(Insert stupid Blog name here)

It works fine using the game controller, though eventually I did break down and get the BR remote.

 

You might want to check this out, it could play a factor in your decision:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149422-video-demo-of-my-ps3-accessing-media-on-my-mac/

Sony's price drop has me considering, too, and that of course was their plan all along: this announcement has nearly everyone who hasn't already taken the plunge giving the PS3 some thought. That includes consumers who already own their competitor's products. Coupled with an complete aesthetic overhaul and an aggressive marketing campaign, Sony is preparing to lay siege at the gates of Valinor. And the gates just might fall.

You might want to check this out, it could play a factor in your decision:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149422-video-demo-of-my-ps3-accessing-media-on-my-mac/

Cool. I've already got a Roku Soundbridge for audio, but it would be a nice extra for the PS3. Works over WiFi, I'm assuming?

I'm sure it does, though I wired my house and everything's connected via ethernet. I did try putting the laptop on WiFi and it worked fine. Nothing (iPhone, MBP, netbook) gets a good signal where my PS3 is located so I didn't try putting the PS3 on WiFi. I think there's too many walls, kitchen appliances and plumbing between the PS3 and router.

I admit, the thought occured in our house as well, but in the end we decided against it, for the same reason why we don't buy a DSi. Basically we figured that we don't even have enough money to buy all the Wii games we want, so we'd just end up owning two consoles we can't afford buying games for...Maybe in a year, as it seems Wii software I like is slowly drying up...

There's a USB memory card reader that lets the PS3 read PSone and PS2 cards. It's basically used to copy the card's contents to a file on the PS3's hard drive. (like an OS X DMG file)

 

My PS3 does emulation. PSone games play just fine. PS2 games are hit or miss. Earlier games work fine while later games, like Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, push the PS2 harder and end up having really poor frame rates when emulated on the PS3. I left my PS2 connected because of this.

 

I use my PS3 predominately as a blu-ray player, though when I bought mine it was a better deal than the stand-alone blu-ray players were(it cost less plus could be updated to Profile 2.0).

 

As far as games, I highly recommend getting Orange Box for Portal. It's an older game so goes for $20. I don't normally play FPS games as I get motion sickness, though for some reason I was not effected by Portal. I couldn't play the other games in Orange Box for more than 10 minutes w/out getting sick.

AFAIK the PS3 slim isn't supposed to have any PS2 emulation, but will play PS1 games (either downloaded from the PS Store, or the original CDs). It also supports Bravia-sync and doesn't support Linux.

 

I'll second the Portal recommendation. I also recommend LittleBigPlanet and Civilization Revolution (try the free demo, then buy the game). I'm also looking at Mini Ninjas, based on the demo.

 

The one limitation of the PS3 versus a dedicated Blu-Ray player is in the audio department. First, you have two choices: analog R/L _or_ PCM over HDMI. Second, the PS3 can't send the original bitstream to an external decoder, instead decodes all formats to PCM internally.

 

Also don't pay more than $10 for the HDMI cable - shop online and on eBay.

Update: the PS3 Slim can output the original bitstream to an external decoder. The most recent PS3 system software also provides an option to output audio to both HMDI and the R/L RCA jacks.

On the other hand...

 

(And Christmas sales haven't begun yet, either.)

Looks good. The only question I have is what "supports Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD audio codecs" means. If your home theater already has the capability of decoding HD audio codecs and an spare HDMI input (with HMDI output for video pass-through), then there's no worry. But if you are depending on the player to decode the audio, then you'll need to dig a little deeper. (Often this kind of detail is in the user manuals you can usually find online, but sometime you'll need to find a review.)

 

I find it strange the consumer audio electronics industry didn't create a replacement for S/PDIF for handling HD audio. Instead you have to pass the video through the receiver, even if all you want is the TV speakers.

I need to get a new receiver, and I'm aiming at Sony's ES line since I need something that will handle 4 ohm speakers. So in all likelihood, it will have all the latest/greatest decoder stuff anyway.

Well, Amazon is now selling the Sony BDP-S560 (w/built-in WiFi) for $203.

 

The PS3 is becoming a much less likely candidate now. It's still $299, plus $20 for a remote. Of course, I can't play games on a dedicated Blu-Ray player, but on the positive side, at around $50 per game, maybe that's not such a bad thing.

And the final answer is... no. I will not be getting a PS3. At least, not anytime soon.

 

The price for the BDP-S560 hit $199.99 this weekend, and that was my magic number, so I ordered one. It's back up to $207 now. (Apparently a bunch of other people noticed as well, since as of this moment, Amazon only has three left in stock.)

 

If (or when) the PS3 ever dips below $200, and if there are more games available for it that I want, and if they hit the "Greatest Hits" price point, then I'll reconsider it. But there just aren't enough games out there for the PS3 that I want to play to justify the extra $100 for the system, plus $20 more for a remote, plus the $50 or $60 per game. No thanks. (Yes, I'm aware of the "buy a PS3, get two games" deals. If one of the games had been Burnout Paradise, I probably would've gone for it. It wasn't. I didn't.)

 

I'm looking to pick up the new Blu-Ray release of The Prisoner, and some Pixar movies (time to make a Christmas List...). Most everything else I'd either borrow or rent. (Until Star Wars and/or Tron, of course.)

 

And yes - I'm well aware of the potentially tenuous future of the Blu-Ray format, what with industry pundits claiming everything will be going online instead (for what it's worth - we don't have anywhere near the broadband infrastructure for that to happen). But still, I'm glad I bought it.

 

If nothing else, it can keep my Laserdisc player company.