Playstation 3 Review - PS3

9.5

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 10
Audio: 10
Multiplayer: 9
Innovation: 9

Released less than a month ago, the Playstation 3 has had mixed reactions across the entire world. Microsoft and Nintendo fanboys have enjoyed watching sales figures and pointing out every error in Sony’s new console, but the Playstation 3 is not giving up without a fight. Believe us, the system can pack a punch or two.

Features & Presentation

Offering more than any console before, the Playstation 3 is a great home entertainment system. Its predecessors, the Playstation and Playstation 2 were the two best selling consoles of all time, and there’s little doubt in loyal Sony fans minds that the Playstation 3 has many tricks up its sleeves.

The Playstation 3 offers a slick black design using a plastic that makes the console look shiny at all hours of the day. It is the largest console on the market, but it has a lot of goodies packed inside of it, and Sony would probably take bets on anyone who claims it could be smaller without losing functionality. The DVD drive is similar to the Nintendo Wii - you just slide a disc in, like most car CD players. When you want to eject the disc, all you do is touch the eject logo. It’s not a button - it's touch sensitive. The on/off button is also touch sensitive, but if you want to turn it off you have to keep your finger there for a few seconds. Wouldn’t want to turn it off by accident now, would we?

Wireless SIXAXIS controllers are the new way to go, according to Sony. The controllers no longer vibrate, and getting rid of the dual-shock has made the controllers significantly lighter. Whether or not this was a good move depends on who you ask. Clearly, Sony believes tilting and jolting is the way of the future (as does Nintendo, it seems), though lots of the Playstation 3 games coming out offer the option of whether to use the SIXAXIS or not. Another benefit of the Playstation 3 controllers is that they don’t require battery changing. The controllers use the four USB ports to recharge, and you can do so while gaming.

The controller has a new button in the middle similar to the X on the Xbox 360 controllers. It’s a Playstation logo, and it opens menus on-screen that are extremely useful. The button also allows you to quit out of doing whatever you’re doing to get back to the main interface. You'll probably find yourself using it most to turn the console off if you’re too lazy to get up and touch the power button, or to save battery power while you’re watching a movie or downloading something. Everything is at your fingertips, literally.

The interface is fairly simple. Known as the XMB (Cross Media Bar), it’s a row of icons that lets (continued next page)