MOVE VS. OTHERS :)
Ever since the launch of Slim, the PS3 has been undertaking a quiet revolution or... could it be the console's midlife crisis? :) Here's what happened recently - and I will only note the more important developments going 12 months back (writing this in Oct., 2010):
- NetFLIX streaming, now disc-less, 1080p, 5.1 surround sound
- Much larger disc (this one is triple the size of the original Slim)
- Move
- 3D gaming
- Blu-ray 3D
This is a lot of new 'stuff' for a 4 year old console. I am not going to go into bean-counting mode and compare the PS3 improvements with what we see at the other guys but, clearly there is a lot of life in the PS3 and a lot of what the PS3 has to offer today - 3D gaming, Blu-ray 3D - either cannot be duplicated or is unlikely to be implemented by other consoles of this generation.
WHAT YOU GET, WHAT YOU MAY NEED
Briefly, this is what you get in with this bundle and I will make it very short because there's a lot of info. at the Amazon page:
- PS3 Slim with...
* 320GB HDD - as far as I know, the largest hard disk a console has ever had. You CAN upgrade it to a 500GB if you want but 320GB should probably be enough. See PS3 Slim reviews for details and features
* Move controller, of course
* PlayStation Eye camera (must have for the Move to work)
* Sports Champions (Ping Pong is simply awesome, some of the games play much better with a second controller)
* A demo disc so you can see what Move can do for you (most of the demos can be downloaded from the PSN)
- DualShock 3 controller (rumble, motion sensitive)
- ONE USB wire mostly to charge the controllers
I marked with asterisks the items that come with the bundle are not included in the Slim 160GB package.
Depending on how you are planning to use the PS3, this is what you don't get but may end up buying eventually:
- HDMI cable for HD output (a component cable should work too but you can get a decent HDMI for $3-5 or so)
- One or more extra USB wires same as above, don't pay more than $2-3 for one
- One more Move Controller (some games will either require two controllers or will play better with two)
- One or two Navigation Controllers (you can use the DualShock in your left hand but it feels weird)
- Dedicated charger, especially if you have more than one Move controller or you also have a Navigation controller
- PS3 TV remote controller to use when watching movies
TO BUNDLE OR NOT TO BUNDLE
We got the bundle because we really needed a fresh console but, it turns out, if you already have a PlayStation 3 Eye camera all you need is the stand-alone Move controller to be able to play Move games. If you don't have the Eye then it's going to cost a little more but the general idea is that it's possible to ease yourself into the Move universe and possibly stop if you feel that the Move is not for you. However, if you get yourself hooked, the odds are that you are going to spend A LOT on extras, eventually - see above.
THE PS3 BUNDLE VS. OTHER OPTIONS
At the time I'm writing this you can get a Move-less, 160 GB PS3 for $100 less. In my view, it's probably worth buying this bundle even if you do NOT want the Move because you should be able to sell your brand-new Move controller ($49), the PS Eye ($30) and the Sports Champions ($40) game and make close to $100 in the process and you will STILL have a console with TWICE the disc capacity.
MY RATING
This bundle is probably the best PS3 deal ever - see my notes on how you could sell the Move stuff if you don't want it and still end up ahead. I've been a PS3 owner ever since the 60GB classic became available and I've been impressed with the PS3's reliability, versatility and its sheer power - and I've owned both 'classic' and 'slim' models, upgraded most, gave away a couple. In the end it's a matter of personal taste but the PS3 is increasingly the most popular 'gaming' or 'entertainment' implement in our household. And we DO own an Xbox too.
I will not go through the long list of PS3's features. It would be an exaggeration to say that it does 'everything' but, in my view, it does a lot more than the competition and it's doing it increasingly well. Agreed, features and capabilities do not come for free and sometimes they don't even come cheap (see my list of possible add-ons above) but I can't say that I have the feeling of being constantly nickeled and dimed when I upgrade my PS3. I will have no choice at this time but to order the extra Move and Motion controller from Sony but the charger, the larger discs I used to upgrade my old classic, all of the cables came or will come from third party vendors and even for the old SixAxis and the remote controller there were alternatives at the time I decided to buy the Sony-made ones. In addition, the 'basic' PS3 console can take you pretty far as it is and you can have a lot of fun without having to spend one extra penny.
To conclude, this bundle gets 5 stars:
- for being chuck-full of 'stuff' (controllers, game, huge hard disc)
- for being the most cost-effective PS3 deal at the time I am writing this (Sep. 17, 2010)
- for the PS3 being the most feature-rich, well-balanced console you can get these days
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Aug. 16, 2011 Note:
Quite a lot happened to the PS3 since I posted my review. A week or so ago Netflix became part of a new category named TV/Video Services with Hulu PLUS, Vudu HD Movies, NHL GameCenter Live and MLB.tv. I've had Netflix for quite a while and if Hulu adds a lot of movies show to what I'm getting from Netflix I may say goodbye to my satellite provider. Under the Music tab I can see now Qriocity. I believe there is a 6 months free trial but I'm a Pandora guy so I'm not sure I'll sign up. It's good to know it's there.
Oh and... funny coincidence. I just read that Sony cut $50 of all consoles sold in the US. I paid $499 for my first 60GB PS3 back in 2007 (came with 8 or 10 Blu-ray movies so it wasn't THAT bad a deal) and it's still one of our 2 PS3. Not even a hiccup after 4 years of gaming and movie viewing.
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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law! << PlayStation 3 320GB System/PlayStation Move Bundle'
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