Chaos Raiden
Avid Gamer & Reviewer
Introduction
This is not a review on PS3 games, but the console PS3 Slim itself.
The first PlayStation 3 model was released in year 2006. However, it lacks strong launch games to make it compete other consoles or even PlayStation 2 in terms of high quality games. Despite it's weak launch, the console itself proves to be successful with lots of new exclusive games that help to sell the console well enough.
The first model is commonly known as the 'fat PS3'. It is much more bulkier than the recent PS3 models, but it is able to play PS2 games if it does not have any system updates. The recent models however, lacked backward compatibility of PS2 games.
Functionality
1) Movie Playback
At the time of it's release, it's main advantage against other consoles like Xbox 360, PS2, or Wii is that it is able to play Blu-ray discs. For those who do not know what Blu-ray discs are, it is a new form of data disc storage that can stores larger amount of data compared to regular DVDs. In movie terms of comparison, Blu-ray movies often have better audio and video quality than DVD movies, which can be seen below:
2) PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store
As legit PS3 users, you may register yourself to PlayStation Network, which allows you to play some games online and purchase digital items such as digital soundtracks, DLCs, and others. The registration is totally free.
The digital store for PlayStation Network is called PlayStation Store. It also offers demo for you to try out before purchasing the full game either on physical release or digital release from the PlayStation Store. Below is how the PlayStation Store interface for PS3 looks like:
3) PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Plus is an enhanced membership that grants more benefits to subscribers. They may get free games every month, earlier access to game demos or betas, discounts, and cloud storage. You may choose to subscribe for 3 months subscription or a year.
Generally, as long as your subscription is active, you will retain any downloaded free PS Plus games and able to play it. Once the subscription is over, you will not be able to play it until you resubscribe on PlayStation Plus again.
4) Accessories
The console may also use accessories like PlayStation Move, wireless headset, gun controllers, or others to benefit you while playing the games. You may also connect a PS Vita to your PS3 for various purposes.
5) Other features
The console itself has other features such as having HDMI connection on any HDTVs, LAN Internet connection, access to digital media like MP3 files, browse the Intenet and connection of thumbdrives or external hard disks. You may also choose to do system backup on these storage media in case of emergencies.
Games
The best exclusive games that I can recommend on this console are Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, The Last of Us, Demon's Souls, God of War III, Valkyria Chronicles, Killzone 2, and all Uncharted games. Not only these games have incredible graphics, they also boast high quality gameplay as well.
Not only do PS3 have good exclusive games, it also has widely popular multi-platform games such as all Assassin's Creed games, Dead Space games, Mass Effect games, Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Red Dead Redemption, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Catherine, Dark Souls and Diablo III. The reason I mention these games are because I truly feel that they are the highest-quality of multi-platform games that I have played so far.
PS3 also has large collections of HD Collection games, such as God of War Collection, God of War: Origins Collection, The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, and others. Not only that the console has lots of HD remastered of PS2 games, many of them are highly exclusive to the PS3 itself.
Despite that, not all games are entirely great in my opinion, both exclusive or multi-platform games. The worst games that I have ever played are Time and Eternity, White Knight Chronicles II, Heavenly Sword, Yakuza: Dead Souls, Killer is Dead, No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and others. Personally, these games lack enough depth or excitement for me to enjoy deeply. Regardless of any console, I strongly believe that any console has their own lists of bad games despite being successful.
Conclusion
This console is actually good, but unfortunately has some drawbacks. For instance, many games required mandatory installations, which can be annoying to many players. Also, some of the multi-platform games perform poorly on PS3 compared to Xbox 360 or PC, such as Bayonetta. Users are also often forced to update their systems frequently in order to play the latest games or when connecting into the Internet. It is also to be noted that the PS3 severely lacks high quality JRPGs, which is lamented by some of my contacts who are looking forward to larger selections of high quality JRPGs compared to the previous console PS2. I still believe that the console's advantages strongly eclipses the console's disadvantages greatly, with high quality available games, Blu-ray capability, PlayStation Plus, and others.
Anyone who wants to buy a PS3 or any consoles should do research on those consoles to get a better idea on which console suits your needs greatly in the long run. Also, every game console have their own specifications and features that may greatly differ each other, such as RAM, functions, and other. Despite of the possibility of me getting a PS4 in the future, I will still keep my PS3 as PS4 does not have backward compatibility of PS3 games at the moment. However, once Sony has started the PlayStation Now service in the future, it is possible for PS4 players to play PS1, PS2, and PS3 games online with fast Internet connection. Undoubtedly, not everyone has Internet access, and I think it is wise for PlayStation owners to keep their PS3s until Sony develops a newer model of PS4 console that allows PS3 games to be played on it, or just buy both.
Score: 8/10
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Large library of games.
- Has many good quality exclusive games.
- Allows both Blu-ray and DVD movies playback.
- Free registration for online play.
- PlayStation Plus is a great incentive to get more free games for an affordable fee.
- Allows media playback. (MP3, etc)
- Good specifications.
- PS3 Hard disks are easily replaceable.
- No worries on upgrading the console's specs to play the latest multi-platform games.
Cons
- Frequent PSN maintenance, forcing players not to play online often.
- Annoying mandatory installations for many games.
- Many games have large installation file size.
- Some multi-platform games perform worse compared to other consoles' versions.
- Fixed specifications that prevent the console to perform better in multi-platform games than the PC version.
- Too bulky for some people.
- Lacks PS2 backward compatibility.