It's just like using WinAMP while playing any sort of game. Except you can do it during PC games.

You can put any make or size laptop HDD into the PS3 you wish to put in it. And it can play a bunch of video types except for DivX which even Microsoft is having trouble getting a codec license for.

But what happens to the original soundtrack? It kind of sounds like all this does is play your custom music over the game's original BGM, which is completely lame. And even if you can turn off the game's music, what happens when the song finishes? Or is there a way to generate a playlist?

Hey Go! Sudoku is pretty fun. Never really played Sudoku before. However purchasable expansion packs suck. I hope that doesn't happen to Blast Factor.

Speaking of Blast Factor, anyone else enjoy it as much as I?

Still considering purchasing Gripshift...

edit//And on another note, throwing a bigger HD in my PS3 is on my list, but isn't prioritized. I'm waiting for OpenSuSE to be completed for PS3 before I mess with Linux, although it is compelling.

SOLDIER: You're right, you have to turn off the original BGM otherwise they'll both play. And in order to have continuous play, just throw all your songs in a playlist and hit random repeat, that way it'll keep going as long as you're playing.

P.S.
I can't remember who pointed it out around here but 1UP's interview with David Jaffe was pretty interesting to watch. There's definatly some loyalty to Sony there, however he is also a business person and it seems that he's looking at the PS3 with the whole 5 year scope instead of the narrowsighted 2 year scope it seems everyone seems to be looking at the PS3 through. It's nice to see a sane person about in the market these days.

I have a question for people who actually have a PS3 and my searches found no proper answers elsewhere on the internet.

Can you plug an external USB HDD into the PS3 and use it for storage as is, or is every HDD related matter have to be done through the main HDD bay?

That's a good question. Now for an answer, or at least half of one.

I don't know if you can access the external HDD via USB through the XMB, however I do know that you can use an external HDD via Linux installation.

Hopefully someone can answer the other half for you man.

Ah, so it's at least possible through Linux, thank you. Alright, I'll see if someone can get a confirmation on the XMB use. I vaguely remember talk of USB memory sticks working on the PS3, so external HDDs wouldn't sound impossible.

It should work. My USB flash drive has been in my PS3 for about a week and I copied my game saves onto it for back up. I don't have any externals right now to check, but if you don't get to looking into it before I do, I'll keep you updated.

I've actually been meaning to try out the external hard drive but haven't got to it yet. I don't have Linux installed, so if it works for me it will be simply through the xmb.

Will let ya know pretty soon here if it works. Although I wonder if it will even recognize NTFS... or if it will have to be the old school FAT...

But I do know for sure that USB flash drives do work.

Edit:
I wasn't able to get my external HD working. But like I said before, it is formatted as NTFS, maybe if it was formatted as FAT it would perhaps detect it...although I'm sure with a copy of Linux installed it would more than likely work just fine.

And since I don't actually use my external HD anymore I'll probably just reformat it to FAT tomorrow probably just for the hell of it and give it another go. Will keep you posted.

You can try it in FAT if you want however I don't think that it'll make any difference, nothing has used the old FAT format since the early Win98 days, so the odds of the PS3 supporting FAT in my opinion is far less. However if you can prove me wrong that would actually make me happy.

I think it is not possible to include a proper NTFS driver without licensing technology from MS.

That could be as far as the XMB is concerned, however with Linux installed there's opensource drivers that allow you to read & use NTFS drives.

Aye, just thought I'd try FAT since that is how my USB flash drive is formatted and the PS3 reads that just fine.

And that's through the XMB and not Linux right?

PROBLEM:
All of a sudden I can't log into PLAYSTATION Online, I've reset and I still get this darn error #80710016, anyone else getting this?

Sony's servers are down. They better have a good amount of new content in the PS Store (read: playable flOw) to make up for this shit.

Supposedly they've been down all day but I just got home.

I thought flOw was push back again to mid February?

anyway I just tried and now they seem to be back online ^^ (oh and there's nothing new in playstation store)

It's not online here, and you're right about flOw.

Its back online here, and yes you're right about flOw. Its unfortunate though. This is bad for Sony especially since Nintendo just released A Link to the Motherfucking Past in VC. I'm about to go spend my virtual money on VC games. No joke.

Right, just through the XMB, don't have Linux installed yet. Saving up for a bigger HD I think.

This just in, PS3 Firmware 1.5 is now available for download, and it's confirmed to fix the BC issues with PS1 and PS2 games. I haven't tried it myself, but people are reporting the games look "perfect" now. I have no idea if they look "better", but I'll get back to you on that.

EDIT: Okay, I gave FFXI a quick spin, and it definetely looks as good as it does on PS2. The opening FMV is no longer embarrasingly compressed, and the textures are as clean as they were on the previous console. Even better, it's no longer required to change the PS3's resolution any lower than the max your TV can do (1080p in my case), as it will automatically change to 480p once you start the game.

Does it look any better? Hard to say. I suppose the textures look a tiny bit cleaner, but that may have more to do with the fact that it's on HDMI rather than any upgrading from the PS3. However, this is certainly good news as it fixes one of the system's major problems. It also opens the door for improved textures on BC games. That March update is looking more and more promising.

omfg! this is a WONDERFUL news!!!! damn I was pretty worried that the problem was more hardware, but apparently it is not! wow I'm happy XD now I don't need to see all those jaggy lol I guess my ps2 can fully retire now (sorry ps2 but you will collect dust in the closet XD)

I think it's a pretty good thing that sony manage to solve that problem, now there's really nothing much to say about the BC beside some little bug in some game (I still didn't find any bug that make the game unplayable or not enjoyable so it's a good thing ^^)

Sony and Namco Bandai have fused DBZ style to from a new company called "Samcai" not really its actually called Celius. http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=7424
The article does not state whether or not this means Namco will no longer develop for other systems.

Wow, what the hell... Completely out of left field, and the name is kind of corny, though I see why they're called that. The article's right though, we're probably going to see more Bandai/Namco exclusives on Sony's machines even though they only hold about 49% of the shares.

Namco produced for other companies since SoulCalibur 2 and Tales of Symphonia? Anyhow, at least that makes it pretty much a sure bet now that Tekken 6 and SoulCalibur 4 won't be jumping ship to the 360.

As for the new firmware update, BC=WhooHOO!!! Now if only MS could do the same for the 360 (want to play Unreal Championship 2 again). According to Joystiq (not very reliable I know) you're supposed to be able to use your own pics and audio clips for the system sounds now too, however there was something in there too about buying that support or something, I don't know.

If that Sony/Namco partnership means a revival of Xenosaga for the PS3, then I will be.....

.....cautiously intrigued.

Oblivion is out in February, right? Port or not, this will be the first notable PS3 release after Resistance, won't it? There's also Virtua Fighter 5, but I'm not quite as excited for that one as other diehard fans. The lack of an online mode (purposely left out by the director) hurts.