PS3 newbie

[MrNightly]

So I got me a PS3! I finally joined the world of console gamers! I have to say, it's a HUGE difference from PC Gaming, which I have been born and raised on.

I rented FarCry2 this week, it's pretty good. I am flat out terrible with the controllers, but slowly getting better. Bought Madden 08 for like 9bucks at Blockbuster.

What games would you guys recommend for a complete newbie with consoles. I don't really dig racing games, so keep that in mind.

Thanks and I look forward to getting good and kickin' some Polk Arse online. ;)

[Conradicles]

Try one of those basketball games like NCAA 08...you can get them cheap and they are fun to play against another person...the computer cheats. Madden 09 is my favorite.
IMHO the PS3 is a work of art. Make sure you get it connected to the internet via wireless if you can. There are tons of upgrades that make it better. Enjoy!

[Sami]

Wired connection is better, wireless tends to bog down when streaming video from media server. First person shooters are not the strong point of consoles, you're better off playing those on a PC, but sport games and other non-first person games are pretty good.

[Hardtail67]

I like first person shooters way better on the PS3 than on the computer. I would go for Resistance 2. Fantastic game. It also has a good online co op mode. It kind of lets you get used to online gaming without getting killed immediately all the time.

[MrNightly]

Resistance 2 huh. I will look it up!

Got everything wireless running and updated the recommend ones. The console is way more detailed than I had realized, with a ton of options available. Internet browser? Very cool.

Getting better at Madden. Man... DTS on the sound system flat out rocks for that game! Are all PS3 games dts/DD?

[wingnut4772]

Call of Duty 4 is great. Definitely get hooked up and go online.

[manman]

congrats on your dive into console gaming :) I have a ps3 as well and personally love it. What kind of games are you into? The first game I got which was a LOT of fun is Ratchet and Clank Future. It's a platformer with some fun story, lots of weapons and replay value. Soul Caliber IV is fun if you like fighting games. Lately I've been playing Devil May Cry 4, and that's been pretty good as well.

And of course...there's always GTA IV. I have that on 360, but it should be about the same on ps3

[dbaldus]

Are all PS3 games dts/DD?

Yes - mostly DD.

And yes, its awesome ;)

[Willow]

Call of Duty 4 is great. Definitely get hooked up and go online.

I second that ! ummm, GTA is fun cause it's a bit of everything, rockband is fun and Metal gear Solid as well.

[Willow]

[QUOTE=MrNightly;959793]Resistance 2 huh. I will look it up!

Got everything wireless running and updated the recommend ones. The console is way more detailed than I had realized, with a ton of options available. Internet browser? Very cool.
QUOTE]
plus it's a very good BR player

[AndyGwis]

Great thread. I got a PS3 three months or so ago just for BluRay and SACD but have been playing games more and more. Just Guitar Hero with friends and some Tiger Woods 08 (anyone played 09?) so far.

How important are updates and what do they do? I may go get a shooter game. I used to play counterstrike online all the time on my PC (now occassionally on slow laptop) and would love to find a PS3 equivalent.

Oh, and sound effects for PS3 are awesome. Both Guitar Hero and Tiger Woods sound amazing on my system.

[Shizelbs]

If you liked Counter Strike, I would suggest looking at Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW 2). The Rainbow Six Vegas games are good too. Call of Duty 4 and 5 are very fun too, but not technical like Counter Strike at all.

[Willow]

Great thread. I got a PS3 three months or so ago just for BluRay and SACD but have been playing games more and more. Just Guitar Hero with friends and some Tiger Woods 08 (anyone played 09?) so far.

How important are updates and what do they do? I may go get a shooter game. I used to play counterstrike online all the time on my PC (now occassionally on slow laptop) and would love to find a PS3 equivalent.

Oh, and sound effects for PS3 are awesome. Both Guitar Hero and Tiger Woods sound amazing on my system.

Are you talking game updates or console updates? either way you should do them. I know some were to upgrade the BR software.

[manman]

yeah, definitely do the updates, they sometimes put very useful features in there. If you just bought your system you probably already have this- but I know one of the features added onboard DTS HD-MA decoding, and one before that added some codecs I think. Good to stay on top of those.

[MrNightly]

congrats on your dive into console gaming :) I have a ps3 as well and personally love it. What kind of games are you into? The first game I got which was a LOT of fun is Ratchet and Clank Future. It's a platformer with some fun story, lots of weapons and replay value. Soul Caliber IV is fun if you like fighting games. Lately I've been playing Devil May Cry 4, and that's been pretty good as well.

And of course...there's always GTA IV. I have that on 360, but it should be about the same on ps3

I just picked up Dead Space and Resistance 1 from Ascubie from our very own polksite. I hope to get them this week and explore some kick ass games! I downloaded the demo of NCAA 09 basketball, and wow.. that is on my xmas list now! It was a ton of fun and while I am not a huge sports guy, the entire set up of that game made me feel like I could be a star!!! (And with KU being the 08 Champions, what more could a guy like me want? :))

Is that Rachet and Clank future a car game? I have never really been into car games.

I picked up Lego Star Wars, the complete Saga for 11 bucks new at Blockbuster! Talk about a blast! I already had two people over to co-op on it. I love Lightsabers! Even got the lady in the house to play it a few rounds and she loved it. Awesome!

Now that school is done for the semester, I can get a little more evening time in.

Oh ya, getting the Force Unleashed for Xmas. That is the entire reason I bought the PS3 in the first place :)

Keep 'em coming.

[manman]

[QUOTE=MrNightly;964468]Is that Rachet and Clank future a car game? I have never really been into car games.
QUOTE]


No, 3D 'platformer', which is like jack and daxter if you remember that game.

It takes place in outer space with all the levels being on different planets. You run around fighting off enemies with a ton of different crazy weapons having to collect different things or solve small puzzles. It's kind of cartoony with lots of animated cut scenes- kind of like playing a pixar movie :p I found it pretty entertaining.

Another good one is Bioshock if you didn't play that on PC. I had that for 360, but it recently came out on PS3. It's an FPS that's kind of a mix between Resident Evil and Deus Ex. Great visual design and voice acting make it very immersive.

[dbaldus]

I just picked up Dead Space and Resistance 1 from Ascubie from our very own polksite. I hope to get them this week and explore some kick ass games! I downloaded the demo of NCAA 09 basketball, and wow.. that is on my xmas list now! It was a ton of fun and while I am not a huge sports guy, the entire set up of that game made me feel like I could be a star!!! (And with KU being the 08 Champions, what more could a guy like me want? :))

Is that Rachet and Clank future a car game? I have never really been into car games.

I picked up Lego Star Wars, the complete Saga for 11 bucks new at Blockbuster! Talk about a blast! I already had two people over to co-op on it. I love Lightsabers! Even got the lady in the house to play it a few rounds and she loved it. Awesome!

Now that school is done for the semester, I can get a little more evening time in.

Oh ya, getting the Force Unleashed for Xmas. That is the entire reason I bought the PS3 in the first place :)

Keep 'em coming.

You're in for a treat with Dead Space - the sound in that game is AMAZING ;)

[avelanchefan]

Bio-EFFING-shock man. Bioshock...I cannot say enough about it. Very different approach to weapons. Loved the game.

[MrNightly]

Ooh dead space is awesome! I am really into this one! Just started it tonight and I love it! The controls are super easy to use and the action seems steady. Also sounds good on the ht. I so need my hd TV now tho as I am only running standard video.

I think I am gonna splurge on the Bravia 52 xbr5 soon!

[$mitty]

If you've got a console, you have to get Rock Band 2. It's a party in a box for you and all your friends. Tons of extra songs can be downloaded online too. I'm pretty sure there's over 300 songs now. Guitar Hero World Tour is fun, but I think Rock Band is much better. I used to be a HUGE guitar hero fan, but I've grown to love Rock Band a lot more.

If you're looking for great games, don't miss Metal Gear Solid 4. Since you're new to the system/controller it will be forgiving b/c they offer 4 different difficulty levels when you start off. Start on easy and work your way up. It's a very complex game so it'll help you get familiar with action games on the PS3. It's like playing the main character in an action movie...the quality of the cut scenes are exactly that, an action movie.

FPS's...Call of Duty, Resistance, I think they've been mentioned already.

If you like basketball, NBA 2K9 is easily the best one IMO.

Madden is always good, but I'm not in love with the way it plays on the new systems (PS3 and 360) compared to how it played on the PS2 and XBox. Still the best football game obviously though.

And to reiterate what has also been said...you gotta play Grand Theft Auto 4 too.

[manman]

can you use the guitar hero guitars to play rock band 2? (or have they changed the rock band guitar at all?) I've only played the first rock band a few times, but I just couldn't stand the guitar. The neck felt weak and bendy, and the strum bar doesn't click when you play it. I know some people liked that about it- but my personal preference was for the guitar hero guitars.

[$mitty]

It depends on which guitar you have. The Kramer works for both GH and RB I think. If you check out gamespot.com they have a chart somewhere that lists which guitars are compatible for each game. I have a Kramer guitar that came with GH3 for PS2 last year and it's supposed to work for both games on both the PS2 and the PS3 if you have the USB adapter. I haven't tried it yet.

I'm a fan of the RB guitar b/c of the quieter buttons and strum bar. Plus, it's got the thing that can alter the sound and the smaller buttons on neck that can be played without strumming during solos. It took some getting used to, but it adds to the effect and makes it more fun to me. Also makes playing the songs on Hard and Expert a little easier IMO. But it's all personal preference. I used to love the GH guitar.

[manman]

hmm, maybe I should give it another chance... my main problem was just the non-clicking strum for me, without the tactile feedback it just feels a little weird to me.

Oh- about gta4- I beat that a long time ago, but I recently set up my 5.1 HT, and I have to say- playing it in surround sound has re-awoken (is that a word?) my love for that game! The deep bass from the explosions, the sounds of the city coming from all around you- it's awesome! It also makes it easier to immediately pinpoint things like the location of a helicopter when it starts flying in. I've got some fxi3's coming in to move up to 7.1 soon... may be overkill, but i got 'bit by the audio bug' as they say... i can't stop!

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Awoken

[manman]

actually I might have wanted rewoken. The forum spell checker wants me to put "re woken" though...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rewoke

but basically I meant I got into the game all over again. When I start forgetting which words are real and which I'm making up, it might be time to put down the controller...

[Pablo]

The Orange Box is worth the buy. I believe it's $19.99 at amazon. It has 4 games in one (half life 2 being the main one).

Also, the PS3 will play all the PS2 games. So if you want to save a couple of bucks, you can get those. I like to search sites like gamespot.com and go through the reviews. I sort them by the highest reviews, find ones that a little older, and you can usually find them used for a song.

[spwuinmk67]

not all of the ps3s will do that. only the 60 gig model which can still be found new on ebay still. theres no dedicated ps2 graphics chip in any of the new ones. although you can download the add on to create an emulater to play them on most new ones, except the 40 gig for some reason will never play them.

[MrNightly]

The Orange Box is worth the buy. I believe it's $19.99 at amazon. It has 4 games in one (half life 2 being the main one).

Also, the PS3 will play all the PS2 games. So if you want to save a couple of bucks, you can get those. I like to search sites like gamespot.com and go through the reviews. I sort them by the highest reviews, find ones that a little older, and you can usually find them used for a song.

Ya, I got the 60gig one. :) I wanted the backward capabilities.

Cheers!

[Pablo]

I don't remember if I looked into the PS2 compatability when I got mine, but now that you mention it, I may have (I believe got the top of the line one when I got it). Sorry if I may throw anyone off on that.

So anyone looking into a PS3, check that out before you buy (I guess that's a way for them to make a couple of extra bucks in the high model).

[spwuinmk67]

well its not just the high model. when they first made the systems they came with a dedicated graphics chip. they took it out of newer models to cut costs and price. which is against what the main selling point of the system was, that it was blueray and played all new and old ps games. the only reason i'll be buying one in the next few months is for the BR and to play a select few games online with a few friends who dont have 360