I don't know about you, but I'm dying to know where I can get one of these.
July 2007 Archives
My shiny new PlayStation 3 is all hooked up and happy in it's little cubby. I still feel dirty for having bought the ultra glossy black beauty, but a new feeling has joined the party: frustration.
The unpacking experience held no unpleasant surprises, other than the fact that no HDMI cable is included. Let's not forget that Sony has been touting the PS3 as the ultimate high definition experience, which would lead you to believe that they'd provide an HDMI cable. You'd think that wouldn't you? But you'd be wrong.
In any case, I plugged in all of the cables and pressed the touch sensitive power button (a very nice touch by the way). Moments later I was busy setting up my PS3 account while sitting a mere 5 feet from my television set. Not a lot of fun when you're sitting on the floor in front of a large HDTV. The sixaxis controller needs to be plugged into the PS3 with the included six foot USB cable for two reasons: 1) to pair the bluetooth controller with the PS3, and 2) to charge itself. It's bad enough that Sony doesn't include an HDMI cable, but they don't include a long enough USB cable to sit on your couch while the controller charges. And before anyone starts saying "six feet is plenty," no it's not. The Xbox 360 includes charging cables for the wireless controllers that reach 8 - 10 feet.
However, the biggest issue I ran into with my initial setup was getting the PS3 online. Just to give a little perspective on my networking knowledge, I have a gigabit ethernet wired throughout my home. I have an AppleTV, TiVo Series 3, several computers and gaming consoles all plugged into my network. Setting up every device was as simple as plugging it into the ethernet jack, except for the PS3.
It took over 25 minutes of trying automatic settings, manual settings, and a combination of automatic & manual settings before I finally got everything working. Where every device I've ever plugged into my network has discovered the network settings automagically (gotta love DHCP), the PS3 needed to be told IP addresses explicitly. Horrible.
I've still got a growing list of negatives about the device, mainly with the user interface design, but first impressions aren't always everything. After playing a game of Super Stardust HD, my frustrations started to feel like a distant memory.
Last Saturday I ordered a 60GB PlayStation 3 from Amazon.com, and I feel like that is something I need to keep between me and my God. You may be asking yourself, "why did you buy a PS3," "why are you ashamed," or "why do you buy so many damn toys?" Well, I've been asking myself the first two questions since last Saturday, and as for the third question, I'm the Toyman. Go figure.
In pondering the first question, why did I buy a PlayStation 3, the answer is actually pretty simple. During last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Sony announced that they were dropping the price of the PS3 to $499. I can hear you now, "$499? What a bargain!" While that may not be a "bargain" in the truest sense of the word, it peeked my interest.
After catching my attention with a price drop, Sony showed off a few exclusive games that I must play. That's right, I don't just "want" to play them, I "must" play them. Games like Super Stardust HD, Killzone 2, Metal Gear, and Little Big Planet. The last game on the list is probably the most revolutionary. Little Big Planet puts the power of game design into the hands of the user. Yes, I know that game mods, that's geek for game modifications, have been around for years, but it's never been this easy before. Imagine sitting on your couch and creating unique characters, objects and puzzles in a matter of minutes, and then sharing them with friends and family. It also doesn't hurt that the game is super pretty.
So why am I ashamed? Imagine that Sony is Darth Vader and that the Toyman is Luke Skywalker. I feel like I just sold out my twin sister, joined the dark side and am going to get my kicks by forcing Jawas to dance in midair. Sony hasn't helped themselves by pricing a console out of reach for most consumers and then declaring that the next generation console war doesn't start until they say it does. Announcing that they are dropping the price of the 60GB PS3 in the US, only to have the head of Sony Europe come out and say, "what they actually mean is that they're trying to clear the channel of the now defunct 60GB unit." That's right, Sony is not making the 60GB unit anymore and wants to sell them off. Now, I don't blame them for this strategy, but they probably could have made that clear with the announcement.
The biggest reason I bought a PS3 is that I love videogames. I don't care who's winning or losing the console war, even though Sony seems to be running full steam at the latter. With the huge Xbox 360 catalogue, Nintendo Wii capturing the hearts and minds of the world, and the PS3 "dropping the price," it's a great time to be a videogame fan.
On July 1st cable companies are required to offer set-top boxes with CableCARD support instead of the closed systems they offer now. The reason? To give the consumer greater choice. Don't like the cable companies set-top box or DVR? Just go to your local electronics store and pick up your own. Don't like the monthly "rental" fee the cable company charges for the set-top box? Buy your own.
As you can probably imagine, the cable companies don't like this setup too much because it will eat into corporate profits. No more rental fees, fewer people using video on demand services, fewer eyeballs seeing the channel guide advertising, etc. Well, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association has come forward and declared that next January customers are probably going to see rate hikes.
"There's nothing in these decisions [FCC ruling] to stave off a $600 million set-top box tax likely to affect the great majority of cable customers while providing no benefit to consumers."
"No benefit to consumers"? That just doesn't fly. Consumer choice almost always leads to better products and lower prices. As a recent Tivo Series 3 owner, I'm extremely happy with dumping the Comcast DVR for a CableCARD totting TiVo.
The rate hikes are another tactic to scare off consumers and the FCC from imposing the CableCARD requirement. Nothing more.
Parallels, the makers of the virtualization software for Mac & PC, has created a series of ads parodying the PC & Mac ads. Watch them here.
