Initial PS3 impressions

[Zabka]

As many of you know, I picked up a PS3 last week. With the dualshock3 and socom confrontations coming out, it seemed to make a lot more sense when my 360 got the RROD after 18 months of dutiful service. While I await my box to send back my 360, I can get my gaming fix in with some Warhawk and MGS4. I will not get the PS3 versions of my favorite games because they are inferior ports for RB6 or they have screwedup servers for COD4.

Here are a few observations that are now completely unbiased as I have invested in both systems. The only biases that exist are from experience--and this is intended to be initial impressions.

1. Hardware. Console. No question the PS3 is a better built machine. It runs quietly, it is sturdier, it doesn't have the cinderblock power supply. It is also heavier--so to the degree somebody wants to carry their 360 around, that is easier to do than moving the PS3. Clearly just a better machine from an engineering standpoint.

2. Hardware-Contoller. The USB cable is too short for the PS3. You basically can't play while charging. That is annoying. the 360 plug/power accessory saved me on batteries, but more importantly it had like a 12 foot cable or something so that running out of batteries has almost no impact on your ability to play. I also like the replacable battery concept for the 360. The Dual Shock3 has the rumble you expect from games, but I think that while it is better than the old xbox controller, it is not as good as the 360 controller. That may simply be a function of what I am used to. I do have a problem with shooters as the trigger button in the 360 is the primary whereas R1 is the primary in the DS3. Controllers with the DS3 are probably a toss up as only a couple games really make good use of the sixaxis aspect of the PS3 controllers.

3. Headset---PS3 doesn't come with one, but warhawk does come with a blue tooth one. To be honest, I find the sound quality to be inferior and suffered a lot of excess noise in my ear tonight. the wireless 360 ones also aren't so great. I think, however, that the wired ones on the 360 are great since they plug into a wireless controller---unless your head detaches from your body, you are just as portable with a wired headset as without for the 360. Not so for the PS3.

3. Online interface. The XMB and PSN have a lot of work that need to be done. Sony is working on them, but with their sales having picked up since the end of HD DVD and the price drop of the PS3, I wonder if they are working as hard. Some of the key features of LIVE are sorely missed. I always thought that the $4 a month was worth it before I had a PSN experience. Now, I definitely feel it is worth it. While the PSN certainly works and games happen, etc with work arounds---there is such inconsistency to online features of games it took us a long time to figure out MGS4 and still couldn't get mics to work. The online experience is just much weaker for the PS3. Hands down. One thing that PS3 has that is good, however, is multiparty chat. 360 needs that.

4. Browser. I didn't think it was a big deal that the PS3 had one but the 360 didn't. But it really is useful ifyou don't have a PC in your game room. I like being able to check the site wihtout having to go up to my office to do so. Nice bonus.

5. games. Okay---I am increasingly getting a sense of Warhawk. It is cartoony, arcadey, even Haloey in some ways without looking nearly as good and without the single player or coop. However, there is something about the game that I can see is incredibly fun even if I suck now. It is the closest that a game comes to SWBF2 in a lot of ways. Only played deathmatch, so haven't been doing teh teamwork thing yet, but I can see why it is so popular. It is a graphically inferior game that has really fun gameplay. It is also well designed as big maps allow for concentrated theaters of action similar to BF2MC. MGS4 is a really good game--not sure if it is my kind of game, but anybody who likes stealthy type games will love this one. It looks gorgeous and is highly immersive.

---------------------------

So---this is really interesting. the conclusion I have come to is that the companies have both kind of screwed up. Neither system is complete. the 360 has its hardware issues--even aside from RROD there are drive issues, disk read errors, etc. the PS3 has an online interface that is not universal and in some cases just as bad as we saw on the PS2. That is not good for online gamers. both the 360 and the PS3 are supposed to be improving these primary limitations I just pointed out. We'll see.

My basic conclusion is that the exclusives are the key aspect for anybody making a decsion. Gears 2 or Resistance 2? Halo or Warhawk? MGS4 or Splinter Cell? GRAW or socom? That's all personal preference that will largely be driven by what you are used to. Other factors though: if you are primarily an online gamer and not so into the single player experience. the 360 and the added cost of LIVE are worth it for you. If you just can't fathom the addl $4 a month, then you can get by on the PSN. It works and is free. But it is not easy to get everyone gathered together, message, and join rooms together unless you work at it. But we did in the past for the PS2--so the PS3 guys who don't have 360's still get to see some improvement over the PS2 without recognizing how weak some of the interface is. But again. it works and is free.

It has been good to game with some of the newer DSA in the PS3 division and to get back on the field with DH, RDaug, and Anakin. Lookng forward to playing with Ditch, Boss, and Deslock.

But after all the console war chatter that has gone on for so long---it's interesting to see that I think there is no winner in terms of best console.

[Ditch]

I would say that is a fair assessment, on a side note, can I tell you how much I wish they had a single player mode on warhawk, and then a coop oh would be nice

[Deslock]

Initial PS3 impressions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As many of you know, I picked up a PS3 last week. With the dualshock3 and socom confrontations coming out, it seemed to make a lot more sense when my 360 got the RROD after 18 months of dutiful service. While I await my box to send back my 360, I can get my gaming fix in with some Warhawk and MGS4. I will not get the PS3 versions of my favorite games because they are inferior ports for RB6 or they have screwedup servers for COD4.

Here are a few observations that are now completely unbiased as I have invested in both systems. The only biases that exist are from experience--and this is intended to be initial impressions.

1. Hardware. Console. No question the PS3 is a better built machine. It runs quietly, it is sturdier, it doesn't have the cinderblock power supply. It is also heavier--so to the degree somebody wants to carry their 360 around, that is easier to do than moving the PS3. Clearly just a better machine from an engineering standpoint.

True, it is clearly a better machine.

2. Hardware-Contoller. The USB cable is too short for the PS3. You basically can't play while charging. That is annoying. the 360 plug/power accessory saved me on batteries, but more importantly it had like a 12 foot cable or something so that running out of batteries has almost no impact on your ability to play. I also like the replacable battery concept for the 360. The Dual Shock3 has the rumble you expect from games, but I think that while it is better than the old xbox controller, it is not as good as the 360 controller. That may simply be a function of what I am used to. I do have a problem with shooters as the trigger button in the 360 is the primary whereas R1 is the primary in the DS3. Controllers with the DS3 are probably a toss up as only a couple games really make good use of the sixaxis aspect of the PS3 controllers.

Yes, I don't like that cable either. Add that to the fact they didn't include a HDMI cable so you can have Hi-Def out of the box was biiiiig mistake. But if you get a wireless headset and a wireless keyboard it is awesome. You can get longer recharge cables or rechargers, they are third party. That sucks, but at least they are available.

3. Headset---PS3 doesn't come with one, but warhawk does come with a blue tooth one. To be honest, I find the sound quality to be inferior and suffered a lot of excess noise in my ear tonight. the wireless 360 ones also aren't so great. I think, however, that the wired ones on the 360 are great since they plug into a wireless controller---unless your head detaches from your body, you are just as portable with a wired headset as without for the 360. Not so for the PS3.

The headset I have is the rather expensive Motorola. I haven't had a bit of trouble with it, but as you said the sound quality does suck sometimes. The thing I'm not sure of is that a problem with the system, or the games it's designed for?. I have great sound on COD4, but as least as I know now, unless they've fixed it, you can't mute problem annoying players, as those that like to blast their music as you're trying to communicate with others.
I have had it cut out on me on Warhawk though.

3. Online interface. The XMB and PSN have a lot of work that need to be done. Sony is working on them, but with their sales having picked up since the end of HD DVD and the price drop of the PS3, I wonder if they are working as hard. Some of the key features of LIVE are sorely missed. I always thought that the $4 a month was worth it before I had a PSN experience. Now, I definitely feel it is worth it. While the PSN certainly works and games happen, etc with work arounds---there is such inconsistency to online features of games it took us a long time to figure out MGS4 and still couldn't get mics to work. The online experience is just much weaker for the PS3. Hands down. One thing that PS3 has that is good, however, is multiparty chat. 360 needs that.

I can't disagree there. The PSN sucks major goat ass. They've had so many years to get it right, and they're still screwing around. Why haven't they learned from Microsucks yet? The PS3 is ready for multi media servers such as the music and movie ports that they have, but if you try and use it, Guess what? they're not there yet. Why not? What's the hold up? I hate the PSN. Period. Want new maps and downloads? well, you'd better be willing to use your credit card or debit cards and risk your finances. PSN cards? we were promised them at the beginning of this year, and they're still not available.
The market is begging for them!. Once again, what's the hold up?.
I will not risk my finances online. Just do a search about how many people have been cleaned out, or had their idenities stolen online, and it will make your hair stand straight up!

4. Browser. I didn't think it was a big deal that the PS3 had one but the 360 didn't. But it really is useful if you don't have a PC in your game room. I like being able to check the site without having to go up to my office to do so. Nice bonus.

The browser is awesome. It's great if you have friends or family over. My Mom thought it was beyond great that I could surf the net online on the couch on my widescreen with my keyboard, and add the the surround sound, well, there ya go.

5. games. Okay---I am increasingly getting a sense of Warhawk. It is cartoony, arcadey, even Haloey in some ways without looking nearly as good and without the single player or coop. However, there is something about the game that I can see is incredibly fun even if I suck now. It is the closest that a game comes to SWBF2 in a lot of ways. Only played deathmatch, so haven't been doing teh teamwork thing yet, but I can see why it is so popular. It is a graphically inferior game that has really fun gameplay. It is also well designed as big maps allow for concentrated theaters of action similar to BF2MC. MGS4 is a really good game--not sure if it is my kind of game, but anybody who likes stealthy type games will love this one. It looks gorgeous and is highly immersive.

Zabs, Warhawk does have a really, really hard learning curve. It does look cartoony, that is until you try it. Any new person on it, I warn them that you WILL get pwned, and pwned alot. The main problem is what you posted. Since ther is no offline, you don't have the chance to get used to the controls first. So it literally forces you into the fray with little or no experience. Getting pwned so much on a game may turn off alot of newbie players. Get COD4, you'll enjoy it alot more.
---------------------------

So---this is really interesting. the conclusion I have come to is that the companies have both kind of screwed up. Neither system is complete. the 360 has its hardware issues--even aside from RROD there are drive issues, disk read errors, etc. the PS3 has an online interface that is not universal and in some cases just as bad as we saw on the PS2. That is not good for online gamers. both the 360 and the PS3 are supposed to be improving these primary limitations I just pointed out. We'll see.

My basic conclusion is that the exclusives are the key aspect for anybody making a decsion. Gears 2 or Resistance 2? Halo or Warhawk? MGS4 or Splinter Cell? GRAW or socom? That's all personal preference that will largely be driven by what you are used to. Other factors though: if you are primarily an online gamer and not so into the single player experience. the 360 and the added cost of LIVE are worth it for you. If you just can't fathom the addl $4 a month, then you can get by on the PSN. It works and is free. But it is not easy to get everyone gathered together, message, and join rooms together unless you work at it. But we did in the past for the PS2--so the PS3 guys who don't have 360's still get to see some improvement over the PS2 without recognizing how weak some of the interface is. But again. it works and is free.

It bother me intensely that COD4 you have to wait for invites to join a game, and it rarely if ever works. At least in Warhawk you can join your friends. Granted, they are working on it. You can now chat, and send messages while either you, or them are in game. The wireless keyboard is key for this, as using the controller to send messages sucks.

It has been good to game with some of the newer DSA in the PS3 division and to get back on the field with DH, RDaug, and Anakin. Lookng forward to playing with Ditch, Boss, and Deslock.

But after all the console war chatter that has gone on for so long---it's interesting to see that I think there is no winner in terms of best console.

That depends Zabs. If you're merely looking at the systems for gaming, right now the 360 is better. But the PS3 is soooo much more than that. It is a entertainment system. You can now play DVD's on it, Music CD's, Games. Wait until you pop out your card out of your camera and put it in. And wait till you put in a Blu-Ray in your Hi-Def, you'll be amazed at the picture. I just sat there with my mouth open!.

And I know that you said that you didn't like RPG's, but if you get the chance, pick up a cheap copy of Oblivion. It's not an RPG. It's an astounding experience!. It will change your mind about RPG's forever. Period.

But does Sony have along way to go? Yes.

But they are getting there. I don't think you'll regret getting it.

[keyser28146]

I gotta disagree on CoD 4. It has the worst lag-advantage I've ever seen and it is an exercise in utter frustration to get 4 people into the same game, and more often than not, you never get to finish the game you started with your group. Then your group is lost and you spend 15 minutes re-inviting each other into the same party before it crashes again. Graphics are good and it's fun for a weekend, but you'll rank up super quick and be done, but warhawk is worth the time investment.

You will get your ass beat for about a month in warhawk, and then you will master one weapon or vehicle and be good. You will find a new strategy or begin to master a new weapon and notice things that give you a huge bump. You will discover the fun of killing a warhawk by blowing up an air mine it just deployed by shooting with your handgun. Or sniping landmines so they kill enemy troops. Or using a tank to knock down warhawks. Or knifing enemy snipers. etc etc etc. Thing about warhawk is just when you think you know everything about a weapon (A flamethrower will WRECK dudes in close combat), you find out there is a counter you may not have thought of (Holy ****! I was torching that dude with a flamethrower and he ran through the flames and shanked me with his knife!).

Anyone in warhawk should read the guide I've been working on in the Warhawk FAQ topic. It may save you 4-6 weeks of trial and error and has a lot of more advance techniques in it. I haven't made it available to the public yet as it's only in version .60 right now, but is pretty long already (106KB I think).

[Zabka]

COD4 with a good party system is simply awesome. On the 360, we often rollin with a full party and just roll through map after map. We also get 18 in our private rooms for practices where we just play with different game modes and restrictions. The lag is not a huge factor---but when you are the host, there is definitely an advantage (easier head shots) but it isn't like a lot of games--and you never know who is the host. Again--it is a good example of how a good online interface can make the difference in how a game is perceived. On the 360, I think it is one of the most clan/party friendly games with a number of maps and great matching ability.

Warhawk has a lot of potential to it that I can see and I am sure much that I haven't seen. As a person who didn't like BF2MC, the one thing I wonder is if it will ultimately be a little too much like that. I get the sense that there is a good weapons balance here that should limit the pure vehicle whoring.

And Deslock--the 360 has all the multimedia capabilities (except Blu-Ray, and no card slots just USB, but an easy link to your PC via your router connection). The 360 is actually quite a good normal DVD player--better than the other ones I have in my house. COD4 seems better on the 360 (the development team bragged how they almost got the PS3 version as good as the 360 version), and Oblivion is a 360 game as well. None of those are compelling reasons to get one over the other. They are added benefits to owning a console in the first place.

I guess another way to put my conclusions is that it seems that the PSN is something that, when fixed, will improve everybody's experience--but it will never be as good as LIVE as they won't put in standards that have to be met by developers for online gaming like LIVE does. So you are at the mercy of every developer's laziness on this front. But again, the entire population of PS3 owners benefit from PSN improvements.

If 360s are built better, the guys who still have the defective hardware aren't beneficiaries. I anticipate the good work MS has done on fixing the problems wont reduce the likelihood of failure when I get my 360 back. I will have this problem again. The question will be how I feel if it fails again outside of the warranty period. No big deal to me now---but when it costs me $270 bucks for a new one (won't need the HDD), will I care? I think it will depend on how frustrating I find the PSN experience and if HOME makes any difference. I am not a single player game---I am an online gamer--so the value proposition is different for me.

[RaTix]

That depends Zabs. If you're merely looking at the systems for gaming, right now the 360 is better. But the PS3 is soooo much more than that. It is a entertainment system. You can now play DVD's on it, Music CD's, Games. Wait until you pop out your card out of your camera and put it in. And wait till you put in a Blu-Ray in your Hi-Def, you'll be amazed at the picture. I just sat there with my mouth open!.

Just to point out, the 360 can do all those things as well (minus the blu-ray). You can link your 360 to your XP or MCE (Media Center Edition) PC to stream any type of videos or music. Yes you can even stream your porn (avi and DivX) on the 360 lol. Also while you play your own music on the 360 it will cut off any in game music and basically replace it, which is pretty cool how it integrates.

*Seems Zabka beat me to posting

[Inlimbo]

Yeah the ps3 can also stream from your pc(i know it prefers mp4 but im not sure of other formats). Both systems can stream hd content(360 can stream blueray also). Can the ps3 allow for a mp3 player to be directly hooked up 2 it? I would guess so but just curious. And what program does it use to surf the web?

[BOSS]

Warhawk has a lot of potential to it that I can see and I am sure much that I haven't seen. As a person who didn't like BF2MC, the one thing I wonder is if it will ultimately be a little too much like that. I get the sense that there is a good weapons balance here that should limit the pure vehicle whoring.

Wait till you play Zones and CTF, vehicles can be dealt with easily with a flamethrower, rocket launcher, or even the wrench which is something I wish I could say for the vehicles back in SWBF2. The "cartoony" feel fades once you see the intense battles the game has to offer.

As for PSN, all I can say is that update 2.40 is going to be a major fix for it (which it needs).

[jmhc74]

Wait till you play Zones and CTF, vehicles can be dealt with easily with a flamethrower, rocket launcher, or even the wrench which is something I wish I could say for the vehicles back in SWBF2. The "cartoony" feel fades once you see the intense battles the game has to offer.

As for PSN, all I can say is that update 2.40 is going to be a major fix for it (which it needs).

For our clan match tonight, if we were assured that we could beat these guys with 5 veteran players, I would love to have Zabka participate in the match just to see how chaotic/awesome the battles are on Warhawk. Defintely more intense than COD4.

[keyser28146]

For our clan match tonight, if we were assured that we could beat these guys with 5 veteran players, I would love to have Zabka participate in the match just to see how chaotic/awesome the battles are on Warhawk. Defintely more intense than COD4.

Understatement of the century :).

[Deslock]

Also while you play your own music on the 360 it will cut off any in game music and basically replace it, which is pretty cool how it integrates.

Yes, Yentis has bemoaned that fact to me also. I think that's a great feature that the PS3 should have. But with games like COD4, it's annoying enough to listening to people blaring their stereos, and you cannot mute them. A "push to talk" button like on Warhawk would've been awesome.

As for PSN, all I can say is that update 2.40 is going to be a major fix for it (which it needs).

Okay, this is a major bitch point for me. Sony literally "forces" you to update, but then doesn't tell you what the update is going to fix, or what settings it's going to change on your system, so you can decide what features you want, or don't want. I.E.:

One update scewed up my sound settings, so after the update, no sound would play on my PS2 games. It took me hours of switch on and off sound settings for me to get it to have sound again.

The last update changed my settings again, so now that my wireless keyboard and mic were set up, they stopped working. Once again, Hell to pay to figure out how to get them to work again. It said my wireless keyboard was set up and working fine, but when I tried to use it....*nothing*. It really wasn't hard to figure out how to fix the problem, but I had no clue how to start to fix the problem in the first place. (Time to head off to the Sony forums!)

Adding new settings is fine, but it shouldn't reset what you already have in place. I'm glad they want to include more newer surround sound systems, but it shouldn't remove what you already have in place. Ever looked at the sound settings? Having to turn on and off certain channels, and re-booting your system to see if you now have sound again was a rather angering and tedious chore. repeat Ad Nauseum....

The PSN website sucks ass. Period.
Not anywhere on that website, even when you're trying to add money to your account, does it say anywhere that 99.9% of most gift cards, and pre-paid credit cards WILL NOT work. Only the PSN network cards are certain to work. And guess what? You can't find the damn things. I roasted them alive for this, and recieved a nice online "form" letter for my response. Saying what?

Try it again.

Even though it will not work. Add the fact that they charge you a dollar for every time you try and use it (once again not stated on the website, it's in the very fine print on the support site). As was said on the Sony forums, you have to play "Russian Roulette" with different cards, to see which ones work, and which ones do not.

Why? I ask, Why?.

Clearly, when comparing both systems side by side in regards to gaming, The X-Box is a better machine. Hands down.

Sony has a much better machine, but they're not doing anything for it. Reminds me sort of the whole Dreamcast situation. Sony has a great machine, and great games for it. As Zabka said, you also get what you pay for.
But if Sony truly wants to compete with MS head to head, they're going to have to get off their collective asses, and do something better to win over more customers. Period.

I can't believe people at Sony are that smart, and so stupid at the same time.

The PS3 is an awesome machine. And I keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting, for them to at least help the damn thing meet it's potential.

And yep, we're still waiting.


Des.

[BOSS]

Some of those experiences you mentioned Des are pretty bad but I can't say I had any of those things happen to me, after each update my settings were never altered and I have been using gift cards that are not the PSN ones that have been working fine. Maybe I'm just lucky?

I forgot to ask you this the other day Zab, what is your playback volume for your bluetooth? If you set it to 4 or 5 then the speech coming from the mic should be clear and if that doesn't work then the only thing I can say is try turning the volume up on the mic lol.

[Zabka]

the issue boss is the clarity, not the volume. it was better the other night, but still not as clear as with wired headsets.

des...360 cod and all other games have mute---some are easy toggles, some are a matter of pulling up their gamercard and then muting. to not be able to mute is torture. i didnt realize all ps3 games didnt have this feature. in games like halo, you can mute all but your team and friends.

playing warhawk with rdaug last night we were again the only people talking. no teamwork. very disappointing. i can see wanting to only play that game with dsa.

[Zabka]

Some further impressions (Note, I do not have PSN 2.4 or 2.41 yet, so I don't have the in game XMB which will be a huge improvement.)

Got my 360 back today and made COD4 practice. Interesting to be able to compare and contrast directly now.

Everything I wrote before holds true still. But here are a couple of interesting tidbits:

-Warhawk could be the ideal DSA game if we were all on the same platform. As I have played more, I have come to recognize the balance in the various weapons/vehicles in the game. I think as an infantry shooter, it is rather weak--not too different from the old Ikari Warriors in some respects. But the beauty of Warhawk is in the interactions of infantry, vehicles and planes. I still think the big maps are too big, but that's a personal bias. This game is most like SWBF1 was--only more fighters, and the HWG can actually take down the planes, unlike in SWBF. This is definitely the right game for DSA on the PS3 and is pretty impressive in how well designed it is. I could see many of our 360 DSA loving this game.

-XBL is more than in game messaging. It is near flawless game joining (for most games) with invites to games, cross game chatting, etc. Furthermore, with the mics standard with all 360 controllers, it is rare to come across somebody without a mic. More importantly, the XBL system actually works really well for voice. I find the PS3 voice network to be weak. That is in part due to bluetooth headsets. But tonight, I was amazed at the difference in voice qualities. That being said, with everyone having a mic and them mostly being crystal clear, mics can get in the hands of the wrong people as well---but the mute function in all 360 games is easy. Fortunately, Warhawk has done a good job with that too but I am amazed at how few people use mics--and when they do, they sound cruddy.

-Sony shouldn't have left the important multiplayer functions in the hands of the developers--many of whom aren't even doing their basic games well, let alone doing the multiplayer right. Warhawk has a good online set-up, but the fact that isn't universal across all games and that it is still relatively difficult to get us into rooms together is a weakness. I think the other thing to note is that the games are hard enough for people to code on the PS3 (hence some of the poor 360 ports)--having them get all the onling gaming stuff right might be too much to ask for. It makes sense for Warhawk to work---it is an online only game. I expect other first party games to also work well.

-I love the chat function in PSN. While I think the next XBL update will increase the number of chatters from 2, I am impressed with the ability to get multiple people into a chat on the PSN. We had 5 in the other night. how high does it go? Too bad that can't be run in the background while playing a game.

-putting my 360 back together tonight, I chuckled at how rickety the thing seems now relative to the behemoth that is the PS3.

So what have I learned? I appreciate XBL a lot more than I did before. I also realized that the right games on the PS3 are pretty awesome. I expect Socom to be just incredible. These first party games are key for the PS3 because, to be honest, I don't see myself getting multiplatform games on the PS3 if we have a group of 360 players playing it. The online experience is just better for the most part. HOME might change some of this for Sony, but I am guessing not much. For me it isn't about the graphical interface...it is about the usability for online gaming purposes. At this point, the features described to improve the PSN (home, 2.41, etc.) still don't ensure the core functionality for gaming purposes. The 360 is just a better online gaming system---but it is not so reliable and lacks some of the interesting titles coming out Sony exclusive (Resistance 2, Socom, Killlzone2). That being said---Gears of War2 looks amazing.

In my perfect world, all DSA would have both. the 360 would be used for Gears and the multiplatform games. The Ps3 would be for games like Warhawk. and for massively large games. Sony seems to have figured out how to do 32 person rooms with little lag (usually). I haven't seen the 360 pull that off yet.

[Brocman]

Yeah, i have to whole heartedly agree with Zabka on the XBL, i don't have a 360 but a lot of my friends do and the XBL is just awesome, i wish that the PSN would take some notes from Microsoft and get their act together and 2.41 should be huge improvement. 2.40 should have been great but i think somebody at sony f'd up and now is eating a big sh*t sandwich on that one.

It would be great to have the whole clan on both systems, especially on warhawk. That game is so amazing in terms of just how deep it is. I have been playing the game since launch and now a year later I still find new ways to use the weapons/vehicles, new strategies, new counters for old and new strategies. I have to say that keyser said it so perfectly in his warhawk faq

" Every tactic has a counter, every weapon has a foil, and no strategy is unbeatable. The key to warhawk is to understand up front that you are going to die. A lot. Warhawk has a very steep learning curve, because of the amount of freedom that you have. Every thing you do, every shot you fire, every zone you take has an impact on everyone else in the game. There is a good reason to do almost anything you can think of to do. There may be a good time to simply arm your knife and hide in a bunker on top of some rafters, or at other times that will be the worst strategy imaginable."

I honestly can't imagine any game ever coming out for playstation that could top this game, unless it's warhawk 2.

IMHO i wouldn't mind paying a few bucks a month if it meant that the psn could have the same high quality as XBL