Australian Gamer Feature :: Why the PlayStation 3 Sucks

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Why the PlayStation 3 Sucks

Matt gives off 12 reasons why he doesn't like the Playstation 3 after recently purchasing one

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Ok, so I've been using the PS3 for some time now, and I've come up with a list of questions or minor niggles with it, mostly from an interface point of view. I'm aware that many of these may be specific to me. But hey, I'm ok with that. I'm the one writing this. See how that works?

I was going to be neutral and call it "Playstation 3 Questions", but where's the fun in that?

Matt's list of reasons the PlayStation 3 Sucks

1. Weird noises
Seriously. The Playstation 3 is noisy and I don't mean in terms of external fan noise, etc. It has a constant signal buzz at anything over about 40% volume, and is noticable enough that I repeatedly tried unplugging it and plugging it in, messing with the cables, etc, before I suddenly realized the TV was "a bit loud" and it would go away by itself when I turned it down. I've never seen another device with that level of background noise. It might not be noisy like that if you use its optical out to a home theatre system, but if it is... boy oh boy! Aside from the general buzz there's a louder and quite annoying hum that comes in at random times. I think it's when the CPU is thinking extra hard or the cooler kicks in, or something like that. It's quite intrusive, and really not acceptable.

2. Inconsistent interface

The PS3s XMB is really bizarrely styled in that all of the icons on the bar have a consistent theme... except the PSN icon. Which is UTTERLY DIFFERENT TO EVERYTHING ELSE. Why? It's stupid.

3. Lack of Thumbnailing

If you look at lists of Movies, for example, you'll see them all displayed with a generic "movie" icon. Why? Windows XP is advanced enough to pull out the first frame as a thumbnail, and it's a bajillion years old. Hell, older versions of windows used to do it too. Even portable players that have the capability to do movies will do it. Even BluRay disks, the latest and greatest Sony proprietary format totally lacks any thumbnail functionality. Why not? Why is that not part of the standard? I've seen software DVD players that put the cover of the DVD in an info panel. Why can the PS3 NOT do that?

4. Total disconnect from PC

I have a wireless network setup at home. Why can I neither transfer files to nor from my PC? I want to dump some songs on the thing. Can't. I want to put an image on it (see below). Can't. Why can't I copy a video across to watch? I'm not asking to play it via the PS3, just to transfer it. Why can't I? Sure, I can use a Media Server, but...

5. Media Server

The first thing that comes up when you try to play a movie, music, or photo is "Search for Media Server". Good luck actually finding any information on what the hell a media server even is, though. Why do Sony not offer a simple software solution for this? Sure there are some solutions, once you google for a while to find out what the media server protocol is (DLNA), etc. After several days of searching forums and trying multiple software solutions I finally got it working. And it's so slow and clumsy that it's useless. Surely even a wireless network can transfer a 5 meg mp3 in less than 3 minutes.

6. Turning off

This one IS just me, I have the google searches to prove it. Initially when I got my PS3 it would randomly turn off, leaving a giant blue screen to excite me. Then it would turn back on and back to game I go. It turned out to be caused by my airconditioner. When the thermostat kicked it on it would draw current, dipping out the PS3 and causing it to fail to generate enough current to make a signal. This would happen when watching DVDs, playing games, etc. And it was really annoying. So I bought a power filter, essentially a very fancy surge protector, for the bargain price of only $90. Money well spent to fix the problem. At least... it would have been if it had fixed the problem. I've again never seen this issue on any other peice of electronic equipment, and I have absolutely no idea what to do about it. I can only assume that the current draw from the air con is too high for the power filter to compensate for. Short of actually buying a UPS (which are prohibitively expensive) I'm not sure what to do about it.

7. HD = Lies

I have a TV that tells me the resolution of any signal as it switches modes into it. Imagine my joy on noticing that almost all games actually run at 576i. Is that what HD is now? I kind of understand that not every game will run in 1080p, but surely 720p is not an unreasonable expectation for something that is supposed to be High Definition. Oddly enough, the interface and downloaded casual games are about all that run in 1080i.

7. Remote Play

I really liked the idea of remote play. It took me ages to get the settings on my network, PSP and PS3 configured right and then I exuberantly messed with it for about a minute and a half. There are a few games that support it (including Bionic Commando Rearmed, awesome!) but other than that you mostly just have the opportunity to browse the XMB... very very slowly. Sure you can watch video clips from it over the interweb (I haven't tried it) but... why? The main thing I was enthusiastic about was simple - the ability to watch a DVD from my PS3 to the PSP. Awesome! That way I could have my PS3 running the DVD while I have my PSP beside me as I work. Watching Buffy. Again. Guess again. While you can stream high definition video files across the remote play system you cannot stream DVD or BluRay. Because... you can't...

8. Updates

I downloaded and installed an update the other day. I was prompted to install. I chose not to. I wanted to download a video first. I then found that almost the entire interface for the PS3 is locked until you install the update. OK. Fine. Cool. Install. No no, no rush. I'm happy for you to completely lock my system while you install your little thing. Finished. Ok... what did you install? I mean... where are the new features? What did you do? Where's the update log, the list of changes? Where's the little bit of publicity saying what was in it?

9. Worst Music Interface Ever

Narrowly beating out their own PSP interface if purely by virtue of being the same but with greater unused potential, the PS3s music interface is a new world of lameness. You can't do any sorting, and though it does have playlists they suck like Yug's mum. Excitingly there are an entire 3 visualisations absolutely none of which do anything interesting. At all. And you can't select them from a list. You have to press square and cycle through them.

10. Poor Customisation

Notice how everyone has lame default icons on the chat thingy? That's because you can't put your own on. When I say "can't" I meant that Sony have gone out of their way to make it really really hard. I have a special custom icon that you see here to the left. See that? It would make a perfect PS3 icon, no? That's uploaded through a content management system and embedded in HTML on a remote server, directly from here, as I wrote this. Meantime I can't get the same fucking picture to move the 5 metres to my fucking PS3. See point 4. Of course, I CAN do it. I wouldn't want to give the impression it wasn't possible. How? I have to copy it to the PSP via USB. The PSP has a flat battery at the moment, of course. I naievely assumed that battery drain would be minimised by being turned off. Silly me. So it's charging at the moment. When it's done I can use USB, transfer to the PSP, then transfer via USB to the PS3. How high tech. I might as well carve it on a fucking rock.

11. Where's the Fucking Clock?

The PSP has a clock at the top right. You don't need it often but it's there and what the hell, right? It would be more useful on the PS3, which you might often be meandering on late at night. Yet the PS3 by contrast has a vast emptiness at the top right. And no capacity to put a clock there. Every time I want to know the time I have to either find my phone (usually by calling it because I lost it) or go to "settings" -> "time settings". How's about a little clock, Sony? How hard is that?

12. Playstation Store

I'm routinely disappointed by the quality and quantity of the Playstation Store. The US version has a little more stuff than us. Why? Put some decent music in there. Put some movies that aren't self-serving promotions for products that (keep up here) we clearly already own.

So there we go, that's my list. I know I omitted a few things (like a shortage of games), but they're the sort of things that will be improved simply by time. This list, though, is the things that have personally bothered me, reducing the experience for me, and in many cases I think are things that really shouldn't have been done or should have been done right in the first place.

I've no doubt I'll stir up some flaming from the fanboys, but I say... bring it on. PS3 owners, what is it that bugs you? Anything I've mentioned? Anything I've missed?

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