So yeah, I rented a PS3 last friday (for 3 days, just $40 too) just because I kept seeing Metal Gear Solid 4 spoilers recently in different various threads here, and I thought I should finish the game ASAP before someone ruins the experience even more for me. Anyway, it was one of my goals this summer to try one out, and I'm quite glad I did!
The PS3 came in a big briefcase, it was cool! The second I opened the case, I said to myself ''What a beast!'' I was really surprised by how ''slick'' the console looked. It matched my TV, Xbox 360 and home theater sound system perfectly! I was also surprised to not see a huge power brick like the 360's in there. What a relief! There was even an HDMI cable in the case, so it was perfect for checking out what the system really had to offer right now in terms of graphical capability. It came with a Sixaxis controller though...
After I hooked it all up, I opened the system and started to check some things out in the different menus. First thing I noticed was the huge amount of customization (different fonts? Cool) and support for different accessories (printer? lol, why not). Then, I found the PSN menu. I signed up for an account (I had some trouble, lol) and downloaded pretty much every single demo that looked interesting (Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank Future, Resistance, Folklore, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm, Haze, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, Super Stardust HD) and the Metal Gear Database. There wasn't any movies though, probably because the Video Store is not yet available in Canada (?). I also noticed there was no download limit, which is always a good thing. In the meantime, I started up Metal Gear Solid 4. I didn't notice any noise at all when the game booted (Yay?)! =P
Then, the most annoying thing from the PS3 pooped up right in front of my eyes: obligatory installs (more about this later). Snake smoked around 3 cigarettes... It took a long time, but it was funny to read the little health warnings though. So the main menu popped up, I left it there (music was epic), and then I started a new game on Solid Normal. I played through the whole first act in one sitting, and all I have to say about it was that it was very good! I loved the new Drebin Points stuff and the OctoCamo, but I noticed they still didn't fix the acceleration issue in first-person aiming. Actually, it reminded me a bit of Metal Gear Online, but in single-player. The character models were very well done, and I couldn't wait to fight the BB Corps girls! I was amazed by the in-game cutscenes, simply stunning! Too bad I didn't have a Dual Shock analog though...
So anyway, I stopped the game and went to check out the demos I downloaded... Then what the hell I see, I have to install them! That's probably the biggest complain I have with the PS3 so far. To top it, I wasn't impressed with pretty much all of the games I tried out. The only ones that really stood out for me were Uncharted and Super Stardust HD (I'm addicted to this game!). Sure, the other ones were good looking, but they just didn't seem fun to me. I have to say that the Sixaxis controls for Motorstorm worked really well though, better than Excite Truck at least! Then, I tried to play some of my old PS2 games on it, but it wasn't a backward compatible PS3. I didn't know what version it was though because I couldn't find the HDD or ''available memory left'' option in the menus. If anyone can tell me though, I'd be grateful!
After that, I just completed Metal Gear Solid 4, and I thought Kojima totally delivered with this one. He didn't miss a single detail about anything! It is definitely my favorite game this generation, and probably the best end to a series ever. Act 4 was just too good, and the last act was even more epic! I don't know if what Kojima said is true about using 100% of ''teh cell,'' but I think it might be actually. I thought some parts could really just be made possible on the PS3. I don't know, some in-game cutscenes were running really really well with no lag at all (especially the cutscene in Act 5, when the Missouri attacks Outer Haven). Now, being a Xbox 360 owner in the first place, I think I cannot deny that the PS3 could actually have an advantage with the cell. Well, that's what I think at least. I didn't try Metal Gear Online, which is a shame, I guess (when I saw an update download, I just cancelled it right away. I was damn tired of installs by that time!).
Overall, I think Metal Gear Solid 4 was really the best thing that I could have played in a long long time (and I've been waiting to play it since the beginning of the summer). The PS3, when I look at it from an hardware perspective, is really an impressive machine. It's a beast, literally! The software side, though, looked a bit disappointing. I know, I shouldn't judge a game just by its demo, but I think I wouldn't rent (or buy) a PS3 just to play something else than Metal Gear Solid 4!
Well, that's it. I know, it's a big wall of text, but I think I covered pretty much everything from my little 3 day experience with the PS3. What did you think about the PS3 when you first got/tried/stole it?
Random game thought :
Why is Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 getting so much hate? We finally get a real game and they're not even satisfied... I'm starting to hate the gaming community so f****** much...
