PS3 news and tidbits thread

[Harrison]

Except, what if it is really a clan using a single PSN account? More people could easily achieve more together. That is the only thing that makes sense.

Any idea where the account/user is from? Japan or Korea would answer a lot.

[Sharingan]

I think I've seen it mentioned that he's from somewhere in the Middle East.

Anyway, I do believe it's only one person though, and not a clan!

On another note, the PS3 Slim will be out officially in two days. I'll be picking up one definitely, mainly for the decreased noise production and electricity usage. I have to say it doesn't look half bad, either, though I kinda hoped it would be a little smaller still.

For the price, it's one hell of a bargain - a games machine, media center, full featured Blu-ray player all in one? Heck yeah.

[Sharingan]

The PS3 Slim has reportedly been selling like hotcakes, especially in its country of origin, Japan. In the UK it has outsold all competing consoles by a ratio of 3-1.

It seems like this new lower price point and redesign have been the catalyst to breathe new life into Sony's next-gen machine.

I bought myself one too; at first, I thought it looked a bit cheaply built, but now that it's set up correctly, it integrates really well into the A/V rack.

[Harrison]

That is some great news. Maybe we will now finally start to see the PS3 take up the position it deserves instead of being behind the inferior 360. Although the 360 is still quite a bit cheaper.

It will be interesting to see what the failure rates of the new Slim PS3 will be. I expect they will be even lower than the original PS3 though thanks to more integrated technology and smaller die sizes helping to reduce system heat more.

[Tiago]

Another thing about non-fat-boy-slim.

You can't install Linux or a third party OS on it.

Definately not getting one ever now, as that's what I have a keyboard and mouse plugged into mine for! The fact it can be used as a computer really appeals to me and one of the reasons I got a PS3 in the first place.

And although it's slimmer - it's also longer from front to back!

Really ? Is it confirmed?
that's not good, i was thinking in get a PS3 in a near future, but if it's true i would not get a slim.

What about the prices in uk?

Here in Portugal both slim and fat are 299 euros, some stores offer 1 game.
I am sure in December they will get down...

[Harrison]

I also think they will fall in price again ready for Christmas. Maybe the Phat PS3 will even be discounted to clear stock, which could be a great time to grab one before they vanish.

[Sharingan]

RPG fans rejoice ... the PS3 is set to receive a Director's Cut version of Star Ocean 4 after all, with extra content.

[Demon Cleaner]

RPG fans rejoice ... the PS3 is set to receive a Director's Cut version of Star Ocean 4 after all, with extra content.

That was obvious, lately so many games are announced as exclusive, but later eventually come out for the other console. I already bought it for the 360 though.

Same is with Tales of Vesperia, and I didn't buy it yet when it came out, because I saw that the PS3 version will have more content, so I will wait until its release.

[Sharingan]

Yeah, 3rd party exclusives are becoming a rarity. It's all about the money, really, and developers can't justify bringing out their games on a single console anymore.

I think Sony did well to build up a strong 1st/2nd party - even if all former 3rd party PlayStation franchises end up on other consoles, they still have their in-house titles to fall back on. This, IMO, is where Microsoft is screwing up, since they've been selling or closing down their 1st party studios in recent years.

[Harrison]

And with the companies looking to evolve their consoles into the true connected multimedia world Sony have the edge again, even over Apple. Sony own a lot of the record and film industries recording studios, back catalogues.. etc and so don't need to pay any royalties for a large proportion of the worlds available films and music.

What do Microsoft have to compare to that?

And as said above Microsoft have been doing the mad thing of buying up smaller games developers, some of them previously creating some great games, and then dissolving them. Why? Sony have been guilty of the same. Take Pygnosis for example. Although you could say that the remains of that are still going as Studio Liverpool with the fat trimmed off, so it isn't actually dissolved.

And with Sony owning so many companies, studios and intellectual properties they have a lot of 1st and 2nd party developers and existing rights to use for the PS3.

Microsoft have a pretty good console with the 360, but the new slim PS3 is now closer to the 360 Elite and beats it on specs, plus it is a great Blu-Ray player with is a brilliant bonus for every HDTV owner out there. Cheaper than a standalone Blu-Ray player, and yet it has upgradeable firmware so the Blu-Ray spec can be kept up to date with the latest BR players being released.