Buying a PS3 now - worth it?

[Greyhamster]

Absolutely. Anyone who says to buy a PS4 instead is an idiot because you've already stated that you want to play PS3 exclusives, which so far, is said to be impossible to play on a PS4 unless they are REALLY working on that streaming service thing.

Games are cheap, even the exclusives, with the coming release of the PS4, and if you wait until it comes out, you may be able to get the console and games for even cheaper.

As for the controller, it's one of the most comfortable controllers I've ever used. While the triggers are a bit of an issue if your fingers are made of fucking grease, the rest of the controller is almost perfect. I've used it in place of a real 360 controller when playing games on PC, and use it for emulators as well.

The PS3 won't die when the PS4 comes out. Too many games are still coming out around that time for PS3, and Sony has a record of continuous support of their consoles long after their next one comes out. (Ps2 was still THE console to own until around 2006-07)

Very true. besides, if you don't like the controller: There are plenty of third-party controllers, one of them is bound ti fit your hands nicely. So controllers aren't really an issue with modern consoles.

As for the ps3 dying when the ps4 is released: Even if it did, does it matter for the OP? He's buying a console at the end of it's life cycle. That's like what, 7 years worth of games to play? Even if you'd only play the Ps3 exclusives you'd have more than enough to build a decent sized game collection and spend a ton of hours playing games. If you don't have an Xbox360 and never had a ps2 you can add even more games.. And assuming they continue to support the ps3 (which would make sense considering how it went with the ps2, not to mention slow adoption rate of new consoles) that'd just be icing on the cake.

Basically, the end of a console cycle is THE best moment to pick up a console. Cheap, lots of games and with most (fixable) problems fixed.

 

[piinyouri]

I'd say so.
It's cheap with the looming monolith that is the PS4 on the horizon, the games will only get cheaper as time goes by, and using my own small but great library, there's plenty of fun games to be had, exclusive or not.

 

[sir neillios]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the Infamous series yet, probably my favourite games on the system. Yeah raid all the bargain bins! Another good exclusive is Resistance 3, don't expect multiplayer, wasn't much good anyway, but the single player is fairly beastly. And of course Littlebigplanet 2, I recommend getting it, and after you've played the offline, go play a few of the MM picks online, some of them are pure gold.

Yeah PS3, pretty good piece of work.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

I'd recommend it.

Barely ever watched blu-ray, so can't really speak on it. I tend to buy the DVDs and save the $4 dollars or so price, since I couldn't see many apparent differences between the versions. Use Netflix more than anything, which is fantastic on the system.

Controller feels the same to me as the PS2 version. Move is a bit oddball, but still fun at times.

The system is good, there's been the rare case of an 'amber' light bug but was no where near as prevalent as the RRoD. I'm still using the first gen system I got a few months after launch.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

To be honest, i'd say yes, partly because the Playstation 4 will not be backwords compadable (spell check, sorry) and there are so many wonderful PS3 games you should play that are not on your list. Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, inFamous, ect.

 

[RicoADF]

No. The PS3 is going to die soon, thanks to the launch of the PS4. My advice is wait until the PS4 comes out and buy that instead. Although the PS4 might be more expensive.

I was unaware that the PS3 would stop working the day the PS4 was released, funny I thought it would still be a fully working and bonus points to cheap console like the PS2 was for many years after the PS3 was released. Oh right, that's because it WILL BE. Just because the newest hardware is out doesn't invalidate the previous one/s. I'll be getting the PS4 on release, but my PS3 won't be going anywhere just like my PS2 and PSX hasn't. For someone on a budget the 3 is a good option.

Captcha: "Had me at Hello" .... err are you flirting with me captcha?....

 

[Vacher2]

I've had an Xbox since around launch but was always interested in the PS3. Last month I bought myself a PS3 and started grabbing up all the exclusives. Despite being used to the 360 pad and preferring it I've adapted very quickly to the dualshock controller. I thought the quiet summer release period would be the perfect time to blast through some games I never would have been able to play if I'd just stuck with Xbox.

There are a lot of amazing games like God of War and Uncharted that you should play now while you can as you're much less likely to go back to them after the new console generation has begun.

Since I bought my PS3 I have hardly played on my xbox. You should buy one ASAP IMO.

EDIT: Also with Playstation Plus you can pay for a membership and then get a lot of top-class games for free.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

A PS3 you say?

CUE LIST OF AWESOME EXCLUSIVE PS3 TITLES

Spoiler

Uncharted series - You probably already know about this one.
InFamous 1 + 2 - Play as super hero with the powers of electricity. Choose to fight for good or evil.
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time + HD Collection - Stealth games for kids, but great enough for even the most hardcore of platforming fans. Has a huge amount of charm.
Metal Gear Solid 1-4 + Peace Walker (The entire trilogy is coming out soon, just wait for that if you want to get into it.) - A man's stealth game. Hope you brought your popcorn for this one.
Valkryria Chronicles - Strategy JRPG with a beautiful anime/watercolor art style. Fucking gorgeous.
Disgaea 3 + 4 - Hardcore, tile based JRPGs. They are great fun and are hilarious.
Ratchet & Clank Future Series + HD Collection - Platformer with serious third-person shooter action. More games that have a great sense of humor. Be sure to stay away from R&C: All 4 One. It's not very good.
Jak and Daxter HD Collection - First game is a difficult platformer meant for kids/ Second and Third are really good GTA rip-offs. They don't spare on the difficulty.
Killzone 2 + 3 - Gorgeous FPS games. Have space Nazis.
Resistance Trilogy - FPS games made by the developer of Ratchet and Clank. Has creative weaponry and some great action set-pieces. Be wary of the second game, though. It's touted as the black sheep of the franchise.
Little Big Planet 1 + 2 - Really cute platformers that encourage player-created content. LBP2 is the better of the two because of the enhanced creativity aspect.
Demon's Souls - Dark Soul's prequel. Very difficult, but strangely addictive. Is more of an acquired taste, though. If you D&D, you should play it.
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja: Storm - Best Naruto game out there. Has the best combat out of all of the games and the whole game is just beautiful to boot.

And now, I shall list awesome exclusive titles found on the PS3 Online Store

Spoiler

Persona 3: FES (PS2 Classic) - An epic JRPG that has you living the normal life of a teenager who goes to school in the daytime and explores a giant, 200+ floor tower at night. Has really dark themes. The final boss is my favorite in video game history. Takes at least 80 hours to complete, and that's not even including the extended ending, which is at least another 30 hours.
Okami (HD Remake) - The PS2's Legend of Zelda. Great story, amazing aesthetic, fun gameplay, and just a really great game. Play as the sun god, Amaterasu, as she restores the world from darkness.
God Hand (PS2 Classic) - An extremely under rated game by critics everywhere, but is nowhere near as bad as they all claim it to be. It's a third-person brawler that lets you create your own combos from moves that are given to you. The story feels like it's ripped from a cheesy action movie, but it really fits the whole over-the-top tone the game has. Really fun gameplay with some awesome bosses. Also, this game is chock full of awesome one-liners. (*The studio that made God Hand also made Okami*)
Journey - A simplistic game where your main objective is get to the top of a mountain that has a shining light at the top. Your journey (hehe) to the top is what the game is all about. It's a beautiful experience and one that shouldn't be missed by any PS3 owner. It's only a two hour game, but the whole experience is totally worth it.
Shadow of the Colossus - A game based entirely around epic boss battles. You won't play another game like this in your life.

Now, those are just a few games that you should look into when/if you buy a PS3. Just give it some thought, k?

Also, if you buy a PS3, be sure to buy a year's subscription to Playstation +. For only $50 dollars a year, you get free games every month. Like this month, every North American user got Sleeping Dogs for free. Yes, the whole game. For free. It easily pays for itself within the first few months.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

I'm mainly a PC gamer, but I also have a decent collection of Xbox 360 games. I love the controller on the 360, and use it for my PC as well, how does the PS3 controller compare? Is it more comfortable than the PS2 controllers?

It's pretty much identical to the PS2 controller with a gyroscope. I prefer it to the 360 controller for a number of reasons - infinitely superior D-Pad, analogue sticks are placed so that they are functional and D-Pad is functional, buttons are less chunky, that sort of thing. I love the PS3 controller, honestly.

If it helps a decision, these are the exclusives I'm interested in:
-Uncharted series
-God of War series
-The Last of Us (this is the main one)

Shadow of the Colossus and Okami were also released for the PS3, yes? If so, them too.

Yep. Those are a great place to start.

I shall now bust out my ever-growing list of kickass PS3 exclusives.

- Infamous and Infamous 2. Don't bother getting the demos, just get them. Any self-respecting PS3 owner has to have these.
- Okami HD.
- All of the Metal Gear Solid games (with the possible exception of 4, but it's up to you) and Metal Gear Rising once the price drops, since it's rather short. Alternatively, wait for the DLC to be released in one game.
- Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 3. The second game is a massive heap of crap, and the third isn't much connected to the first two, so you can play it and still get most of the important plot points. Honestly, just look up the plot synopsis on Wikipedia for Resistance 2 - you'll enjoy it much more.
- Okami HD.
- Journey
- Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. You can get Uncharted 3 if you're only interested in the gameplay (it has some truly amazing set pieces), but if you're on the fence or take narrative/characters, don't bother.
- Okami HD.
- Okami HD.
- Okami HD.

I can't speak to the God of War games as I never played them, but the first one is truly great. The second and third games are still fun to play, but they (apparently) don't have the same narrative quality as the first one.

Other games I haven't played but which are still probably worth your time:
- The Jak & Daxter series.
- Most of the Ratcher & Clank series.

Also, are there any risks with the system, like the 360's RROD?

There is the Yellow Light of Doom, but I've had a PS3 since shortly after launch day, and it's never been any sort of issue. PS3s are machines to rival Nintendo handhelds, honestly. It took Bethesda programming to make mine crash.

Any input would be appreciated.

My recommendation is to go for it. The PS3 is a great console with a tonne of great exclusives. If possible, get a version that's backwards compatible with the PS2 and PS1, preferably with PS2 and PS1 guts instead of emulation, as I hear it's pretty lacklustre.

And, given how old most of the library is, you can pick them up in a bargain bin's bargain bin for a tiny fraction of the original price. It's a great investment.

 

[Tanis]

Yes, yes it is.
Get a 'small HDD' and then upgrade it yourself to a 500GB and you'll be right as rain.

I'd suggest - I think these are all exclusives/not-on-pc:
Valkyria Chronicles
Ni No Kuni
Yakuza 4
Vanquish
Ico/SotC HD Collection
SSX
Rayman Origins
Katamari Forever
Demon's Souls
Disgaea 4
Civilization: Revolution
Blur
BlazBlu - get the newest one
3D Dot Game Heroes

That, plus the GoW Collection and various HD Collections (the good ones, not the poorly done ones like Silent Hill), should keep you busy for some time.

 

[ultrabiome]

Barely ever watched blu-ray, so can't really speak on it. I tend to buy the DVDs and save the $4 dollars or so price, since I couldn't see many apparent differences between the versions. Use Netflix more than anything, which is fantastic on the system.

i've had very mixed experiences with DVDs. i have a DVD player with composite and my PS3 is on HDMI, both to a 40" 1080p 120Hz TV. i think it has to do with the quality of the DVDs, as some DVDs look amazing through the DVD player but others are grainy. honestly, i only buy Blu-Rays when the movie is graphically 'interesting' enough to get the advantage of the enhanced resolution -

sci-fi movies: fifth element
surreal movies: american psycho, donnie darko
cgi/effect heavy movies: kill bill, scott pilgrim
fully cgi movies: ffvii advent children, brave
high quality animation: lion king, nightmare before christmas - both look fucking fantastic, you can see the ink lines/claymation textures but it only makes it more amazing

i rarely pay more than $10-$15 per blu-ray (except those damn Disney blu-rays, they always cost $25), but its worth it if you really like the movie, has something that will be enhanced by the resolution (who cares if a generic comedy is in HD?), and you have a TV that can actual display it at 1080p and 120Hz (because movies are filmed at 24Hz, and 24 divides into 120 evenly, unlike 60). also, turn off any of the frame interpolation to prevent that 'soap opera' look. i'm not sure how they will look at 720p though, it might not be that worth it.

 

[Fetus]

I'd really wait for the PS4.

Although, if you REAAAAAALLYYY want the exclusives go for it. All your choice.

 

[Saregon]

Thanks a lot for the input guys. To those suggesting it, I won't be getting any of the next-gen consoles for a few years, so that's not an issue.

If you really want to buy it but are unsure of the large price and made this thread because you want people to tell you to buy it.
Buy it.

Yep, that's probably part of the reason, and after this I will be getting it in the summer.

Also, great input with the game suggestions, a bunch of games I probably wouldn't have considered, but will most likely get now!

 

[LoSouL]

Might as well. Last of Us is coming soon and people love that.

Dragon's Crown is out August, and it's a PS3+Vita exclusive for now. Most beautiful 2D I've ever seen and walks in the Guardian Heroes/Castle Crashers + Dungeons & Dragons/Golden Axe mold. That game's going to be incredible for me.

Then you can go on PSN and grab Journey & Flower, Pixel Junk Shooter 1 & 2 + Sidescroller... pick from Demon's Souls, Uncharted, God of War III, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet 1 & 2, Resistance series, Killzone series, Ratchet & Clank PS3 installments, Heavy Rain, Twisted Metal reboot, Disgaea 3 & 4 (and D2 in October), Ni No Kuni, Vaklyria Chronicles, Infamous 1 & 2, Vanquish... I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff too. It's a great late-comer library, and used prices will keep dropping.

I spent years on Little Big Planet games. Demon's Souls is my shiz, and I bought my PS4 to get MGS4.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

As far as I know (and I'm thinking this was confirmed) the PS4 won't play PS3 games so yeah: if you wanted to catch up on PS3 exclusives than it would still be a good idea to grab one. A lot of great PS3 games are dirt cheap now anyway: I'm trying to rebuild my PS3 collection and grab some games I've already beaten on the 360 for trophies...I don't have a problem you know...

 

[votemarvel]

I recently bought a PS3 but to be honest I think I bought it at the wrong time as my gaming interest has switched back to the PC rather than the consoles.

As a blu-ray player it is great but I would really recommend getting the media remote, the controller really doesn't make a suitable replacement.

The PS3 dashboard gets a lot of praise but to be honest I find it hard to see why. It feels cluttered and unintuitive to me. Though in fairness I haven't had time, thanks to work, to get to explore it fully.

Controller wise I also don't like. It feels far too light and insubstantial and the placement of the analogue sticks feels wrong.

Gaming wise I bought the Mass Effect Trilogy first but stopped with the first game. ME1 on the PS3 is a horrible port and the loading times are far too long, it's quicker to walk around the Citadel rather than use the quick travel terminals because of them.

First party games however run smoothly. True I've only had a chance to play Uncharted 1 and 2 but they've been a brilliant experience so far.

 

[Connor Lonske]

from what i know of the ps3 controler, it's got some nifty features like pressure sensitive buttons and that sixaxis thing. the dpad is also to die for when it comes to fighting games.

however, for shooters it falls flat due to it not having triggers, it only has those nubby squeeze button things you're supposed to use with your middle finger when your index are on the shoulders (think the snes shoulder buttons but with buttons for your middle fingers too)

also if you're gonna get a ps3 makes sure to get that new mgs collection that literally has EVERY important game in the franchise (eg the ones kojima made). i'd buy a ps3 to play it if i wasn't dirt poor and stuck with an xbox.

 

[00slash00]

Yes, buy one but some things:
The 360 controller is much better. The analog triggers beat the digital trigger of the PS3 controller, particularly on racing games.

to each their own but i much prefer the ps3 controller to the 360 controller, and i like the ps2 controller better than both of them (i like the feel of the L2 and R2 triggers on the ps2 controller better). different strokes for different folks, but whenever i play xbox at my friends house, the controller just feels awkward to me. i had a 360 pad that i used for pc gaming for a while, but i decided to just get another ps3 controller because i liked the feel of it better

as for the op, since youre primarily concerned in a bluray player, id say get a ps3, its still one of the better cheap players out there, as far as i know. and since the ps4 isnt backwards compatible and youre mostly a pc gamers, theres not really any reason to wait for the ps4. only reason i might say wait is, as other have mentioned, the price may drop considerably after the ps4 is released

 

[gorfias]

Yes, buy one but some things:
The 360 controller is much better. The analog triggers beat the digital trigger of the PS3 controller, particularly on racing games.

to each their own but i much prefer the ps3 controller to the 360 controller, and i like the ps2 controller better than both of them (i like the feel of the L2 and R2 triggers on the ps2 controller better). different strokes for different folks, but whenever i play xbox at my friends house, the controller just feels awkward to me. i had a 360 pad that i used for pc gaming for a while, but i decided to just get another ps3 controller because i liked the feel of it better

You may just be more used to the PS2 controller, which is excellent. But those racing games really do benefit from analogue. I've used both a lot. I don't have a 360 anymore, but still use it's controller on PC games. It is incredible. I can't imagine improving on it.

as for the op, since youre primarily concerned in a bluray player, id say get a ps3, its still one of the better cheap players out there, as far as i know.

I've heard (from HD Nation at revision3.com among others) as the PS3 is Sony's, the owner of Bluray patent flagship in need of constant firmware updates, the PS3 is the BEST Bluray player out there. I have 2 and love them. I have some internal bluray players and externals... I can't write either is better than the PS3 and may not be as good. Get a PS3!

only reason i might say wait is, as other have mentioned, the price may drop considerably after the ps4 is released

It may. A bit. I thought the original Xbox would drop through the floor after the 360. It went down to, I think, $130 from $150 and then couldn't be found new at any price.

The PS4 may cost $600. The PS3 can be had at $250 now. Maybe it'll go down to $200 before disappearing? I wouldn't wait over $50. Too many great games to play.