PS3 101: New user's guide to the PS3 (ask questions here -- TMK is on duty)

[quote name='The Mana Knight']Well, be sure to check it on the XMB before playing, since the Jabra BT125 is known to sometimes known to not automatically connect (well, what I mean is before playing Warhawk, make sure it's connected under the Accessory settings, since sometimes it will not connect).[/quote]


Yay... I was hoping that the bundled headset wouldn't have connection issues. Oh well. I'll deal with it.
 
[quote name='cdietschrun']Hey all-

It's been tough to read through all this but I have a question concerning Rock Band. I bought a 60GB PS3 and want to know how I can get my red guitar from GH2 (dont know the name so won't try to use the wrong one) to work with the PS3? That way I can get all 4 people playing?[/quote]

When you say all 4 people, are you talking about getting the controller to work with Rock Band? If so, I do not believe that the GH2 controllers work at all with Rock Band on PS3.
 
[quote name='cdietschrun']How do people play Rock Band with 4 people then on the PS3? What do I need to do to make my red GH2 guitar work on the Rock Band PS3? If at all?[/QUOTE]I thought I heard some spot a Nyko guitar, but new guitars are coming soon.
 
[quote name='lilboo']Now don't say YES just to promote the PS3.. LOL

Is the PS3 still my cheapest option for Blu Ray?[/QUOTE]
No. There are a couple cheaper options there but I've heard horror stories about the Samsung players. The PS3 is still the best *value* though.
 
So I have a question. I've owned my ps3 since christmas time, and was wondering if what it's doing is normally, or if I should be concerned.

Whenever It changes to a game or movie (dvd or blu ray) it goes to fine static across the screen (no sound, just static) and sometimes it will change like the resolution is changing (gets really small and goes to the corner) or sometimes it will just be half the screen.

Now, my brother works at gamestop repair center and tells me that this is not normal. But he doesnt fix ps3's so I thought i'd ask some people who have them. I would be under the impression that it should just go from XMB screen to black to loading the game\movie.

Anyways, everything else works fine, just that loading is a bit wonky.
 
whenever i change a movie or a game in my ps3 the screen blanks out for a sec til the resolution is changed. I dont get any static however.
 
[quote name='sevin300zx']So I have a question. I've owned my ps3 since christmas time, and was wondering if what it's doing is normally, or if I should be concerned.

Whenever It changes to a game or movie (dvd or blu ray) it goes to fine static across the screen (no sound, just static) and sometimes it will change like the resolution is changing (gets really small and goes to the corner) or sometimes it will just be half the screen.

Now, my brother works at gamestop repair center and tells me that this is not normal. But he doesnt fix ps3's so I thought i'd ask some people who have them. I would be under the impression that it should just go from XMB screen to black to loading the game\movie.

Anyways, everything else works fine, just that loading is a bit wonky.[/QUOTE]
That's probably normal. It's changing resolutions and it's probably more about your t.v. than the PS3. Not that there's anything to worry about at all.
 
[quote name='torifile']That's probably normal. It's changing resolutions and it's probably more about your t.v. than the PS3. Not that there's anything to worry about at all.[/QUOTE]Yeah, his PS3 is fine, just the TV. For some TVs (usually the not so big brand name like Polaroid, Akai, etc.) will probably have HDMI handshaking issues with the PS3 (my old TV had it). My new TV (Toshiba) doesn't have any problem.
 
Anyone else's controller periodically "freeze" (if I'm holding left when it freezes it will keep acting like I'm holding left even after I stop) for a few seconds when it isn't connected via wire. So far I've only noticed it while playing PS2 games, but then again I've yet to play a PS3 game without the wire.

I did a search and glanced through the results but didn't find anything.
 
That freezing is likely interference caused by other wireless devices, or other high powered EM interference generating devices. Make sure that while you're using your controller you don't have your cell phone right next to it, or that your speaker system isn't generating extra EM interference, or just your regular household cordless phone or wireless router.

The "freeze" in the controls where something like the left dpad gets stuck is actually some signal interfering with the signal the controller sends that let's the console know that you stopped pressing the left dpad.
 
[quote name='Vanigan']That freezing is likely interference caused by other wireless devices, or other high powered EM interference generating devices. Make sure that while you're using your controller you don't have your cell phone right next to it, or that your speaker system isn't generating extra EM interference, or just your regular household cordless phone or wireless router.

The "freeze" in the controls where something like the left dpad gets stuck is actually some signal interfering with the signal the controller sends that let's the console know that you stopped pressing the left dpad.[/quote]

:whistle2:k

I'll try switching the channels on my router. Hopefully that will work.

I never noticed a freeze with my 360 or Wii so thought maybe it could've been a hardware/firmware issue.
 
Is there a PS3 compatible dance mat available? My daughter is itching to get the DDR Disney Channel edition, but I don't want to shell out $50 for the game/pad combo if they won't work on our 80gb system.
 
[quote name='eshbums']Is there a PS3 compatible dance mat available? My daughter is itching to get the DDR Disney Channel edition, but I don't want to shell out $50 for the game/pad combo if they won't work on our 80gb system.[/QUOTE]First off there are two problems:
-DDR Disney Channel, due to being new, may not work on the 80GB PS3 yet (possibly even the 20/60GB one) until after an update (since some games will have an issue early on).

-There is a site that sells dance pads for the PS3, but currently it doesn't say if it really works with the 80GB model. The Pelican PS2 to USB adapter works great for dance pads I hear, but finding that adapter is quite hard right now.
 
[quote name='cdietschrun']So, I may be dense, but how are people playing PS3 Rock Band with 4 people?[/QUOTE]Either online or if someone is playing a friend who has a copy of Rock Band (that came with a guitar), that's how. There's guitars coming soon.
 
I have a TV capable of 1080p and my PS3 is hooked up via HDMI cable.
Here's my question:
Is the PS3 supposed to upconvert my games to 1080p or no? Every game I've played on my PS3 (Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Resistance) have all down converted to 720p and it's kind of disappointing. I thought Sony fixed this problem?
 
[quote name='Autumn Star']I have a TV capable of 1080p and my PS3 is hooked up via HDMI cable.
Here's my question:
Is the PS3 supposed to upconvert my games to 1080p or no? Every game I've played on my PS3 (Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Resistance) have all down converted to 720p and it's kind of disappointing. I thought Sony fixed this problem?[/QUOTE]



The PS3 doesn't upconvert PS3 games. Whatever resolution the game is developed with, is what you get. Some game companies run at 1080p.. for instance, Sony's first party sports games are mostly 1080p.

NBA 2k8, and Call of Duty 4 are both 1080p games.


Its really a developer issue, rather than trying to provide you with non-native 1080p, Sony wants their devs to develop their games at 1080p The PS3 can upconvert PS3 games, but its a feature of the system that Sony won't let their devs use. Sony doesn't want to be like the 360 and allow devs to give native 720p, then use the upscaler to jump it to 1080p. I think overall, games look much better when their in native 1080p and not upscaled... I guess its a double edge sword... cause you got your 1080p tv and you want games at 1080p.


There's a trade off of processing power for resolution.. for instance to get Halo 3 to run properly the game's native resolution is 640p.
 
Im looking at buying a PS3 soon, but I wanted to know if now is the time to buy one or if its a better bet to hold off. Ive been reading about the rumors of a possible 120-160gb model being released. I just don't want to spend $500 on the 80gb for it to be replaced in a month with a 120gb model at the same price.
 
[quote name='insomniac190']Im looking at buying a PS3 soon, but I wanted to know if now is the time to buy one or if its a better bet to hold off. Ive been reading about the rumors of a possible 120-160gb model being released. I just don't want to spend $500 on the 80gb for it to be replaced in a month with a 120gb model at the same price.[/QUOTE]

There will always be rumors of something new coming out no matter the product line. And there always is.

If 80GB is worth $499 to you now, will it no be worth $499 to you tomorrow? If you want a PS3 just buy it.
 
[quote name='Autumn Star']I have a TV capable of 1080p and my PS3 is hooked up via HDMI cable.
Here's my question:
Is the PS3 supposed to upconvert my games to 1080p or no? Every game I've played on my PS3 (Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Resistance) have all down converted to 720p and it's kind of disappointing. I thought Sony fixed this problem?[/QUOTE]

Thomas96 probably already covered this, but just so it's clear:

-Those games aren't being converted-they're rendered at 720p and the TV scales them to it's native resolution.

-The X-Box 360 doesn't have ANY games that support 1080p. It has a scaler chip in it (like the one in your TV) that takes the games (which are rendered usually at 720p, but sometimes lower) and scales them to the resolution selected in the system menu. This is no different from having your TV do it, unless you have a bad scaler in your TV.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']...NBA 2k8, and Call of Duty 4 are both 1080p games.[/QUOTE]

I didn't know that. That right there should be a huge selling point for the Playstation 3 version over the 360 version. The problem being of course that too many people (I think possibly even game critics) don't understand the difference between rendering something at a resolution, and scaling it to a resolution.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']I didn't know that. That right there should be a huge selling point for the Playstation 3 version over the 360 version. The problem being of course that too many people (I think possibly even game critics) don't understand the difference between rendering something at a resolution, and scaling it to a resolution.[/QUOTE]They aren't 1080p on PS3, despite the boxart saying that. I checked the resolution on my TV and it said 720p (while playing both games). What it means though is if someone has a TV that does not support 720p, it will render the image in 1080i or 1080p (if 720p is unchecked). My TV does do 1080p.
 
I have a question for 40 gb ps 3 owners are u experiencing any problems ? I am on my second 40gb model, just replaced it at CC, i was palying DMC 4 and it all of a sudden stopped reading any types of discs, i mean any. other than that it worked great just wouldnt read ny disks, i guess my question is: is that a common problem with 40 g models, or is it just me?
 
[quote name='insomniac190']Im looking at buying a PS3 soon, but I wanted to know if now is the time to buy one or if its a better bet to hold off. Ive been reading about the rumors of a possible 120-160gb model being released. I just don't want to spend $500 on the 80gb for it to be replaced in a month with a 120gb model at the same price.[/QUOTE]

F it get the 40gb model at Target right now with the $40 gift card. If you need a bigger drive they are cheap as heck, and it doesn't void the warranty.

The $40 gift card at target is the best deal in a while, and probably the best deal post Xmas.
 
[quote name='nohcho']I have a question for 40 gb ps 3 owners are u experiencing any problems ? I am on my second 40gb model, just replaced it at CC, i was palying DMC 4 and it all of a sudden stopped reading any types of discs, i mean any. other than that it worked great just wouldnt read ny disks, i guess my question is: is that a common problem with 40 g models, or is it just me?[/QUOTE]

I have not heard of any real PS3 problems, at least wide spread...
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']The X-Box 360 doesn't have ANY games that support 1080p. It has a scaler chip in it (like the one in your TV) that takes the games (which are rendered usually at 720p, but sometimes lower) and scales them to the resolution selected in the system menu. This is no different from having your TV do it, unless you have a bad scaler in your TV.[/quote]Of course box art is notoriously wrong from the xbox on up to current gen, but I was under the impression that Virtua Tennis 3 for the 360 is truly 1080p (not just written on the box art, but actually confirmed to be 1080p). It seems like a handful of other 360 games are as well.

I bumped up the old thread about this, but it got closed and referred to this thread and I've searched several pages, but don't have time to read all 51:

Is there a to play import PS3 games on a US 60GB PS3? I have several Japanese and European PS2 games I play on my PS2 (mainly my WRC series) and I'm hoping when I get my 60Gber that I can just have one PS console on my stand.

Thanks in advance.
 
[quote name='jdawgg76']Of course box art is notoriously wrong from the xbox on up to current gen, but I was under the impression that Virtua Tennis 3 for the 360 is truly 1080p (not just written on the box art, but actually confirmed to be 1080p). It seems like a handful of other 360 games are as well.

I bumped up the old thread about this, but it got closed and referred to this thread and I've searched several pages, but don't have time to read all 51:

Is there a to play import PS3 games on a US 60GB PS3? I have several Japanese and European PS2 games I play on my PS2 (mainly my WRC series) and I'm hoping when I get my 60Gber that I can just have one PS console on my stand.

Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]Let me put it this way:

PS3 games - Region free on ANY PS3
PS2 games - Region locked
PS1 games - Disc based is region locked. Download is region free.

If you want to play import PS3 games on a U.S. 60GB, you are okay. If you want to play your imported PS1/PS2 games on a 60GB U.S. console, they will not work.
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']Let me put it this way:

PS3 games - Region free on ANY PS3
PS2 games - Region locked
PS1 games - Disc based is region locked. Download is region free.

If you want to play import PS3 games on a U.S. 60GB, you are okay. If you want to play your imported PS1/PS2 games on a 60GB U.S. console, they will not work.[/quote]Sorry, I should have been more clear, although I did learn that PS3 games are region free. Thanks. More specifically, are there any workarounds for playing import PS2/PS1 games on a PS3; like Swap Magic on PS2 which could even force a PAL game to be played in NTSC, etc. I'm about to get a PS3 and have no interest in hardmodding it and voiding the warranty, etc., so I'm just looking for other methods.
 
[quote name='Snake2715']F it get the 40gb model at Target right now with the $40 gift card. If you need a bigger drive they are cheap as heck, and it doesn't void the warranty.

The $40 gift card at target is the best deal in a while, and probably the best deal post Xmas.[/QUOTE]

that's a good point, he can always get a hard drive, from newegg.com, and always check slickdeals.net and techdeas.net.

[quote name='The Mana Knight']They aren't 1080p on PS3, despite the boxart saying that. I checked the resolution on my TV and it said 720p (while playing both games). What it means though is if someone has a TV that does not support 720p, it will render the image in 1080i or 1080p (if 720p is unchecked). My TV does do 1080p.[/QUOTE]

The PS3 isn't supposed to render anything.. I thought everything was native. upscaling PS3 games is exactly what Sony doesn't want its devs doing.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']
The PS3 isn't supposed to render anything.. I thought everything was native. upscaling PS3 games is exactly what Sony doesn't want its devs doing.[/QUOTE]If it was native, I'd be seeing 1080p on my copy of NBA 2k8 when I play like I do with NG Sigma.
 
Alright, I have a question. I just bought a PS3 today, and set up everything, including an online account. However, when I tried to download games on PSN, nothing happened. The last time I tried I got error code 807 something. Any ideas?
 
[quote name='Snake2715']F it get the 40gb model at Target right now with the $40 gift card. If you need a bigger drive they are cheap as heck, and it doesn't void the warranty.

The $40 gift card at target is the best deal in a while, and probably the best deal post Xmas.[/quote]

I was planning on getting a 40gb up until I saw it doesnt have BC for any PS2 games. Are they ever gonna change this or does this deal apply to the 80gb as well? Thanks a lot.
 
[quote name='aznguyen316']80gb has software emu but the sku is gone so good luck finding it soon.[/quote]

I know the 80gb has software emu. Doesnt the changed sku for it imply there will be a new model soon? I was originally looking at 60gb because it had everything including hardware emu but its not possible to buy it in stores anymore.
 
[quote name='aznguyen316']80gb has software emu but the sku is gone so good luck finding it soon.[/QUOTE]To be more specific, it's 50% software emulation and 50% hardware (still uses the GS chip). The 40GB will probably play PS2 games eventually, but not until Sony finishes full PS2 emulation.
[quote name='Squall835']Alright, I have a question. I just bought a PS3 today, and set up everything, including an online account. However, when I tried to download games on PSN, nothing happened. The last time I tried I got error code 807 something. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]Restart your console and try again (sometimes just a weird issue). No luck, try re-configuring your internet. If there are still issues, let us know (I'd post a link about configuring your router). That's the first time I heard of the problem.
 
My K-marts still have 60 GB's, and I am wanting one for the BC.

Haven't been in those stores for a while though. Does anybody know how much they would be? I'm thinking $500, but I could be wrong.

Hopefully, they stay around long enough to get dropped down further in price.
 
[quote name='Rig']My K-marts still have 60 GB's, and I am wanting one for the BC.

Haven't been in those stores for a while though. Does anybody know how much they would be? I'm thinking $500, but I could be wrong.

Hopefully, they stay around long enough to get dropped down further in price.[/QUOTE]I'll put it this way, Sony themselves are never dropping the price of the 60GB, only retailers will. The 20GB and 60GB are two consoles SCEA no longer cares about because they take a massive loss on them ($240-$300 each). In your case, that will be your only bet to get a PS3 new (that's a 60GB), because once it's gone, it's gone (all retailers except maybe Sam's Club in my area with an overpriced bundle is sold out).

Right now they are still $500 at K-Mart, if they have them (that was my K-Mart when they had one damaged one left, but now it's gone).
 
[quote name='jdawgg76']Of course box art is notoriously wrong from the xbox on up to current gen, but I was under the impression that Virtua Tennis 3 for the 360 is truly 1080p (not just written on the box art, but actually confirmed to be 1080p). It seems like a handful of other 360 games are as well.[/quote]

I'm pretty sure they're not. New games all pretty much say 1080p, which really means 720p or below, scaled to as high as 1080p. A lot of magazine/media people don't seem to understand the difference, so reported it as being 1080p (heck, the marketing people for these companies probably don't understand the difference).

The 360 is at a big disadvantage for doing higher resolutions, as aside from that 10MB video cache, it's got basically half the system bandwidth of the PS3, and the higher the resolution, the less % of a complete image fits in to the cache (so there's a bigger performance drop off than even just the increase in resolution would indicate). If I'm remembering correctly, even at 720p with AA turned on an entire frame can't fit into the cache at once. At 1080p it would be less than half a single frame. That's why there's actually a minority of games that renders at LESS than 720p.

(Also the 360 MAY have half the ROPs of the PS3, although I don't think the PS3's ROPs have ever been publicly disclosed-and even if the PS3 has 16, it's still not REALLY up to doing 1080p in the vast majority of games.)

[quote name='Snake2715']F it get the 40gb model at Target right now with the $40 gift card. If you need a bigger drive they are cheap as heck, and it doesn't void the warranty.

The $40 gift card at target is the best deal in a while, and probably the best deal post Xmas.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, except I wouldn't want a 40GB model since there's no backwards compatibility. (Plus I haven't actually seen a Playstation 3 in stock for months now. I guess I'll have to wait/hope they replace the 80GB model with something else withi BC.)
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']
Yeah, except I wouldn't want a 40GB model since there's no backwards compatibility. (Plus I haven't actually seen a Playstation 3 in stock for months now. I guess I'll have to wait/hope they replace the 80GB model with something else withi BC.)[/QUOTE]It is being rumored that the new PS3 model (with a larger HDD) will have no PS2 BC, because Sony just doesn't plan to do it anymore (until there's a complete software emulation). Continuing to keep the PS2 BC (where some hardware component is needed) continues to keep PS3 more expensive than 360 (right now, it's just not possible to price a PS3 with PS2 BC for less than $480 (I'm taking about 40GB features here, but with PS2 BC) without taking a loss).
 
[quote name='The Mana Knight']To be more specific, it's 50% software emulation and 50% hardware (still uses the GS chip). The 40GB will probably play PS2 games eventually, but not until Sony finishes full PS2 emulation.
Restart your console and try again (sometimes just a weird issue). No luck, try re-configuring your internet. If there are still issues, let us know (I'd post a link about configuring your router). That's the first time I heard of the problem.[/quote]

Thanks for the help, it's working fine now. I think part of the problem was that my roommate is constantly streaming stuff on his computer when he's here, so that ate up a lot of bandwidth.
 
Hm, seems like monoprice is moving towards the 1.3a certified HDMI cables. I can't find the smaller-sized SKUs listed in the OP.
 
[quote name='PooperScooper1900']How do I adjust the Sixaxis' sensitivity? Thanks![/quote]They're gonna be found in-game if they're there at all.

[quote name='gunm']Hm, seems like monoprice is moving towards the 1.3a certified HDMI cables. I can't find the smaller-sized SKUs listed in the OP.[/quote]Yeah, they're moving towards those now. I'll update the OP with the correct links in a few days.
 
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