Basic Console Purchasing Guide

[vamsi_krishna]

Basic Console Purchase guide..

This thread lousily covers everything related to your queries about console purchase. It might be of different generation, scale. Nothing matters, if you want suggestions on consoles.. just post them.

So, to just warm you up, i'm posting what are the consoles available today.


PlayStation 3



Manufacturer: Sony
Date of Release: September, 2006
Units sold: 41.6 millions
variants: Release model: PS3 60GB(16999INR including a bonus Game)(not under production but available),
Slim variants(released in September,2010): PS3 40GB(17699INR),PS3 120GB(19,599INR), PS3 250Gb(21,599)

Features: Bluray Drive,
Cellbroadband Engine,
RSX chip,
Blutooth connectivity,
Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio bit streaming, etc.

Notable games: Resistance, Killzone 2, God of War 3, Uncharted, Motorstorm, Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet, etc.

Pros: Really.. Really poweful,
Efficient Bluray player,
Perfect Multimedia powerhouse,
Amazing First party developers,
Free online gaming with PSN,
A badass thing called PS MOVE.
A premium service named PSN+ which will allow users to grab betas, early demos, play classic PS games.

Cons: Subpar performance of Third party Titles,
A bit expensive,
PSN not as strong as its competitor XBL
Content downloaded with PSN+ account only lasts until the account last.


Go for it.. if you are looking for something amazing to play with, if you can spend money on titles.
Don't go for it.. If you are looking to play Multi platform titles more. If you don't have enough budget to purchase games

PS MOVE

PlayStation Move is a motion controller released by Sony, in September 2010. Most of the coming games are move compatible and an array of old games are supporting it with a patch. PS Move works in pair with PS Eye to deliver realistic motion controls. Known for its precision, PS Move has already gained a wide popularity.

Prices:

Move Starter Kit ( PS Move + PS Eye + Sports Champion Demo) = 3,650INR

Standalone Move Controller - Rs 2,499INR

But to get the maximum out of Playstation move, it needs to be coupled with the Sub-Controller. Much like WiiMote. A sub controller costs ~ 1690/-INR

Or.. you can get a PS3 Move bundle (PS3+PS MOVE+PS EYE+ Move starter disc) for 23,490INR



Xbox 360




Manufacturer: Microsoft
Date of release: November,2005
Units sold: 44.1 million
Variants: Release model: Xbox 360 Arcade(no bundled HDD)(11,599INR)=> Not in production
Slim Varient: Xbox 360 Slim(4gb flash memory) (14,599INR), Xbox 360 Slim(250GB HDD) (21,499INR)

Features: 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon, 500 MHz ATI Xenos, Built in Ethernet port, Builtin Wifi(only S models), Dolby 5.1


Notable Games: Halo, Forza, PGR, Gears of War, Fable, Alan wake, etc

Pros: Affordable,
Powerful than some of it's other competitors(Wii),
Amazing 3rd party lineup,
moddable,
Industry leading LIVE service
A cute li'l thing called 'kinect'

Cons: Weaker hardware than it's other competitors(ps3),
Poor first party lineup,
Features like matchmaking come at a cost of 60$/year, where as they are free with others

Go for it.. If you are low on budget, if you don't care much about features in your console, modding and ^^^^ing games, etc
Don't go fro it.. If you are in search of a multimedia solution, If you want more exclusive titles

Microsoft Kinect

With the Xbox Kinect, gamers can perform gestures without using any controller and have their virtual characters move the same way in the game, or manipulate objects on the screen as well as watch movies using voice commands. This gives the user a controller-free gaming experience through the Xbox 360 Kinect. This Mighty invention is already sending ripples among the technology industry, by being implemented in way, modes that no one has ever imagined. unlike PS Move, you need not to have a handful of controllers, devices to use Kinect. All you need is to turn on the Kinect sensor. And, you are good to go.

Micrsoft Xbox 360 Kinect will cost you around 9,990. And it includes, Kinect Adventures disc.

There is a Xbox 360 Kinect bundle (Xbox 360 + Kinect + Kinect adventures) which will cost you around 23k




Nintendo Wii




Manufacturer: Nintendo
Date of Release: September, 2006
Units sold: 76million
Variants: Standalone Bundle->13,500INR (Note: Wii isn't officially launched in inda, so.. no warranties, no official vendors)

Features:BM PowerPC-based CPU(729mhz),512 MB Internal flash memory,SD card, SDHC card Slot,ATI “Hollywood” Graphics, Built-in Wifi, Blutooth

Notable Games: Mario Galaxy, Legend of Zelda, Wii sports, No more Heroes

Pros: really cheap,VFM
great device for kids,
Lot of developer support(because of it's install base),
moddable,
bundeled motion controller,
Mr. Mario & Miss Zelda,


Cons: No hardcore titles,
Pathetic raw power,
High profile developers are a bit difficult to find here.


Go for it.. If you want to play with your mother, sister, girl friend. If you are shopping for kids.If you want a Break from so called "Regular Hardcore gaming"

Don't go for it.. If you want to play regular games, if you want stunningly good looking games, If you are looking for something that has service centers in india



Playstation 2



Manufacturer: Sony
Date of Release: March,2000
Units Sold: 146.9Millions
Variants: SCPH-9XXX (5,499)

Features:Emotion Engine CPU(290MHZ), DVD Drive, Dolby 5.1 AC3 Support, 10 years of Experience

Notable Games: Gran Turismo, God of War, Tekken, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, list goes on and on.....

Pros: Huge array of titles to choose form,
Really great start, if you are new to gaming
Economic
Moddable

Cons: previous generation console
Very Very few new releases
Almost at it's end (may be!)

Go For it.. If you want to play those awesome titles which you have missed, If you have a 10 year old kid asking for games.

Don't go for it.. If you want to play new releases, If you want Current Generation graphics.


With this.. we conclude our In-House console section.. next is gaming on the MOVE!


HandHeld Consoles:


Nintendo DS




Manufacturer: Nintendo
Date of Release: 2004
Units Sold: 135million(DS, DS L, DSXL, DSi)
Variants: DS, DS Lite, DS XL, DSi->(5000-6000INR)

Features: Touchscreen, 801.22Wifi, Clamshell design, Microphone

Any of the DS array of products are not officially available in india


PlayStation Portable



Manufacturer: Sony
Date of Release: December,2004
Units sold:62 Million
Variants: PSP 3000 (8,500INR), PSP GO (12,299INR)

Features: MIPS R400 CPU(333MHZ), 3.8Inch TFT LCD, Video Out, Microphone, Wifi


Official websites:

Playstation

Xbox 360

Nintendo Wii

PlayStation Portable

Nintendo DS


This was a very very quick run through about the current world consoles. If you have any doubts feel free to ask.

And, I will try my best to keep the prices upto date, but, there might be differences based on the place you live in or vendor.

P.S.: I'm a huge fan of Sony,PlayStation. I tried my best to write this post unbiased. If you see any biased points, please go easy on me.. and go easy on Typos, you might run into few.

Thanks to:
Ethan_Hunt for suggesting me to open a thread about console purchases ,our Admin ICO for making this thread sticky. Jojothedragon: for reminding about PSN+(which i overlooked) and a typo. Dinjo for pointing out a typo

[topgear]

that's a great guide - thanks for this.

[ico]

A thread which we really needed.

[vamsi_krishna]

If any one here notices the price changes in the market.. please drop a word here.

[skippednote]

Great Job Vamsi. But I dont find any problem in the PSN except its Free and you don't have to spend a nickel to play online.

[vamsi_krishna]

Yes, it is a great free service. But, servers are a bit difficult to find. And, not to mention occasional bugs, lack of features like cross game voice chat, etc.

But, it is free. Getting good for free is 60$ better than getting best for money. But, there are flaws none the less.

[skippednote]

Yes, it is a great free service. But, servers are a bit difficult to find. And, not to mention occasional bugs, lack of features like cross game voice chat, etc.

But, it is free. Getting good for free is 60$ better than getting best for money. But, there are flaws none the less.

I have never felt any problem on a shiity internet connection. I don't know what you are talking about. Never came across any bug.
And I dont find any advantage of Cross Game Chat .

[vamsi_krishna]

I have faced few log in problems. I don't know if they are there now.

Cross game chat is a edgy feature, it feels good to have one. So, that you and your buddy need not to be in a same game to chat something. But these are just few edges. PSN is indeed providing everything that MS is providing for free. All it needs is a bit polishing.

[skippednote]

Originally Posted by vamsi_krishna

I have faced few log in problems. I don't know if they are there now.

Cross game chat is a edgy feature, it feels good to have one. So, that you and your buddy need not to be in a same game to chat something. But these are just few edges. PSN is indeed providing everything that MS is providing for free. All it needs is a bit polishing.

Agreed

[JojoTheDragon]

Where is psn+ and why ain't it mentioned in the guide?

A cute li'l thing called 'Knicet'

yeah right.

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by jojothedragon

Where is psn+ and why ain't it mentioned in the guide?

Slow down cowboy! Vamsi has put in a good effort to piece a lot of information together. The least you could do is politely prompt for any additions or changes. If you have the specifics for PSN+, then fire away, I'll add it to the first post and credit your name for that information.

People, we are here to help construct a suitable guide for all the newbies to follow. Vamsi has obviously put in a great deal of his time, drafting this thread. So rather than posting directive/authoritative comments, it's best to list down the points you feel which need to be added and we'll take it from there.

It's a matter of contribution from everyone.

[dinjo_jo]

Its one of the best guides across lot of forums.

[vamsi_krishna]

Added PSN+ to PS3's Pros and Cons. And credited Jojothedragon.

[NVIDIAGeek]

Great work vamsi. You create some great useful threads. GJ.

And I would like you to add "Killzone 3" instead of 2. That makes it more awesome! (aweful for me) lulz

[ico]

Originally Posted by vamsi_krishna

great device for kids and adults alike,

Fixed.

[vamsi_krishna]

I don't remember typing "and adults alike"

you want me to add it?

[dinjo_jo]

Get the PlaySation 3 corrected

[vamsi_krishna]

corrected. credited.

[JojoTheDragon]

Originally Posted by Ethan_Hunt

Slow down cowboy! Vamsi has put in a good effort to piece a lot of information together. The least you could do is politely prompt for any additions or changes. If you have the specifics for PSN+, then fire away, I'll add it to the first post and credit your name for that information.

People, we are here to help construct a suitable guide for all the newbies to follow. Vamsi has obviously put in a great deal of his time, drafting this thread. So rather than posting directive/authoritative comments, it's best to list down the points you feel which need to be added and we'll take it from there.

It's a matter of contribution from everyone.

Getting credited was never my intention. I just want to see justice done to the ps3. You know that I'm as "high as the NGeek" when it comes to the P-S-3

[vickybat]

@ vamsi_krishna

Buddy ps3 is also moddable now thanks to a little usb device called jailbreak. Its available now and now ps3 can play backups and other downloaded games.

[Robin van Persie]

Originally Posted by vickybat

@ vamsi_krishna

Buddy ps3 is also moddable now thanks to a little usb device called jailbreak. Its available now and now ps3 can play backups and other downloaded games.

First off, Jailbreak is not a mod, it is a hack.
I think, at the time when OP posted, although PSJailbreak was out.. PS3 games were using this new iso format(from the game 'medal of honor') which will make the games inaccessible for PSjailbreak. But later, They have updated the Jailbreak. And now, they can run games. But you should note that, PSjailbreak will not work once you update the firmware of PS3 as sony locked the Dev-mode on the console via patch though which jalbreak is running the dumps.

But Now, as the PSDowngrade hack is out, thorough which one can downgrade their Playstation 3 firmware, no matter what their FW version is. But still there are speculations that question PSdowngrade compatibility with Future firmware updates(although PSjailbreak team claims something different).

[v_joy]

How gud is Playstation 3's internet browser..?
Is it as simple as pairing PS3 with router cum modem (Beetel 450TC1 which i got with Airtel broadband connection)..?

Actually I just bought an HDTV, my dad wants internet access in it so he was planning to buy a cheap (20k) htpc for the TV. So i was wondering if PS3 could take care of that need, I might convince him to buy PS3 instead. A win-win situation.
Before I do that I need confirmation that PS3 does all that.
websites: gmail, yahoo, hotmail, facebook, youtube, TDF () etc..

Other queries:
1.Are wireless keyboard + mouse for PS3 available? How much do they cost?
2.How many controllers do u get with the console?
3.If i dont want to store movies on PS3's drive (I have portable HDD for that) Will 40GB HDD suffice?
I'm assuming HDD is used only to store the saved games and stuff downloaded from PSN. And games run directly from Bluray. No installation.

I'm sorry if these questions sound stupid. Please don't ridicule.

[cooljeba]

Originally Posted by v_joy

How gud is Playstation 3's internet browser..?
Is it as simple as pairing PS3 with router cum modem (Beetel 450TC1 which i got with Airtel broadband connection)..?

Actually I just bought an HDTV, my dad wants internet access in it so he was planning to buy a cheap (20k) htpc for the TV. So i was wondering if PS3 could take care of that need, I might convince him to buy PS3 instead. A win-win situation.
Before I do that I need confirmation that PS3 does all that.
websites: gmail, yahoo, hotmail, facebook, youtube, TDF () etc..

Other queries:
1.Are wireless keyboard + mouse for PS3 available? How much do they cost?
2.How many controllers do u get with the console?
3.If i dont want to store movies on PS3's drive (I have portable HDD for that) Will 40GB HDD suffice?
I'm assuming HDD is used only to store the saved games and stuff downloaded from PSN. And games run directly from Bluray. No installation.

I'm sorry if these questions sound stupid. Please don't ridicule.

No these are infact good questions if you are first time owner.. I never thought about these when I had bought it

1.Are wireless keyboard + mouse for PS3 available?

How much do they cost? : Yes You can get wireless Logitech Keyboards+mouse for as low as 1300 Rs

2.How many controllers do u get with the console? :
1
3.If i dont want to store movies on PS3's drive (I have portable HDD for that) Will 40GB HDD suffice?
I'm assuming HDD is used only to store the saved games and stuff downloaded from PSN. And games run directly from Bluray. No installation.

No most of the games these days do use HDD for installing the game.. for eg. GT5 takes almost 9-10 GB of hard disk space for installation..

I would recommend to atleast go for a 120 GB one.. or the beauty of PS3 is the hard disk can be replaced without the warranty getting void. You can replace it with any 2.5" Laptop hard disk.. so even if you buy a 40 GB hard disk PS3 you can always upgrade..

Regarding your external drive.. it should be formatted to Fat32 as PS3 doesn't read from anyother formats including NTFS..

Regarding the browser, yes it is a decent one.. It can open all those sites mentioned above.. but again you can't compare it with leading browsers like Firefox, chrome etc.. You can also browse using the Move Controller.. where you directly point the controller to the link on tv and click it..

[v_joy]

@cooljeba:
thanks for replying.

I have some more queries.
1. The one controller we get with PS3 , is it wireless?
2. If PS3 only reads FAT32, then how come people transfer HD movies on PS3's HDD?? (movies greater than 4GB in size.) Because FAT32 file system cannot hold files greater than 4gb.
3.Does PS3 supports (wireless) mouse too? (i guess not, but still.. no harm in confirming..)
4. Is PS3 locked to a region? If I get PS3 games from US or europe will it run?

[vamsi_krishna]

1. The one controller we get with PS3 , is it wireless?
Yes, Wireless controller with a USB cable for charging.

2. If PS3 only reads FAT32, then how come people transfer HD movies on PS3's HDD?? (movies greater than 4GB in size.) Because FAT32 file system cannot hold files greater than 4gb.
Yea, it still has 4gb file size limitation for external devices. you have to split the file into parts to get it done or you can steam the content directly from your PC

3.Does PS3 supports (wireless) mouse too? (i guess not, but still.. no harm in confirming..)
PS3 supports most of the bluetooth 2.0 devices. It might be Mouse, Ear phones, mic, etc.

4. Is PS3 locked to a region? If I get PS3 games from US or europe will it run?
You can pickup any retail game and play it on any PS3. But DLCs are region coded.

[v_joy]

^whoa.. "stream content directly from yr pc"
sounds awesome..!
I'd sure like to learn how to do this once I get my PS3.
Thanx a lot for yr reply.

I'm planning to buy PS3 120GB + 1 extra wireless controller + Move (not sure abt this )
I don't know if it will be useful or not. (besides a use pointed out by cooljeba).
But then i guess soon it will be compatible with most of the games, and a little exercise wont hurt..

How much will the controller cost? And are there any promotional schemes of PS3 + Move combo going around..?

[vamsi_krishna]

PS3 controller (Dual Shock 3) is around 2599INR.

There is PS3 move bundle.. which comes with 320GB PS3+ Move controller+ Eye toy+ A free game. Bundle will cost you around 23000INR.

[Ethan_Hunt]

Originally Posted by v_joy

2. If PS3 only reads FAT32, then how come people transfer HD movies on PS3's HDD?? (movies greater than 4GB in size.) Because FAT32 file system cannot hold files greater than 4gb.

PS3's Internal drive structure gets formatted on ex-FAT32 file system. This allows files greater than 4GB to be stored directly on it's internal HDD.

[Rohan_B]

PS3 OWNS!!!
Please don't kill me Xbox fanboys!! :O :O

[Baker]

am in a confusion whether going for Xbox360 4gb or 160 gb....
one is with 15k other is 22k....

what actually the size makes difference.. ?