Lucille WoodGetting to Know the Playstation 3
The PlayStation 3 game console is part of the PlayStation series from Sony. It has been placed in direct competition with other seventh generation gaming consoles like Nintendo`s Wii and Microsoft`s Xbox 360. The major enhancement of this console over its predecessors is its ability to be a part of the PlayStation network.
The console will no longer have to depend on video game developers for playing over a network. Further, it uses the Blu-ray discs for storage. Its other salient features include a terrific multimedia capability. Two main models were released including one with 20GB hard drive and another with 60 GB hard drive.
History of the PS3:
The PlayStation 3 game console first arrived on the scene in May 2005. It had 2 HDMI ports, 6 USB ports and 3 Ethernet ports. But later on, a cost-cutting measure led to the reduction of features and there were now 1 HDMI port, 4 USB ports and 1 Ethernet port. Pricing structure was also released with the 20 GB variety costing $499 and the 60 GB variety costing $599. There was Wi-Fi Internet and an HDMI port in the 60 GB variety. There was also a beautiful silver logo which was absent on the 20 GB variety.
Right now, the PlayStation 3 game console is available in 5 varieties of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 160 GB hard drives. All of them contain 1 or 2 Sixaxis controllers, 1 miniUSB to USB cable, 1 power cable, 1 Ethernet cable, 1 composite video output cable and/or a DualShock 3 controller. With the release of more and more models of PS3, backward compatibility with the PlayStation has vanished.
What is the hardware?
The PlayStation 3 game console is bent downwards when placed horizontally on the table. When held upright in a vertical position, you can see the PS3 logo shining brightly on top. Spiderman seems to be a favorite with the manufacturers as is evident from the logo. The sleek black model has a slot-loading Blu-ray disc drive for loading DVDs, CDs, Blu-ray movies, games and other such media. The CPU of the PS3 game console is made up of cell microprocessors from Sony, Toshiba and IBM. The system also has Bluetooth 2.0 along with Wi-Fi networking. In fact, the hardware of the PS3 is so advanced that even supercomputers can be built out of it.
What about the software?
The operating system of the PS3 game console has been so ingenuously designed that it can be updated from time to time. These updates can be obtained from the PlayStation network or from the official PlayStation website through an external PC. It can be done through system software available on game discs too. PS3 also allows Linux to be loaded onto it.
The PlayStation network:
The PlayStation network came into existence to allow the users of the PlayStation 3 game console to have access to some of the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles by paying about $5 to US$15. It is a free 24-hour service which is available round the year. It also has multiplayer support. Electronic money can also be used in the form of PlayStation Network Cards. This system has gained a lot of popularity since its launch.
The famous games:
Some of the games include: Resistance (Fall of Man); The Elder Scrolls IV (Oblivion); F.E.A.R.; Sonic the Hedgehog; Ridge Racer 7; Mobile Suit Gundam (Crossfire); Formula One Championship Edition; MotorStorm; Virtua Fighter 5; Heavenly sword; Lair; Ratchet and Clank future (Tools of destruction); Warhawk; Uncharted: Drake`s fortune.
A lot more titles are there in the PlayStation 3 game console and more are being added every year. Its time you purchased a PS3 and got to discover all its marvels for yourself.
