This may be mentioned somewhere else but Gamestop just started giving $200 for your old PS3s when trading up for a new PS3 slim.

That's a really good deal if, like me, you have one of the old phat PS3s, I have the 40 GB, hard drive upgraded to 320 GB. You can get one of the new 120 GB slims, for $100 or less if you trade more things.

We have already talked about the advantages of the slim.

So for me that I have the 320 gb, what's the best way to do it?
- Backup the 320 GB to an external hard drive.
- Deactivate the PS3.
- Change the hard drive, put the 40 GB back.
- Do the exchange for the PS3 slim 120 GB.

Am I missing something?

Are you giving up PS2 compatibility?

One thing my PS3 is doing nightly, and it pisses me off, is disconnecting me from PSN because of a connection error. My 360 never does this. It only happens when I am not playing online, but it's still annoying.

It's a 40 GB phat. No PS2 compatibility.

The modem over at the PSN central server probably got a call on the other line.

If you download the free PS1 or mini that's available and then look at the info (accessed by pressing Triangle on the XMB), it has an expiration date (15 months from now).

Complete guess on my part: I assume that rather than verify every single time you want to play, it would just stop working after the expiration date until you re-synch the PSP to show it that you've renewed your Plus subscription.

Does it have to be a working PS3? This would be a potentially great deal for all those people who still have a failed laser PS3 laying around.

That seems correct. Have you done any GAMESHARES? Not sure how that works. I was thinking about getting a slim since I want a smaller footprint, but I have a 60GB BC one. Although, I don't think there is much a premium on them right now. I would be willing to almost trade it for a slim.

Here's an FAQ on Plus: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/...ions-answered/

Regarding how long the games remain active:

Doing this means you'll lose any protected saves, right? I want to take advantage of this deal, but not if it means I'm going to lose a bunch of data in the process, and my understanding is the only way to transfer all data is with a direct system-to-system transfer.

Yeah, in CAG some people have commented about doing the data transfer in the store. Of course that's a big YMMV.

If it is a data transfer of some size then plan on an all day stay. Plus, you will lose all of your protected save data when you reinstall it to a new system. That is my biggest gripe with the PS3 right now aside from the 2 YLODs that I have had on two different 60s.

TimeGate Studios is running a 50 percent sale of Section 8 PS3 from Tuesday, June 29 – Tuesday, July 6, 2010. The game will be available on the PSN for only $14.99 USD (North America only).

While the PS3 is my favorite system by far, it still blows my mind that they can't put out demos like how the Xbox does. I'll download this on my 360 and see what I think. Thanks for posting!

So... I purchased Plus.

If anyone is thinking about doing this, I would recommend waiting to purchase until the 2nd. (The 3 month bonus offer expires on the 3rd.) This way your sub expires on the 2nd day 15 months from now, so if you don't like the sub and don't plan on reupping, you can still use the 1st day to download all the free stuff not tied to the sub. Make sense?

Secondly, I dl'd all the free DLC, but when I added it to my cart it popped up the message about being tied to the sub (the same message which popped up when buying for free the Mini game and the PS1 game.) I don't know if this means DLC is in fact tied to the sub (which it would clearly suggest), but that stands in direct contrast with the Sony FAQ on the subject that said DLC was not tied to the Sub.

Hopefully all this will be straightened out. But if you're gonna get it, wait til the 2nd.

Hmmm, I read the FAQ, and I'm not sure if the "free" DLC is yours for good. It says that the "free" games (like Rally Cross) are tied to your subscription, while stuff purchased with discounts is yours for good. Now, it mentions "premium add-ons" you can keep forever, but maybe they're referring to things that only Plus members can download. It may be stuff not in the first month's list. Perhaps "regular" DLC is tied to the subscription if it's "free" rather than discounted?

BTW, how big of a download is Infamous?

I just hope that they're not blowing their load in the first few months to get people to sign up and then trickle out content after they get a nice number of subscribers.

Maybe. Hope not. The free DLC is part of the reason I'm trying it out.

As to Infamous, I think it was 6 or 7 gigs. Not that bad I gotta say size-wise.

What... like Qore?

I bought it tonight. Didn't think about waiting until the 2nd, but oh well. The free add on content and getting to play Wipeout HD and Age of Zombies which I had never bought was worth it. If we get stuff of this quality for free I won't mind keeping my subscription active. I really don't care about not being able to keep them. It will be for games I didn't feel like buying so I will think of it as long rentals. I will beat them and delete them.

However, the add ons had better not expire with plus. That was what they said originally and one of the reasons I paid for the subscription. I have been meaning to buy a few of the Tiki games and getting them on sale and with free DLC made it worth getting plus.

I found this on a European site searching for PSN plus FAQs

So that sound unequivocally like the freebies are all subscription-time only.

edit : The US site seems to contradict that, though

Yeah, it's confusing.

However I do know when I downloaded the Fat Princess Avatar and the theme it did not pop up with a message. It was only on the ps1 game, the mini and the Creat DLC that the message popped up.

I have a 60GB bought two months after launch. I don't really play any PS2 games anymore - I still have a PS2 connected to a TV in the basement. The only PS2 game still being played on it right now is my son started some SpongeBob game on it for some reason (is there any way to get this game save off of my PS3 and onto a PS2 memory card?). Given that BC is not a big deal for me, and that I'm scared to death of getting the YLOD and having to shell out $150 to fix it- this seems like a good hassle-free deal without having to bother with eBay or Craigslist. With Gamestop's "trade in 3 games, get an extra $10 in credit" offer, I looked around tonight and easily came up with enough no longer played games from my kids to cover the other $100 (based on the values on CAG) - so I'd be out of very little cash, maybe just to pay for tax.

Or am I being overly cautious and should just stick with my 60 that hasn't given me any problems so far?

Go for it!

I wonder if I can trade in my 40gb PS3 for a slim 360 and get the same deal.