New to Blu? Buy a PS3: the most featured BD hardware available... - Page 22

Jari K · 09-24-2008, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

Thanks for the pointer, Jari. I knew I could count on you.

What can I say, I can´t resist of talking game consoles.. (and how good "PS3 upscaling" is..

).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

Maybe Tomb Raider and some basic FF (after lighter fare like Sonic Hedgehog or similar) might be of interest at some point since he likes Pokemon and such -- we don't want to steer him toward the more violent stuff anyhow.

Well the problem is, that "Pokémon" (like "Mario", "Donkey Kong", "Zelda", "Metroid", "Kirby"..) are owned by Nintendo, so perhaps DS is the choice then? Or did you have that already? I love my PSP, but I can´t take anything away from DS. Kids love those games (and adults too!

).

You don´t really gain *that* much from "PSP & PS3"-combination, so perhaps DS is a better choice for your kid? Just wondering here...

Then again in graphics wise, PSP seems to be more-or-less superior (one quick link here: http://www.pspsa.com/2008/04/psp-vs-...omparison.html - take with that "grain of salt", of course)... Some actually say, that PSP is a bit "too good" and advanced, when it comes to handheld consoles. I mean DS has been cheaper and all that (partly) because of that (other huge factor is the games, of course and "Nintendo" brand). Again (like with PS3), PSP was (still is?) more expensive (vs DS) when it came out and the price scared away some customers (since people tend to look at the price very closely). Now PSP is doing much better, though (like also PS3 - we can again learn something from this.. these things take some time..)

Like I said, I´m not that experienced player with PSP (I tend to spend my time with the "big boys" - consoles, I mean..

), so I´m not fully sure how many QUALITY (=as good as "Mario" etc from DS) kid-friendly games they actually have. They´ve "Ape Escape Academy 2", "Daxter", "Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures", "Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy", "LocoRoco", "MediEvil Resurrection", "Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters", "Secret Agent Clank", "Sonic Rivals 2", "Super Monkey Ball Adventure", "Worms: Open Warfare 2"... and "Crash: Mind over Mutant" coming. So there are some good titles. And "Manhunt 2", of course! (just kidding..

).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Atkins

This is why my PS3 and my HD-A2 HD-DVD player make a killer combo.

PS3 is at least "as good" (if not better) in upscaling than any Toshiba-model. But yes, Toshiba has quality upscaling.

Eric-S · 09-24-2008, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jari K

PS3 is at least "as good" (if not better) in upscaling than any Toshiba-model. But yes, Toshiba has quality upscaling.

I believe it can be said that at the very least the HD-XA2 out performs the PS3 and all of the other toshiba lines.

Jari K · 09-24-2008, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric-S

I believe it can be said that at the very least the HD-XA2 out performs the PS3 and all of the other toshiba lines.

Well, I have XE1 (which is the same as "XA2", but was sold in Europe) and I have compared the two (with "full 1080p" and via HDMI only, since I have 1080p-LCD). PS3 has so much power, that it´s actually not a huge surprise that it can do such a good job in upscaling.

But I guess we have as many opinions as we have the "pair of eyes", so these things always comes partly as a "matter of opinion". That will be always the case in the forums. I don´t claim that my conclusion is "definite" or something, but it´s good enough for me.

Chris Atkins · 09-24-2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jari K

PS3 is at least "as good" (if not better) in upscaling than any Toshiba-model. But yes, Toshiba has quality upscaling.

My eyes don't lie though. And lots of other people have the same opinion.

Man-Fai Wong · 09-26-2008, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jari K

Well the problem is, that "Pokémon" (like "Mario", "Donkey Kong", "Zelda", "Metroid", "Kirby"..) are owned by Nintendo, so perhaps DS is the choice then? Or did you have that already? I love my PSP, but I can´t take anything away from DS. Kids love those games (and adults too!

).

You don´t really gain *that* much from "PSP & PS3"-combination, so perhaps DS is a better choice for your kid? Just wondering here...

No, I don't have the DS, and I'm aware that Nintendo owns Pokemon, et al and is unwilling to allow those games to be released on competing platforms. However, I thought I heard something about hacked versions of such games -- though again, I'm not sure if we're allowed to talk about that here. I even found some YouTube clips demonstrating some Pokemon game on the PSP, but then again, maybe it's just a hoax using the PSP's video playback to "demo" (some video capture of) the game.

Anyway, I'm not looking to have my kid spend tons of time playing games on any portable, and the PSP will probably have enough kid-friendly games as is though my son would prefer to have Pokemon included there. I just like that the PSP seems much more versatile than something like the DS and can be used for other things like music and video playback, occasional brief web access (though it's not clear to me how useful that will actually be), etc. And like I said, choosing it over the DS (plus an extra iPod Nano) is only something that might make sense in my particular situation. If the goal is simply to make my son as happy as possible right now w/out concern for anything else, then yeah, I'd just get the DS for him, but that's not really our only (or maybe even primary) goal.

_Man_

Jari K · 09-26-2008, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

No, I don't have the DS, and I'm aware that Nintendo owns Pokemon, et al and is unwilling to allow those games to be released on competing platforms.

Well, it´s the normal "business decision" from Nintendo, Sony and MS. Only these "3-party companies" releases games in multiple consoles (even some of them are "exclusives", though).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

However, I thought I heard something about hacked versions of such games -- though again, I'm not sure if we're allowed to talk about that here.

I guess both PSP and DS (?) has their "homebrew"-stuff (at least PSP). It´s not exactly legal, since this also means that you can play the pirated games (there are plenty of "homemade", free-stuff also, though, so not everything is "illegal"). IMO it´s not worth the hassle (I want to have the official games anyway), but that´s just me, of course. If you want more info, it´s best to use Google..

This "time-issue" is actually quite interesting. My sister´s kid (around 12 years old now, I guess) spends some time with various games (both PC and consoles - he doesn´t have PS3/Xbox 360/Wii yet, though) and I believe he already has done some "own games" with his PC (very basic and all that, but still). And he loves "Spore" (where you can create creatures and stuff like that - huge PC-game at the moment). So in the future, perhaps he´ll be making "Halo 10" or something..

I guess my point is, that it´s good to have certain "limits" (well, obviously) with the kids, but these games are not as "evil" as many think (not really talking about you, Man-Fai - mainly people that have never played games themselves). You can actually "learn" many things just by playing these games. And like with films, games have also "ratings". Parents should always respect those. 12-year old kid can´t play "GTA4", that´s for sure.

Bob_L · 09-26-2008, 01:02 PM

The DS/PSP conversation is a bit OT, but let me add one more thing.

Homebrew on the DS can be enabled VERY easily with cartridge-based devices. They're plug-and-play and cost about $30 plus another $10-$30 for RAM.

Once installed, the DS has access to homebrew media players (movies and mp3 files), e-book readers (the little screens are REALLY sharp for text display), calendar programs, web browser, and so on. Suddenly, this little $130 "game system" becomes a VERY versatile handheld device.

Man-Fai Wong · 09-26-2008, 04:59 PM

Actually, what I could *really* use is a fun PS3 (or even PSP or old XBox) game that would help my kid w/ his violin practices.

At the moment, that's really the main motivation for me to consider getting a portable console for him at all (as a big incentive for him to practice and practice well).

Otherwise, I had already said "no" about this when he asked before.

Too bad there isn't a Violin Hero game for this, but then again, such a game would probably just make matters worse.

Anyhoo, my apologies for going so far OT w/ this PSP tangent...

_Man_

MarkHastings · 09-28-2008, 02:30 PM

Sorry to quote my own post, but I think it got lost in all of the OT conversations (one which was my fault

).

Does anyone have any answers to this?

Quote:

I've been reading about the IR remotes and haven't been paying close attention, but is it true that the Nyko remote won't turn on/off the PS3? The reason I ask is that I have the Harmony 880 remote and want to be able to use it with the PS3 as a BD player.

I've heard about the IR2BT, but the web site says it's sold out and they're not sure when new ones will be coming in. Are there any other remotes (with the USB IR plug) that will allow full control with my Harmony remote??

EDIT: I read that one of the reasons why you can't turn the PS3 on (with an IR remote) is because the USB port isn't powered when the PS3 is off. And the reason the IR2BT works is because it gets it's power from 2 AA's so as to not rely on the PS3 for power.

So it appears that this is the only way to turn on the PS3...i.e by finding a powered IR->Bluetooth convertor.