Looking for PS3 System Recommendations

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

At a used car dealership promotion, I won a new TV yesterday! (47" Vizio LCD, 120Hz, wi-fi). Given that my current TV is a 25" JVC tube that I bought in 1993, this is quite a leap in TV technology for me. This necessitates some other upgrades in my audio/video rack.

At the top of the list is a PS3 to act as a good Blu-Ray player. Oh yeah, & it also plays video games & stuff too. Getting a PS3 will break my tradition of owning no consoles that are currently sold in stores, so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to details on the current systems.


Here's my question/dilemma. I prefer to minimize my console count. I currently have a fat PS2 that's modded to play imports, & it also plays PS1 US & import games.

It would be *great* if I could get a PS3 that plays PS3 games, PS2 US & import games, & PS1 US & import games. Am I dreaming?

My research has revealed that only a few of the older, bigger PS3 models could play PS2 & PS1 games (with perfect compatibility? or just *good* compatibility?), & these probably command a premium accordingly.

But, the newer PS3s are in much smaller cases & have much bigger hard drives & have some audio/video improvements. Are there any mods on current (or current-ish) small PS3 consoles that will let me play my US/import PS2/PS1 library?

What do you guys recommend?


Thanks!
-Jason

[shateredsoul1979]

well i normally don't care about slight variations in audio, but the ps1 backwards compatibility looked awful to me on a ps3 fat. Not sure if it was just that game (Tobal 1) but it looks waaaaaaaaaaay better on an actual ps1. Ps2 games look fine on the ps3 though, but you're right about it being huge. I'm not aware of how to hack it to make it region free though. 

[ark_ader]

Get a PS1 and a PS2.

Then get a Xbox 360 and don't look back.

PS3 is just bad news.

[jasonbar]

XBox 360 plays Blu-Ray discs?

-Jason

[DaveMMR]

Get a PS1 and a PS2.

Then get a Xbox 360 and don't look back.

PS3 is just bad news.

+1 on the first sentence; ignore the rest. Xbox 360 and PS3 are both fine gaming systems but if you want your Blu Ray and games in one box then the PS3 is a good choice.

But as for backwards compatibility, forget it.  Yeah, you can get an older PS3 that supports PS2 games, but I find nothing beats the original hardware, especially considering compatibility issues (the orignal PS2 couldn't play a good chunk of PS1 games, for example, including MK Trilogy.)

As for modifying newer PS3 models, I'm not aware of any that allow reliable PS2 playback. But admittedly I find mods more trouble than they're worth so I don't keep up with that scene all that much.

[SavannahLion]

As for modifying newer PS3 models, I'm not aware of any that allow reliable PS2 playback. But admittedly I find mods more trouble than they're worth so I don't keep up with that scene all that much.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if that PS3 model doesn't play PS2 games with any official Sony OS version then it's not going to play any PS2 games with any unofficial patch. Sony got cheap and removed some core hardware needed for PS2 er... emulation. It looks like Sony did try to emulate more of the PS2 via software with each new iteration of the PS3, but it looks like they just gave up.

It's really quite annoying since Sony still leaves all the little PS2 droppings all over their OS which are effectively useless in the slim.

In any case, if PS2 games are important, keep your PS2 or find one cheap.

PS1 support seems OK, but I haven't really pushed it much.

[Malenko]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

[SavannahLion]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

I did and the damndable thing won't skip previews on a small percentage of my regular DVDs. What was my mistake? Buying a damn Sony.
 

Should've bought a Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD+RW happily skips previews and even remembers the last (or several?) movie I popped it so it goes right to the movie without any intervention from me.

[Samstag]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

I did and the damndable thing won't skip previews on a small percentage of my regular DVDs. What was my mistake? Buying a damn Sony.
 

Should've bought a Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD+RW happily skips previews and even remembers the last (or several?) movie I popped it so it goes right to the movie without any intervention from me.

You'll have the same problem with the PS3 then.  I run into a lot of previews I have to fast forward through, and every time one finishes and the next one starts you need to hit fast forward again, ad nauseum, until you finally get to the movie.  And you'll get to do it again if you power down and play the same movie again later that day.

[ark_ader]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

I did and the damndable thing won't skip previews on a small percentage of my regular DVDs. What was my mistake? Buying a damn Sony.
 

Should've bought a Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD+RW happily skips previews and even remembers the last (or several?) movie I popped it so it goes right to the movie without any intervention from me.

You'll have the same problem with the PS3 then.  I run into a lot of previews I have to fast forward through, and every time one finishes and the next one starts you need to hit fast forward again, ad nauseum, until you finally get to the movie.  And you'll get to do it again if you power down and play the same movie again later that day.

Or you just skip BR and keep DVD.  Most of the time I cannot tell the difference, picture wise. BR is over rated.  I have yet to sample HD-DVD.

[Samstag]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

I did and the damndable thing won't skip previews on a small percentage of my regular DVDs. What was my mistake? Buying a damn Sony.
 

Should've bought a Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD+RW happily skips previews and even remembers the last (or several?) movie I popped it so it goes right to the movie without any intervention from me.

You'll have the same problem with the PS3 then.  I run into a lot of previews I have to fast forward through, and every time one finishes and the next one starts you need to hit fast forward again, ad nauseum, until you finally get to the movie.  And you'll get to do it again if you power down and play the same movie again later that day.

Or you just skip BR and keep DVD.  Most of the time I cannot tell the difference, picture wise. BR is over rated.  I have yet to sample HD-DVD.

Try reading what you quote before you respond to it.

[ark_ader]

wouldnt you rather just get an inexpenside blu ray player?

I did and the damndable thing won't skip previews on a small percentage of my regular DVDs. What was my mistake? Buying a damn Sony.
 

Should've bought a Panasonic. My Panasonic DVD+RW happily skips previews and even remembers the last (or several?) movie I popped it so it goes right to the movie without any intervention from me.

You'll have the same problem with the PS3 then.  I run into a lot of previews I have to fast forward through, and every time one finishes and the next one starts you need to hit fast forward again, ad nauseum, until you finally get to the movie.  And you'll get to do it again if you power down and play the same movie again later that day.

Or you just skip BR and keep DVD.  Most of the time I cannot tell the difference, picture wise. BR is over rated.  I have yet to sample HD-DVD.

Try reading what you quote before you respond to it.

And  ?

[yaksplat]

forget dvd and bluray all together.  Rip the discs and play them on the tv from the computer through the xbox.

[DaveMMR]

Correct me if I'm wrong but if that PS3 model doesn't play PS2 games with any official Sony OS version then it's not going to play any PS2 games with any unofficial patch. Sony got cheap and removed some core hardware needed for PS2 er... emulation. It looks like Sony did try to emulate more of the PS2 via software with each new iteration of the PS3, but it looks like they just gave up.

That's what I figured but I wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to make any assumptions.  But now I see the Playstation Store is releasing PS2 games for download. So that raises more questions about what can be done with emulation... unless these are ports.

To the OP - disregard all the noise regarding what system you should buy. The 360 and PS3 are both solid consoles with good libraries so you won't be dissapointed if you get a PS3.

[HaRuMaN]

The PS3 60 Gb (fat) has hardware support for PS2, still.  You would have to get a used one, of course.

[SavannahLion]

Correct me if I'm wrong but if that PS3 model doesn't play PS2 games with any official Sony OS version then it's not going to play any PS2 games with any unofficial patch. Sony got cheap and removed some core hardware needed for PS2 er... emulation. It looks like Sony did try to emulate more of the PS2 via software with each new iteration of the PS3, but it looks like they just gave up.

That's what I figured but I wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to make any assumptions.  But now I see the Playstation Store is releasing PS2 games for download. So that raises more questions about what can be done with emulation... unless these are ports.

I strongly suspect they're ports. I noticed a couple sport some blurbage about increased resolutions via HDMI. Since one isn't going to create ultra high resolution games for a console that doesn't even support it, I imagine they've been recompiled to some degree or artwork updated or whatever is appropriate.

I could be wrong about that though and SONY (as always) is lying to us about the PS3 capabilities.

[jasonbar]

Thanks for all of the helpful replies.  OK, I'll go with a new PS3 & keep my modded PS2.

So, how about hard drive size?  I don't expect to play a whole heck of a lot of games.  What are your recommendations on hard drive size?  Does every game you pop in install onto the hard drive?  What all does the machine put on the hard drive?

Thanks,
-Jason

[shateredsoul1979]

normally I'd recommend go with the smallest one and upgrade the hdd yourself, but with the current hdd prices I doubt it's cheaper. The hddd is easy to replace, not all games require an install, but quite a few do. The 160gb model should be more than enough space.