• Sony PlayStation 3 Slim [Review]

    Sony PlayStation 3 Slim [Review]

    Prasad Naik, Jan 12, 2010 1630 hrs IST

    Smaller, lighter and consumes less power than before

    Smaller and lighter, lower power consumption, great library of games (with more coming soon), one of the cheapest and best Blu-ray players out there, upgradeable hard drive, Wi-Fi, web browser, wireless media streaming ability

    Doesn't look as good as older version, poor bundle, games still expensive, support for installing Linux has been removed

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The original PlayStation 3 did not have a great start in the market as anticipated. Following the phenomenal success of its predecessor, everybody expected the PlayStation 3 to follow suit, however that did not happen. Although announced much before its main rival, the Microsoft Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 made it to the market almost a year late. This late start ensured that several of the great titles went to the 360 and even before the PlayStation 3 was released it had the advantage of a bigger game library and a chunk of the market share.

Even after it was released, Sony's console was plagued with problems. The PlayStation 3 was quite expensive, especially compared to the 360. Even though it had a much superior hardware, not many people found it worth investing Rs. 40,000 in what they thought was essentially only a game console. Pricing aside there were other issues as well. Developers complained about the difficulty in coding games for the PlayStation 3, whereas they had no problem at all doing it for the 360, due to its similarity to a regular Windows machine.



The games that came out initially weren't that great as well and the cross platform games often worked better on the 360, while the PlayStation 3 version was riddled with poor graphics and slower frame rates. The fact that the games themselves (being on Blu-ray discs) were much more expensive than the 360's didn't bode well with the consumers.

Further, continuing the list of woes on the PlayStation 3 was the differences between the model that was originally unveiled and the model that was launched to the public. The original model had a cooler, boomerang shaped controller, but the actual PlayStation 3 came with a controller that looked the same as the Dual Shock 2 on the PlayStation 2 and also lacked the vibration feedback, which was a major omission.

The original model also had memory card slots and two extra USB ports, along with SACD playback, but the production model didn't. Sony had also promised full PlayStation 2 games compatibility for the PlayStation 3 but the actual model came with half-baked support for just a few games. It was then reduced to software-level support as the Emotion Engine chip was removed to save costs and finally the PlayStation 2 games support was removed completely. This was once again a major drawback as the PlayStation 2 has some of the best games ever made for any platform till date and they could have all been available for the PlayStation 3.

It was only after Sony made some severe price cuts to the PlayStation 3 did it start getting the attention of the average gamer. By then Blu-ray had also started establishing itself as the format of the future and the PlayStation 3 was officially the cheapest Blu-ray player that one could buy, making it an even more attractive buy. The PlayStation 3 didn't just play them but was very good at it, with several videophiles actually recommending it as their Blu-ray player of choice over standalone Blu-ray players.

The PlayStation 3 also proved itself to be a reliable performer and unlike the 360, which soon started falling apart, with RRoDs (Red Ring of Death) being a common sight for many gamers worldwide. The PlayStation 3 continued to work flawlessly, with silent operation and rock solid reliability, thanks to the use of superior quality hardware and craftsmanship.

Things only got better when price cuts started getting more aggressive and the PlayStation 3 was finally within what could be called affordable. By then HD-DVD had died as well and Blu-ray had taken its place on the throne as the king of HD-format. So those who have been on the fence now had a clear choice ahead of them. The PlayStation 3 could play Blu-ray movies in their full splendour, play games in high definition, had an impressive multimedia playback capability, could browse the internet - thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi connection - and even had the option to let you install Linux operating system over it, which converted it into a mini computer. It truly had it all.

Now, games too had started coming in thick and fast and developers finally began to get the hang of the PlayStation 3's hardware and exploiting it to its full potential. The PlayStation network also came in place where people could buy full games and demos online. Although it couldn't stand up to the Xbox Live, it was still pretty good. Sony even changed the controller to the Dual Shock 3 variant, which finally gained the vibration feature. The PlayStation 3 was now enjoying the success that it always deserved.

So you may ask, why the long history lesson? Well, before we head over to the actual matter on our hands, I thought it was necessary to show where it has come from. The PlayStation 3 might be successful now and has become the de facto choice for any serious console gamer, but it wasn't always so. The new models enter the market in a very strong position and hence have it much easier than its predecessor, which has done all the hard work for it. So now that we know about the previous PlayStation 3, let us get on with the new kid on the block, the PlayStation 3 Slim.


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Discussion Board
(10) Comments
Saif
,banglore, on May 19, 2011 01:15 AM
Finally a good review in Techtree.
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Verena
,Boston, on Sep 28, 2010 12:19 AM
Is it possible that the power consumption values of Xbox 360 and PS3 have been reversed?
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Rob
,Scotland, on Jan 14, 2010 10:39 PM
From a non fanboy. A game developer for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. "Being a video game developer (I develop for both, Playstation 3 and XBOX 360) people ask me almost daily which platform I think is better. These are my personal feelings, in no way does this reflect my employer. Short answer: XBOX 360. Long answer: Price, performance, visual quality, game selection and online support. I think the XBOX 360 wins in every category" Graphics "This is a sticky subject for a lot of fanboys. A very common argument in most flame wars is that the Playstation 3 simply “has better graphics”. I’m not sure where that argument came from; Sony obviously did a good job of marketing the system. However, the argument is entirely false. The Xenos GPU on the XBOX 360 is superior the RSX on the PS3. This is one thing that didn’t change in the past year. Xenos simply has more power – higher fillrate, higher pixel processing power, higher vertex processing power, and better memory architecture. If you look at multiplatform games and contrast the graphics on the two consoles, XBOX 360 almost always leads. Whether they use a higher resolution or higher quality antialiasing, games often look better and/or play smoother on the 360. We looked at a handful of multiplatform games a while back, and this was always the case.
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Nishant
,Hyderabad, on Jan 14, 2010 08:42 PM
This looks more like a fanboy review. Please Techtree try to be more professional in your reviews. The PS3 scores over Xbox because it is smaller and lighter ? - this isnt handheld consoles we are talking about , are we? Consumes less power than Xbox 360 ? - thats a valid point. Looks better and has better hardware than Xbox 360 - would agree on that too (especially owing to the Blu-ray). Better library of games? - False. Better exclusives? - Again, you better watch where you are going. The XBox's fan do sound more, but you dont play with your Tv on mute do you? You cannot hear it if you are playing a game, maybe you can when you play a movie. For a gamer, I might say XBox still has the edge albeit slightly; the PS3 certainly isnt "miles ahead of the 360". Xbox's also have the advantage of playing MKVs when paired with a Windows 7 media center PC. I would have appreciated it if you would have tried to put things in perspective - as of now no one wins. (If either did you would have found it out long ago). What is exciting is how PS3 with its 3D gaming and XBox 360 with Natal change the rules this year.
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True Geek
,Jorhat, Assam, on Jan 13, 2010 10:15 AM
How can you say that a similarly priced PC will have better graphics. A PC priced around 20k (the price of PS3 Slim) would undoubtedly have to do with onboard graphics which can in no way compare to the graphics of a PS3.
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srinath
,chennai, on Jan 13, 2010 09:53 AM
ah! very good review techtree.... thanks a MILLION for that ifixit link!
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Anonymous
,Anonymous, on Jan 12, 2010 11:45 PM
How many "regular" desktops consume less than 84W while gaming and 86W during blu-ray playback? Get your facts right before making silly comments !
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Anonymous
,Anonymous, on Jan 12, 2010 11:41 PM
How many "regular" desktops consume 86W while gaming and 84W while playing blu-ray ? Get your facts right before making silly comments !!!
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Milford
,Mumbai, on Jan 12, 2010 08:22 PM
Loved the review, 5/5 ! I had one question though, how are the graphics of the ps3 in comparison with the Xbox 360? I don`t understand the reason why Sony has kept it for 20k(approx 400$) while abroad its for 300$(15k) why the difference? While the PSP is the same here and abroad, 200$. If someone could enlighten me. Thanks Milford
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AW79
,Delhi, on Jan 12, 2010 05:03 PM
Finally a worhtwhile review on Techtree. Better late than never. Nice job Prasad
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