Yeah, I read that earlier, and it all sounds very promising. I especially like that they aren't disguising the online fees by calling them "points". Also, I wonder if the downloaded PS1/PS2 games will also benefit from the PS3's enhancements? If that's the case, then the original disc isn't needed to enable the features. Makes me wonder if HD Loader will be compatible with the system, or if someone can create something similar real soon. The system does leave a lot of ports for potential homebrew.

Here's a question I was saving for a Gamestop clerk later on, but let's see if someone here can answer for me. So the system is launching on November 17, which is a workday for me. Since I don't leave work until 3:00pm, nabbing a system would've been a problem if my sister didn't reserve it for me. However, the whole "first come first serve, even with pre-orders" policy has me a bit worried; if one of the reserved systems is lost or damaged, then the remaining systems go out to whoever of the reserved customers pick them up first. That poses a problem if I'm the last reserved client to enter the store.

I'd ask my sister to pick it up for me, but I don't want her to have to wait in line with everyone else. So my question is, if she has a reserve ticket, will the clerk let her bypass the line completely and enter the store? If that was the case, I'd ask her to meet up before the store opened again, and just waltz right in and pick up my system.

No, you'll have to wait in line.

Just take a sick day and tough it out.

That's seriously not fair. Why would the reservers have to wait in line like everyone else, when they're guaranteed the system? The way this whole arrangement goes, it should go reservers>regular buyers.

My job is still new, so I don't really want to lie. I guess I'll have to either send my sister out around noon (2 hours after the store opens, so the line should die down. keyword is "should"), or just leave it up to fate and check the store later at 3:00pm.

You should be lucky you was even able to reserve it. There won't be any "regular buyers" because the number of preorder units your GameStop store was allowing to be reserved is the total number of units they'll be receiving and that'll be available. Period.

For example my nearest EB store is only getting 8 units and all 8 were preordered so if I was one of the lucky 8 then I shouldn't have to worry. If you're really that paranoid about the small chances of lost or broken units then sure, go in as early as possible and pick it up but I wouldn't really see a need to do so.

Okay, that makes more sense. So in other words, there shouldn't even be a line aside from the 8-16 people who pre-ordered it in the first place, because they'll only have systems for the reservers and nothing for regular walk-ins?

In that case it shouldn't be a problem for my sister to pick up mine when the store opens while I'm at work. Or again, I can just wait after work. The chance that something will happen to the shipment is small, but it's not something I'd want to risk.

Correct.

You'll be seeing lineups at the likes of Best Buy and Wal-Mart because they have no reserve system, that I know of, and they're only supposed to be getting a maximum of 10 units while EB/GameStop has a max of 16 depending on store location. There's no harm in going early though to pick up your system but then there should be no problem in going at 3pm either.

Very nice. Although I still hope GS will put some sort of sign indicating that the systems are for reservers only, to cut down on any potential idiots who think they can camp out and get lucky.

Only thing left to decide now is which launch game to get. I'm still leaning towards Resistence, but I want to read the first couple of reviews before I fork over the money. I'm also waiting to see if there might be any store specials like Best Buy that will cut the price down to $50, or any other bonus deals.

So far the plan is to get Resistence at launch, rent something later on (Ridge Racer maybe), then grab another game by christmas (Oblivion or FEAR).

I imagine they will just because your average consumer won't know about the preorders which is surprising how fast that all happened. EB/GS didn't even have a time to announce it and all it took was a couple of message boards to spread the info like wildfire.

I'm trying to get our work to stock PS3 titles for rental. I'm not sure if Blockbuster is going to jump on the wagon just yet given they waited with the 360 so it'll give us the edge and it'll help for those who spent $600 on a machine but had nothing for a game.

Yeah, I'm not sure if Blockbuster will have PS3/Wii games available by then, and even if they did, the possible cost (current games cost $8-$10 a rental) might put me off. Good thing there's Gamefly and its free trials.

Another possibility regarding the launch is that they might distribute the systems the night before, at midnight. They did it for the PSP, so it's possible they'll do the same for PS3, in which case that would be the best option for me.

Looks like we were right, there's a PS3/PS2 Controller adapter:

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?c...ct%5Fid=802566

I was hoping you wouldn't need an adaptor to use a PS2 controller, but for 5 bucks, whatever. As long as the adaptor is double-sided (for two players).

That's good news. At least I don't have to shell out for more Sixaxis to play Timesplitters with friends.

Resistance Online Blowout.
Quite a bit of Resistance's online MP has come up online. A lot of this is courtesy of the folks over on GAF (and jetjevons, apparently an employee of Insomniac)

Edit: Ted's a real cool guy it seems, too bad his ass keeps getting roasted trying to explain things. =)

Game Informer Resistance MP videos

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3 (stat tracking)

Breach Gameply Mode Part 1

Breach Gameplay Mode Part 2

Playing as a Chimera

I'm freaking sold. A detail-oriented guy like me goes crazy over all those stats and options. Also, that guy's TV makes me jealous. :(

The subject of headsets reminds me that I'll have to upgrade to something better than the one I'm using now (came with SOCOM 1). Anyone have any recommendations for a durable wireless headset (that's also affordable; nothing fancy, just good reception and volume control)?

There used to be a really good one made by logitech and approved by Sony that had volume control, a mute button and all of that for like $30CAD. Don't know if they still make them, but they were good. I myself will probably use the same Socom 1 headset that I used from Killzone to Metal Gear Online, and soon to be Resistance.

Hell yeah. Those videos definately solidified my choice in PS3/resistance gettage.

I showed a few other videos of Resistance to a skeptical friend earlier on too, and he wouldn't stop musing about it ;) Him and his housemates have a lovely HD projector + wall, so provided I can figure how to transport it safely, my PS3 is definately going on a little trip once it arrives.

question: i can see there'll be backwards compatability, which is nice. however, if those drives won't hold old ps1/ps2 cards, how can we (if we can at all) load old games into the PS3?

Please refer to this post for PS3 memorycard information.

http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/so...ost278643.html

As for thoes videos that Metal Sphere posted, man there's a LOT of options. Like seriously, that about the same amount of options that are in the Unreal Tournament games on the PC, and for it to be on a console... that's nuts. As for the game itself, it looks amazing compared to a lot of screens that I've seen. Yup, I'm definatly getting that day 1.

UPDATE:
It's about time that someone posted an HD version of this demo. This is a demo of Stranglehold which is coming out for the PS3 and 360. If you're an action game fane you owe it to yourself to check this out.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...14066&type=wmv

Slayer X, your first link isn't working, is this it?

It's at the top of Page 60, maybe bottom of 59 too, so a few clicks through the pages and you should come across the memory card info. Basically the PS3's OS makes space on the HDD for saves.

The UK offices over at IGN received their PS3 and had a couple things to say about it. It seems the I/O is touch sensitive rather than using a thermal sensor. Conflicting reports? I was surprised to read that they are pretty much not impressed at all with the SIXAXIS controller.

That doesn't sound too good. On the other hand however, I like what they had to say about the system boot-up. It's a small detail but the PS2 boot-up sequence I found was very underwhelming. I'm really glad Sony went with a more powerful opening sequence similar to the PlayStation boot-up.

I've heard earlier reports of people commenting on how lightweight the Sixaxis is, but never to such an extent that it would fly out of your hands during gameplay. That IGN UK article has been the first one I've heard of to give the controller a negative review. I'm sure there are others, though.

Basically, IGN is stating what most people figured out already. It's simply a lighter Dual Shock, with slightly tweaked sticks and trigger buttons. Any criticisms about the controller feeling cheap sound strange given the above.

The button being pressure rather than heat sensitive is a new twist though.

Don't forget though. The console that IGN UK got was an debug unit and not an actual retail unit like what has been sent to such places like PSM3, so there could be manythings different between the one that IGN got and the actual retail unit.

Also one thing that IGN fails to acknowledge is that perhaps the PS controller isn't the most comfortable controller, however it is arguably the most efficient controller. While the X360 controller is a far cry better then the original X-box controller, I would still cry tears of blood if I were forced to use the 360 controller for fighting games or Devil May Cry.

Side Note:
When IGN gave God Hand a 3/10 I then knew that they were nothing but a cult of casual gamers that cry to their mommies if a game challenges them or if it's name ain't Halo. Hell, if I gave them some glue and glitter I'm sure that it would keep them entertained for hours on end.

Few comments regarding the controller, despite my having not used it personally.

A lot of the vibe I get from press peoples reporting about the controller is that they need some outlet to express their negative view on how Sony has continually kept the same design for their controller since the PSX. Yeah, the design isn't as ergonomic as the 360 or GCN, but it doesn't hurt to use it for long periods of time. The PSX's DualShock doesn't have concave analog sticks or shoulder buttons, did the problems of "slipping" come up just recently or have people just not cared for 9-10 years?

A bit of a news-flash is that most controllers until the Wii have been nearly the exact same thing with a different layout. (One or two analog sticks, D-pad, 4 face buttons, varying ammounts of shoulder buttons.) The seeming exception here might be the N64's, but it was essentially the same with the added displeasure of having to switch hand-positions depending on what you wanted to access.

And lastly, why is lightweight a bad thing? If it feels like you can crush it, but you can't, why get negative about it? If it is fragile, sure go ahead. But I've owned a pre-dualshock PSX controller for about 10 years, it feels extremely light (and I actually like it better for playing pre-analog games), yet it still works just as well as it did.

So, people's complaints basically confuse me. Would change be cool? Definately. But if they're sticking with the tried-and-true controller type instead of moving to something radically different, it makes sense to me to keep things similar while adding subtle new features.

Thank god they bothered with the name change for the controller.
From "PooS" to "SixAxis". I still like the "Dual Shock" name, but obviously would not be fitting for the non-vibration PS3 controller.