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Official US/JP PLAYSTATION 3 Launch Thread
- Thread starter Amir0x
- Start date
MiamiWesker
Member
After work today I decided it would be a good time to stop by all the retail chains on my way home (which are a ton) and scout out how the wait for the PS3 is going. I heard stories about people waiting in line already but seeing it in person solidifies how big of an event the PS3 launch is. Remember this is basically two days away, and many of these people started waiting since yesterday. My friend waited for a 360, he got there late the night before, slept overnight and got one no problem; no question the 360 launch was big, but not like this. I have never seen anything bring out people 2-3 days in advance, its insane. So lets start my tour of the city in the area I stopped at first.
Stop 1 - Best Buy and Target Dadeland Station:
We have a small shopping center that has a Target and Best Buy in the same building, so that was my first stop. I went to the Target first, walking up to it I saw chairs lined up and about 10 people, not bad. I walked inside to see if they had a kiosk, nope, but they did have PS3 games to buy. I talked to an employee they say they expect about 8 or 9, as soon as they find out how many they are getting they will let the people in the line know and give them tickets.
So that was rather calm, next stop Best Buy which is below Target. I get on the escalator to head down and then I see it, the monster line, the line to end all lines. I am talking from one end of the store all the way to the other, at least 100 people. It boggled the mind that so many people will be waiting 2 nights, outside a store, sitting in some chair. And the variety of people in the line is shocking, obviously the most common is the twenty something college student male but I saw mom's, older ladies, older men, Hispanic, white, black, you name it its there (well it is Miami).
I enter the Best Buy and there it is, the PS3 in full display. The PS3 is the most beautiful console I have ever laid eyes on, its the type of hardware you want to be out in front and in full display just to show it off. The controller did not feel as light as I thought it would be, maybe its cause of the plastic shell holding it down. It felt just like a PS2 controller the major difference being the triggers which I did not like at all. They are still round shaped so your finger doesn't rest firmly within a groove, instead when you press down the button sort of goes down and in and your finger is almost slipping off. Its not a game breaker but if they were trying for a trigger design they might as well have done a full trigger and not this strange hybrid that doesn't feel right.
I played both NBA 07 and Motorstorm, graphically its no different than a 360 game, in fact many people walking by said the same thing. I was surprised to find that NBA 07 is not a broken game like its predecessor, it was actually a decent game of basketball. Its no 2k but it looked nice and it was pretty fun to play but in the end its a rather worthless demo. Motorstorm was fun, I enjoyed it more than my experience with Excitetruck. Once the race starts there is some noticeable slow-down, way to show off that powerful hardware Sony, but once all the cars start to scatter the game is steady. It plays like most rally racers except with a fantasy twist, it includes tons of cars which leads to some interesting "car fights" along the way, which in turn leads to some spectacular crashes. I did find that riding the bike was way better, you can even do a punch which makes it seem a bit like Road Rash. I did not get a chance to try out the motion sensing, I will next time I play. Overall it did not blow me away but it was really fun nonetheless.
On the way out of the store something pretty funny happened. I passed by the line on my way out and I came across an Italian man speaking spanish to someone in the line that did not understand him (somehow this person didn't know spanish, he should be kicked out of Miami ). So as I walk near him he asks me what is this line for, he says in Italy lines like this form for a strike or protest, he wonders if its the same thing. How do I tell this tourist that these people are not fighting for some cause but are instead waiting for a videogame machine, lol. I just told him outright what it is, he started laughing, especially when I told him they needed to wait till friday. He then asked how all these people can wait in line, don't they have jobs, I just said I wonder the same thing. He must think this is such a strange country.
Stop 2 - Best Buy Kendall :
Next I went to my local Best Buy, the one right next to my house. Again a huge line, about 50. Much diversity just like the last one, in fact at the end of the line were two attractive women, totally out of place, made me almost want to wait in line . So I go inside and they too have a kiosk. As I walk towards it I hear the guys playing it saying "this is crap, I don't want to wait anymore for this." I wonder whats the commotion and start to realize that Motorstorm is frozen. I ask whats going on and they said the system just crashed and sure enough the BB guy arrived and said it did crash. That just about scared me away from waiting an early shipment PS3, the store kiosk ones are breaking down. They shut it down, I left so I have no clue if it just needed a restart or what.
Stop 3 - Kmart West Kendall:
I drove by K-mart, no one in line. I enter the store, no one in the electronics dept. K-mart sucks.
Stop 4 - Target West Kendall:
This Target has construction going on so people can't wait in line outside, so I knew it would be interesting to see what is going on inside. I see no lines so I walk in and head to the electronics area. There is a guy at the desk and as soon as I open my mouth to speak he says "this better not be about the PS3" with a look on his face like he wanted to kill himself on the spot. I ask how are people supposed to line up and he told me they did, its just off to the side. So I check it out and sure enough another line hidden away, nothing will stop people from getting their PS3's.
Stop 5 - Wal-mart West kendall
My final stop good old Wal-mart. The usual sight, a big line of about 50 people in this one. But these guys were well equipped, I saw some nice inflatable mattresses (probably bought in Wal-mart) and some were sleeping right there in the middle of the afternoon. This resourceful bunch also had a giant list of the people in line with all their names in order of when they arrived, they were up to number 48, if they get 20 PS3's in that store I will be shocked.
I go inside to see if they have a kiosk as well and yes I see one, alone with no one around. I get up to it and there are no controllers... its not even on. Why do they have a damn PS3 behind a glass case if its not going to be used? I really wanted to explore the menu and play at my leisure, guess not.
So I got out of there, my tour complete, I have soaked in the PS3 madness I just had to see it for myself. I don't know how all these people do it but I wish them the best.
Stop 1 - Best Buy and Target Dadeland Station:
We have a small shopping center that has a Target and Best Buy in the same building, so that was my first stop. I went to the Target first, walking up to it I saw chairs lined up and about 10 people, not bad. I walked inside to see if they had a kiosk, nope, but they did have PS3 games to buy. I talked to an employee they say they expect about 8 or 9, as soon as they find out how many they are getting they will let the people in the line know and give them tickets.
So that was rather calm, next stop Best Buy which is below Target. I get on the escalator to head down and then I see it, the monster line, the line to end all lines. I am talking from one end of the store all the way to the other, at least 100 people. It boggled the mind that so many people will be waiting 2 nights, outside a store, sitting in some chair. And the variety of people in the line is shocking, obviously the most common is the twenty something college student male but I saw mom's, older ladies, older men, Hispanic, white, black, you name it its there (well it is Miami).
I enter the Best Buy and there it is, the PS3 in full display. The PS3 is the most beautiful console I have ever laid eyes on, its the type of hardware you want to be out in front and in full display just to show it off. The controller did not feel as light as I thought it would be, maybe its cause of the plastic shell holding it down. It felt just like a PS2 controller the major difference being the triggers which I did not like at all. They are still round shaped so your finger doesn't rest firmly within a groove, instead when you press down the button sort of goes down and in and your finger is almost slipping off. Its not a game breaker but if they were trying for a trigger design they might as well have done a full trigger and not this strange hybrid that doesn't feel right.
I played both NBA 07 and Motorstorm, graphically its no different than a 360 game, in fact many people walking by said the same thing. I was surprised to find that NBA 07 is not a broken game like its predecessor, it was actually a decent game of basketball. Its no 2k but it looked nice and it was pretty fun to play but in the end its a rather worthless demo. Motorstorm was fun, I enjoyed it more than my experience with Excitetruck. Once the race starts there is some noticeable slow-down, way to show off that powerful hardware Sony, but once all the cars start to scatter the game is steady. It plays like most rally racers except with a fantasy twist, it includes tons of cars which leads to some interesting "car fights" along the way, which in turn leads to some spectacular crashes. I did find that riding the bike was way better, you can even do a punch which makes it seem a bit like Road Rash. I did not get a chance to try out the motion sensing, I will next time I play. Overall it did not blow me away but it was really fun nonetheless.
On the way out of the store something pretty funny happened. I passed by the line on my way out and I came across an Italian man speaking spanish to someone in the line that did not understand him (somehow this person didn't know spanish, he should be kicked out of Miami ). So as I walk near him he asks me what is this line for, he says in Italy lines like this form for a strike or protest, he wonders if its the same thing. How do I tell this tourist that these people are not fighting for some cause but are instead waiting for a videogame machine, lol. I just told him outright what it is, he started laughing, especially when I told him they needed to wait till friday. He then asked how all these people can wait in line, don't they have jobs, I just said I wonder the same thing. He must think this is such a strange country.
Stop 2 - Best Buy Kendall :
Next I went to my local Best Buy, the one right next to my house. Again a huge line, about 50. Much diversity just like the last one, in fact at the end of the line were two attractive women, totally out of place, made me almost want to wait in line . So I go inside and they too have a kiosk. As I walk towards it I hear the guys playing it saying "this is crap, I don't want to wait anymore for this." I wonder whats the commotion and start to realize that Motorstorm is frozen. I ask whats going on and they said the system just crashed and sure enough the BB guy arrived and said it did crash. That just about scared me away from waiting an early shipment PS3, the store kiosk ones are breaking down. They shut it down, I left so I have no clue if it just needed a restart or what.
Stop 3 - Kmart West Kendall:
I drove by K-mart, no one in line. I enter the store, no one in the electronics dept. K-mart sucks.
Stop 4 - Target West Kendall:
This Target has construction going on so people can't wait in line outside, so I knew it would be interesting to see what is going on inside. I see no lines so I walk in and head to the electronics area. There is a guy at the desk and as soon as I open my mouth to speak he says "this better not be about the PS3" with a look on his face like he wanted to kill himself on the spot. I ask how are people supposed to line up and he told me they did, its just off to the side. So I check it out and sure enough another line hidden away, nothing will stop people from getting their PS3's.
Stop 5 - Wal-mart West kendall
My final stop good old Wal-mart. The usual sight, a big line of about 50 people in this one. But these guys were well equipped, I saw some nice inflatable mattresses (probably bought in Wal-mart) and some were sleeping right there in the middle of the afternoon. This resourceful bunch also had a giant list of the people in line with all their names in order of when they arrived, they were up to number 48, if they get 20 PS3's in that store I will be shocked.
I go inside to see if they have a kiosk as well and yes I see one, alone with no one around. I get up to it and there are no controllers... its not even on. Why do they have a damn PS3 behind a glass case if its not going to be used? I really wanted to explore the menu and play at my leisure, guess not.
So I got out of there, my tour complete, I have soaked in the PS3 madness I just had to see it for myself. I don't know how all these people do it but I wish them the best.
BobTheFork
Member
Will I need to format it form the OS or anything?Bebpo said:
Procedure:
remove flap
unscrew small bolt
pull out HDD
put in new HDD
resrew and put the flap up.
If I do that, I will be set?
There is already a line of about 10-15 people at my local Walmart. They are being forced to wait outside, in the rain. The store is only getting ten of the systems, a combination of both versisons, and the only people who will be allowed a chace at one of them are those who are sitting in one of the chairs that Walmart has outside.
BobTheFork
Member
k, I'll lok for that toutorial. Thx for the info. I was going to wait, but I really dont have a good way of transferring anything to a new drive, so i fugred I'd just do it early.Bebpo said:
Got a 100 gig sata 16mb cache drive shipped for 100 bux so it all evens oiut now : )
King of Cups
Member
I dunno if this has been asked before, but with regards to demos does Sony plan to include PS2 games into the mix? I think it'd be really cool to have something like a back catalog of game demos that have already been released (albeit in different media formats).
a Master Ninja
Member
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Its almost like someone typed out "PS3" quickly in PS for the Spine of the case and didn't realize the font was too large and the 3 got pushed down.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Pimpwerx said:
So there is no hope until like EE/GS gets emulated on PS3?
So...I guess I shouldn't even think about going to the BB @ Aventura next Friday when I'm in town, huh? I was hoping for a 2nd shipment on Black Friday, and possibly getting the jump on a hungover North Miami populace. But...I guess not. Sometimes you can pull off shit like this down there, and sometimes not. Looks like this is mission impossible.MiamiWesker said:
I love Miami b/c it's so spread out you can usually find someplace by driving around. But I guess I'm up shit's creek on this one. PEACE.Don't know if anyone noticed, or cares anymore, but IGN made it official today.
PS3 downscales all games to 480p resolution if your TV doesn't support 720p.
They tested it out on a 1080i only HDTV with all of the games they've received so far and it downscales it to 480p for every single one of them.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/746/746282p1.html
If I really posted my true feelings about this, I'd get a lifetime ban here, and I enjoy posting here.
With that said, I'm glad I've got viable alternatives.
PS3 downscales all games to 480p resolution if your TV doesn't support 720p.
They tested it out on a 1080i only HDTV with all of the games they've received so far and it downscales it to 480p for every single one of them.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/746/746282p1.html
If I really posted my true feelings about this, I'd get a lifetime ban here, and I enjoy posting here.
With that said, I'm glad I've got viable alternatives.
BobTheFork
Member
Has anyone tried registering their games at
http://www.register.us.playstation.com
yet? It wont take any of the games I bought :/
http://www.register.us.playstation.com
yet? It wont take any of the games I bought :/
BobTheFork
Member
Ok Thats most likely. I really never register games, just pc parts. However Im registering every single last thing I get for the ps3Bad_Boy said:
Rice-Eater
Member
Has the bluetooth headset question been resolved yet? Meaning, has it been confirmed that bluetooth headsets will work for headset enabled games like Resistance? I haven't seen this answered yet and I'd like to know if it'll work.
MiamiWesker
Member
Pimpwerx said:So...I guess I shouldn't even think about going to the BB @ Aventura next Friday when I'm in town, huh? I was hoping for a 2nd shipment on Black Friday, and possibly getting the jump on a hungover North Miami populace. But...I guess not. Sometimes you can pull off shit like this down there, and sometimes not. Looks like this is mission impossible.
Pretty much man, forget the Kendall area, there will be nothing. I havn't tried anything in North Miami but why bother, it's going to be the same.
GitarooMan
Member
Bunch of reviews up at IGN, Tiger, NFS (Visually worse than 360 it says), Untold Legends
http://ps3.ign.com/index/reviews.html
http://ps3.ign.com/index/reviews.html
CrapSandwich
former Navy SEAL
nm
Crazymoogle
Member
XMonkey said:
Just was told I was cut from the day one list myself. If the 360 had some more compelling content I'd be inclined to jump ship. As is...I guess I wait. God speed, firmware team...
Gamespot Resistence review is up.
It's a decent enough review and a great score, but it's just another shining example of my dislike for Kasavin, and his absurd and often nonsensical contradictory statements and logic.
8.6
It's a decent enough review and a great score, but it's just another shining example of my dislike for Kasavin, and his absurd and often nonsensical contradictory statements and logic.
I can see that. :lolRaijinFY said:
The score is fine though, and totally in line with what I was expecting and hoping for. I'm sure part of the problem was just the comparison's to PDZ's 9 last year, which are silly. It's only Kasavin's inconsistency that irks me, but that's in every single one of his reviews, so it's expected. Just not a fan of the man's opinion.
DaCocoBrova
Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
J-Rzez said:
A quick Google search says yes.
momolicious
Member
is it possible microsoft payed for PDZ reviews it got
Zombie James
Banned
JB1981 said:
Yea, PDZ was Microsoft's Toshinden.
MiamiWesker said:
Yes it is. People have been camping since wednesday and it's the funniest line you will see. Somehow they have many power outlets out there and they have TV's and games running, people have George Forman grills, others are on their laptops. I don't know where they're getting all the juice from but it's like home out there.
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
Downhome said:
That sounds alot like our store, only our campers are inside.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129195
What area are you from?
All Hail C-Webb
Hailing from the Chill-Web
There are already 400 people at the SonyStyle store in Manhattan.
400 ****ing people lining up for at least 24 hours. Insane.
That was my best shot at securing a PS3, but looking at the weather I'm glad I won't be stuck in it. Major Storm Sytem headed our way wit high winds and heavy rain with chance of thunderstorms. Hope it starts hailing and all the campers have to seek shelter somewhere else.
400 ****ing people lining up for at least 24 hours. Insane.
That was my best shot at securing a PS3, but looking at the weather I'm glad I won't be stuck in it. Major Storm Sytem headed our way wit high winds and heavy rain with chance of thunderstorms. Hope it starts hailing and all the campers have to seek shelter somewhere else.
I am currently camped out at a Circuit City in Southlake, Texas, near the DFW airport. It is now 10:00 and the store just closed. We got here at 3:00pm and was #3 in line, my friend #4. We are reselling ours as are everyone else in the line. They posted a sign at around 5pm that said they were only getting 8 60GB units and that was it. The 8th person came at 4:30. We have turned away about 10 people.
The people I am with are really nice. This one guy is super rich and he ordered pizza, went to Costco down the street and got drinks and snacks and all. We have our tents set up. The 7 others I am with are nice. It is me, my friend(both 19 years old), 4 high school kids, and two parents. We had a game of 3 on 3 football in the parking lot about an hour ago. It's not bad.
The weather is bad, though. It's 38 degrees with a 30 mph wind. It's brutal but thats what tents are for. That one rich guy also bought us hand warmers and those foil spacing blankets.
The management with the store are cool too. They let us in and let us sit on the armchairs to watch TV until they closed. That was nice.
The wirleless internet connection is strong here. I am able to surf the web but I want to cosnerve my laptop battery.
Pictures coming soon. About 34 hours to go. It opens at 8 friday.
This is my 7th console camp out, and this is by far the best people and fun wise. It's also my longest. My previous longest was 18 for the Game Cube and 14 for the Xbox360. The weather is the 2nd worse though, only beaten by the torrentual 40 degree downpour for the Game Cube.
It's not bad and this is totally worth it. I wonder what I should use my money for? Can't wait for the Wii. Later.
-threeball
Can't wait to resell.
The people I am with are really nice. This one guy is super rich and he ordered pizza, went to Costco down the street and got drinks and snacks and all. We have our tents set up. The 7 others I am with are nice. It is me, my friend(both 19 years old), 4 high school kids, and two parents. We had a game of 3 on 3 football in the parking lot about an hour ago. It's not bad.
The weather is bad, though. It's 38 degrees with a 30 mph wind. It's brutal but thats what tents are for. That one rich guy also bought us hand warmers and those foil spacing blankets.
The management with the store are cool too. They let us in and let us sit on the armchairs to watch TV until they closed. That was nice.
The wirleless internet connection is strong here. I am able to surf the web but I want to cosnerve my laptop battery.
Pictures coming soon. About 34 hours to go. It opens at 8 friday.
This is my 7th console camp out, and this is by far the best people and fun wise. It's also my longest. My previous longest was 18 for the Game Cube and 14 for the Xbox360. The weather is the 2nd worse though, only beaten by the torrentual 40 degree downpour for the Game Cube.
It's not bad and this is totally worth it. I wonder what I should use my money for? Can't wait for the Wii. Later.
-threeball
Can't wait to resell.
hukasmokincaterpillar
Member
threeball said:
:lol
I hope you get pneumonia.
Finally had a chance to check out the local anticipation tonight. Out doing some errands anyway sooo why don't I see if Best Buy has a kiosk setup yet? No kiosk but a dozen tents of the sleeps-half-a-dozen-comfortably variety took up the sidewalk on one side of the BBY entrance with about 30-40 people milling about. Fascinating.
Then I tried Target and they had a kiosk. Now if the screen I saw is calibrated the same as they have it at other Targets then there's no fair way to judge game visuals too closely. They've got sharpness and brightness cranked which is searing out a lot of finer detail.
So I played some Motorstorm (which seems to use the motion controls and triggers just fine, Bebpo) and flipped back and forth between standard analog controls and motion controls and found myself getting into the game much more with the motion controls. For the first few seconds I had a tendency to oversteer using the motion controls, esp. on the lighter vehicles but it only took a minute to adjust. You can also use the motion controls to control pitch on the motorbikes. Very satisfying using the motion controls all around.
The way the female riders sway and shift in the saddle on the bikes is absolutely mesmerizing...props to whichever artist at Evo studios was responsible for bringing them to life - I think the ladies of Motorstorm are going to be responsible for more unintentional crashes than anything else.
Then I tried Target and they had a kiosk. Now if the screen I saw is calibrated the same as they have it at other Targets then there's no fair way to judge game visuals too closely. They've got sharpness and brightness cranked which is searing out a lot of finer detail.
So I played some Motorstorm (which seems to use the motion controls and triggers just fine, Bebpo) and flipped back and forth between standard analog controls and motion controls and found myself getting into the game much more with the motion controls. For the first few seconds I had a tendency to oversteer using the motion controls, esp. on the lighter vehicles but it only took a minute to adjust. You can also use the motion controls to control pitch on the motorbikes. Very satisfying using the motion controls all around.
The way the female riders sway and shift in the saddle on the bikes is absolutely mesmerizing...props to whichever artist at Evo studios was responsible for bringing them to life - I think the ladies of Motorstorm are going to be responsible for more unintentional crashes than anything else.
