PlayStation 3 – Page 7

Hands-on with the new PLAYSTATION Store

This is just going to be a quick and short ‘hands-on’ with the Store; much more succinct than my ‘in-depth’ articles on City In The Clouds (I hope). I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get to grips with the new Store for quite some time now. Now that I’m back home for a couple of days I can test the Store for myself and ask: was the update worth it? Well, yea; it looks visually impressive, it’s lightning fast and it just works, really. Just the way you’d expect.

The new style of the Store is visually gorgeous; great colour scheme, clear and simplified layout and new artwork for all of the content. Due to the Store now being an application built into the PS3‘s operating system, rather than being a website, the speed improvement is phenomenal. Also the whole structure looks a lot cleaner; everything is laid out exactly where you’d expect it, making what you want easy to find. There’s also a red PLAYSTATION Store bag showing you any purchases you’ve already made.

New-look PLAYSTATION Store

The big question though- any faults or failings with the new Store? Not really, jut minor niggles you could say. The first thing I noticed (after being impressed by the new visual design) was that the Store was a bit small on the screen. I have a 32 inch HD widescreen TV and the Store only used about two thirds of it, and so the Store felt a bit squashed and could do with taking up a bit more screen real estate in my opinion. As I say- minor niggle.

Onto a couple of other things; some of the text is a bit small, like the instructions on the PSP downloads page of how to transfer games to your PSP, however the text size problem is an issue on the PS3 in general. Lastly, each game/video/piece of content has a little square icon, but whilst navigating about for what I wanted and then waiting for quite some time, most would not load. Now I don’t know if this is a problem on the Store’s part, or whether it is my internet connection (though at 8Mbps I’d be surprised).

Overall conclusions? The new-look PLAYSTATION Store is a fantastic update over the original Store, but possibly there’s a few minor niggles that need ironing out. Does this detract from the user experience? Possibly, but if everything works as intended it’ll make getting games, updates and videos etc a lightning fast, seamless, and painless experience.

NB: The PLAYSTATION Store (PC) for PSP also got a similar visual refresh, and of course, remains in website form.

PS3 Fan Noise Controversy

Updated December 2008

I’ve been reading an interesting article in PS3 Fanboy entitled ‘Clean your PS3 fan with quick-n-easy test‘ which is for 40Gb PS3s and works by running a fan test, which speeds up the fan and also supposedly ‘blows out the dust…essentially cleaning it up’. Fair enough.

What is interesting though is the controversy and misinformation about PS3 fan noise in the comments section at the end of the article. To be honest, it looks like it has turned into a bit of a flame war so let’s try and rationalise things a little bit.

Some people are saying that the 40Gb PS3 sounds really loud, and the 60Gb version doesn’t (who knows about the 80Gb version, whatever) and they use examples such as this on YouTube. Now, I have a 40Gb PS3 and let me tell you it doesn’t sound like that at all; in fact, I can barely hear it. So I’m thinking that with the YouTube example given, and what such people are saying, I can infer two conclusions: either a faulty PS3, or a PS3 being run with the fan test. It’s as simple as that.

Other people have been saying that the 60Gb is louder than the 40Gb, although I couldn’t possibly comment on that. However I’ve been gaming with a mate who has a 60Gb PS3 and it sounds comparable to mine; I believe any difference will be negligible.

So what on earth is the point I am trying to make? Once they’ve started up PS3s are very quiet, I mean sometimes it doesn’t even sound like they’re turned on (although the lights are lit up of course). In general, PS3s are made to a very high quality; they keep very cool and the sound is kept to a minimum so if you have a particularly loud PS3 then there is a good possibility that there might be something wrong with it.

December 2008 update: I now find myself in possession of an 80GB PS3. As to why this is the case, I direct you here for more information. It is my observation that the fan noise on this model is slightly louder than my old 40GB model. Why is this the case? I honestly don’t know, and can only speculate. Still though, the noise is not really that noticable and nothing for concern.

If your PS3 sounds very loud, then my advice above still stands. There might be something wrong with your PS3, so get it checked out. The people to call are the Sony care line. In addition, you may want to check out the comprehensive PS3 fan guide.

Firmware (v.2.30) Details and Store Walkthrough

Firmware (v.2.30) Details and Store Walkthrough– Posted on the PlayStation.Blog, showing off a video demo of the store by Grace Chen. Worth a watch of the store in action, it looks very fast and responsive. Top sneak peek of the week (wow, I’m so awesome at rhyming).

The Mystery Behind PlayStation 3’s Sometimes Mandatory Installations

The Mystery Behind PlayStation 3’s Sometimes Mandatory Installations– I know this isn’t recent news exactly, but I find the article to be a fascinating read. If you’ve ever wanted a bit of insight into PS3 architecture, disc speeds or streaming optimization then this is for you! If not, then just nod your head and pretend you understood :p

PS2 Games To Appear On The PSN Store

PS2 Games To Appear On The PSN Store- Says The Sixth Axis. Rumours of PS2 backwards compatibility already added in secretly to firmware 2.20 etc… Eventually, all’s I want is to be able to put in PS2 discs and play them on my PS3, just like my friend who has a 60GB PS3. Damn you! Anyhow, read the article on The Sixth Axis and decide for yourself. I’m taking this one with a pinch of salt for now.

PLAYSTATION Store offline

PLAYSTATION Store offline- With all this interest over the PLAYSTATION Store and its revamp, I thought I’d take a look but it’s offline for maintenance. Here’s hoping that there are some unexpected goodies or something. I’ll check again later.

UPDATE: It was only temporary. The Store was back in action a few hours later.

Gorgeous new PLAYSTATION Store

I would have posted this as an aside, but I wanted to include the a picture of the new visual style of the store:

(Click the above image for high-res goodness)

The update to the PLAYSTATION Store will be around mid-April, during which there will be a firmware upgrade required for the PS3 in order to use the new store. This is because the store will be software-based, and not a website, as is currently the case. There will be no content updates due to the store between now and the update.

Visually the store redesign seems to have taken a page off the SingStar Store, which is no bad thing. Seriously though, this is great news. Whilst the old store could have said to have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, the new design doesn’t seem to have any critics (so far).

Who benefits from the update? Only PS3 users at the moment, although the PC version of the store will probably be updated sometime in the future. The new store should be very fast, compared to the old store, due to its software-based nature. I have to admit, whilst browsing the store, it has felt like wading through treacle.

Anyhow- here’s to more good stuff coming from Sony! (And to some extra content for the store after the redesign). Yet what I’ve noticed on the official forums, has been an ever-increasing demand for the release of Home and the long awaited in-game XMB.

Nothing is true, everything is permitted

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ve finally completed the story of Assassin’s Creed, even though I’ve had the game since Christmas. However, I can tell you that it is not easy trying to complete a game when you only return home about once a month, and have studies to attend to. I only completed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune itself about a week ago.

Yet what I want to explore is the issue of using walkthroughs, and to what degree. In recent memory, I have only used walkthroughs very rarely. Generally I’ll only turn to a walkthrough to get past a bit in a game which has actually stopped me progressing any further. After I get past a tricky bit, I’ll then discard the walkthrough and continue to enjoy the game at my own pace, and deal with the challenges ahead myself. I’m sure that most people would agree with me in this respect.

However, a much more controversial use of the walkthrough in my opinion is finding all certain extras in order to complete the game “100%”. In Uncharted, there’s 60 treasures to find and I admit that I have used a walkthrough to find a few after completing the main game the first time round. The way I view Uncharted is that the levels are linear, and that entails being able to enjoy the story and gameplay once more, whilst being able to grab the extra treasures. If you’ve missed a treasure in Uncharted you’ll have to start that particular chapter again. However Assassin’s Creed is more of an open, free-roaming world in which you can go back to any city and look around for flags or Templars for as long as you want. I am therefore more reluctant to use a walkthrough in this case. I find a particular thrill in finding a Templar, hidden in a remote place and adding him to my tally.

That brings me to the case in point, as I see it: such items, be they flags, treasures, coins etc- are put there by the developers for the skilled or explorative gamer. Not for a lazy gamer to simply collect by reading a walkthrough, else why bother? I’m intrigued to hear any other voices or viewpoints on this matter.

Europe getting 40GB PS3 bundles packing Gran Turismo, Blu-ray movies

Europe getting 40GB PS3 bundles packing Gran Turismo, Blu-ray movies– Sweet. Not that it’ll affect me, but it is exciting to know that Sony are pulling out all the stops to entice consumers to sample in the delights of the PS3. See also stories on: PS3 Fanboy and The Sixth Axis.

The making of Uncharted: In-depth

The making of Uncharted: In-depth– Absolutely fascinating read; especially to an Uncharted fanatic such as myself. Check out the video at the end, it offers a real insight into the development process. Of course, there’s more goodness like this to unlock on the game disk. Completely worth it.