Netflix PS3 Walkthrough/Review

November 11, 2009 | Jay | 22 Comments

Ah yes, another Netflix article! The 360 has had Netflix integration since November of last year, and it was very limited in terms of capabilities. Now the PS3 and the 360 offer about the same service, but with the PS3’s online service being free, there’s no prerequisites like having to be a Gold member. Ever since then, though, I had always hoped the PS3 would get Netflix integration as well. Though it’s not integrated into the XMB (yet), Netflix finally made it to the console.

The above video is a walkthrough of Netflix on PS3. On my previous video, I was comparing the time it took to load up certain aspects of Netflix on both the 360 and PS3, which had very similar results.

This time around, it’s basically a complete walkthrough of Netflix on PS3, including what you can do in the browser. I also fixed my autofocus, so it doesn’t constantly get blurry, which helps a lot, but the picture quality isn’t all that great :/. I’ll get an actual camcorder one of these days! Anyway, onto the review itself.

For starters, the one downside is really just having to use a disc to watch the instant streaming movies. It’s no big deal, since you do the same to watch Blu-Rays and other DVDs, as well as play games. Integration will be nice, though. You may also want to keep track of where the disc’s sleeve is, since they send them out in the same kind of packaging as their regular DVDs and Blu-Rays (with different markings, such as the PS3 logo, etc.).

As far as managing your lists on the PS3 web browser, it is possible, just a little limited. You can’t use any of the drop down menus, so you can’t really choose a specific genre, but the most popular ones will show up on either the Browse DVDs or Watch Instantly pages. From there, you can browse through those and add movies like that. To add movies to the Instant Queue, you first have to open the movie’s page, since the drop down for the “Play” button doesn’t show. on that screen, the “Add to Instant Queue” will be available. You can also search by title on in the search field if you have a specific movie you want to watch and/or rent. For more options and browsing capabilities, nothing will beat the PC, though. Hopefully Netflix will have a PS3 portal on their website in the future to make the other options available.

Loading up the disc is relatively quick, though, it takes about the same amount of time to go from system boot to the program being loaded up on both the 360 and PS3. The disc does take a while longer to load, but the 360 takes a while longer to boot up, so it comes to about even. The disc itself enables BD Live functionality to access the streaming. On initial use, you must enter in the code the disc will give you onto Netflix’s website, and they will pair up with one another and the disc will automatically recognize it so you can start streaming after it’s been enabled (this is standard for all Netflix-enabled devices).

Read More

A Load Time Comparison Between 360 and PS3 Netflix

November 6, 2009 | Jay | 12 Comments

I just finished making this video, but it compares the time it takes from starting up the system to being able to view playback of a movie. For the PS3 running off of a disc and then streaming the … Read More

Tekken 6 Review

October 30, 2009 | Sakinah | 6 Comments

After 2 long years of waiting and watching as the rest of the world enjoyed Tekken 6 in Arcade form, PS3 and 360 owners can now enjoy one of the best console fighters of 2009.

Get ready for the next battle!

 

With a total number of 42 fighters, Tekken 6 has the largest cast ever in a fighting game. All your favorites return for the sixth installment of the series ( if  Forest, Kunimitsu or Orge are your favorites, then you’re out of luck) including 6 newcomers, Alisa,Bob,Lars,Leo,Miguel, and Zafina. All the new characters fit right in to the Tekken world, each having their own unique fighting style. At the moment my favorite of the new cast is Leo but it seems Namco went out of their way to hide this character’s gender. This is evident in Leo’s opening movie. Read More

FIFA 10 Review

October 28, 2009 | Trev | 3 Comments

– Rain effects are impressive.

After wide spread reports that PES 2010 had failed to live up to expectations I chose to buy FIFA 10 instead for the second year in a row. Initially FIFA 10 does not feel different from 09 at all but upon a further inspection it is much better.

Read More

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review.

October 20, 2009 | Trev | 9 Comments

Where to start with Uncharted 2? Perhaps the amazing train scene, one of the breathtakingly large puzzles or the opening scene, even? There are just too many [and varied parts] in the game to choose from to be able … Read More

Need for Speed: SHIFT Review

October 16, 2009 | Jay | 8 Comments

Need for Speed has come a long ways since its introduction back in the PS1 days. There have been many games since, 13 titles total, and many of them have a distinct theme or style. When Underground came out, the series really spun into popularity.

It wasn’t until Pro Street came out that people started looking down at the series because the game returned to it’s more realistic racing roots. Gone were the storylines and open-world cruising. The iteration, Undercover, went back to the open world racing and whatnot of Need for Speeds before it because of the critical negativity Pro Street received.

But this review isn’t about those games, this one is about the newest addition to the franchise, SHIFT. Apparently, SHIFT was supposed to have been a sequel to Pro Street originally, but due to the game’s previously mentioned less-than-stellar critic reviews, the name was dropped and SHIFT took its placed.

This is their first title that delves into the simulation aspects of the racing genre, leaving the arcade style of racing behind. Overall, this was definitely a good decision, as the game is more suited for my tastes. It’s not without its problems, though, as I will get more into detail from here.

Visually, the game looks amazing. It may not be the best looking, but it’s definitely up there! The cars are very detailed and the lighting just pops out at you. Sense of depth is very good as well and the motion blur you get as you’re speeding down a straightaway at 130+MPH really gives you a sense of speed (though, driving that fast in real life doesn’t result in that effect, but it still looks cool).

As you’ve seen from many trailers in the past, the cockpit view is superb. It really gives you a connection to the car and effectively makes it an extension of you. What’s really cool is when you do cockpit upgrades, you can actually see the roll cage and whatnot in there as well. Since it’s dynamic, the view responds to your acceleration, turning and braking so you feel like you’re actually driving it.

When you get in a wreck (and a lot of us almost definitely will), your helmet will shake violently and gray out the screen. When your senses come to, you can see the cracks in the glass and the damage done to your front end, both obstructing your view. There were moments for me when it got bad enough that I had to switch to an external view! The game also allows flipping over, so you can either cause, or be involved, in a spectacular wreck with a car flipping wildly on the road.

The tracks, a lot of them actual racetracks, are highly detailed and feel very much alive, with onlookers watching the races and photographing you as you pass by. If you’re inclined to do so, you can go ahead and snap photos of your car yourself! Some of the tracks have been modified in the backdrop slightly, so they aren’t 100% faithful reproductions of the tracks themselves, but the layouts are the same.

The visuals aren’t without their flaws, though. Occasionally, so much will be happening at once that the frame rate can drop to a very noticeable chugging. It’s not that frequent, but it is a nuisance when it does happen. The rear view mirrors also hold a few issues, as you watch your opponent behind you, you will notice a lot of pop-out in the background as things like signs and overpasses disappear. I mean, it’s not a huge deal, as you’ll be paying more attention to what’s in front of you. There is also some occasional pop-in as well, usually with billboards that feature in-game ads, but its not noticeable, as I’ve only actually seen that happen to me once.

Read More

Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

September 29, 2009 | Trev | 3 Comments

Sorry it’s taken me a while to get this review up but blame Royal Mail for always being on strike, oh, and the fact I just can’t put this down. As I mentioned back in my demo impressions this … Read More

King of Fighters XII Review

September 4, 2009 | Darrin | 3 Comments

Pros

• Beautiful HD hand drawn art: This isn’t 3D models with stylized cartoon rendering, this is authentic classically animated 2D art and animation. 2D art used to be the norm, and it was always limited by the 2D … Read More