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You people will be the death of me - PS3 vs. Kindle and other electronic goodies
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Spike
Memphis
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March 3, 2010 - 9:34 pm
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Reading another thread about Toger's dilemma as to how to spend her birthday $$:  Kindle vs. PS3.  First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOGER!!  (Buy 2, they're small!)

Secondly, since I haven't played any games on a console since the very first 8-bit Nintendo, I don't pay much attention to the features of the newest incarnations.  So after reading said thread I looked up the specs for the PS3.

Let's see now, my DVD player is old as the hills and certainly doesn't do HD.  I don't watch many movies, so it hasn't been a problem, although I got a spiffy HD TV last August.  My stereo is old as the hills as well, and is wonky about reading CDs.  There are a few (just a few) games that I'd like to be able to play that are console-only.

Problem is, my living room set-up doesn't lend itself to playing games.  I'd have to sit too far away from the TV, eventhough it's big, to see tiny detail in games.  Plus, I'd have to get used to a game controller all over again.

But y'all got me thinking, so I'm pissed.  But I guess I really could use a new chair for the living room....

"…you just keep on trying 'til you run out of cake."

Scout
Portland, Oregon
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March 3, 2010 - 10:40 pm
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I hear you Spike. It's all about how you play, watch and listen. A PS3 is an amazing deal. Sony basically gives the Bluray capability away. But you have to park it near the set, I think. And play games in the living room. And use a console controller. That is a big plus or a big minus, depending on lifestyle. You can get a great upsampling DVD player for 50 bucks if you don't want to watch Bluray movies or play a bunch of Playstation games. You can burn all your CDs to the computer you already have. It's really about how you experience your entertainment.

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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March 4, 2010 - 11:44 am
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Sorry, Spike! [Image Can Not Be Found] (and thanks!)

Truth to tell, I haven't been lusting after a PS3 for very long (even though I'd convinced my friend with the massive HDTV to get one quite a while ago). I did know I would eventually get one after watching Blade Runner in blu-ray (words cannot describe how freakin' gorgeous). My living room is tiny as I live in a Victorian so playing games in my comfy chair is quite easy. I refuse to upgrade to digital cable (Comcast can kiss my ass); plus I don't go out to the movies that much. I save that for stuff that needs to be seen on the big screen (Avatar, Iron Man, 300) so anything else worth watching I'll wait for DVD and grab it through Netflix.

I'm a console gamer from way back and find that using the controller is far easier on my hands than mouse + keyboard.

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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March 4, 2010 - 1:00 pm
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It used to be a great deal to buy a PS3 even if you never intended to play games - just as a Blu-Ray player. But of course then the standalone Blu-Rays came down in price so that doesn't quite do it any more.

I unabashedly love my PS3, something I really didn't realize I was going to do. But of course I use it mostly for games. It can stream Netflix, but right now you need a special Netflix disc (free) in the PS3 for it to work. They're going to fix that in an upcoming software update.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

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Yapette
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March 4, 2010 - 4:54 pm
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Where do I put this when so many threads are mentioning PS3s?

Not to be an enabler or anything (Happy Birthday, Toger [Image Can Not Be Found]), but Amazon's Deal of the Day is Valkyrie Chronicles for $27.65.

Ooops, sorry, Qt3 bargain thread mentioned $19.99 & it's not showing up as DoD. Plus, only 5 left. Abort...abort...abort.....sorry. 🙁

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Toger
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March 4, 2010 - 6:02 pm
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No prob, Yap.(and thanks!)

It's still a reasonably good price. I think I saw that GameStop/EBGames has it for 19.99 but they'll make me pay shipping and tax if I buy online… and we can't have that. [Image Can Not Be Found]  I considered going to the B&M EBGames around the corner from me, but our 9.5% sales tax coupled with the fact that the game won't be sealed makes the Amazon deal slightly better.

*edit: Of course, now that I've said that I'm thinking a little scouting at EB may be in order just to be sure all their copies are already opened.

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BacardiJim
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March 27, 2010 - 12:02 am
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I've been a proud and happy Kindle owner for over a year now.  I love it.

But then, I read every single day.

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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March 27, 2010 - 7:20 pm
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Pokey! [Image Can Not Be Found][Image Can Not Be Found]

Thanks for the heads up! I just grabbed one! (PS3)

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Pokey
California
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March 27, 2010 - 7:54 pm
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I got mine too! I'm excited--though I have NOTHING to play on it. Maybe by the time it gets here. [Image Can Not Be Found] [Image Can Not Be Found]

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Toger
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March 28, 2010 - 1:57 pm
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I picked up Heavy Rain and Valkyria Chronicles earlier this month, so I'm ready to play when it gets here!

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Jarrod
Brisbane, Australia
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March 29, 2010 - 12:07 am
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I haven't got anything decent for mine yet - I traded in my Bionic Commando for a second-hand Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena (I had the first CoR on the Xbox, so it was like visiting an old friend), and I bought Magic Carpet off the PSN Store.  But that's it.

Looking forward to my first AAA, but it may be a little ways off yet [Image Can Not Be Found]

A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. – The Teachings of Don Juan

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Pokey
California
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April 13, 2010 - 2:32 am
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I played my first PS3 game tonight. When I finally got it set up--it is a lot more complicated that a PS2--it looked beautiful on my 46" HDTV. I decided to start with Uncharted, the first one. The gun fight in the beginning had me worried because I can't shoot straight on a PS3, but once I got past that, it was all exploration and adventuring for the next two hours. Great fun. I love the game. My husband got interested in it and played too. I still don't have any Bluray movies but Planet Earth is on the way from the UK.[Image Can Not Be Found]

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Steerpike
Subtropical Southeastern Michigan
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April 13, 2010 - 8:08 am
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Congrats, Pokey! I have the first Uncharted sitting on my "for later" pile - I bought it because I loved the sequel so much.

I can't imagine what Planet Earth would look like on Blu-Ray. I mean... wow.

Life is the misery we endure between disappointments.

Jen
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April 13, 2010 - 10:48 am
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I have Planet Earth on Blu-Ray, and it looks great for the most part. There are many shots in the series, though, that are taken from so far away that the air itself makes them blurry, and some that pan so quickly that the pixels can't quite keep up. The rest, though, is pure eye candy deluxe! I am going to buy that new nature series Life on Blu-Ray as well. That one spends a lot more time on closeups and super slo-mo, so it ought to look 100% beautiful.

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xtal
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April 13, 2010 - 9:56 pm
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Planet Earth = <3   (I have only the DVDs, though)

Uncharted was a very enjoyable, and easily digestible, game. For all the good things I had heard I was very much surprised that 3 of the first 4 levels were just some relaxing exploration and banter; I was expecting a shooting fest, so it got off to a good start. The middle section of the game flowed well for the most part including a mix of intense battles and basic puzzles. I think the game could have been strongly improved by removing a few weak links: the seadoo upriver and *mild spoiler alert* ---> Spanish zombie levels. <--- *end spoiler*

All in all I think it's a very overrated game, due in part to the movie-like qualities it carries-- and make no mistake, if Uncharted were translated to film it would be as bad as Tomb Raider or Indy 4-- and also to the "coolness" of main character, Nathan Drake, whose smug sheik I saw right through. With that said, I mean overrated in the sense that I don't see it as a high 90s or "gold star"-worthy game as it is/was touted; it's still very good.

Critical grumpiness aside, I found it a great first game for the PS3. I look forward to Uncharted 2's eventual price drop.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Pokey
California
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April 14, 2010 - 1:22 pm
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The easy part is over. I am in the tough gun battles after crashing on an island. It is hard aiming while pushing different buttons and stick. It takes forever to get the target sight where it needs to be. What is the auto aim I read about somewhere? Maybe I'm doing it all wrong. It was so much easier on the PC. Any tips?

Also the save system has me confused. Sometimes it doesn't seem to save. Can't you save anytime you want?

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Toger
Somewhere, out there...
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April 14, 2010 - 2:13 pm
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Pokey, I *think* it's checkpoint based. It's been a while since I've seen this played.

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xtal
planet
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April 15, 2010 - 11:02 am
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Pokey, it is indeed checkpoint based. I hate this system, but sadly it's usually the best option for console games; particularly ones that aim to keep you immersed in the action. It's confusing to tell when your game saves sometimes though. A few times I would be near the end of a platform puzzle, only to have my idiot player character jump off some cliff when I did not direct him to, loading me upwards of 5-10 minutes prior in progress.

There aren't too many frustrating sections like that in Uncharted, so don't worry.

Tip: I don't know if this feature applies to your first play-through because I never actually tried it until I did a few mission selects to hunt for treasure; once you unlock trophies for getting a certain amount of kills with a specific weapon, that weapon becomes available for you to equip at any time via the "Bonus" menu. So say you were running around with an empty AK-47, you could go to this menu and simply change your main weapon to SPAS-12, if you had unlocked it, and you would magically be in possession of that gun with a bit of ammo for it.

It's handy, but like I said, I don't know if you can use it on your first play; I suspect perhaps not, as it is borderline cheating.

If being wrong's a crime I'm serving forever

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Pokey
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April 15, 2010 - 11:57 am
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After playing more, I've come to the conclusion that both of you are right, even though the manual gives directions to save manually and reviews say you can. I thought I was doing that, but most likely I was just reloading the last checkpoint. Most of the time they seem to be adequate. I had several crossing the waterfall in chap 4.  It would be nice if the game gave an indication that the game was being autosaved as other games do.

That's a great tip on the bonus weapon. There were times I was down to a few bullets and had to rush the enemy and blind fire or use my fists. Nearly 30% done and still having fun.

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Toger
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April 22, 2010 - 11:28 am
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