DailyTech - PSM3's PlayStation 3 Hands-on Impressions

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Gadgets PSM3's PlayStation 3 Hands-on Impressions
Marcus Yam (Blog) - October 3, 2006 7:58 AM

54 comment(s) - last by Plasmoid.. on Oct 4 at 6:19 PM

Image courtesy PSM3

Word on the shiny, big, heavy, quiet, black box

A couple of UK Sony reps dropped by PSM3 magazine for a little demonstration of what could be near-final retail PlayStation 3 hardware and the PSM3 blokes blogged several early observations from seeing the unit in action.

First of all, the PS3 is quiet. We’ve heard that Sony was targeting the noise level heard from a PS2 Slim, which is practically silent if you are accustomed to the sounds from a XBOX 360. The new console is also very heavy, which is said to be “impossible to pick up with one hand.” The controller, conversely, is “very light and the tilt system is very responsive.”

The PS3 was demonstrated to boot-up to a media browser that looks very similar to the one found on PSP. PSM3 described load times as “amazingly fast” and comparable to PSP load times.

Finally, those who like to stare at the console instead of the display it is connected to will probably have a tough time keeping the PlayStation 3 clean. It uses the same shiny, mirror finish that quickly gets spoiled by fingerprints and dust.

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Anynoe else concerned by this....

By Plasmoid on 10/3/2006 8:36:09 AM , Rating: 5

quote:
PSM3 described load times as “amazingly fast” and comparable to PSP load times.

Amazingly fast, to me, means it is faster then what we have already. Comparable to the psp, to me, means dire... slow as hell and a good enough reason not to buy the console.

Am i the only one who thinks the psp is a slow loader and a ps3 with "comparable" load times would be ridiculous?
What ever happened to no load times?

RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By Yogicat on 10/3/2006 8:39:49 AM , Rating: 5

Uh yeah, I was a little put off when they wrote "amazingly fast" and "PSP" in the same sentence.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 10/3/2006 8:55:08 AM , Rating: 2

Hmmmmmm........ the PSP is something Sony should want to distance from its PS3. The PSP has left a bad taste in many people's mouths.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By MonkeyPaw on 10/3/2006 5:17:57 PM , Rating: 2

Is that why Sony chose dirty dust bunnies to be their spokesmen in their PSP commercials? I've never owned or played a PSP, but I'm starting to understand their marketing approach now...

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By BZDTemp on 10/3/2006 10:18:15 AM , Rating: 4

Of course they are refering to how short time it takes to reach the GUI interface on the PSP - after all they are saying it looks similar.

I find it " amazing " how people are busy bashing the PS3 while they really have very little basis to do so. After all only so few people have had hands on.

Also why not try and be a little optimistic. Console gaming wise the world has never been a better place and with the Wii and PS3 coming out it will get even better. If you prefer the 360 then fine but why knock the PS3 or the Wii because of that - it's not like they make your 360 any different.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By Trisped on 10/3/2006 12:30:28 PM , Rating: 1

It is an Apple knock off. Specificly the iPod, because first they wanted the PSP to compete with the iPod, then they wanted to cary the external visual over to the console. All in all I agree with the fact that it sould work and be easy to take care of, not pretty and easily made dirty.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By quiksilv3r on 10/3/2006 3:08:56 PM , Rating: 1

Wow. Is everything an Apple knock-off to Apple fans? Sorry that companies want to cater to your wants and want their units and devies to be aesthetically pleasing...

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By udontknow on 10/3/06, Rating: -1

RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By ogreslayer on 10/3/2006 3:14:31 PM , Rating: 2

From Article

quote:
5) The start up is amazingly fast. And game load times were faster than expected. In fact, PS3 does both at about the same speed of PSP. ie, Long load times due to the massive Blu-ray disc? Nope. Simply not an issue.

So your defense is moot, The PSP however is fast with load times... when compared to the PS2. Only thing I find interesting is the noise levels. The 360 gets alittle high pitched so a nice drop in noise is welcome.

No one is totally knocking the PS3 out of Sony hate. I am a pretty hardcore playstation 'lover'. This is about disappointment, the console has not shaped up as advertised and I/we doubt that it ever truly will. There is nothing to be optimistic about, Sony said they were making a killer 10year spaning system. They have created a decent system that is not much better if at all to their competition's and will most certainly be replaced in some way within 5-7

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By EclipsedAurora on 10/3/2006 9:53:33 PM , Rating: 2

Simply they had forgotten it's possible to put everything in SanDisk's Extreme III MemoryStick Duo on PSP, even a game for those who own ver 1.5 or earlier! That's the time when even 360 and iPod can't match with PSP in loading time.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By Plasmoid on 10/4/2006 6:19:36 PM , Rating: 2

Im a sony fanboy... usually.
It would pain me to own an xbox or an xbox360... i really want the PS3 to be success and i bought all the hype from day one.

Problem is, sony make it really hard to like them.

First launch was pushed back best part of a year, then another 4 months. The price was annonounces far higher in Europe then anywhere else, then it was rubbed in by a price drop in Japan.

It's not like the PS2 didnt launch much later in Europe, and at a higher price, but 5 years later and with promises of things being different they then they slowly wear down even their most devoted follower with dissapointments. I'll forgive all though if MGS4 comes out in Europe in 2007... or at least the same time as the US for once.

I'm looking forward to the Wii in an optimistic way, and i i hadnt been spreading gloom and doom about the PS3 before, but when PSM themselves start making worrying comparisons i really lose all faith.

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RE: Anynoe else concerned by this....

By ira176 on 10/4/2006 1:27:35 AM , Rating: 2

I don't have much experience with the PSP, other than the demos in stores. The PSP seemed to load games slowly. I sure hope Sony doesn't release a $500.00 plus machine that is equally slow with load times.

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Runs quiet, runs sweet

By OxBow on 10/3/2006 9:36:41 AM , Rating: 3

It seems to me that the PS3 is starting to meet some of the hype they generated nearly two years ago. Everything that I've seen and read indicates that the machine works well and puts out amazing and smooth graphics. I'm especially excited about the motion sensitivity. The rumble pack was always irritating to me, but something that has the potential to give me control similar to the keyboard/mouse that a PC provides is a great step forward. Whether or not they copied Nintendo on this is moot, good ideas should be emulated.

If they can get it to run quiet on top of that, I'm really impressed. Having to turn up the volume on my set to drown out the noise from my 360 is a pain. I agree that the appearance of the machine isn't that interesting to me, but that it works well and doesn't add to the background noise and clutter is nice.

RE: Runs quiet, runs sweet

By NotAok on 10/3/2006 10:14:23 AM , Rating: 2

The rumble feature is one thing I'm really going to miss. I'm a huge console gamer and while rumble seems to do almost nothing... try playing those same games without it and you'll notice a HUGE difference.

Oh and what the hell do you use for audio output that you have trouble covering up the sound of your 360?? Sure it's loud, but unless your running some crappy mono audio from your tv you really shouldn't have any problems.

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RE: Runs quiet, runs sweet

By FightingChance on 10/3/2006 11:03:59 AM , Rating: 2

I use the TV's speakers. I just don't have the room or inclination to get a receiver and 5 speakers and the wiring then plumb it all.

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RE: Runs quiet, runs sweet

By Trisped on 10/3/2006 12:33:57 PM , Rating: 2

it isn't that loud, especialy if you keep the room at 72F or below.

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RE: Runs quiet, runs sweet

By One43637 on 10/3/2006 6:36:31 PM , Rating: 2

quote:

by Trisped on October 3, 2006 at 12:33 PM

it isn't that loud, especialy if you keep the room at 72F or below.

it's not loud when the system is on and you're going through your dashboard or marketplace, but as soon you play a game through the disc player is when that thing becomes loud.

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Rrrrright...

By Engine of End on 10/3/2006 10:31:22 AM , Rating: 3

I would rather trust an unbiased source for impressions.

RE: Rrrrright...

By Arkham1 on 10/3/2006 11:17:06 AM , Rating: 3

You're right: they may indeed be lying about the unit being black, shiny, quiet, and heavy. ;)

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RE: Rrrrright...

By Engine of End on 10/3/2006 1:47:43 PM , Rating: 1

Well, we all were pretty sure the thing would be black and heavy. Heck, it's about as big as the original Xbox.

Quiteness is completely subjective; what is quiet to some can be loud to others. If it is indeed quiet, it is more than likely a result of Sony underclocking both the Cell and the RSX. Also, the Cell isn't three general purpose cores, it's one core with up to eight "specialized" processing units. It's rather safe to say that the Cell uses less power than the Xbox 360's three-core CPU. Less power usually means less heat, which means less fan noise.

Why else is Microsoft going to shrink their CPU down to 65nm? Such a shrink will cause a downsizing in power consumption and answer the cooling problems in the Xbox 360.

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RE: Rrrrright...

By animedude on 10/3/2006 8:19:53 PM , Rating: 2

The XBox processor gets shrink, so does the Cell processor. That means the Cell will still be quieter and cooler than the XBox processor. Considering they are both manufactured by Charter.

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RE: Rrrrright...

By JimFear on 10/4/2006 8:26:46 AM , Rating: 2

Not quite, you cant apply the same 65nm process to two different designs. The 360 CPU die shrink will come alot sooner than the PS3 die shrink and will have to run on a specifically designed process, anyway last I heard the majority of Cell manufacturing was done at Sony's Nagasaki fabircation plant.

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ha...

By NotAok on 10/3/2006 12:57:37 PM , Rating: 2

not sure why i find this funny, but I like how they're using a Samsung tv and not a Sony one. Doesn't Samsung have some sort of tie with Microsoft too??

RE: ha...

By michal1980 on 10/3/2006 1:40:52 PM , Rating: 1

yes Samsung worked with m$ on there tvs to make a 'game' mode.

lol.

But this is PSM, not sony HQ, if it was at sony they were using samsung it would really be a riot. I'm also geussing his playing at 720p, because no tv that small takes 1080p

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RE: ha...

By NotAok on 10/3/2006 1:48:54 PM , Rating: 2

ohhhhhhhhhh hey i saw that! I have a samsung tv and saw the game mode but actually never gave it a shot... I wonder what it'll do!!

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RE: ha...

By Engine of End on 10/3/2006 1:51:09 PM , Rating: 2

Well, Samsung does have a 40" LCD that does support 1080p. Saw it the other day at Best Buy and was rather dumbfounded by it.

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RE: ha...

By animedude on 10/3/2006 8:16:06 PM , Rating: 2

Sony and Samsung have a joint venture LCD fab. Not to mention, Samsung makes 40" LCD for Sony, but Sony engineers add extra processors chips in for the extra high quality images.

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RE: ha...

By mckrautski on 10/3/2006 8:17:07 PM , Rating: 2

You can get 1080P on 37" LCD TVs. I have a sharp that supports it (Though I've only had 1080i and 720P content on it as of yet).

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Size..

By GreyMittens on 10/3/2006 10:13:19 AM , Rating: 3

I'd be much more impressed with these consoles (both 360 and ps3) if they were the standard size / dimensions of my other AV equipment so I could stack it.

RE: Size..

By kristof007 on 10/3/2006 10:32:40 AM , Rating: 2

I actually haven't really thought of that but that would be smart if we could integrate with our DVD players, DVR boxes and whatever else we might have under/to the side of the TV. Unfortunately these companies have to go for their special looks and make that dream impossible for us. You COULD put it on the top of the stack laid down (either PS3 or X360 works).

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RE: Size..

By Trisped on 10/3/2006 12:46:08 PM , Rating: 2

360 is the same size as my AV equip ment, though smaller then the DVD/VCR combo. You can also stick it in a rack as long as it has enough air flow.

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RE: Size..

By PAPutzback on 10/3/2006 1:56:58 PM , Rating: 2

Heat rises. The last thing the 360 needs is more heat from outside components. They need to design them and all A/V components with a standard water cooling connection.

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PS3 ... NO THANK YOU !

By SaintSinner1 on 10/3/2006 10:15:29 AM , Rating: 4

Buuuu nothing special I will stick to my Commodore64 it has nice graphics sound and games I don't need PS3 ...

RE: PS3 ... NO THANK YOU !

By waamatt on 10/3/2006 11:54:56 AM , Rating: 2

Do you have Mind Walker?! That game is amazing!

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RE: PS3 ... NO THANK YOU !

By Arkham1 on 10/3/2006 12:52:57 PM , Rating: 2

That was Amiga, not C64. ;)

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The video

By Chillin1248 on 10/3/2006 8:30:34 AM , Rating: 4

The video they have on the website doesn't exactly show the "fast" boot-up times for games, however they are by no means long and easily acceptable. Looking foward to see how this console turns out.

-------
Chillin

RE: The video

By bysmitty on 10/3/2006 10:06:58 AM , Rating: 3

The thing is that it loads fast because much of the game data is installed to the hard drive before you can play the game, like a PC. This is not necessarily a bad thing but I expect to see both the 20gig and 60gig drives filling up very fast.

...bysmitty

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Silence is golden

By Jeff7181 on 10/3/2006 12:29:35 PM , Rating: 3

The sound level is most definitely a plus for Sony. I'm glad I didn't pay for my Xbox 360 (no, I didn't steal it, I won it) 'cause if I did I'd be pretty pissed. It sounds like the DVD-ROM is spinning at maximum speed all the time. It's very loud... so loud I have to turn up the volume when playing a game as opposed to playing a demo on the hard drive and the DVD-ROM is idle.

RE: Silence is golden

By JAH on 10/3/2006 2:01:25 PM , Rating: 2

That's the one thing I hated about my Xbox 360, the DVD drive is way too loud. Even with FFXI, a game that installed and runs from the HDD, the 360 still insists on spinning the disc at full speed.

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360 Noise

By ajfink on 10/3/2006 10:37:48 AM , Rating: 2

I've had an Xbox 360 for maybe 5 or 6 months now, and I've never been bothered by the noise. I am really confused as to who thinks it's that bad...just a whir of the fans and the hum of a disc spinning up (any disc-based console will have that).

Good to know that the PS3 is finally reaching the stage where it can be showed off to people in terms of functional units. Kind of reaching clutch time for Sony.

RE: 360 Noise

By FightingChance on 10/3/2006 11:02:26 AM , Rating: 2

I find the noise to be incredibly annoying, especially if I'm playing a quiet part of a game or have the volume down a little. The noise level the 360 makes when in the dashboard is much more agreeable, I wish that's how loud it got at most.

The 65nm spin will most likely quiet it down.

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eeeh? PSM3?

By Xavian on 10/3/2006 4:55:43 PM , Rating: 3

So let me get this straight... The Official Playstation 3 Magazine (i.e endorsed and sponsered by Sony themselves), says the PS3 is 'amazing' and we are supposed to believe them?

The PSM3 is just a form of advertising to Sony and as unbiased as advertising too. Just like all the other 'official' console magazines out there.

RE: eeeh? PSM3?

By animedude on 10/3/06, Rating: 0

I'm not that impressed

By nangryo on 10/3/2006 9:22:29 AM , Rating: 2

It just regular console thing..., nothing spectacular to impressed me.

FPS on a console? ugghh

By AppaYipYip on 10/3/2006 9:29:57 PM , Rating: 2

Playing FPS on a console is like putting joystick controls in a Ferrari.

If offered for free...

By JAH on 10/3/2006 1:56:28 PM , Rating: 1

Not really realistic, but the way I look at the console war is...if you were offered either the PS3, Xbox 360 or Wii for free, which one would you take?

And lets get the wise-crack answer out of the way: Get PS3, sell it on Ebay and buy the 360 and Wii.

Check that out

By ElJefe69 on 10/4/2006 3:47:05 AM , Rating: 1

The picture on the screen looks amazing... who cares about anything else or grease or sony, or f'in psp, check that shit out

Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By jskirwin on 10/3/06, Rating: -1

RE: Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By xsilver on 10/3/06, Rating: 0

RE: Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By FITCamaro on 10/3/2006 9:25:18 AM , Rating: 5

Yup. A real guy would make it flat black with a coarse crappy finish. Its not about how it looks, its what it does. But then Japanese people are known for starting trends where looks are more important than function. Import craze anyone? Body kits .025" off the ground, wings 3 feet high, 5" exhaust tips on 1.8L engines that whip out an amazing 105 hp and 95 lb ft of torque, so many LCD screens inside the car that the cars weight has doubled, etc.

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RE: Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By Hemipower on 10/3/2006 10:10:28 AM , Rating: 1

Lol. Like americans dont do that to our domestic cars. I personally would rather have something that looks nice and plays games etc. than something that doesn't look nice and plays the same games. i want something that is going to look good in my home theater. I do rather like flat black though, kinda like the inside of a black ds lite would have been nice.

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RE: Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By Trisped on 10/3/2006 12:30:52 PM , Rating: 1

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RE: Well, there goes the Wife's vote

By Hemipower on 10/3/2006 4:19:09 PM , Rating: 1

Using your theory everything that comes out now with a shinny black surface is an ipod knock-off. Including the new hp notebooks, the ds lite, shinny black phones etc. You know, since apple invented the color black. Thats ridiculuos.

If thats the case than apple knocked off sony by making their ipod smaller (ipod nano) a la playstation one. Which is insane for anyone to say.

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