Another Ps3 topic

[Dys]

Yes, I know these have been done to death so don't bother running straight to the report button and reminding me to use to search bar. I intend to keep this relative to me (and I suppose by extension the Australian user to an extent) and I have too many questions to hijack someone elses thread.

So, with the release of the (still way to expensive) Ps3 slim I've decided to buy a playstation 3, however I won't pay $500 for a console that trades backwards compadibility for size. Naturally I've gone running straight to ebay to find one of the apparently rare 60gb consoles that are all over ebay. I'm probably going to spend a little over $500 but I'm not actually too bothered by the money as I just got a rather large tax return.

My question is, as I haven't played on playstation network at all or even really played a ps2/ps3 to any great extent, how much attention should I give the online games? Bearing in mind that, given the choice I will always play a first person shooter on my PC over any console and that my room (which is where I'm thinking of keeping afforemented console) has poor wireless coverage would I be better off moving it to another room (with a lower resolution screen and better wireless) or leaving it where it is? Is the PSnetwork as laggy and generally shit as xbox live is (for Australians, I hear crazy talk that overseas it's actually playable) and will my ADSL2 connection be able to operate at anything like full (hell, half is plenty) capacity? Is the wireless card in the playstation 3 reliable or does it occasionally drop out (I'd asume the former as I've not heard anything, but I still want to hear about peoples experience).

As I said before, I'm not a huge fan of console shooters, however what I do intend to play a lot of is racing games. Obviously every GT game is going to be a huge beacon of awsome in this department, as well as possibly grid games and some of the need for speed titles (I like the look of the new one), are there any recomendations along these lines (please refrain from recomending things like uncharted and resistance, I've not lived under a boulder and I'm aware they are generally accepted to be good...I'll get to them in time)?

And finally, after realizing this post is fairly long and tedious for the reader, does anyone have any experience with gaming steering wheels? I like the look of the logitech g27 but it's rather expensive, are there other brands that offer similar features? A clutch is a must (I have a general hatred of automatics and I'll pay the extra for a clutch if need be XD). I've heard the g25 (it's predecessor) were liable to break after a while so I'm really hoping someone can help me out here, and as I have an xbox 360 already something that works across platforms (and on PC) would be fantastic, so if you've any experience with these please share

Thanks for actually reading through this guys, and I really appreciate any help/advice anyone is willing to give

 

[StercusCaput]

My question is, as I haven't played on playstation network at all or even really played a ps2/ps3 to any great extent, how much attention should I give the online games? Bearing in mind that, given the choice I will always play a first person shooter on my PC over any console and that my room (which is where I'm thinking of keeping afforemented console) has poor wireless coverage would I be better off moving it to another room (with a lower resolution screen and better wireless) or leaving it where it is? Is the PSnetwork as laggy and generally shit as xbox live is (for Australians, I hear crazy talk that overseas it's actually playable) and will my ADSL2 connection be able to operate at anything like full (hell, half is plenty) capacity? Is the wireless card in the playstation 3 reliable or does it occasionally drop out (I'd asume the former as I've not heard anything, but I still want to hear about peoples experience).

As I said before, I'm not a huge fan of console shooters, however what I do intend to play a lot of is racing games. Obviously every GT game is going to be a huge beacon of awsome in this department, as well as possibly grid games and some of the need for speed titles (I like the look of the new one), are there any recomendations along these lines (please refrain from recomending things like uncharted and resistance, I've not lived under a boulder and I'm aware they are generally accepted to be good...I'll get to them in time)?

I am a slashdot.org reader and I have seen numerous articles about the issues with your ISP/telco provider, Telstra is it? I am in the US and the PSN works great, but I can make no promises about your experience. From what I read, it sounds like the choke point of you internet issues rest with the ISP and not PSN or Live, but whatever...

I bought my PS3 two years ago. Prior to this I told myself I would never own one. Like you I felt like they were too expensive, especially when you considered the game library that was available at the time. Even as a one time victim of the red ring of death, I was quite happy with the Xbox and the multiplayer experience that came with XBL. I won't bore you with the details about why I broke down and bought a PS3, it wasn't for any particular game, that much is sure. Early on I hardly used it except to play blu-ray movies, but some time has passed and I get a lot more use out of the PS3.

I will say that as far as racing games go, I only have the GT concept free downloadable game. It looks great even considering that it is two years old now. Motorstorm and Pure are the only racing games I own and I do enjoy them. My girlfriend and I love playing Little Big Planet together. I admit that I don't play it alone, but it is really fun when you have 2-4 players. If you are the creative type, you should get it anyway even if you play by yourself. The level creation in that game is the BEST I have ever seen and I have been gaming for over 25 years. If you like to tinker and/or like to build, get it. I also enjoy Warhawk. The controls aren't as good as I would like, but it is a great third person battlefield game. Folklore is a nice RPG hybrid game. The combat is real time and to me the game feels like it was made by Tim Burton if that is your cup of tea. One of my most recent PSN purchases is Fat Princess. It is a great multiplayer fight-fest with resource management thrown in. It is like an RTS except you only control your one character. You can be a gatherer, knight, archer, mage, priest and soon they are adding ninjas and pirates. It isn't point and click, you control the attacks and what not. The game is reallt fast paced and great fun.

I hope this helps.

 

[Dys]

I am a slashdot.org reader and I have seen numerous articles about the issues with your ISP/telco provider, Telstra is it? I am in the US and the PSN works great, but I can make no promises about your experience. From what I read, it sounds like the choke point of you internet issues rest with the ISP and not PSN or Live, but whatever...

Telstra is the main ISP in Australia, however I (like anyone else who pays attention) avoid them as they are absurdly expensive compared to everything else. My ISP is TPG, however I don't think that's the issue (at least with xbox live). I can play computergames online fine (naturally local servers help, but even international ones are usually playable) and services like relic online, while not great, are infinately better than Xbox live (which is laggy and unplayable, it refuses to matchmake to gamers in my hemisphere). The issue with xbox live is that there are no local matchmaking servers (meaning it takes a while to matchmake games), I find this particular distastful in a subscription service, but what makes it even worse is that the p2p hosting system refuses to put me in local games. I'm more likely to get caught playing with Americas East coast or Western Europe than I am to someone even remotely near me. Regardless I'm not as bothered about it if PSN is equally bad (or worse) as they don't have the nerve to charge extra for it, but I somehow doubt that it is as bad.

Thanks for the reply, I might have a look into Pure, Folklore and Warhawk

 

[Dys]

Its not over priced at all. Its well worth £250 with all its features and great games. Your problem is that the australian doller is worth nothing so everything seems overpriced.

Actually my problem isn't the Australian dollar is worth fuck all, it's that anything remotely computer related has about a 50% mark up thrown on top. The Australian dollar is not actually worth a whole lot less than the US right now (87.3 US cents per Australian dollar) yet the console is $500 for us and $300 for them (my maths says that should work out to about $360 if it was based on our dollars price). That is fucking unreasonable.

 

[Wilbot666]

I got my first PS3 (stolen earlier this year) the day it came out and haven't looked back since. I don't play online much but TF2 is great fun and I've been enjoying the Batman: Arkham Asylum leaderboards...or I would be if I could get any better than 50,000th place Seriously though, get inFamous, Folklore, Devil May Cry 4 and the Resistance games, plenty of variety and awesome fun. Hope this helps. Also Saints Row 2 works fine for co-op multiplayer online.

 

[r3lix]

Too much to read, but in short response- I love my ps3