After countless delays and hordes of negative press, Sony's flagship gaming console is finally ready to see the light of day down-under. Once again my undying patronage to my local gaming store has yielded rewarding dividends, in the form of my very own PlayStation 3 console, accessories, and a small swag of games a tad before the scheduled release. So, roughly $1,400.00 later, I am fully geared up for some PlayStation 3 action after a long and embittering wait. Was it worth it? Well, read on and find out...

I should preface this "review" by also stating that a considerable influx of money (Powerball division two win) in late February allowed me to splurge a little and adorn my home with lots of cool electronic gear, care of LG and Apple. Though I may be one of the last people on earth to do it, I have finally made the move to high-definition with a home theatre setup as opposed to a TV + Stereo setup. So I'm enjoying my new console on a next-generation system thank goodness.

So with that in mind, onto my review.

THE HARDWARE
I was initially impressed at how quite it was, I could barely tell it was on. In fact I originally thought something must of been wrong. For something so seemingly large and demanding, it is very quiet and nestles quite comfortably amongst some other gear beneath the television (though it sticks out like a swore thumb). It was funny having to buy a HDMI cable separately, isn't a next-generation machine supposed to front something like that as standard? Anyway, moving on.

The OS on the machine itself seems ok, especially since my broadband connection has not yet arrived so I am completely offline, just messing around with my games and other tid-bits. I'd imagine things would get cluttered very easy as content begins to amass, but I did try loading up some content from memory cards and sticks, and things worked well enough (the image slideshow feature is nice). I've also been told that you can rip CDs into the system, which alas, will become redundant when my broadband connection comes in and I start using Apple-TV; but for others that might be something worthwhile to use, assuming you can listen to custom tracks as you play.

The Sixaxis was initially annoying at first. Putting the missing rumble feature to one side, the controller was ridiculously light, almost too light. But I pushed on, and after churning up a hefty number of play hours its actually very comfortable and easy on the hands. The move to turn two of the shoulder buttons into shoulder triggers is a curious one, because I had absolutely no idea that was the case until I got home. I still haven't adapted to them properly, but I'm sure as time ticks on I'll get used to them. Its no Wii-remote, and most of the controller functionality is only ok at best thus far, but I'm sure games will come along and put it to use well enough soon.

On the topic of controllers; why on earth did they scrap the PlayStation 2 controller port and memory card slot? What happens to gamers out there who want to play with some of their PlayStation 2 specific peripherals or save-games? I'm not really in that boat at the moment (especially since my old Sony machine isn't too far), but that is a very very bad move, especially for the group patting themselves on the back and claiming that backwards-compatibility is one of their main aims. Sorry guys, your sly little attempts to swindle people out of money is plainly obvious, so keep your memory card adaptor and I'll keep my old console thank you. I just can't help but feel for the people trading in their old machines though.

As for the blu-ray player, well it is probably going to take off. Especially in Australia, since HD-DVD doesn't have much of a head-start here. Its a great addition if you're incorporating the machine into a home theatre setup, I know the princess and I tried a blu-ray movie and were extremely impressed with how it looked on a 42" LG LCD television screen. However, I think anyone using this machine as a dedicated game-playing device is going to empty their pockets way too quickly for their liking, so be forewarned.

All in all, it doesn't feel like an expensive "toy", but it doesn't exactly feel like the digital hub that will become the center of my entertainment life either. Instead, it feels like a good gaming and movie machine, with little else to offer besides a few flashy dot-points on a press-release that I will probably never ever use (or even discover).

THE SOFTWARE
Well there were only two titles I was interested in thus far. One is designed to mimic a bundled game and comes out with the console itself, whilst another is due out in a week's time, but thankfully for me they had it quite a while earlier and are holding it over. I'll discuss both in turn:

Resistance: Fall of Man - Its everything one would want in a launch title. It shows off some real promise, utilizes some of the machine's potential, and is a really solid shooter in its own right. I am enjoying the story, its not ground-breaking, but its novel and coherent enough to be quite interesting. I'll happily give it two thumbs-up because its got grunt, is visually impressive, and has rekindled my love for shooters... next stop, Rainbow Six: Vegas at the end of April. Resistance will no doubt be the definitive game to own at launch, because there is great value in it and it showcases Sony's in-house development potential, and they did a good job here.

The Godfather: The Don's Edition - It must be a popular franchise for EA, since this is the third re-release of the same game. I had the original, but wanted to enjoy the game the way it should of been presented to begin with, and I really am enjoying it. Mind you, EA had balls asking $119.95 for it I must say, especially since its not a true next-generation title, but it meant a lot to me and I really wanted it, so I payed up without complaint (I'll sell my original for $20.00 now and that will take the sting off). I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone who has one of its predecessors, but for those who have ignored it up until now, think about giving it a chance this time around, because it really is good and probably will end up selling well when it hits the shelves.

Anyway, now comes the disheartening news. As a special favour, I was bestowed with a "New Release Schedule" used by the store. Now this isn't some press-release or publication, oh no, this is the list that game stores use to track their incoming stock... and some of the news on it is very very upsetting.

A number of big-name titles (i.e. Transformers, Heavenly Sword, Grand-Theft Auto IV, and Resident Evil 5) are due for release at key points in 2007 and are slated with $199.00 price tags. Yes... you heard right. Thankfully I'm probably in a position to drop some cash on such games, but what about the average gamer out there? They could purchase a PlayStation 2 console and three games with that amount of money, that is absolutely disgusting. I don't know who the blame rests with, but that just defies belief to me personally; that's an $80.00 to $100.00 jump from every other title on the shelves, practically double!! Worse-still, I know the stores aren't going to turn any real profit off them, times are going to get rough for many gamers and stores alike I fear.

I'm also curious about the rumors that the machine is universal in regards to games. My Wii-fever has stopped me from hunting down further PS3 news for months, so I wonder if an imported copy of, say, Rainbow Six: Vegas, would work on my humble machine? Any feedback there? Anyway in a week's time some more good titles hit the shelves, so I have a few days to ready myself for them.

My Conclusion
If you have a solid home entertainment setup, the PlayStation 3 seems like an extremely good buy and a great addition; but failing that I think its going to put a lot of pressure on gamers who wish to adopt one. At the moment I like it, I only wish a few more of the designated launch titles (cough... Oblivion, Rainbow Six... cough) had made their way to the shelves as was promised. Heck, The Australian PlayStation website still reports they're due out tomorrow!! Come on now, get your act together.

I may end up being in a better position to comment when I can get online with my console, but I haven't heard particularly good things about the experience. I do have a feeling most of the online features of the PlayStation 3 are going to be slightly over-shadowed by my new Mac Pro working in-sync with my tele via Apple-TV and iTunes, but time will tell I suppose. At least online gaming will provide something I haven't taken advantage of on a console yet.

I don't own an XBox 360 and haven't even exposed myself to it for that great a deal of time anyway, so I won't do any comparisons, but in its own right Sony's new console looks pretty good. I just hope they continue to secure solid developers and can knock up a consistent stream of good titles... and in the not too distant future, that appears to be the case, so rock on I say

So that's about it, the bunny man is finally able to draw a line in the sand regarding next-generation gaming. Like it or lump it, if you made it this far at least you read it, so kudos. And just to explicitly answer the question I opened with; was it worth it? Well, yes it was. So, any other aussies or euries out there with any impressions or comments?

Thanks for the review Mr. Bunniesworth. Have you tried any ps1 and ps3 games on the console? I would like to know if the backwards compartibility is stable with most games or not :/

I think your pricing is a bit high, but that probably has to do with Australia getting fucked when it comes to gaming in general more than anything else (prices I've seen here for the games you listed were $60 at a local Best Buy).

Unless that's changed in the past month, I haven't kept up with it since early February.

Thanks for the review Mr. Bunniesworth. Have you tried any ps1 and ps3 games on the console? I would like to know if the backwards compartibility is stable with most games or not :/

I haven't yet, no. I might do that and see actually.


I think your pricing is a bit high, but that probably has to do with Australia getting fucked when it comes to gaming in general more than anything else (prices I've seen here for the games you listed were $60 at a local Best Buy).

Unless that's changed in the past month, I haven't kept up with it since early February.

No doubt there is some truth in that, $60US would be incredibly cheap here. That puts games at around the $80AUD mark. The way it appears to work now is as follows:
- $99.95AUD for the occassional title.
- $119.95AUD as standard for most titles.
- $199.00AUD for the big-name titles.

Gaming sure is expensive here, and alas it looks like these prices are just a result of the console's honeymoon... they are here to stay. I know that XBox games crack the $100.00AUD mark, but I don't think they are as high as PlayStation 3 titles, perhaps someone else can give a bit of insight there.

wtf? Theres no fucking games at $199 you douche. They're all $99/$109/$119 (Or $94.98/$104.98/$114.98 where I work, at JB.) Get your facts straight ffs, the price points are IDENTICAL to the Xbox360. There is NO price point at $199AU and there's similar amounts of margin in the games as 360 software and Wii software, in terms of percentages. The system is also completely region free for PS3 titles; but not for PS2/PS1/DVD/Bluray. I can confirm this from having had my Australian retail system sitting in my lounge room since wednesday when we received them at my store.

He said that those prices were slated for coming 'big name' titles, not the currently released ones.

I'm still unsure as to whether I will end up getting a PS3. Right now the only game that actually looks attractive to me is Final Fantasy XIII and I can't really justify buying this behemoth of a system for one game. I'm also still using analogue television sets, so the enhanced quality of Blue-Ray is a rather superfluous feature to me for the next year or so.

Eh, if I'm still into video games in a few years I can see myself caving and getting one, but until then I'm content with my DS. Nice review though, even if it only really consolidated what I knew already.

Of course he did. And of course he got this from a 'future title price list'. Well, okay, so get this? We do our game stock ordering at store level at my JB Hifi; which means we talk directly to distributors, right? So, you know, the ones who decide what our cost price is, so we can tag a retail price on it? And he's full of shit, because THQ, Sony, Ubisoft and Take2, as well as EAgames, Activation and Atari who are our big distributors all quite happily confirm that they've locked in price points for PS3 games that won't be changing. Furthermore, Sony dictate first party titles MUST be not exceed the $99.95 price point ($94.98 for us at JB) and that third party titles must not exceed the $119.95 price point. So coming from someone who actually works on the frontline of the industry and that has to deal with this kind've rumor mongering bullshit everyday, rest assured that there's no $199 game price point.

Well heck, I hope you're right, but here is a small scan from the page I received this very morning. See for yourself:

Well heck, I hope you're right, but here is a small scan from the page I received this very morning. See for yourself:




Here is the price listing for Best Buy in the US (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=PS3&sc=gameSP&cp=1&sp=&qp=ccat02119%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq505333%7E%7Ecpcmcat91400050028%23%233%23%2 329%7E%7Encpcmcat92300050000%23%230%23%231i&list=n&usc=Games&nrp=15&iht=n).

Cheers for that Odin.

Basically, if you paid $200.00 for that Godfather game, you got so fucking ripped off it isn't even funny.

Basically, if you paid $200.00 for that Godfather game, you got so fucking ripped off it isn't even funny.

$119.95 I paid. But I'll now go back and sell of my original to make up for it, so I'm not completely stupid. Heck, though it pains me, importing might really be the only way to make some of these titles cost-effective.

A few notes...

1. Hurry up and get your high speed internet so you can update the firmware.
2. Crank on blu-ray looks absolutly gorgious in HD! ...so I've heard. I have the movie and love it but this brings me to my next point.
3. Don't worry, you're not the last to get an HD tv. I'm still playing on my 20' 420i. :(
4. When you go online and set up your PSN I.D., be sure to add me. I want to play some R:FoM with you. ;)

PSN I.D. - ixnine

And congratulations! Happy gaming!

MR. BUNNY-MUNNY, I ENVY YOU. ;_;

also i will wait for a price drop and modded unit to release before buying.

MR. BUNNY-MUNNY, I ENVY YOU. ;_;

also i will wait for a price drop and modded unit to release before buying.

Price drop is all I'm waiting on. I'll mod it myself.

Ooh, that's an EB price list. I should've thought of that given I managed one of those damn stores for a good part of my working life. $199 is a 'placeholder' price within the EB computer system; it's used for games that don't have a locked in retail price point yet. Just as any release date that is marked as the first of the month means "We think it's sometime during this month". Ah, EB, how we love your zany ways.

Reason #130873 why I never shop at EB.

Seriously, I don't know how they get customers. They charge ridiculous amounts (like $119.95) for a retail game, and you can just walk next door into a Big W, Kmart or JB and pick up the same game for $100.

Not to mention that most Kmart employees don't know or give a fuck what a street date is, so as soon as they get their shipment, it's out on the shelves :)

Reason #130873 why I never shop at EB.

Seriously, I don't know how they get customers. They charge ridiculous amounts (like $119.95) for a retail game, and you can just walk next door into a Big W, Kmart or JB and pick up the same game for $100.

Not to mention that most Kmart employees don't know or give a fuck what a street date is, so as soon as they get their shipment, it's out on the shelves :)

The only good thing about EBGames I've found recently is that I can get Gamecube games at a local one for $5 each for some silly reason.

I may go back and get the "director's cut" of Ocarina of Time simply because I never played through the whole thing back when it was on the N64.

Is it worth it?

Ocarina of Time is simply the shit. I think it's always well worth it.

You really can't beat $5. It's $10 for the Wii as it is.

It's normal for software and even hardware to cost more outside the US. Over here, the PS3 is set for a RM3200 launch (yes, three thousand and two hundred Malaysian dollars, way more expensive than in the US) with software costing at least RM200 (again, not a typo. Two hundred Malaysian dollars). And the worst part is, the console will be NTSC-J, so playing US games is not possible (if you really believed that the PS3 is region free as Sony said before, I have a plot of land in Florida to sell you). Those Bastards!.

I never heard Sony ever say it was region free. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a202/nine_fenrir/robot%20faces/16x16_robot-indifferent.gif

PS3 is region free for games, but not movies.

on the subject of EB games:

EB games just arrived at a shopping centre where I live (never had one in my area before. We've never really had ANY game type shop in my area), and it needs to learn how to price games properly. They had a new Mario Party 6 for $80 or sth (which is already overpriced), and a second hand Mario Party 6 right next to it for $65. The most I've ever paid for a second hand game is $20 or sth, and $65 is WAY more than I'll ever pay. Or anybody else will pay imo. I don't understand how EB games stays in business here in Australia (from what i've heard they aren't as bad in America?).

Just my $0.02

The only good thing about EBGames I've found recently is that I can get Gamecube games at a local one for $5 each for some silly reason.

I may go back and get the "director's cut" of Ocarina of Time simply because I never played through the whole thing back when it was on the N64.

Is it worth it?

I think so, but if you didn't play through the whole thing before, maybe the answer is no for you. Personally when I first started playing that game, I could not tear myself away from it until I'd completed it. It's up there in the tiny list of games that I became truly obssessive about for a while.

Instead of saying just the Malaysian amount since some countries money is ALOT less then american gives us the America conversion it adds weight to your argument. I rememeber back in 1990 one of my school books had a Money conversion ficlet where a Kid was selling his bike and he kept on being told I will give you 100000 Yen for it or like numbers and money in huge amounts and it all converted to basically a Dollar in US currency. While the American dollar is not the Big Huncho of Money anymore it is still up there so I bet if you do the Conversion it will be very close to 600$ american.

Instead of saying just the Malaysian amount since some countries money is ALOT less then american gives us the America conversion it adds weight to your argument.
Alright. I apologize. Anyway,

RM3200=about US$925.87 according to XE.net
RM200= about US$57.87 according to XE.net

That's also the price that some game stores who've parallel imported the console are selling it at the moment.

I think so, but if you didn't play through the whole thing before, maybe the answer is no for you. Personally when I first started playing that game, I could not tear myself away from it until I'd completed it. It's up there in the tiny list of games that I became truly obssessive about for a while.

I never owned the game, I just played it at a relative's house when visiting during the summer for a week.

Ooh, that's an EB price list. I should've thought of that given I managed one of those damn stores for a good part of my working life. $199 is a 'placeholder' price within the EB computer system; it's used for games that don't have a locked in retail price point yet. Just as any release date that is marked as the first of the month means "We think it's sometime during this month". Ah, EB, how we love your zany ways.

Ok well that puts my mind at ease to some degree, but its not an EB Games store, its an independant little place. Though I think the big-wig who runs it used to be from that side of the tracks, so I'm guessing your explanation fits. Gees I wish a few seconds worth of explanation could of been spared when I was handed the damn thing. Well anyway, cheers for that I appreciate it.


Reason #130873 why I never shop at EB.

Seriously, I don't know how they get customers. They charge ridiculous amounts (like $119.95) for a retail game, and you can just walk next door into a Big W, Kmart or JB and pick up the same game for $100.

Not to mention that most Kmart employees don't know or give a fuck what a street date is, so as soon as they get their shipment, it's out on the shelves :)

Yeah I don't think I've ever bought from an EB, namely because I don't think there is even one around the city centre, they stalk the western suburbs and pray on them :-). Though I can't help but laugh everytime I go to the Westfield's Shopping Centre in Parramatta. They have TWO EB Games stores... one on level five and the other on the street level. Crazy. They are popping up everywhere.

on the subject of EB games:

EB games just arrived at a shopping centre where I live (never had one in my area before. We've never really had ANY game type shop in my area), and it needs to learn how to price games properly. They had a new Mario Party 6 for $80 or sth (which is already overpriced), and a second hand Mario Party 6 right next to it for $65. The most I've ever paid for a second hand game is $20 or sth, and $65 is WAY more than I'll ever pay. Or anybody else will pay imo. I don't understand how EB games stays in business here in Australia (from what i've heard they aren't as bad in America?).

Just my $0.02

The reason I'd say they have a high markup is due to the fact they SPECIALISE in games, where as Kmart and Big W have some games. You will find more variety of games at an EB store than Big W and Kmart combined. Thats why I reckon they price high. I dont think its right, but hey, not much you can do...

Also there IS an Edition of Halo 3 for 199.00 so in fact there is a game for 200 lol....

Here there are only 3 games in our stores for PS3 at the moment.

2 Things...

Is it just me or the PS3 looks like a PS2 disguised as an army barracks or something?

The writing 'Playstation 3' Looks like the font used for the Spiderman Movies.

The reason I'd say they have a high markup is due to the fact they SPECIALISE in games, where as Kmart and Big W have some games. You will find more variety of games at an EB store than Big W and Kmart combined. Thats why I reckon they price high. I dont think its right, but hey, not much you can do...

Also there IS an Edition of Halo 3 for 199.00 so in fact there is a game for 200 lol....

Here there are only 3 games in our stores for PS3 at the moment.

2 Things...

Is it just me or the PS3 looks like a PS2 disguised as an army barracks or something?

The writing 'Playstation 3' Looks like the font used for the Spiderman Movies.

Well, Sony is one of the companies that publishes/promotes the Spider-man movies, so its not surprising that the font would turn up in more than one place (I've seen it on a couple other things Sony does, but can't remember where, Spider-man wasn't the first, though).