. That's a whole different level of suckiness. Now it's not just an inconvenience with the network being down, now I have to worry about my personal information being stolen.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/04/26/playstation.network.hack/index.html?hpt=T1

I got this E-mail from PSN today.

Add PlayStation_Network@playstation-email.com to your address book

===================================

PlayStation(R)Network

===================================

Valued PlayStation(R)Network/Qriocity Customer:

We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by rebuilding our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it: - U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

- We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a "fraud alert" on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

- You may wish to visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment

===================================

LEGAL
"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks and "PS3" and "PlayStation Network" are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (C) 2011 Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC.

Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404

[madmac]

Oh Boy !! That's going to be a MAJOR setback for them gaming wise. Especially with a new WII coming out soon........ coincidence??. Hummmm........well, my Netflix still works via my Playstation at least!!.

[Silver1omo]

Just checked my email and don't see any from PSN.

[Chris D]

I don't know. But since I can't get into the PS Network, I also can't get into the Playstation store... can't download any games, add-ons, music, or videos. Ironically, I can't even play the demo (MAG) that I just spent all that time downloading (and then downloaded a patch) because apparently it's online-based requiring connection to the PS Network.

[madmac]

I can't help but thinking that whoever did this hack was doing it more for a 'gotcha' effect rather than for stealing a bunch of information. Basically to make Sony and their playstation itself look bad. I'm not too concerned otherwise.

I still think the Playstation rocks and does everything that it does better than anything out there currently.

[impala454]

I don't imagine people are going to risk jailtime just to say "haha playstation sucks!" I'm never all that worried about personal info being taken because there's not a whole lot someone can do with it anymore. CC info I would worry about but still not all that much. Banks are fairly good at dealing with that stuff nowadays.

[Chris D]

Well, I could see some punk doing a hack, so he can brag to all his buddies and on the net that HE was the guy that hacked Playstation. However, he may not have been thinking of the complete consequences. I really hope that Sony brings their full weight to bear on this one (as it looks like they are) and smack the responsible party GOOD, with full legal raminfications.

[Chris D]

Interestingly or ironically, I checked today and the PSN is still "down for maintenance". However, I just received an E-mail from PSN, talking about all the great new things from Playstation 3, including Portal 2. You can't even play Portal 2 networked, since the PSN is down.

[Chris D]

Looks like I'm doing a running update here. Sony has announced that the PSN will be back up later this week, and that all PSN users will be offered a 30 day free trial in "Playstation Plus" as compensation. That could be kinda cool, for those who would have an interest in those things. You get extra downloads, and some trial games for free through that service.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/01/playstation.online/index.html?hpt=T2

[Chris D]

Oh, dear--another attack on Sony. More delay.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/227393/playstation_network_down_indefinitely_again.html

[madmac]

Wow ! This is getting bad for them. My advice to them is to offer their customers some serious compensation to save face on this one. I myself do not use the Playstation network for gaming, but I do use Netflix which still works.

[Chris D]

News article says that the PSN is partially back up and running now.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-14/sony-resumes-partial-operation-of-its-playstation-network-in-u-s-europe.html

[audioqueso]

The PSN store is not up. But the PSN as a hub/gateway for the other gaming services are back up.

[Chris D]

Hmmm... apparently, the PSN in the US and Europe is up, but not yet the rest of the world.

I'm getting a strange effect, though, where I go to sign in to the PSN, and it tells me a software update is required. Do I want to update? Yes/No. If I choose "No", it boots me back to the main Playstation XMB hub. If I choose "Yes", it thinks for a second, then tells me my software is already current and no update is required, then boots me back to the main Playstation XMB hub. End result: I can't log in to PSN, can't do an update.

I think an update is, no kidding, actually required. I know if I were Sony, I would add more security stuff to the software itself before proceeding. Maybe I'll do a manual software download on my PC to a thumb drive, then do a manual PS3 update.

[madmac]

The PSN store is not up. But the PSN as a hub/gateway for the other gaming services are back up.

My Netflix has always worked.....even when the network was shut down. :T

[Chris D]

Whatever my little quirk was yesterday, it's fixed. So here's what I got today when I logged in to the PSN from my PS3:

1. As soon as I tried to log in, it told me a software update was required. Did I want to update? Yes/No
2. When I chose yes, it downloaded and installed software 3.61.
3. On reboot, it immediately told me my password had to be changed. I picked a new password, entered it twice, all was good.
4. It dumped me back out to the main XMB screen. I hit "log in" again, and it had already auto-stored my new password, it logged me in, and put me back to the main XMB no problem.
5. I tried to go into the Playstation Store, and it said it's "down for maintenance", but I'm still logged into the PSN just fine and can do all other network things just fine.

[Silver1omo]

What games of the welcome back program are you getting?
I got Dead Nation, still trying to figure about the other...

[madmac]

What games of the welcome back program are you getting?
I got Dead Nation, still trying to figure about the other...

It's not that I don't want the free game but......how many gigs are we talking about here?. 20 ???.....maybe more??. That's a helluva' lot of gigs of download!!. You better have super high speed internet and lots of upload/download capacity on your internet plan do take advantage of that offer!!. :E

[Kevin D]

Umm... 2gigs for Little big planet, 1.7g for wipeout.

Kevin

[Silver1omo]

1.4g for Dead nation.

[madmac]

That's weird??!!. You would figure a game like little big planet would take more room than that. It's sad that there is so little info on a BD when it can hold 25+ gigs. Maybe it's not the full game?.