Please excuse the nasty camera phone images on this story, are currently getting some studio shots - but, hell, we just couldn't wait.
It's finally here! The PS3 has arrived in this green and pleasant land, this sceptred isle, this Engl.. Britain. Oh, and the rest of Europe, the Antipodes and some of the Middle East have access to it as well.
So what's it like then? We're glad you asked.
It's heavy. The official stats put the console at 5kg, and you will feel every one of those kilos as you carry the console home. Use a car, stuff the environment, your shoulders and fingers will thank you. Also, you'll get home more quickly, and that's a good thing.
The first thing you may notice as you unpack your PS3, if you have any experience with Sony consoles of old, is that the box is laid out in a different way from boxes of the past. We know that's a small point, but this is a full-experience type of piece. The PlayStation, PS2 and PS2 slimline had the accessories (controller and cables) in a tray on top of the console. With the PS3, the accessories are in a small section to the side of the console that is slid out before you lift the console out.
Lifting the console out of the box presents you with your shiny new PS3, all wrapped up in that lovely padded polystyrene-like wrapping paper that Sony has used for half of forever to protect its consoles. Removing this wrapping sheet has always been a bit of a sacred moment for SPOnG. It's almost like Christmas, unless you are unwrapping it on the 25th of December when it is exactly like Christmas.
And there you are, a nice shiny PS3 all ready to be connected up. As has been covered everywhere since it was announced, you only get a composite cable with which to hook up your new high definition entertainment device to your display technology of choice. This is a questionable approach, but understandable in some regards since every display device since the Stone Age has a composite input. You also need something to display the settings screen while you configure your PS3 for your connection of choice. You also get power, network and USB leads and a composite to SCART connector block. The final items in the box are the manuals and the Sixaxis controller.
Being men, we of SPOnG paid little attention to the manuals and set about plugging everything in. A flick of a switch or two and we were up and running. The first order of business is to make sure your controller is connected by the USB lead and press the PS button, this pairs your controller with the console and should only have to be performed once (unless you take your controller round to a mate's house). Next you're guided through the initial setup procedure; language, profile name, time zone etcetera are established here and you're in to the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface.
The XMB will be familiar to anybody who has used a PSP or Sony's short lived PSX DVR product from a couple of years back. Categories stretch left and right, options on them scroll up and down and the sub-option appears in a list in the middle. It's all very swish, and only suffers slightly from 'getting lost' syndrome. Your first port of call should be the System Settings option under the Settings category; here you will get to choose a name for your console, set the current time and generally see what's going on.
Next, you'll need to set up the network. Understandably these settings are found in the Network Settings option. This step is optional, of course, since you might not have an internet connection at home. Once you have set up your network and tested the Internet connection, you will be informed that an update is required. This is the much talked about V1.6 firmware update that provides Emotion Engine bereft PS3s with their backwards compatibility amongst other things. For us, downloading this was a slow process, but our wireless network is a bit creaky. The installation was as quick and painless as the same process on PSP. A couple of re-starts and you're done.
The next thing we did was activate our Playstation Network accounts; we had pre-registered them back in November and so only had to log on, but you can also sign up from scratch through the PS3. This procedure will go much more smoothly if you have a keyboard attached to your console, any USB keyboard will do, we used the Playstation 2 keyboard that came with our PS2 Linux kit, but we've had an old iMac keyboard working too. You can use the Sixaxis to control a virtual keyboard, but it's one of the most fiddly ways to do things known to man.
Once you are signed up, you can send friend list requests to anybody you know the ID of. There's also a list of players you've met in online games, so you don't have to remember CuteGRRL69's ID just to get her into your friends list. You can also visit the Playstation Store and download trailers, demos and even full games. Many of these are free, but some will require a few quid to purchase. The store uses the PS3's built in web browser, and you can use this to browse the Internet in general. We, of course, visited SPOnG first and can report that everything works correctly, including forum postings, so no worries there.
You'll already have read some of our reviews of the launch titles, so you know what's going on as far as games go, but what about the PS3's multimedia functionality?
To be honest, we've only managed to look at the music-playing abilities so far due to covering the launch and needing to sleep, but so far we're impressed. Insert a CD and the PS3 connects to the Internet to obtain data about the disc, this information is quickly displayed next to the disc and track icons. Playback is quick and clear and you can have a visualiser running while you listen, this has a few different display types, looks great and runs very smoothly.
There is also the option to import your music from CD, the format this leaves your music in can be set in Settings > Music Settings on the XMB. We chose MP3 for portability but you can have AAC or ATRAC if you wish. The importing process (or "ripping" as everybody but Sony calls it) is smooth, painless and reasonably quick.
Expect updates over the next few days as we get to grips with our new shiny black toy, but our first impressions are good; if you can afford one, get one. There are some good games already out with more to come, and there's a lot to do in the meantime.
It's finally here! The PS3 has arrived in this green and pleasant land, this sceptred isle, this Engl.. Britain. Oh, and the rest of Europe, the Antipodes and some of the Middle East have access to it as well.
So what's it like then? We're glad you asked.
It's heavy. The official stats put the console at 5kg, and you will feel every one of those kilos as you carry the console home. Use a car, stuff the environment, your shoulders and fingers will thank you. Also, you'll get home more quickly, and that's a good thing.
The first thing you may notice as you unpack your PS3, if you have any experience with Sony consoles of old, is that the box is laid out in a different way from boxes of the past. We know that's a small point, but this is a full-experience type of piece. The PlayStation, PS2 and PS2 slimline had the accessories (controller and cables) in a tray on top of the console. With the PS3, the accessories are in a small section to the side of the console that is slid out before you lift the console out.
Lifting the console out of the box presents you with your shiny new PS3, all wrapped up in that lovely padded polystyrene-like wrapping paper that Sony has used for half of forever to protect its consoles. Removing this wrapping sheet has always been a bit of a sacred moment for SPOnG. It's almost like Christmas, unless you are unwrapping it on the 25th of December when it is exactly like Christmas.
And there you are, a nice shiny PS3 all ready to be connected up. As has been covered everywhere since it was announced, you only get a composite cable with which to hook up your new high definition entertainment device to your display technology of choice. This is a questionable approach, but understandable in some regards since every display device since the Stone Age has a composite input. You also need something to display the settings screen while you configure your PS3 for your connection of choice. You also get power, network and USB leads and a composite to SCART connector block. The final items in the box are the manuals and the Sixaxis controller.
Being men, we of SPOnG paid little attention to the manuals and set about plugging everything in. A flick of a switch or two and we were up and running. The first order of business is to make sure your controller is connected by the USB lead and press the PS button, this pairs your controller with the console and should only have to be performed once (unless you take your controller round to a mate's house). Next you're guided through the initial setup procedure; language, profile name, time zone etcetera are established here and you're in to the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface.
The XMB will be familiar to anybody who has used a PSP or Sony's short lived PSX DVR product from a couple of years back. Categories stretch left and right, options on them scroll up and down and the sub-option appears in a list in the middle. It's all very swish, and only suffers slightly from 'getting lost' syndrome. Your first port of call should be the System Settings option under the Settings category; here you will get to choose a name for your console, set the current time and generally see what's going on.
Next, you'll need to set up the network. Understandably these settings are found in the Network Settings option. This step is optional, of course, since you might not have an internet connection at home. Once you have set up your network and tested the Internet connection, you will be informed that an update is required. This is the much talked about V1.6 firmware update that provides Emotion Engine bereft PS3s with their backwards compatibility amongst other things. For us, downloading this was a slow process, but our wireless network is a bit creaky. The installation was as quick and painless as the same process on PSP. A couple of re-starts and you're done.
The next thing we did was activate our Playstation Network accounts; we had pre-registered them back in November and so only had to log on, but you can also sign up from scratch through the PS3. This procedure will go much more smoothly if you have a keyboard attached to your console, any USB keyboard will do, we used the Playstation 2 keyboard that came with our PS2 Linux kit, but we've had an old iMac keyboard working too. You can use the Sixaxis to control a virtual keyboard, but it's one of the most fiddly ways to do things known to man.
Once you are signed up, you can send friend list requests to anybody you know the ID of. There's also a list of players you've met in online games, so you don't have to remember CuteGRRL69's ID just to get her into your friends list. You can also visit the Playstation Store and download trailers, demos and even full games. Many of these are free, but some will require a few quid to purchase. The store uses the PS3's built in web browser, and you can use this to browse the Internet in general. We, of course, visited SPOnG first and can report that everything works correctly, including forum postings, so no worries there.
You'll already have read some of our reviews of the launch titles, so you know what's going on as far as games go, but what about the PS3's multimedia functionality?
To be honest, we've only managed to look at the music-playing abilities so far due to covering the launch and needing to sleep, but so far we're impressed. Insert a CD and the PS3 connects to the Internet to obtain data about the disc, this information is quickly displayed next to the disc and track icons. Playback is quick and clear and you can have a visualiser running while you listen, this has a few different display types, looks great and runs very smoothly.
There is also the option to import your music from CD, the format this leaves your music in can be set in Settings > Music Settings on the XMB. We chose MP3 for portability but you can have AAC or ATRAC if you wish. The importing process (or "ripping" as everybody but Sony calls it) is smooth, painless and reasonably quick.
Expect updates over the next few days as we get to grips with our new shiny black toy, but our first impressions are good; if you can afford one, get one. There are some good games already out with more to come, and there's a lot to do in the meantime.
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