Since my Xbox 360 is currently being resurrected in Pharr, Texas, I've been playing a lot more Playstation 3. I've been discovering things.
1. There's no way to have more than one PSN ID logged into a single console at once. So, if you want to play co-op Critter Crunch with your real-life friend on the second controller, only one of you gets trophies and in-game progress.
One of the central features of the Xbox is being able to have as many Live accounts signed in as controllers. Achievements pop for everyone. Why the hell Sony decided that this wasn't a good idea is beyond me.
2. It's easy to move save games from one PS3 to another. You just copy it onto a USB enabled storage device and plug it into the next console. That's fucking great.
3. Some games, like Demon's Souls, lock save games from being copied. They also lock save games to the HARDWARE, not the PSN ID. WTF. If your console dies, so do all of those saves.
4. Uncharted is just like the late-generation Tomb Raider games, except cleverer, but without real platforming.
5. Folding@home on Life w/ PS is pretty cool.
6. The PS3 locks up like a champion. Total and complete. On the Slim, your only recourse is to disconnect it from the power because there's no master switch at the back anymore.
7. The Ex-Ross Media Bar is a piece of shit and whoever had the idea should be crucified on a Xross.
8. The DualShock is an awful controller, ergonomically. The analog sticks are too close together, and the L2 and R2 buttons are heinous. The L3 and R3 buttons are far too easy to accidentally press, and the Start and Select buttons feel gross, since they're the only rubberized buttons on the controller. The only thing that the DualShock does right is the D-pad. That motherfucker is a joy and makes the 360 D-pad cry in shame.
9. Seriously, whoever designed those triggers should be crucified on the other side of the Xross. I used to wonder why all the games I played defaulted the "FIRE" button to R1, but after playing Killzone 2 with the trigger assigned to R2 for five minutes, I figured it out.
10. Speaking of Killzone 2: why do people think this game is worth arguing over whether it gets a 9 or a 10 from a review site? It's nothing special.
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2. and 3. Not all savegames can be moved unfortunately. Killzone 2's campaign has a gamesave that is not able to be copied for some odd reason. It can only be played on one console. :(
I think that this is a cheat prevention thing... it seems more predominant since trophies were introduced.
6. No power switch on the back? I don't think I like that....
7. I love the XMB media bar system of navigating the menus - it's pretty straightforward and it's fast!
8. Eh... you get used to what you get used to.
9. Yeah, R1 definitely has a different feel than the lower trigger... though the lower trigger is ideal for things like holding down and navigating say a weapons or spells wheel.
10. Killzone 2... it's a solid game. The online play is pretty good and is a lot of fun - more importantly, the game "works". The objectives make for an interesting game and it's easy to really play as part of a team.
Like any console, the PS3 has it's strengths and it's weaknesses.
It's cluttered and slow, is that good enough?
1. LBP: so it does! That's reassuring that it's not impossible.
2. It just seems like it's just as secure to tie the savegames to the account, and not the hardware (or both, like on the 360).
7. Re: XMB, I'm beginning to think the problem is in me, and not the Ex-Ross. I also hate the name, if you couldn't tell. For the balance, I think the NXE is awful, too.
8. True, you get used to what you get used to, but is it worth a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome? The N64 controller was an atrocity, and Nintendo redesigned the controller for the GameCube.
It's funny. I loved the first Dualshock, which was the first dual analog controller I'd ever used, but the design never evolved once people got used to dual analog control. The DualShock 3 is just an Original Dualshock with extra buttons. As something that you're going to have in your hands continuously for hours, it deserves more work. It's simply not healthy to have your hands in that position for hours.
10. It's solid. I did buy the game, but it's just not a 9 or a 10.
I hope I don't come off like a 360 fanboy because I have words about that console, too. It's just that I've actually had some time to sit down with the PS3 for a good long while and discovered things. Also, I like to complain.
Your 1 and 3 are my biggest gripes with the PS3 right now. That, and only one headset at a time.
Like ChronosWing says, it's cluttered. It works if you only have a handful of categories and items in each category, but it's just not good for navigating the tons of stuff that build up in a game console.
It looks neat and modern, but that only gets you so far.
As a whole, I don't mind the XMB that much, but yea, it can use some improvements.
But yes, the analog sticks so close together are TERRIBLE. The shitty part is the 360 controller completely blows for fighting games and platformers due to the d-pad, so ultimately, we're screwed both ways, as there's no "ultimate controller" (And don't even get me started on the fact that you now have to pay $80 to get a "complete" Wii controller experience).
It's a nice thought to make all the menus accessible with simple up-down/left-right movements with the d-pad or anastick, but for a product with a lot of settings and categories like the PS3, it's just tedious to have to hunt for the correct sub-menu when you need to do something specific, like recalibrate the echo-cancellation on your headset. The settings menu on the XMB has 16 submenus, and each of those has several sub sub menus. That's ridiculous for a linear layout.
This is not to mention the fact that the game menu is a linear list of all the games you have installed on the console. I haven't had the PS3 as long as my Xbox, but if I had as many PSN games as I did Live Arcade games, that list would be utterly unmanagable.
Furthermore, they break out of the XMB philosophy by assigning a context menu to the triangle button for installed content.
Sony's implemented the XMB on all their products, but it should be clear to anyone that you can't have one UI solution for your television setting menu, your game console, your digital music player, and your blu-ray device.
It's a nice idea, but nice ideas aren't always practical.