Sony PlayStation 3 Slim (120 GB) Console

In order to entice parents to purchase the PLAYSTATION 3 game console this year for their kid’s Christmas,  SONY, has dramatically dropped the price of their  system SKUs   from the $399 40GB PS3 and $500 80GB PS3   to just $399 for the 80GB PS3  and  $299 for this newly developed PS3 SLIM.  

This is obviously a strategy to allow SONY to compete with the Xbox360, who’s cheapest SKU  “ARCADE” retails for just  $200,  against the Nintendo Wii  which retails for $249.   The 40GB, 80GB and 160GB PS3 are being completely phased out. While you can still find them in some stores, they will no longer be produced.

The original Playstation 3, which hit store shelves  in November 2006 showed plenty of promise against the Xbox360 console.  
On paper, it seemed to have the most powerful CPU and GPU  (3.2 GHz “Cell” processor  with a 256GB Nvidia G70).  It included a built in WiFi antennae (while the Xbox’s was  a $100 option)  and it included a built in flash-memory card reader that allowed it to quickly access memory cards from most MP3 players and cameras.

PS3 even includes a web browser that allows browsing of many websites, including Youtube, Email accounts and Netflix.
 
The PS3 also included the technologically sophisticated Blu Ray player, which was,  at the time the predestined format which competed with HDDVD for dominance in the consumer market. 
In fact, it is because of PS3’s inclusion of the Blu Ray player that Blu Ray made significant overnight market penetration that allowed Blu Ray to surpass HDDVD in sales every consecutive quarter.  This seemed like a great move by Sony – similar to their decision to allow the Playstation 2 to play DVD’s back in 2000’ which coincidentally allowed DVD to make significant market penetration when the average DVD player cost well over $600.

The best thing of all, is that the Playstation 3’s Blu Ray, Web Browser and other firmware components are updateable over the internet.  At this point in time, it is more logicial for a consumer to purchase a PS3 for $400 than it is to purchase a Blu Ray player for $400 (or more) because most Blu Ray players do not include network/internet updateability – which means PS3’s Blu Ray profiles can easily be updated to add features that come along in the future.


The new form factor of the new PS3 is nearly perfect.
The PS3 Slim retains the overall design of the original PS3 but, it is considerably smaller and lighter.   The first PS3 weighed slightly over 11 pounds due to its built in power transformer (unlike the Xbox360’s which is a huge external brick).  The Slim weighs just 7 pounds.
On the outside, the touch sensitive panels used to power on/ eject disks from the PS3 have been removed and replaced with actual push buttons.  The PS3 logo that used to be twistable when the PS3 went from vertical to horizontal positioning has now been removed and is now simply painted on in a permanent alignment.   The body of the unit has been changed from the piano black, finger print capturing, glossy surface, to a matte finish similar to the dust resistant, fingerprint resistant body of the Xbox360.

Similar to the redesign of the PS2,  and the PSP, the new PS3 feels much less expensive and more “toy-like”.   This can be off putting because the PS3 is anything but a toy. Consider it a scaled down computer tower. It plays Blu Ray disks on your HDTV and can be used to surf the web, or to watch movies on many compatible websites.  It is definitely not a toy – which is something I had to get across to my uncle and aunt who bought it for their 9  year old son who, like any kid, mistreats CD’s and DVD disks, allowing them to get scratched.  When a PS3/PS2 game disk is scratched, it does not recover and you’re out of a significant amount of money.  This is nothing short of equipment that deserves respect and care.

On a technological level, the PS3’s CPU has been improved to be more energy efficient. While the older models suck down up to a whopping  280 Watts, the slimline’s peak usage is around 250 Watts.


My main problem with the PS3 slim is that it lacks BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY.  You can’t use PS2 games on this model and some PS1 games won't work either.   The launch PS3 60GB and the redesigned 80GB console (both of which are no longer in production)  had backwards compatibility for PS2 games. The current library of PS2 games is well over 1800 titles with new games still being produced.  When SONY ceases to manufacture PS2 units, your child’s PS2 game library becomes useless without a PS2. Legacy software support is essential this day in age.  Wii has it for Gamecube games,  Xbox 360 has it for Xbox games – why does SONY abandon us?

The answer is “profit”.   The original PS3 60GB offered a special CPU  added on, the Emotion Engine, which allowed it to play older Playstation games. In order to cut cost, the redesigned PS3 80GB dropped the EE  and  offered software based emulation of the EE.  During the redesign of the PS3 to meet a Christmas deadline over a year ago, the lowest price model, $399 40GB,  lacked Backwards compatibility altogether. The logical progression of this cost cutting was the system we have here. 120GB and no ability to play legacy PS2 games at all.

Its also likely that SONY intends to ramp up its game download services do to the new PSP GO, which has no optical media drive and instead will rely on downloads. My problem is that I shouldn’t have to buy an old game twice – especially if I still have the disk on my shelf. This is referred to as “double dipping” and it isn’t fair to the buyer.
Besides cost cutting in the hardware/software department, the PS3 Slim requires a $25 base stand to be used safely in the vertical position.  You can stand it on its side without the base, but it is prone to tip over. You certainly won’t want you’re $65 copy of  Call of Duty getting scratched so you’d better make sure you buy the stand if you intend to use your PS3 vertically.

An even more annoying problem with the PS3 is the fact that because it uses games  encoded onto Blu Ray disks, it stiffly requires larger and larger hard drives because playing games from the tightly compressed disks is nearly impossible. The PS3 requires you load games to the Hard Disk first and play from there. In fairness, this does cut down on load times significantly but, it also means you’ll need larger and larger hard drives if you are a gamer who plays a lot of games.


CONTROLLER

The PS3’s controller is a holdover from the PS2 era. The SIXAXIS includes accelerometers to sense tilt motions. During launch, the controller only had the accelerometers and lacked vibration because Sony was then embattled in lawsuit with the company “Immersion” who had patented the interface for vibration.  When the dust settled, Sony ended up paying a small fortune to Immersion and then got rights to use the technology.  Dual Shock 3  SIXAXIS controllers became available  in a hardware revision of the PS3. 
The controller feels about the same as the Dual Shock 2, except now, it is wireless. Unlike the Xbox360’s controllers, the DS3 has non-removable battery packs and must be charged with a mini-USB cable common to digital cameras and MP3 players.

Personally, I prefer the Xbox360 controller because of the placement of the Left and Right analog sticks at right angles to each other because it makes play more comfortable for large handed adults, but the PS2 controller will probably be more comfortable for younger players.


OPERATION:

Thus far, I’ve noticed no major differences between the PS3 Slim and the old PS3. The Firmware is identical.
 
The PS3 slim also includes an integrated WiFi adapter (like its big brothers) so you’ll be able to hop right on your home network for web browsing or for online play.  Integrated WiFi is standard on the Nintendo Wii, but  with The Xbox 360, this feature is still a $100 add-on.

The only difference I’m aware of is that SONY has integrated a feature that allows you to control the Slim from your SONY BRAVIA TV (through the HDMI cable). You must have a BRAVIA TV to use this feature. I don’t.



HARD DRIVE SWAPPING

The Slimline PS3 uses the same 2.5 inch SATA Hard Disk Drive that the older PS3 used.  Fortunately, SONY does not void your warranty if you wish to swap your HDD for a new one.  Therefore, HDD size never becomes a major cost issue like it is on the Xbox 360 where proprietary HDD’s are made to be non-swappable.   Microsoft can charge you whatever it wants to charge you for their HDD’s. With PS3, you can buy a large capacity  drive on Ebay for under $50  and pop it right in. Interchanging is very simple – it only requires you to remove a single screw.

Using off-the-shelf drives was a brilliant move by SONY because of the aforementioned necessity to load entire games to the drive.



OVERALL
 
I have no doubt that parents are going to be forced by their kids into Walmart and Best Buy this year to pick up the new PS3 slim, therefore, I know sales will be strong this season. Most of my young cousins already have PS3 on their Christmas list.

It is likely, these kids already have a PS2 so many of them won’t miss the lack of the PS3 to play legacy games. Or at least, not until their PS2 wares out and their games are rendered unusable.

While the Slimline’s large hard drive and small form factor is a major selling point for me, its lack of backwards compatibility is my deal breaker and I’d prefer to buy an older 60GB or 80GB model from Ebay that has this feature -  even if its slightly more expensive.
 
Could SONY not have gone with a less expensive HDD and gave us legacy compatibility?  I still have a copy of Contra: Shattered Soldier, Warhawk, Twisted Metal, Colony Wars  and Gradius V that I don’t ever want to give up. Not to mention those of us with the Metal Gear Solid games that we might want to pick up and play.
 
If you are preparing to buy the PS3 Slim, I suggest you buy from Walmart now. Walmart is running a special on this model where you get  the $25 basestand, 2 controllers (worth  $100 alone) and the SONY Blu Ray remote control ($25) ,  a game  from a list, plus a second bonus game from a list all for just $399.  This special saves you over $50 and gives you everything you need to make it a complete gift.