here is a dumb question that may or may not have been covered, is Best Buy or any other retailer planning on doing a demo setup of the PS3 before the launch? I haven't seen a word about it anywhere, and the launch is in 2 weeks!


Also, is the only HD video out the HDMI? What do I do if my display is "older" and only has DVI and component inputs for HD? Do I have to buy a converter?

You can use the AV Multi out which works with the Component cables from the PS2.

I saw a PS3 commercial on ESPN late last night/early this morning. It had some plastic toy baby in a white room and the PS3 across from it. The baby started crying, then the tears went back in its eyes, and the PS3 started floating. Then some motto displayed on the screen (don't remember what it said) and finally "1117"

Maybe its just me, but I didn't understand the whole baby thing.

It could have something to do with the spiderman font

There's a better one with a Rubiks cube.

Baby - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU

You'll cry when you see the final price at the register?
The PS3 will bring your plastic babies to life?
The PS3 can watch your kids?

I got nothing.

AH f**K! that was interesting. However there's one thing that scares me (here's a hint: First area in Silent Hill). Yes its creepy little children, I don't know why but they scare the hell out of me, this commercial gave me chills.

That commercial is scarier than any of the theatrical horror films out right now.

Anyone else think that commercial is meant to be a reference to the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey?

I think its Sony saying all their fans are phoney crybabies who dont deserve a PS3

Shame on you Sony.

Apparently, the specs of all that expensive hardware in the PS3 are just made up.

The truth is that the PS3 is powered by the demonic souls of possessed plastic babies.

I was hoping they would have a commercial with a bunch of people waiting in line at a store to get a PS3 and then they open the store up and there is a PS3 display with the black PS3 monilith sitting on a stand with boxed PS3's around it. Then the people start jumping around like monkeys like in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

LMAO

then fade to black when the bludgeoning starts

Yeah, but at least it is 1080p.

As promised, here are my impressions on the PS3 games I got to play last night at a Sony-sponsored preview event. But first, some disclaimers: I haven't been impressed with any PS3 games previewed on gaming websites, I don't plan to buy a PS3 until some major price drops, and I'm a Nintendo fanboy. Also, the environment last night was not really conducive to forming solid opinions on the games. There generally weren't any staff at the game kiosks to walk you through things or explain the controls. Non-launch games seemed to be early builds (i.e., buggy), and with lines at every kiosk, there was some pressure not to hog the games. With that said, here are the games I had a chance to try out:

Resistance: Fall of Man: I know that this one is getting a lot of hype, but I was not at all impressed. The graphics are great (of course), but the game had very little personality. It just seemed like a generic sci-fi FPS to me. I'm sure it would be more fun if you could start at the beginning of the game and figure things out naturally instead of just jumping into a random part of the demo with very little understanding of how to play. I'm also betting that the online multiplayer will be better than the single player mode, but this one just didn't excite or interest me at all, and I'm not understanding where all the hype is coming from.

Motorstorm: This one was more up my alley than Resistance. I got to play on some sort of desert/canyon level, and the visuals were really stunning. You could choose from a variety of vehicles ranging from tiny ATVs to big trucks, and they all handled the way you would expect them to. The one annoying thing was that if your vehicle was totaled, the game would go into a slo-mo replay of the crash, and no one could figure out how to resume the race. You had to just pause and restart the race from the beginning. Of course, this is just an early build, but it made it a little less fun to play. Still, the level of detail in this game is great, the physics are solid, and I think it has a lot of potential.

Genji: I had very little time to play this one, and I picked up where the guy before me left off. I didn't know where I was supposed to go, and I only found one or two enemies to attack, so I can't talk too much about this one. At any rate, it doesn't seem like the kind of game I would really get into.

Tony Hawk Project 8: I've already played the 360 demo, so I had a decent idea of how to play. At first I played without the tilt controls and it was pretty much exactly like the 360 version in all respects. I asked the rep who was manning the kiosk about tilt controls, and he took the controller for a minute to activate the tilt functionality and demonstrate it. He seemed to have a good grasp on this, but when I tried using the tilt controls during Nail the Trick mode, I had a lot of trouble. I could activate the board spin easily, but there seemed to be a delay between centering the controller and seeing the result on the screen. I think I might not have been returning the controller to the proper neutral position, though. I suppose that the tilt controls might be fun once you get past the learning curve, but I think I'd probably just end up sticking with the analog stick controls.

Lair: Saving the best for last! This was the one game I played last night that really impressed me. The tilt controls in this one are simple and intuitive. The controller was very responsive, and although some have complained that it's too light, it felt pretty good to me. The visuals in Lair were impressive, although there was one point where some of the smaller characters switched over to lower detail models while they were still close to the camera. It also glitched up once when the guy playing before me steered the dragon through the roof of the castle and got stuck in there. But the controls worked well, the gameplay was intuitive and had a fair bit of variety, and the presentation was very nice. This early version of the game shows a lot of promise, as long as they can flesh everything out and keep it fun over long sessions of play.

So, to wrap it up: Lair was definitely my favorite game. Motorstorm was a close second. Tony Hawk was good but not very different from the 360 version, and Genji and Resistance really didn't do anything for me. I still don't think there's enough at launch to justify a $500 or $600 investment, but I'm sure some people will enjoy Genji and Resistance, and for them it could be worthwhile. As for me, I'll give it a year or two to build up a solid library and drop in price and pick one up then.

Thanks for the impressions. :)

It seems odd that they'd have such buggy builds of software out two weeks before launch (well, one week considering it comes out in Japan on the 11th). Oh well, hopefully they just didn't have the final builds printed for the show. I'm with you in giving it a couple of years to build a library and drop in price some (I did the same thing with the PS2).

To clarify, Motorstorm and Lair (the buggiest games I played) are not launch or launch window titles IIRC. Resistance, Genji, and THP8 (all of which are launch games) were solid. I did not see any bugs or glitches in those three games.

its amazing its coming out in a few days, doesnt seem like theres much hype at all.

the PS3 hype has been moved to the HD forum ive been told. I hope its not like this in other gaming forums.

So, i guess people are buying PS3s for BR movies? If that's the primary reason, well, less units to go around.

I have made my decision, if i found one in the store, i buy it, if not, hell with it. No camping out or eBaying for me, no freaking way... March 2007 sounds fine to me , hell, even June 2007 sounds good.

Personally, i think it's an expensive console and i don't understand how some people afford this thing (by that i mean buying it w/o evening blinking an eye)...

I believe there's an earlier question about connecting the PS3 to HDTVs that don't have HDMI connections (i.e. the older models with HD components). This is an important question, b/c if the PS3 cannot be used on the 1st genereation of DLP TVs, then you'll need to buy a new HDTV to play the BR movies (another 1500+ bucks ).

Oh, by "cannot be used" i meant cannot fully take advantage of the the HD feature, sorry about the confusion...

1080p can be passed over component for video games. For Blu-ray discs, it can only do 1080i.

If your TV is a first generation DLP it probably can't do 1080p anyway so it doesn't really matter.

So my current plan is to wait in line on the 16th at about 8am at a store. Im narrowing down my choices and looking for advice to make my chances of getting a PS3 great.

Here is the list of stores Im considering:
Target (single store and one inside of a Mall. I know two people that work at different Targets and will get info from them soon. I heard they are not letting people line up until 3 or so hours before open. I might go to different stores and if there lines are long go to Target 8 to12 hours before open).

Circuit City - They should be getting a decent amount 8am on the 16th might land me one.

Best Buy - There is one opening at midnight but Im not sure about that one. Ill probably try the one in Dearborn as its near many other stores (Target, CC, Gamestop).

What would you all recommend? Im thinking around 8am on the 16th will land me one. A friend of mine will be joining me around 6pm after work for his own chance at the PS3.