Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3)

I don't need to write much to review the PS3 (although I will...), it can be described with one word : amazing

Ill be reviewing the 60gb version that is available in the UK. (the technical specification, from the US sony website, are at the bottom)

The console looks superb, it is quite large but has a shiny black body and a sleek silver finish, the body is curved slightly and really looks good. However the body does easily attract dust and scratches so you will need to clean it regularly. The "PS" logo on the front (above the disk drive) can be rotated so that t is the right way up whether the console is horizontal or vertical. The disk slot is much better than the old sliding trays on the PS2's, makes the console look better and probably won't break as easily! The on/off and eject buttons are touch sensitive and this takes a while to get used to! (Well it did for me!). There is an area for memory cards (used in cameras.... not the old ps2 memory cards) and you can use this to put pictures/music onto the ps3 or to save files onto from the ps3 (not game files). There are also 4 USB slots, which you can insert USB sticks into or can use to connect the wireless controllers to charge.

The PS3 is quite noisy and can get hot, but soon it quietens down and won't overheat.

The controller doesn't look too different from the old PS2 controllers at first glance. However they are wireless (with a very good battery charge time) and have a button in the centre to access an in game menu (used to quit the game, turn off the console etc.). The R2/L2 buttons are also slightly different; they aren't so much buttons anymore, but more like triggers, which is good as they give more control. The controller doesn't have a vibrate on but does have motion sensitivity. you can tilt it and move it in order to play the game, however many games don’t take advantage of this well, and most of the time the function isn't used to great effect.

One dissapointment with the controllers is that they have no vibrate/rumble feature, this doesn't affect the gameplay much but the vibrate feature is a good thing and I have heard that there may be sixaxis controllers in the future with vibrate on.

The graphics on the ps3 are simply amazing, you can use a HDMI port to output at full HD and the graphics still look very good on a standard TV. The sound quality is also good and I really can't explain how good the graphics are, you have to see for yourself to believe it!

Due to the fact that the PS3 is so technologically advanced it can have huge games, some games have 30-40 missions on and others have hundreds of hours of quests and missions on them, but still this isn’t near how good the PS3 could be, soon games will improve (much like they did with the PS2, and PS1) and will be even better.

The PS3 uses blu-ray disks; these can store 25gb of data on so games can be much bigger than on a standard dvd (the ps3 does play dvd's). You can view blu-ray disks through the PS3 and they're of a very good quality, the PS3 has been described as one of the best Blu-ray players on the market, and is one of the cheapest (and is a games console too!) .

The operating system for the PS3 is often updated by Sony, you can download it from the net straight to the PS3 (it has online modes, but unfortunately my PS3 is not connected to the net so I haven't used them so cant comment) or to a memory stick and place it on the PS3. These OS updates improve the PS3 greatly; they sometimes have graphics updates, using full RGB and superwhite or offer more backwards compatibility for old games.

The games that are out for the PS3 at the moment are very good, oblivion and resistance: fall of man, are very good games which are well worth the money . Most games cost around £40 but even PS2 games cost that near the launch time of PS2.

Overall I thoroughly recommend the PS3, if you have any questions or would like me to add anything to my review then please feel free to comment.

Thank you

The technical stuff:

CPU:
Cell Broadband Engine™
GPU:
RSX
Memory:
256MB XDR Main RAM 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD:
2.5' Serial ATA (60GB)
I/O:
USB2.0 X 4
Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash Slots
Communication:
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T
IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi*
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)
Wireless Controller Bluetooth (up to 7)
AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI**: HDMI out - (x1 / HDMI)
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Blu-ray/DVD/CD DRIVE "read only"
Dimensions:
Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
Weight:
Approximately 5 kg