Now that the European launch came and went, I’d like to hear your thoughts. What do you think of the launch?

How well did Sony do with the European launch?

• Great launch!
• Good launch.
• Okay, shoulda been better.
• Bad launch.

Previous poll results:

Do you have problems with the Bluetooth controller to PS3 connection?

* Often: 6% (18)
* Every once in a while: 13% (37)
* Just once: 9% (25)
* Never: 49% (136)
* Don’t have a PS3: 23% (64)

Total Votes : 280

It looks like that, out of those that actually do have a PS3, most (63%) are not affected by this problem.

Well Guitar Hero fans, I hate to be the one to tell you this. But the PS3 Play Adaptor Nyko was working on is no more. So keep the PS2 out so it can hang with PS3 for now.

Citing “limitations in the PlayStation 3 hardware” the company says it has been “prevented from releasing this product with support for Guitar Hero.” Given this hardware roadblock, Nyko reps say that “the product has unfortunately been put on hold indefinitely.”

Earlier this month I got a PS2 to USB adapter so I can use my arcade stick with the PS3, and it works fine. But this adapter only works with PS3 games. Which is fine for me, because I got it for Tekken DR & the upcoming Tekken 6.

Nyko Guitar Hero Adaptor “On Hold”

The first substantial trailer hits in a few hours and I can’t wait!

Here’s a summary of what everyone is suggesting or hoping for in GTA 4:

• Predictable Another city. Different vehicles (Skating, surfing, blimps). More interactivity. More mission types.
• Realism People should act more like real people rather than simply aimlessly walking around. It shouldn’t be so easy to steal cars and kill people. More realistic traffic and crash damage. Animals. Seasons. Snow + Ice.
• Technical Better graphics, animation, sound, physics, online support, episodic content, dlc, gesture control, achievements, and whatever other bullet-item buzzwords you can think of.
• New Game Mechanic Branching storylines and NPC dialog. Expanded RPG and character development and customization. Deathmatch, full storyline co-op. Persistent MMO elements. Strategic gang warfare.
• Bizzare GTA in outer space. Golf themed GTA. To be dead honest, an outer space themed GTA would probably be fun: In outer space, you could hijack spaceships, curse off aliens, and beat up space-hookers. I’d buy it.

Quick Prediction: Obviously, technical improvements, realism improvements, and more of everything. They will develop multiple new gameplay mechanics of the ones mentioned above. Everyone expects something really different and the developers know that.

I’m guessing they will successfully pull off a completely new twist to the series so it will excite gamers who are jaded by the series so far. I’m also guessing that with the huge amount of budget and talent going into this, that the high quality of the series will continue, and it will be worth every penny. But I’m also guessing that this won’t be a major milestone and breakthrough in game design like GTA 3 was. Those breakthroughs occur through serendipity and we won’t see them coming from a predictable source.

Anyone care to add their wishes or predictions?

Datel is unveiling some cool new accessories for the PS3. They include:

• A Bluetooth wireless headset for £24.99/$49.99.
• A wired headset for £14.99/$19.99.
• DataMAX for transferring PS2 savegames to PS3 for £14.99/$24.99.
• Component video cables for £14.99/$19.99.
• MAX Drive 160, an external 160GB (USB) hard drive for £99.99/$169.99. (Isn’t that price a bit much?)
• WiFi MAX for adding WiFi to your PS3, for £29.99/$39.99.
• PowerBoard black corded keyboard for £14.99/$19.99.

Coming soon. Hmm. You know what would be cool? If I could get a Bluetooth headset with a switch on it to switch it between pairing-for-PS3 mode and pairing-for-something-else mode.

Datel Unveils Exciting New PS3 Range!

I know this isn’t PS3 related, but what’s the fun in having a forum like this if I can’t abuse it every once in a while?

I’m looking for Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 for the PS2, and I can’t find it anywhere for a reasonable price. Does anyone know where I can find this game without me having to spend a fortune to get it?

I tried Resistance’s online multiplayer modes last night and before I continue, I’d better explain something first. I’ve never played any game online before. In fact, I’ve been opposed to online multiplayers for a good few years. I’d associate online gaming with PC geeks and weirdos with super PCs who spend 20hrs a day mastering their skills and screaming abuse at noObs (or whatever else newbies are called) down their headsets. It just wasn’t a side of gaming I wanted to experience.

That all changed when I got my PS3 and free access to online play. I thought I’d give it a shot saying as it’s part of the PS3 experience now. So I clicked on multiplayer on Resistance and downloaded an update which took 8mins. Once that was done I wasn’t sure what each mode involved so just chose a free for all death match with 15 players on the Rooftops map. I promptly got my arse kicked and finished 15th but man, it was a lot of fun!! I killed 3 people and died 9 times with 4 assists but it was mad hectic fun!

I then got invited into a 20 man team battle (40 players) with someone on my buddies list. This took a while to set up as you can’t access the messages you receive in the XMB while you’re playing a game so you have to quit the game to find out if your buddy wants to play or not.

Once it was set up I had a great time. The highest I ranked was 13th out of 20, and my average kills and deaths was 4 and 9 for most of the time I played, which was over 30mins. Yeah I suck but FPS aren’t my favourite genre and I’ve never played online before so

I haven’t tried MotorStorm online play yet but people have said it’s easier to organise arranged play with people on your buddies list.

I can imagine it being a lot of fun if your buddies have headsets on and you taunt each other during play. I doubt I would wear a headset with strangers though. I’ll probably buy one at some point.

I’m sure Insomniac said Resistance would be using global servers soon. Let’s hope so. It would be great to arrange a PS3Blog meet up on Resistance, with our readers and writers doing battle!

Wow!

Mr. Hastings is admittedly sensationalist and controversial while I normally expect developers to be a little more cool-headed and reserved. If you are a PS3 fan, this is a must read. Some of the points he raised are old ones, but it’s definitely got plenty of interesting bits.

It’s a little long to repost here, so follow the links at the bottom of this post.

I’m really excited to hear about the CPU advantage. I’m certainly a tech programmer myself, but it’s hard to get a good feel from white papers and specs. You really need to work with the hardware and tune it with some performance intensive software that you are very familiar with.

10 Reasons Why PS3 Will Win This Console Generation (login required)

Ungated repost at NeoGAF

So I finally cracked and bought the PS3 today. I tried to resist the temptation and wait for some decent bundles where you actually saved money on the games and accessories but I could wait no more! I got the PS3 with Resistance for £465 from my local GAME, which is a saving of £0 if you bought them individually.

I also received a gift from Henning in the post, in the form of MotorStorm, so thanks a lot Henning!! I’ll go easy on you when I play you in Resistance in the future*

I unpacked the box to be greeted by a shiny object that looks superb and weighs quite a bit. It didn’t take long before I had plugged it in to my 32″ 100hz wide screen SDTV using composite and the SCART adapter that came in the box. I then connected my PS3 to my wireless hub, which was a very simple task and took very little time. I then tried to register and activate my user ID I registered last December but forgot the password and eventually had to set up a whole new master account with a new ID.

The XMB is very sleek and easy to navigate. Nothing is complicated and everything is easy to locate and fiddle about with.

My first major port of call was to slide MotorStorm in to the PS3 and check out how it looked on my SDTV. My friend came round for the official unveiling so I had a 2nd pair of eyes to see whether it would look rubbish. It looks incredible! Seriously, I was blown away with how good it looks on my SDTV. I had seriously considered holding off buying a PS3 until I got a 1080p HDTV as I was worried my TV wouldn’t do it justice, but my fears were misplaced.

My first race using a bike ended in disaster with a 15th place finish but the best moment was when I crashed and was promptly run over by a 4×4, all in slow motion, which had my friend in fits of laughter!!

It’s a fantastic title with great visuals and it’s a lot of fun to play once you figure out the best route to take. I wish your vehicle wouldn’t explode so easily though. I haven’t tried it online yet.

I then tried Resistance to see whether it would also look good on my SDTV. Most people that have bothered to play the game for more than 1hr have all said the game improves immensely in the graphics department the further in the game you get, so I think I’m in for a treat as the game looks great. It’s a very solid FPS but I’m not the biggest FPS fan so I can’t really comment.

The SIXAXIS pad is great. Nice and light and it fits comfortably in my hand, although I keep forgetting it has no wires so I keep checking for the wire only to find none.

I then paid a visit to the PLAYSTATION Store and downloaded Genji 2 to see just why Amazon is selling it for £20. It’s rubbish! The camera is a joke and I can’t understand why they didn’t use a fully controllable camera. It ruins the game and made the demo pretty much unplayable. I couldn’t target any enemies so I just had to hope they got in the way of my wild swings. I also couldn’t switch characters, even though the demo says you can. I wouldn’t play it for free.

I’m currently in the process of downloading GT HD Concept 2.0 (full game as it says next to it) and F1 CE so hopefully they will fare better than Genji 2.

I’ve added a few people to my friends list and sent and received a message from one of them already. I wish you could send a message to them while you’re playing a game rather than having to exit the game to do it.

I then decided to try out a couple of PS2 games to see how they worked. I tried Red Faction which played with no problems and still looks good but compared to Resistance it’s looks very old. I tried FFXII which seemed to work without any problems but I didn’t try either for very long.

I think I’ll use my PS2 to finish off FFXII and use the PS3 to play God of War 2 when it’s released next month.

I haven’t tried storing any music, photos or vids yet (don’t know if I will any time soon) but everything I’ve done so far has been great with no problems. It’s also pretty much silent 99% of the time and it’s been on for the past 6hrs.

I’m off to give Resistance a good play.

*Please go easy on me Henning!!