Getting the most out of your PS3

[Rambilin]

Hello, I am new to these forums, but have lurked here since EA used to post only his EQ stories. Anyways I would like to give a quick guide on how to get the most out of your new PS3. If you folks enjoy it I'll post one for the Wii/360. A lot of this will be "well duh", but remember what is obvious to one could be oblivious to another.

Click the headline for more.

[Rambilin]

First and foremost if you don't own a TV that supports 720p support I can't advice the PS3 until they fix their scaler, or add a must have title. Speaking of scalers, if you plan on using the PS3 to play your PS1 PS2 games don't, with one exception discussed later. The scaler is horrible, and until they release an update through a firmware patch only your progressive scan games (Shadows of the Collousus for example) will look remotly good on it. The one exception would be if you own a Samsung DLP with game mode. Game mode makes them passable but they still look better on a PS2 with game mode on. Please note that game mode was made for 480i games and will make your 720p/1080i/p games look off.

Also, if you don't own a reciever with DTS, Dolby Digital, and or PCM via HDMI you will be shorting yourself on the audio of all the movies, and most games.

Buying the system:

Wait until either Bestbuy has a 10-20% off any purchase coupon, or what I did was open a target card and got 10% off, plus another $35 thanks to a local promotion in store. Do not waste your time with the 20gb model unless you have a spare 2.5 serial ata 120gig drive under 5200rpm laying around . You are still shorting yourself wifi and the card reader though.



Cables:

Video:
If you do own an HDTV with HDMI (or DVI) by all means use it. Just for the love of god don't buy retail cables. Look online, and remember digital cables work or they don't. Analog is a diffrent story though. I would just stick with the official Sony Brand Component cables (the same from the PS2) and would avoid Mad Catz cables. I have had bad luck with them in the past. Also, please remember HDMI is for content protection (HDCP). It is difficult to tell the diffrence between a good component feed and a good HDMI feed at the same resolution.

Set your resolution to either 720p or 1080p. If you do not games like Resistance will default to 480 which defeats the purpose of a higher resolution.

Audio:
I do not own an HDMI reciever so I can not comment on running the audio and video through that. However, if you have optical outputs on your reciever use that. Once again optical is a digital connection so don't overpay on the cable! If you don't have an optical option just run the audio either through the HDMI or the component stereo.

Accessories:
Any cheap wireless keyboard/mouse combo that hooks up via USB. This is a lifesaver for putting linux on your system.

I would also recomend that you own a DVD burner for putting Linux on your PS3.

Starting up:
The setup is usually easy, but if you get a blank screen through HDMI like I did plug in your AV cable and set it up through that; than turn on HDMI. Set the video/audio to your systems specs (eg I have it set at 1080p video with optical audio with DTS and Dolby 5.1)

Once you have your main account set up, go back and create a second main account in Hong Kong so you have access to the Asian playstation store. I wish I had the name of who gave me this tip, but when buying games from the Hong Kong market you need to buy them in increments. So if you wanted to buy Tekken 5 DR for the PS3 for $125 HK ($16.09 US) you would need to put 2 $40 HK credits in your cart than purshase the remaining $45 when you download the game.


You do not have to be in your HK account to play HK downloadable content :)

Unrelated but if you are running Dark Alex's 3.02b custom firmware on the PSP I highly recomend downloading Hot Shots Golf 2 for the PSP from the Sony Store since it allows you to play ANY PSone game on the PSP with very little effort.

I am taking my wife out to a movie and dinner; depending on the interest I'll post how to put linux on the PS3. As well as current limitations to the PPC version of Linux on the PS3.

[walkstheplanes]

I don't own a PS3, but I'll say this: It's posts like this that make this gaming community great. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to what you have to say about the wii60!

[51|RandoM]

Unrelated but if you are running Dark Alex's 3.02b custom firmware on the PSP I highly recomend downloading Hot Shots Golf 2 for the PSP from the Sony Store since it allows you to play ANY PSone game on the PSP with very little effort.

People interested in this should start here (http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=40046).

The vast majority of PS1 games appear to work fine on the PSP's builtin emulation.

I'm firmly against piracy, but if I own a PSX game that will run fine in emulation on my PSP and have a method of getting it there without paying Sony for the game twice, I don't have an issue with doing so. :p

[Gorvi]

I don't own a PS3, but I'll say this: It's posts like this that make this gaming community great. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to what you have to say about the wii60!

I agree completely. Great post Rambilin, I hope to see you post more.

[gillman]

Getting the most out of the PS3 might also involve there being games that you would want to put into it. Until Gran Turismo HD there were none (Speaking from experience. I got one at launch through a series of weird events). Nothing earth shattering is coming out until Feburary either, game wise.

The one thing that I do love is that it is a Blu-Ray player. What I don't love is that Blu-Ray is about 10 bucks more then a DVD.

[GunnyMo]

Moved to news 'cause it's a good read for the weekend. Nice job, Rambilin!

[TheEpicOfTyler]

Getting the most out of the PS3 might also involve there being games that you would want to put into it. Until Gran Turismo HD there were none (Speaking from experience. I got one at launch through a series of weird events). Nothing earth shattering is coming out until Feburary either, game wise.

The one thing that I do love is that it is a Blu-Ray player. What I don't love is that Blu-Ray is about 10 bucks more then a DVD.

K.

Nice writeup, Rambilin.

[Kamalot]

This is such an amazingly awesome post. Thanks for the honest and helpful tips!

[51|RandoM]

The 480i to 480p issue in PS2 emulation is bizarre. I can understand many of the other ps3/sony issues but how they missed this one is just mind-boggling. I consider that to be a much bigger issue than the lack of 720p to 1080i scaling for games.

It is like they didn't ever test a ps2 480i game or something. Looks fixable without new hardware, but who knows for sure, much less when...

[funtownarcade]

looking forward to the linux guide!

[fearian]

I'm firmly against piracy, but if I own a PSX game that will run fine in emulation on my PSP and have a method of getting it there without paying Sony for the game twice, I don't have an issue with doing so. :p

nearly off topic, but heck yeah. Why do I have to pay twice for my own games again? Im currently enjoying the fruits of Dark Alex's labour also. :)

[Phanto]

I don't own a PS3, but I'll say this: It's posts like this that make this gaming community great. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to what you have to say about the wii60!

I Agree 99.9% ;) :)

Keep up the good work ;)

[TrackZero]

Moved to news 'cause it's a good read for the weekend. Nice job, Rambilin!

Oh that GunnyMo, always thinking outside the box. ;)

[Odyzen]

Oh that GunnyMo, always thinking outside the box. ;)It's definately a great move. It was a good article and it's good to see more community article contribution given frontpage goodness.

On another note, isn't this in violation of the MS sponsorship ;)

PS: Evil's EQ stories, yeah he's been he a long time. :D

[eth3rton]

Excellent post..... Will come in handy with my new PS3 on its way..... Look forward to more....

[BlackPete]

If there was a thread that needs stickied, this is it. It'd be great to have one for each platform that one can refer back to every now and then for cool tips 'n' tricks that get updated over time.

Maybe not on the main news forum, but somewhere that has a similar high traffic.

Nintendo posted a bunch of cool tips and secrets for the Wii on their site (don't have the link handy), and I'm sure there must be a similar list for the 360.

[Rambilin]

I'm glad you have enjoyed this. I am working on finding the direct links to the linux files (all legal links since Linux is free and Sony is supporting the open OS). Once I have those organized I'll post the how to with the current limitations of the OS on the system.

[bosx2]

thats the most retarded "user guide" I have ever read...

[BlackPete]

thats the most retarded "user guide" I have ever read...

That's probably because it wasn't meant to be an "user guide" sparky.

[Maskatron]

People interested in this should start here (http://forums.maxconsole.net/showthread.php?t=40046).

The vast majority of PS1 games appear to work fine on the PSP's builtin emulation.



But how many of those games require a dual analog controller?

[Rambilin]

I have Castlevania:SOTN and Metal Gear Solid on mine at the moment. Analog? Analog? We don't need no stinkin analog!

[TrackZero]

If there was a thread that needs stickied, this is it. It'd be great to have one for each platform that one can refer back to every now and then for cool tips 'n' tricks that get updated over time.

Maybe not on the main news forum, but somewhere that has a similar high traffic.

Nintendo posted a bunch of cool tips and secrets for the Wii on their site (don't have the link handy), and I'm sure there must be a similar list for the 360.

Good idea. It would be nice to have some owners guides stickied for the big 3 next gen consoles in the "console" forum. With all the tips/tricks of them.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

But how many of those games require a dual analog controller?

2-3 maybe.

[51|RandoM]

But how many of those games require a dual analog controller?


...almost none of them.

PSX released in Japan in 1993
Dual analog released in mid 1997
Dual shock released late 1997
First game to require dual shock 1999
PS2 released in Japan March of 2000

[Winter wolf]

Thank you Ram, that was a very well written informative read, keep going buddy.

As for the PS1 games on PSP, they're working like a charm, now i'm playing Silent Hill on it and it's looking absolutely gorgeous in wide screen.

[RorschachCCCLX]

Ok, someone explain to me, as a noob, the fasination with putting Linux on every house-hold appliance.

I mean, it seems like a bitch to use from a GUI standpoint and abit clumsy, as all that extra stability worth it, or is it mainly a "stick it to bill gates" sort of thing?

[Kamalot]

...almost none of them.

PSX released in Japan in 1993
Dual analog released in mid 1997
Dual shock released late 1997
First game to require dual shock 1999
PS2 released in Japan March of 2000
I dunno where you got your dates, but they are innaccurate.

The original PlayStation was released on the following dates:

Japan: December 3, 1994
United States: September 9, 1995
Europe: September 29, 1995 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation)

Nowhere was the PSX released in 1993.

There should be 3 years of PSX games that can be played without the analog sticks.

Don't forget that the PSP lacks other controls that were available on the original Playstation controller; L2 and R2 triggers. Any games that utilized L2 and R2 won't play properly on the PSP.

[RorschachCCCLX]

Metal Gear Solid used (did not require) dual shock in 1997-98...

Ten years ago....where in the hell did all those years go?

[Kamalot]

Metal Gear Solid used (did no require) dual shock in 1997-98...

Ten years ago....where in the hell did all those years go?Holy snap, you are right. I wonder how the series will work without rumble this time.

10 years. Time flies when you are having fun. I've been gaming. :D

[TrackZero]

Ok, someone explain to me, as a noob, the fasination with putting Linux on every house-hold appliance.

I mean, it seems like a bitch to use from a GUI standpoint and abit clumsy, as all that extra stability worth it, or is it mainly a "stick it to bill gates" sort of thing?

It's the latter for most people. The former for some.

[51|RandoM]

I dunno where you got your dates, but they are innaccurate.

Don't forget that the PSP lacks other controls that were available on the original Playstation controller; L2 and R2 triggers. Any games that utilized L2 and R2 won't play properly on the PSP.

I got them from the wiki.

On the shoulder buttons, you can remap keys in the psp emulator.

It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, you can go over to maxconsole and check out the lengthy and growing list of games that have been tested and work just fine.

Oh wait, this isn't another good sony thing that somebody wants to spin as bad, is it? lol.

[51|RandoM]

Holy snap, you are right. I wonder how the series will work without rumble this time.

10 years. Time flies when you are having fun. I've been gaming. :D


The only part where rumble was effectively required was the fight with Mantis. If you lose to him a number of times it is then possible to win by just destroying the statues/pillars and not using the rumble feature of the confrontation.

All other uses of rumble in the game were just cues, cues that were duplicated onscreen as well.

You really don't have to wonder about these things, since people have already tested them. :p

[Kamalot]

On the shoulder buttons, you can remap keys in the psp emulator.
That is awesome news!

[Ph00p]

Wow what a shallow and useless "guide" or w/e it is, I really don't see why you should suck up to some guy that basically told you to "take the PS3 OUT of the box to play it".

Are there really any n00bs here that wouldn't understand these very basic things already? Evil Avatar isn't THAT mainstream yet.

The writing was good, so kudos there, I don't mean to shit on you in particular but its just excessive to give you hand service for stating the painfully obvious.

[Rambilin]

Wow what a shallow and useless "guide" or w/e it is, I really don't see why you should suck up to some guy that basically told you to "take the PS3 OUT of the box to play it".

Are there really any n00bs here that wouldn't understand these very basic things already? Evil Avatar isn't THAT mainstream yet.

The writing was good, so kudos there, I don't mean to shit on you in particular but its just excessive to give you hand service for stating the painfully obvious.


The only person I ask hand service from is the wife :D . I just wanted to help a bit as well as practice writing instructions that anyone could understand before I have to do it for work. Imagine being asked to write instructions for an entire department on how to properly record sex offender and child molesters into a data base so that the public knows where these monsters are? Now imagine you don't do this correctly and even one of those individuals slips through the cracks, and ends up hurting another person? So I think I will continue to work on this with a 360 and Wii one before going back to "If the victim was between two weeks old and 12 months...."

I apologize if it didn't help you at all, and thank you for the compliments on the writing style. However, I really need the practice, and want to do it on something I enjoy first.

[Kefkataran]

Thanks for the post man! That'll help me out when I grab my PS3 this weekend. :)

[SuperWes]

Starting up:
The setup is usually easy, but if you get a blank screen through HDMI like I did plug in your AV cable and set it up through that; than turn on HDMI. Set the video/audio to your systems specs (eg I have it set at 1080p video with optical audio with DTS and Dolby 5.1)

Hey, just wanted to mention that holding down the Power button for around 5 seconds will boot the system up into the HDMI resolution selection screen so that you never have to hook it up with Analog cables at all. Your preference is then saved to the system so you don't have to worry about selecting it again.

It might also be worth pointing out that the controllers and the Blu-Ray Movie remote won't work until they've been linked to the system. Controllers are easy, you can just plug them in with a mini-to-big USB cable to link them, but for the remote you've got to go to the accessory linking section of the cross media bar, select the option to link an accessory, and then hold the Start and OK button on the remote to associate it with your PS3's bluetooth address.

Other than that, good work! I've been interested in putting linux on my PS3, but haven't had the willpower or resolve to research it yet. Hoping you get around to doing that guide!

-Wes

[ploeg]

I don't see why the 20gb PS3 should be dismissed out of hand.

The only real reasons to go for the 60gb PS3 are for WiFi and Remote Play. Remote Play allows you to connect wirelessly to a 60gb PS3 from your PSP and watch video and play songs stored on the PS3. (I don't think that you can play PS3 games on your PSP using Remote Play, though.) If you have wired Ethernet at your TV, and Remote Play doesn't float your boat, then the gigabit Ethernet port on the 20gb PS3 should do quite nicely.

Pretty much any standard USB mass storage device that is FAT32 formatted will mount on a PS3. So you can plug in a USB card reader, flash drive, WD Passport, whatever, and view pictures or play music and video. You can therefore reserve the PS3 hard drive space for game saves and demos. At 600mb to 800mb per demo, the hard drive will fill up, and when it does, you can use your extra $100 for the hard drive upgrade. Any SATA150 2.5in 5400rpm notebook hard drive should work, and you can currently get 120gb for around $100.

[Xav]

Question about the Hong Kong Account:
I've been trying for 2 days to do this but everytime I input my credit card information it says its incorrect. I inputed the same info (less the country obviously) in my Canada account and it went through.

Has someone already done this process and made it work? Can you give me a step-by-step explaination to get it done. Sorry if I'm bothering anyone by asking this...

Thanks, and good faqs.

[coachz]

Question about the Hong Kong Account:
I've been trying for 2 days to do this but everytime I input my credit card information it says its incorrect. I inputed the same info (less the country obviously) in my Canada account and it went through.

Has someone already done this process and made it work? Can you give me a step-by-step explaination to get it done. Sorry if I'm bothering anyone by asking this...

Thanks, and good faqs.

Same problem here. Am I supposed to fake the billing address, because it will not let me pick a different region then Hong Kong so my real billing address will be wrong. I seem to be stuck here as well...

Any help would be great! :D

[Mr.Condescension]

Hey, just wanted to mention that holding down the Power button for around 5 seconds will boot the system up into the HDMI resolution selection screen so that you never have to hook it up with Analog cables at all. Your preference is then saved to the system so you don't have to worry about selecting it again.

Holding the power button down for 5 seconds when turning the system on is a good practice for changing from one TV to another, since it automatically scans your hardware for available video modes and what connection you're using, but doesn't reset any other settings. Handy for taking your PS3 to your friend's house.

[Kamalot]

Handy for taking your PS3 to your friend's house.
So is a forklift.

;)

[Johan]

^^^Ouch! :)

/I mean...ouch, I threw my back out picking one up!!!