StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Posted: **2006-11-13 12:59pm**

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6142782.stm

Japanese gamer Teruma Naito from Oda City was one of the lucky few to bag a PlayStation 3. Here he gives his impressions of launch day and his early experience with the console.

The news footage of more than 1,000 people lined up outside the first shop to sell the PS3 in Tokyo was phenomenal.

I have never seen anything like that before in Japan. Such was the competition that apparently people were going to the length of paying homeless people up to 10,000 yen (£45) to line up on their behalf.

I was lucky enough to purchase a 20GB version (one of only two in our area) and the queue was not as big, but just as competitive with last-minute queue jumpers and those pleading with others to swap.

But those in despair do not have to worry as there is now a flood of PS3 machines being sold on internet auction sites in Japan.

People bemoaning the lack of availability seem to be spoilt for choice - if they have the money available - due to a price war offering consoles from between 10,000 to 30,000 yen above the retail price.

Having only played the PS3 for a day, my initial thoughts are that it is absolutely sensational.

The wireless controller, on-screen format and graphics quality is nothing like any other console I have used. Its functionality (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, music, photos, internet, games) now allows the PS3 to be the only machine stacked underneath the TV.

It goes without saying that the graphics and playability were phenomenal but the real winner for me was the network gaming aspect which was very easy to use.

An on-screen map of the world indicates where each of the players are based and obviously all of them are packed in Japan at the moment, but in time, once the other countries come online, it will be an amazing sight.

However, with only five games to choose from, I ended up purchasing Ridge Racer 7 and Gundam: Target in Sight - games which do not appeal to me, but were better than the other three.

Lack of game choice is definitely something that needs to be rectified, otherwise there will be lots of gamers getting very bored with the ones they have right now.

The PS3s internet capabilities are impressive. By using the analogue sticks to move the mouse pointer, I was pretty much able to do everything from view videos on YouTube, download photos and videos attached to my e-mails and even do on-line banking and complete a money transfer.

The only thing is I don't seem to be able to open any Microsoft applications like Word and Excel.

However, the beauty of the PS3 is that any updates, whether they are system updates and or programs, can be provided by Sony online. As such, I would expect that most teething problems with the console (if any) will be promptly rectified by Sony.

There has been a lot of talk over the last year of Sony's profits and delays with the PS3 but I think Sony has certainly delivered the next generation of consoles and set a new benchmark for their rivals.

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:15pm**

Fanboy. Excited fanboy. Good for him that he's happy with his system, but the way he tries to handwave away the shortages by pointing to price gouging, how he tries to paint the paid homeless queuers as a good thing and his raving about a non-gaming aspect of a gaming console (ie, the web access) doesn't do much good for his credibility.

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:19pm**

Nice to hear the online play is easy to get into, and that map feature is one I'd have liked to sea on Xbox Live, or at least something denoting nationality of the players.

If Sony can get good online play games, I can see the online play being a huge life-saver for the console since its included in the price of the unit, and Xbox Live seems to be going downhill.

So, the thing their really going to have to worry about at this point is games, only five games available at launch is worse than pitiful, if anything will kill this system that will be it.

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:33pm**

It's too bad that waxing poetic about how it connects to the internet doesn't do jack shit to tell me how it actually plays games.

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:35pm**

General Zod wrote:It's too bad that waxing poetic about how it connects to the internet doesn't do jack shit to tell me how it actually plays games.

Hehe. So his $700 console does the same as a $99 salvaged PC...apart from opening Office files, of course

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:36pm**

Not to mention that he bought two games that he didn't even want...

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:41pm**

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Not to mention that he bought two games that he didn't even want...

But apparently they were better than the other choices. Tells you a lot about Sony's launch offerings.

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:43pm**

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Not to mention that he bought two games that he didn't even want...

A diehard fanboy singing praises of a "sensational" console he can't even find a single game that appeals to him?

ROFL!

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:44pm**

Davis 51 wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Not to mention that he bought two games that he didn't even want...
A diehard fanboy singing praises of a "sensational" console he can't even find a single game that appeals to him?

ROFL!

To be fair, he's japanese. He probably prefers RPG's (shameless stereotyping)

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:46pm**

Also to be fair, there were only FIVE games at launch...

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:51pm**

Oh Spanky, ever the pessimist. They were the five bestest launch games EVAR!!1! How can you fault Sony if other human beings don't think so?

Posted: **2006-11-13 01:52pm**

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Also to be fair, there were only FIVE games at launch...

I'm sorry, was that a pro or a con?

Five games is pretty damn pathetic.

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:09pm**

What's funny is he praises the system on the basis of it's hardware. He gives it a thumbs up that it has a decent functionality and the internet access is very easy and apparently seemless for him, the other functions serve as fantastic in theatre resource.

The problem is even with glowing praise, he avoids the point of these game systems and something that Sony failed apparently on day 1...games. In fact he gives it barely any notice and continues to parade the hardware some more.

So how many of you guys and gals buy a game system because of hardware?

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:10pm**

Sony's sold a shade under 89k PS3's, about 62% of which are the pricier version. In two days. That's actually not real impressive, to me, even given their low yields.

And the 5 game launch is a joke. The best selling games have still only sold about 30,000 games. Even if ALL of their games sold that many copies, we'd be looking at <2 games/console sold. Great job, Sony.

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:14pm**

Master of Ossus wrote:Sony's sold a shade under 89k PS3's, about 55,000 of which are the pricier version. In two days. That's actually not real impressive, to me.

That's only a tenth of how much the PS2 sold during its Japanese launch weekend (900,000+).

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:21pm**

Ghost Rider wrote:
So how many of you guys and gals buy a game system because of hardware?

I bought the original Xbox just because of its stats. I was very satisfied with the Xbox, especially when the number of games increased. The only reason I gave it to my brother was that the new generation of games came out on PC (Far Cry, Doom3, BF2). I decided to save money by focusing on one system, apart from the Xbox 360.

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:28pm**

TheMuffinKing wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:
So how many of you guys and gals buy a game system because of hardware?
I bought the original Xbox just because of its stats. I was very satisfied with the Xbox, especially when the number of games increased. The only reason I gave it to my brother was that the new generation of games came out on PC (Far Cry, Doom3, BF2). I decided to save money by focusing on one system, apart from the Xbox 360.

Then you are either leaving out the game that caught your eye or a fucking moron.

You bought an object because it had XXX amount of processing power, and not because of the applications. What were you going to do if none of thos applications appealed to you? Let it sit there as a paperweight?

So which is it?

Posted: **2006-11-13 02:35pm**

Ghost Rider wrote:What's funny is he praises the system on the basis of it's hardware. He gives it a thumbs up that it has a decent functionality and the internet access is very easy and apparently seemless for him, the other functions serve as fantastic in theatre resource.

The problem is even with glowing praise, he avoids the point of these game systems and something that Sony failed apparently on day 1...games. In fact he gives it barely any notice and continues to parade the hardware some more.

So how many of you guys and gals buy a game system because of hardware?

I sure as fuck can't remember doing that. I remember one of the main reasons I chose the PSX over the N64 or the other next gen systems at the time when the Playstation was out for awhile is because it's the system Squaresoft (and incidentally the Final Fantasy series) had moved to. Every time a new console comes out I look at what games it has on it and hardly ever pay attention to the actual hardware.

Hell, every time a new console comes out I usually give it at least a year before deciding I want to buy it. Although the Wii is a huge exception for me because of the sheer amount of games it's launching with that I'm actually drooling over. The new Wiimote interface is a huge eyecatcher too, though definitely not the only one.

Posted: **2006-11-13 04:05pm**

Ghost Rider wrote:
TheMuffinKing wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:
So how many of you guys and gals buy a game system because of hardware?
I bought the original Xbox just because of its stats. I was very satisfied with the Xbox, especially when the number of games increased. The only reason I gave it to my brother was that the new generation of games came out on PC (Far Cry, Doom3, BF2). I decided to save money by focusing on one system, apart from the Xbox 360.
Then you are either leaving out the game that caught your eye or a fucking moron.

You bought an object because it had XXX amount of processing power, and not because of the applications. What were you going to do if none of thos applications appealed to you? Let it sit there as a paperweight?

So which is it?

Buying the original Xbox when it first came out was an impulse buy. Didn't really plan on playing much, until I offhandedly picked up Halo. Then I was hooked. Some times I buy shit just because I hope I can find a use for it.
Most of the time I plan out what I'm going to buy, but after being deployed and getting a substantial check I pick things up. Besides it's my money and doesn't affect my overall profit or savings or hurt anyone.

To better answer the second part: I love killzone, but I'll never buy a PS2 to play it. I'll just go without playing it, or use my friends PS2. And my computer, I bought it just for the upgrade in power. I already had the games I wanted and they played fine. I just wanted something new.

Posted: **2006-11-13 04:09pm**

Sorry for the double post, but...

To elaborate on finding a use for the system, that I already said I impulse bought. In addition to the impulse to buy the newest gaming system (at the time), I figured eventually games would come out that I liked. I had also not owned my own console since the original Playstation.

Posted: **2006-11-13 04:57pm**

I think it's awesome that he thinks using browsers with thumbsticks is good.

Posted: **2006-11-13 05:31pm**

TheMuffinKing wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:
TheMuffinKing wrote: I bought the original Xbox just because of its stats. I was very satisfied with the Xbox, especially when the number of games increased. The only reason I gave it to my brother was that the new generation of games came out on PC (Far Cry, Doom3, BF2). I decided to save money by focusing on one system, apart from the Xbox 360.
Then you are either leaving out the game that caught your eye or a fucking moron.

You bought an object because it had XXX amount of processing power, and not because of the applications. What were you going to do if none of thos applications appealed to you? Let it sit there as a paperweight?

So which is it?
Buying the original Xbox when it first came out was an impulse buy. Didn't really plan on playing much, until I offhandedly picked up Halo. Then I was hooked. Some times I buy shit just because I hope I can find a use for it.
Most of the time I plan out what I'm going to buy, but after being deployed and getting a substantial check I pick things up. Besides it's my money and doesn't affect my overall profit or savings or hurt anyone.

To better answer the second part: I love killzone, but I'll never buy a PS2 to play it. I'll just go without playing it, or use my friends PS2. And my computer, I bought it just for the upgrade in power. I already had the games I wanted and they played fine. I just wanted something new.

And you've answered the question albeit far more longwinded and appealing for you.

Still does not negate that the entire article is a man masturbating over things that need applications to see their uses and his hestiant nature of even discussing the games further cements this.

The PS3 had better come out with the new Halo/FFVII game or it's going to actually face competition.

Posted: **2006-11-13 08:02pm**

I'm rather suspicious of the claim of how easy/convenient online is. Theoretically, playing MGS3 online with a PS2 isn't that bad... but that's one game. Not a whole system.

Really, could Sony have caught up to a several year lead by MS in the field of console online, within just a few months, maybe a year at most? That's also a lot of coordination with developers that may not be there. Look at the hideous messes with most of the PS2 online titles.

Posted: **2006-11-13 11:58pm**

If the fantards can keep the system afloat long enough for the price to drop and for it to get some decent games behind it then it might be a worthwhile purchase late next year. If they can't then the console sinks and we won't have to worry.

As long as you don't risk a launch purchase it's really a win-win either way.

Posted: **2006-11-14 02:53am**

The wireless controller, on-screen format and graphics quality is nothing like any other console I have used.

An on-screen map of the world indicates where each of the players are based and obviously all of them are packed in Japan at the moment, but in time, once the other countries come online, it will be an amazing sight.

The PS3s internet capabilities are impressive. By using the analogue sticks to move the mouse pointer, I was pretty much able to do everything from view videos on YouTube, download photos and videos attached to my e-mails and even do on-line banking and complete a money transfer.

However, the beauty of the PS3 is that any updates, whether they are system updates and or programs, can be provided by Sony online.

Am I the only one who found these breathless words of praise to be hilariously unimpressive?

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A Japanese Gamer gives PS3 first impressions

A Japanese Gamer gives PS3 first impressions

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