Playstation3 on Nanikore

Playstation Three (Shhhh)

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:01:23 +0000

OK, now despite saying a lot that I wouldn’t get all three consoles for this generation (hey, the Wii is my wife’s!) I decided to get one of the ’new’ 40GB Playstation 3 was when I got that back in February. To be honest though, the thing that tipped me over the edge was that I managed to buy it all on points, saved on purchases from Bic Camera over the last two years. Had I not had them, it’d still be on the shelf.

Initial impression: very happy. I bought it with Ratchet and Clank Future, which is a beautiful and fun game. The machine build quality is great - far, far better than the noisy 360, and it has a built in PSU, unlike the enormous gray brick the 360 comes with. The cross bar interface is OK, I personally prefer the MS blades, as I think XMB shows too much info when you’re looking for a specific game function; it seems to need some kind ‘simple’ mode to let people get to the important bits first.

As for controllers, the in-box Sixaxis is rubbish. Really. It’s too light, small, no rumble. R&C tries some six axis mini-games almost apologetically. They’re dull. Compared to the Wii, it’s laughable. Once you try the DualShock 3, things feel better, and the rechargeable-via-USB Sony uses is a nice touch, but overall, the 360 has the best in hand controller of the two.

Overall, the PS3 so far feels like a well made, classy home appliance. The 360 feels like a great games system. The jury is out on a winner, but as I have both, I hope I can get the best of both worlds.

Sony to punish reward customers?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:51:06 +0000

It’s become de rigueur recently for the upper management of Sony to make some fairly outlandish, or even completely false statements in interviews, with the goal of boosting the hype level for the Playstation 3, in the face of less than raging demand, and tougher-than-expected competition. The only problem seems to be that with each month they show more contempt for their customers. Maybe within Sony there’s some kind of arrogance crown to be won, possibly currently held by the spin guru who came up with 2005’s root kit fiasco. Yeah, that guy actually invaded people’s PCs and didn’t tell them. Woot! pwn3d! (or similar, complete with high fives in the Sony company canteen).

So how is a Playstation division person supposed to show potential customers what Sony really think of our patronage?

I’ve got an idea, and the best thing is, they can field test it at the swanky Sony Building in Ginza. To show how much they value us, their customers, Sony should beat people upon entering their showcase building commensurate with how many Sony products they own.

For my friends and I then, ‘L’ will likely just get a clip round the ear and told to do better as he’s actively shed all Sony gear in the last year. I’m probably looking at a sound kicking in the corner for owning a PS2 and a PSP, and my cries of “that was a present!’ will be ignored by the cheering Sony minions as they forcibly satisfy my alleged customer cravings.

Save your pity for ‘SMC’; as a bit of a Sony fanboy (though currently in remission), he’s looking at a beating which starts with a friendly knee in the happy sack and goes downhill from there. When they find out just how many games he owns he really will need serious medical attention, but damn will he know how much Sony care for their loyal customers.

Finally, for what’s worth, you can buy a PS3 in pretty much any shop in Tokyo, but getting a Wii requires mad ninja skillz or the ability to wait in line. Let’s see how our masochistic consumerism does over the next year though.

MetalGearSolid vs. Space Invaders

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 13:06:42 +0000

We were wandering through Bic Camera 3 game which has been doing the rounds since E3. Of course, many customers looked, then wandered past to the games section. I wonder how many Japanese will shell out over 60,000yen for the basic Playstation 3?