Convert me from xbox to PS3

June 8, 2008 2:31 PM

[PS3 Filter:] Help an old school xbox guy finalize his conversion to the Play Station way of life.

I recently bought a PS3 and really enjoy it. I'm hoping you can help me with a few of the finer points of the platform.

Background: I am an old school xbox guy. PS3 won me over for the integrated blu-ray disk and the console itself. I'm hoping for some answers on games, and some of the more advanced features.

Games for Dad. I really loved Halo 2 and would like to find a similar game on PS3. I don't have a lot of time to go through a long role playing game or invest a lot of time in getting in the back story etc. That's what I love about Halo 2, get in, get shot, get out. Any Halo 2 like games out there on PS3? (i'm not too into the war games like call of duty etc.)

Games for the kids... I have an 8 year old boy and it's easy enough to find him a ton of games he likes. But, I'm wondering if there is a good game out there for math, spelling etc. so he could brush up during the summer.

Media server... I see there is a media server option, but every time I "search" it comes up empty. I have the PS3 setup via wireless to my network an can connect to internet with no problem. How do I navigate to drives that contain pictures / music etc.?

Also, what are the cool and different ways you use your PS3? As you know, these things cost a lot of money and I want to use every stinking feature.

I have the 40GB "core" model so I don't have the media slots, and I only have 2 usb ports on the front. So far, this hasn't limited me.

I look forward to your ideas! Thanks!

posted by jseven to grab bag (6 comments total)

Games for Dad. I really loved Halo 2 and would like to find a similar game on PS3.

I'm not that familiar with PS3 exclusives, but I believe Resistance: Fall of Man is the "PS3 Halo."

Also, what are the cool and different ways you use your PS3? As you know, these things cost a lot of money and I want to use every stinking feature.

Turing your PS3 into a node for a distrubed supercomputer is a pretty cool way to contribute to science.
posted by Nelsormensch at 2:45 PM on June 8, 2008

If by Halo 2 you mean multiplayer stuff, your best bet is Warhawk. It's plenty fun and has airplanes to boot (hence the title "Warhawk"). I don't know of any edutainment titles for the PS3 so far (or indeed for any console besides the Wii/DS), though.

About the media server: the PS3 doesn't read shared drives on the network like another computer might. Instead, it supports the DLNA protocol, which is designed for sharing media across a network. You'll have to get a program that works as a DLNA server on your computer. TVersity is a good option, as it's free and works very well with the PS3. It'll even transcode movies that the PS3 can't view natively.

As for different ways to use the PS3: hook up a wireless keyboard/trackball to it and use it as an internet kiosk for the living room if you want, or attach a webcam (I think any USB webcam will do, though Sony has one specifically for the PS3 called the Eyetoy—double-check) and you can do video chat with other PS3-owning friends. PSN also has some neat Eyetoy/webcam-only games that might be worth trying.
posted by chrominance at 3:07 PM on June 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

And, of course by "distrubed," I mean "distributed." *sigh*
posted by Nelsormensch at 3:34 PM on June 8, 2008

Pity you're not into war games, because Call of Duty 4 is a lot like Halo, albeit with a grittier, realistic setting. The multiplayer system is really well done and addicting.

As a loyal PS3 fan, I still think the best games are the cross platform titles (though that might change with Metal Gear Solid 4.) Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a good shooter with a character system like Call of Duty's, but with a cheerier setting (that being Vegas of course) plus smarter and more contemplative gameplay than Call of Duty, since it has a cover system, squad teamwork, and pre-planning. You can jump right into multiplayer, do the single-player story alone or cooperatively via splitscreen or the PSN, and your stats and achievements carry across all three. Plus, if you get the webcam, you can put your own face on your character. What's not to like?

What is it specifically that makes Halo okay but Call of Duty not so? Is it the more obviously martial, real-world flavor to the battle?
posted by Doctor Suarez at 4:46 PM on June 8, 2008

As an old school Nintendo fan-boy who just bought a PS3 not two weeks ago, I know where you're coming from. I'm quickly falling in love with my PS3 as a media device, though at this stage I think my Wii is still going to be my main gaming system. The only game I've bought for my PS3 thus far is GTA4, which is excellent and well worth buying, but in my games-related research so far, the only other games I've found worth buying at the moment (imo) are Rockband, Assassins Creed and Motorstorm, the latter of which I'd probably only buy purely for gawking at its graphics. Call of Duty 4 and the soon to be released Bioshock would be worth getting too if I hadn't already bought and finished those on my PC several months before I ever owned a PS3.

chrominance: "TVersity is a good option, as it's free and works very well with the PS3. It'll even transcode movies that the PS3 can't view natively."

As for media servers, I totally second TVersity. It's the media server program I use and it's great. While it's true it converts movies the PS3 doesn't support, I've found in those cases it tends to have a problem syncing the audio. To save you some time finding a way around that problem, download the PS3 Video Converter. It'll convert those movies into an mp4 format your PS3 loves, and will help TVersity play those videos flawlessly. Bare in mind though that converting heaps and heaps of films into 1080p will eat up a lot of hard drive space, so unless you have an enormous hard drive, you may have some 'hard' choices to make about what needs to be 1080p and what can be watched at a lower resolution.

Now if only Sony would release a system update that lets me play my 30GB of music videos randomly (or at the very least sequentially, goddammit) I'll be a happy, happy man.
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:15 PM on June 8, 2008

If you want to send media to your PS3, but you have a Mac, you can use Nullriver's MediaLink.
posted by Doctor Suarez at 6:06 PM on June 8, 2008