Birth Of A New Era

There have been three important dates in my life to date, 26th August 2006 my wedding day, 16th May 1992 when Port Vale won on there first trip to Wembley against Stockport County and finally 23rd March 2007 the day I got my hands on Sony's new game console PlayStation 3. As those of you who know me will already know I can lose day's as it is playing on my PlayStation 2, and I thought that this games machine would take some beating. The anticipation surrounding the PS3 has been huge. Sony have had the machine in development hell for the last few years, and many people thought it would never appear on the market. The arrival of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii have placed Sony under huge pressure to succeed with this new machine and on my first impression they have pulled on there lucky stars again. The shear playability of the PS2 was its strength which led to it being the world's most popular console, with literally millions of game's available to suit all tastes. The PS3 has a lot of work cut out to compete with its older brother.

So as I waited with anticipation for the U.K. release date of the PS3, I thought with the price tag that I should do as much research as possible before purchasing the machine. Of course the first thing you want to know is if you will be still able to play the PS2 games on the PS3. To date on purchase of the machine about 30% of the PS2 titles and 70% of the PSone titles will directly play on the PS3. This is because Sony have removed a chip from the European version of the machine to speed up the distribution of the console, but fear not you will be able to download the updates to your PS3 to allow you to play all the other titles from what will no doubt be peoples vast back catalogues. Sony have always prided themselves on "backward compatibility" of their PlayStation's and this is a bit of a blow for some people but to be honest nobody will of brought a PS3 just to play PS2 games. What would be the point! The new machine boasts a 60 gig hard drive built in and is basically like a small p.c. The vast computing power PS3 is capable of allows it to process huge amounts of information at once - and that means better games.With its Cell processor capable of supercomputer-like processing speeds, PS3 is able to compute huge amounts of data in 'real time'. Real time processing refers to when different components of a game - the graphics, sound, physics, and so on - are worked out as events in the game as they actually happen - in 'real time'. Real time processing is not new - but traditionally, less sophisticated systems have forced game developers to rely on tricks like pre-rendering events that are simply played back at a given moment in a game, and are the same each time you play. With PS3, the huge processing power offered by Cell means that developers can finally realise their ambitions, with real time processing being used in all kinds of ways that have been impossible until now. And since using real time processing allows games to react and change to what's happening - as opposed to using a pre-determined routine - games on PS3 are set to offer richer, more unpredictable interactive experiences than anything you've ever tried before.
The new controller is a dream come true. It's wireless for a start so no more messy wire's or pulling the cable out of the machine. Its is known as the SIXAXIS so it can be used as a motion sensitive controller.In addition, by simply inserting a USB cable into the Wireless Controller allowing you to seamlessly switch from wireless to wired connection and automatically charge its battery while the Wireless Controller is in use. Having tried it now it feels great and although it will take some getting used to, it appears to bring a new element of fun to the game playing experience.

Now as with all consoles the games are the most important item and I thought long and hard over which games to pick up on the release day. At around £50 per game you can't afford to get the choices wrong. Firstly I decided to pick a driving game to see just how good the PS3 could be, so I decided on Ridge Racer 7. This games graphics are awesome. I have not been a big fan of the Ridge Racer series in the past, so I went into picking this game with an open mind. Its a tricky little number to master but there is a fantastic soundtrack and
the games playability is awesome. The features on the game allow you to race over 22 courses in 40 different cars. It is just a basic driving game and not much has changed from the PS2 versions but the unbelievable graphics more than make up for this. It also has an added extra of Xevious as a loading game which is great fun and does add something to the game. There is also the usual added extra of the token Ridge Racer girl which makes the game even more pretty.
Next up is World Snooker Championship 2007. Snooker I know not the most exciting game in the world, but on the PS3 its a game which does show off the capabilities of the machine. The play is simple and easy to pick up. This version again is not much different than the PS2 version in game play but yet again the graphics are spellbinding, right down to the cameras being picked up as shadows in the balls on the table.

The game has loads of different game play options from single games, tournaments and career modes both in Snooker or Pool .You can play the top players from both the Snooker and Pool worlds and the career mode features tournaments only the serious fan would know about such as the Mosconi cup in the 9-ball game. You have to do the usual win games to unlock items routine but this is fun. One of the best features for me is the commentary from John Virgo and John Parrot. This proves very droll at times and sometimes you play slow just to wind them up!
Next up is Fight Night Round 3. This is one of EA Sports first games on the PS3 and if their previous games are anything to go by this should be a cracking game. It doesn't let them down at all. This was the first game I played on the PS3 that made me literally drool! The graphics on this game are just mind-blowing in there realism. The texture and quality of the game is easy to see. The game features the obvious different game modes with the straightforward get in the ring option to the more detailed career mode, where you can start off from scratch or rebuild
the career of one of the legends of the sport like Ali, de la Hoya and Britain's own Ricky Hatton. The game also features a great soundtrack with artists such as Akon recording songs just for this game. During each round is my favourite part of the game. One of several scantily clad young buxom wench's parade in the ring showing off their ample curves! The game also has some great training mini-games and the chance to re-create some of the greatest fights of all time in the ESPN classic mode.

Finally I got what has proved to be the best game released on the PS3 so far, Virtua Tennis 3. This game has just about everything you could want from a tennis game. You can play in either singles or doubles naturally, but what really makes this game special is some of the absurd mini-games featured. You run round the court chasing fruit or fending off crocodiles, stopping space invasions or simply dodging giant tennis balls. There is even a chance to play
ten pin bowling and bingo, all with the aid of your trusty old tennis racket!. There is as usual a career mode which is easy to get into, but I find it lets itself down by the fact you play the top players as a rookie and beat the easily, but as you get further into the game they become much more difficult to beat. This game also uses the SIXAXIS option of game play to its full ability and once you get the hang of it it makes for great fun. It is by far and a way the best game on the machine at the moment and a must for any sports game fan.

All in all I know that the PS3 is going to take time to come into its own, and to be honest I'm a little disappointed that a football game was not out on release day. I'm sure that the big game companies did this as it is towards the end of the football season and they want to get all the players at the right clubs ready for the start of next year. If the graphics so far are anything to go by then a football game on the PS3 will be awesome. There are several games that I can't wait for the release of. FIFA 08 obviously which is due in August. Gran Tourismo 5 due before Christmas. Grand Theft Auto 4 due late September and the next batch of EA Sports games such as Basketball and Ice Hockey which should all show off the full capabilities of this machine. The £425.00 price tag is steep, but I feel already that it is worth every penny, and this little baby will take game playing into the next generation and open up Sony to be the pace setter and market leader in games consoles for years to come.