Topic: Getting a PS3, a Few Questions

Hi, Everyone. My younger brother and I want to buy a PS3, and we need some advice.

• New or Used: We have a little over $300, and we want to have money left over for a game. Is there anything important to know about buying a used system? (BTW, we have no plans to get Move)
• Storage Space: How much space do we really need, and is that space used for anything besides save files (which I'm guessing don't take up much space) and downloads?
• Games: We have a few games in mind, but suggestions are welcome.
• Anything Else: Anything not listed here that we should know?

Used or New If you are getting a used PS3, stay away from the ones that have 4 USB slots, can play PS2 discs, and have card readers as they are the most likely the ones to have problems like Yellow light of death or Blu-ray Drive failure. They are mostly the Fat PS3s, however the last fat PS3's: 80GB's with 2 USB's are the redesigned PS3's and rarely to no failure reports. The PlayStation Slim is from 120 GB's up to 320GB's and price of course varies from models.

Storage I'd recommend going for 60GB Upwards. Space is used for Game Data which the PS3 requires you to install some PS3 games, not all games however but most. The game data can be up to 5 GB's. Reason for this is because the PS3 reads Blu-ray at 2x while the 360 reads DVD's at 12x speed. You can also fit Laptop Hard-drives into the PS3 but must be 2"5 so be aware. You can then have 620GB's of storage in your PS3 if you take this option. Be aware the PS3 must format new Hard-drives so you will lose all your data and game saves. You can download the games you bought off PSN using your account on a new Hard-drive. Most SAVED files are transferable but some aren't. Up to the developers really.
PS1 games are mostly over 100 MB's. Some even reaching 1.5 GB's like Final Fantasy 7. However you can play PS1 discs on ALL PS3's including the Slims.
Save files usually come in around 1MB's but some games do have hefty save files like Fallout 3 which come in at 10MB's. Ridiculous I know.

PS3 Game Patches. These are basically patches for games for fixing glitches/bugs and alot of the times, even adding new stuff. They are 100% FREE and depending on the patch: For example, a giltch/bug patch will be around 50MB's or lower most of the time but new content patches will be around 500MB's max sometimes more. Depends really.

PlayStation Network games also can be any size. From 200 MB's to 10 GB's. For example, the New Lara Croft game is 3GB's. (judging by the demo). Graphics heavy games will mostly be big in download size. But you can download them and delete them, then re-download them for free. (They will appear in the account settings menu on transactions and download list)

Games So many games on the PS3 it's hard to name them but here's some games only on PS3 that are amazing,
LittleBigPlanet(LBP2 coming January 2011), God Of War 3(And Collection), Uncharted 1+2, Modnation Racers, Resistance 1+2(and 3 is coming out next year), Heavy Rain, Ratchet and Clank, Killzone 2(3 is coming out next year), MotorStorm 1+2 (3 is coming out next year), Gran Turismo 5(November 2nd 2010), Metal Gear Solid 4,and 3D Dot Heroes(If you like Zelda type games)

Multi-platform games: Call of Duty Series, Borderlands, Resident Evil 5, Battle-field, Final Fantasy 13, Assassins Creed Series,
Gran Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3(Fallout:New Vegas coming October 22nd 2010), Soul Caliber 4, Tekken 6, Virtua Fighter 5.

Additional Information PS3 gets Firmware Updates from time to time. They mostly add new stuff.
The PS3 offers free online gaming with no fees. You can Subscribe to the PlayStation Plus service for 15$ for 3 months or $50 for a 365 Days( a year basically). PS Plus offers discounts on games, offers 2 free PlayStation Mini's, 1 free PlayStation Network Game, and 1 Free PS One game. It also offers free themes and beta's for upcoming games but that is up to the game developers. PER MONTH.
The PS3 is so worth it and I am sorry for the grammar as this took ages to type out.

Games I can recommend: ModNation Racers, Demon's Souls, Borderlands, Dead Space, Valkyria Chronicles, Bayonnetta, Super Street Fighter 4, Resident Evil 5, All Ratchet & Clanks, Wipeout HD.

That helps a lot. Thanks for the responses.

New or Used
I recommend used, because I'm picky and refuse to own a PS3 that is NOT backwards compatible with PS2 games, considering they were launched with it's support.
Storage
All PS3s use a typical 5400rpm laptop hard drive. Why do I tell you this? Simple, buy the model with the smallest hard drive, then buy a cheap 5400rpm laptop hard drive, and switch them. It does NOT void the warranty, and all PS3s allow easy siwtching of it's hard drive for just this task.
Games
I never suggest games to people if they do not tell me what type of games they enjoy. So first, tell us what are your favourite genres. If you have a hard time thinking of some, give us a top 10 of your favourite games ever, and we can work from there.

I'd say to go ahead and get it new, because then it will be... new. And slimmer. 120gb is doing great for me so far, but I've almost used up half of it, with only 1 PSN game as of now.

There are lots of great games you might like, but like @BedCommando said, we don't know what you like.

If you were me, I'd tell you 3D Dot Game Heroes(like 2D Zelda), and Final Fantasy XIII(I love this game, but many don't). If you like FPSs, some CoD game would probably be good, idk.

Ok, but what about those bugs that Sean007s mentioned?

FFXIII was is on my must-buy list, and I plan on getting 3D Dot Game Heroes eventually.

I like most of Nintendo's major franchises (Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc.), I always enjoy a good RPG, and I find platformers fun as long as they have unique gameplay elements. LittleBigPlanet isn't all that appealing to me, though.

I'm not big on racing games, and I've yet to play an FPS that wasn't a complete waste of time and money (unless you consider the Metroid Prime Trilogy or Portal an FPS).

Get one and be happy. Nothing to really comment on (THANKS SEAN!) except for the Little Big Planet part, but that may be a little too long for me to argue so whatever.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Ratchet and Clank series. The demos were fun.

@Rift: It's mainly on the 60GBs and earlier 80GBs. Still a small percentage though. The joys of advancing technology, right?

you NEED to get Uncharted 2 if your a 3rd person game fan. and if you dont really care about PS2 backwards compatability, you may as well get the new 120gb slim. other games to get are - littlebigplanet, InFamous, batman Arkham Asylum

Yes the one's that play PS2 games. They have so much crap stuffed in them that they overheat faster. That's my theory and that's what people are saying. All you have to do is go on the US PS Boards and you'll see threads EVERY DAY saying their old Phat PS3's died on them.

Why risk it?...when you can get a PS2 for 50 Euro and then have a PS3 Slim which will last even longer than the old models?
I seriously would not recommend an old phat PS3 model to anyone, especially a USED one.

Slims are still better imo. Then again I still have my PS2 so I don't care either way

Yeah, you'll definately want at least 60GB. I have the older model that plays PS2 as well and it works fine, so if thats a factor go for the BC ones, if its not, then go for the newer, apaprently more reliable slims, etc. I have already used up about 2/3 of my HD for game saves, installs, and Rock Band data. (I have about a dozen games or so.)

Must-haves: GoW3, MGS4, FF13, LBP...I think these and others have alrteady been said.

The chances of finding a PS2 backward compatible system is rare, finding one at the price range they are looking for is even more rare.

I would buy new as it has a factory warranty and one that can be extended if you wish in case you were to ever have a problem. Finding games is cheap and easy nowadays for the PS3 and the Demos in the PSN store will keep you entertained for a week or more easy.

Games depend on if you have a 360 or not. But if you own any console other than the wii, you NEED to own or have played these games:

Uncharted 1 and 2
Call of Duty 4 (still the best in the series)
Bioshock 1 and 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Bayonetta (underrated game that flew under the radar)
The Orange Box (best bang for your buck ever)
Fallout 3
Dead Space (the new king of survival horror)
InFamous
GTA IV
Killzone 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Resistance Fall of Man (stay clear of the sequel, but this game is worth it)
Prince of Persia (2008)
Dark Sector (highly underrated)
Ratchet & Clank: Future and Ratchet & Clank: Crack in Time, also the downloadable Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty

Go buy all of those. A lot of the older ones can be found real cheap on Amazon, you have a lot of catching up to do.

So by having PSN+ you'll have access to up to 4 free game downloads monthly ?

@Sean: You have to remember that the only people who post threads online are the ones with problems. Nobody ever goes "my PS3 works just fine!" This artificially inflates the view that the older systems are extremely unreliable. I've had my BC 80gig for two years with no problems outside a dusty vent, and that was easy to clean (I'd been neglecting it...now it works perfectly!).

Generally speaking, launch hardware is more likely to have problems with it because it's new stuff. Not only were there more chips in the 60gig systems, some of them were also much larger than the current models and ate up more power.

But as Slappy pointed out, it's very unlikely they could find a BC model in their price range, making it moot.

@cheapogamer4life: That is correct. I signed up for PS+ day one and have thus far received $140.75 worth of free downloads and discounts on my $50 subscription. It's a must-have for a cheapo!

Uncharted 2 thirded, or fourthed, whatever...

Oh wow, I might be getting a PS3 bundle sooner then I expected!

One last question. Are you limited to only certain titles or do you have access to the full PSN store when deciding what free games to dl from each platform(mins,ps1,etc.)?