Rate the PS3 Online and overall intangibles. (Help debating on buying one)

Okay the only system i own that is fully mine is a DS. Now before you think i am no gamer and blah, my close friend has both a 360 and a Wii so he lets me borrows those systems at will and the games along with it so, am i a hardcore gamer? No. But shoot i love love gaming :). Anyways, i want to buy a PS3 and i wanted to know if the online and what not is comparable to the XBOX 360. Rate on a scale to 1 through 5 on following criterias please.

• Dashboard (Screen previous to playing a game)
• Customization (Dashboard related)
• Online gaming quality
• Online gaming population

Please drop a reply as well with other intangibles or stuff that you think will be helpful in convincing me on buying a Ps3. Thanks in advance. :)

Dashboard (called the Cross Media Bar [abbreviated as XMB] for the PS3) - 3

Customization - 3.5 (you can easily use themes you download online, upload your own wallpaper, text, text background, etc. You can sort your games, vidoes, music, etc as well)

Online gaming quality - 4 (they work as well as I could ask for)

Online gaming population - 2.5 - 3

I turn it on, it works, it is free.

5/5

I like XMB better than the dashboard. It's cleaner and it doesn't have huge pictures for everything. The online itself depends on the game and your connection. Some games have a lot of people online and others don't. It is as simple as that. Games like resistance 2, Killzone 2, and other titles are populated while others are not.

I turn it on, it works, it is free.

5/5

samuraiguns

• Dashboard (Screen previous to playing a game) 3/4
• Customization (Dashboard related) 5
• Online gaming quality 5
• Online gaming population 5

Mister__Awesome

in conclusion, 5. I htink i might have messed up HTML ^ but no bother.

Okay the only system i own that is fully mine is a DS. Now before you think i am no gamer and blah, my close friend has both a 360 and a Wii so he lets me borrows those systems at will and the games along with it so, am i a hardcore gamer? No. But shoot i love love gaming :). Anyways, i want to buy a PS3 and i wanted to know if the online and what not is comparable to the XBOX 360. Rate on a scale to 1 through 5 on following criterias please.

• Dashboard (Screen previous to playing a game)
• Customization (Dashboard related)
• Online gaming quality
• Online gaming population

Please drop a reply as well with other intangibles or stuff that you think will be helpful in convincing me on buying a Ps3. Thanks in advance. :)

Mister__Awesome

1. 4.5 - It's simple, easy to navigate and get the job done, Internet browser, HOME functionality, etc.

2. 4.5 - Tons of customizations, from hundreds of free themes, you can individually customize colors, icons, sort your music, movies, photos files and more.

3. 4.5 - No online game is perfect. It depends on your connection and stability. I for example have good High Speed connection and during the three years I had been gaming online, it's been 5/5. You will see outstanding online experience in PS3 exclusive titles where servers are dedicated and run excellent.

Another great aspect I enjoy is that games are usually 32 players online and range even higher such as 64 players in Resistance 2. Upcoming game - MAG is 256 players. If you're big on online gaming, PS3 won't disappoint, there is no fee and it works like my PC did for many years. Click on multiplayer and in no time you're playing online, simple.

At this point the online game quality is great, even if Sony sometimes in future does start to charge for it (similar to Xbox Live) the service it provides works great. Though, since day 1 PS3 was build in mind that online gaming should always be free. It works as intended so far, no complains.

4. 4.5 - Popular games online always have people playing even after months of game release. You can still find people playing original Resistance for example but it's natural to find larger quantity in Resistance 2. Other games that support online all have community playing.

The rule of a thumb is - you won't have to worry about finding a game room to jump in and play.

Overall if I had to rate your current question with scale of five I would give it: 4.5/5.

It's a fantastic, solid multimedia console and every person who find the games it has to offer enjoyable should have no fear - it's money well spent.

Hopefully, this answer a little of your questions. Feel free to message me if you have any additional questions. :D

5/5 for me, love the online and the community. also love PSN as it gives out some amazing games like DeathSpank. 5/5

It's not as good as the 360 in terms of online but it gets the job done.

basically the same but free, there are also sometimes bigger demos on the PS3 like with the co op lost planet 2.

Hey meluvulongtime8, that damn guy in your sig. I've seen him just about EVERYWHERE, from phone commercials to reality scare shows. It's annoying. Anyone have any idea who he is?

Hey meluvulongtime8, that damn guy in your sig. I've seen him just about EVERYWHERE, from phone commercials to reality scare shows. It's annoying. Anyone have any idea who he is?

SilverIce7

There you go :)

not sure about the first 2, but both online gaming quality and poulation i would rate highly, its pretty much on par with live. there will be times where you will get lag, but they usually localize servers and players which makes that not happen oftenmonkeyd_93

This

It's not as good as the 360 in terms of online but it gets the job done.

brickdoctor

They are equal...I use both!!! Now I must say that wasn't always the case when the PSN first launched, but with all of the updates over the years...the PSN has caught up to live.

I turn it on, it works, it is free.

5/5

samuraiguns

:P...that made my day

[QUOTE="brickdoctor"]

It's not as good as the 360 in terms of online but it gets the job done.

MarcRecon

They are equal...I use both!!! Now I must say that wasn't always the case when the PSN first launched, but with all of the updates over the years...the PSN has caught up to live.

Wrong. It's catching up. It's still not as good, but it's constantly getting closer. However, the only place I play the 360 at is at my friends house (which I do a lot) and he has a slightly better internet service so that may be part of it. :P

I turn it on, it works, it is free.

5/5

Dashboard (called the Cross Media Bar [abbreviated as XMB] for the PS3) - 3

Customization - 3.5 (you can easily use themes you download online, upload your own wallpaper, text, text background, etc. You can sort your games, vidoes, music, etc as well)

Online gaming quality - 4 (they work as well as I could ask for)

Online gaming population - 2.5 - 3

I gave it a 4/5. The XMB is great, I don't see what could be improved there. The amount of customization available for the XMB is pretty much unlimited - you can download backgrounds and themes from Sony, you can use any picture you want as a background, and there are entire sites devoted to PS3 themes and wallpapers. Online gaming quality is excellent. I don't play much online, but I've never had any problems with a game, they've all run just fine. I only gave it a 4 instead of a 5 because of the online gaming population - whenever you're talking about the general public, with lots of little kids involved, there are always going to be a few people who can't enjoy a game unless they're doing everything possible to ruin it for other people. They're certainly the exception rather than the rule, but they are there.

Okay the only system i own that is fully mine is a DS. Now before you think i am no gamer and blah, my close friend has both a 360 and a Wii so he lets me borrows those systems at will and the games along with it so, am i a hardcore gamer? No. But shoot i love love gaming :). Anyways, i want to buy a PS3 and i wanted to know if the online and what not is comparable to the XBOX 360. Rate on a scale to 1 through 5 on following criterias please.

• Dashboard (Screen previous to playing a game)
• Customization (Dashboard related)
• Online gaming quality
• Online gaming population

Please drop a reply as well with other intangibles or stuff that you think will be helpful in convincing me on buying a Ps3. Thanks in advance. :)

Mister__Awesome

• The XMB is nothing special, it's easy to cycle through simply enough.3

• There are themes for the XMB that give it a nice touch but do not drastically alter the appearance of it. Some themes actually cost money and some of theme are animated, meaning that the background of the theme moves or something. Usually it's something really miniscule, so still not worth the dollar you'd end up paying for it.3

• The quality of online gaming will probably depend on your internet connection/router. I have a netgear rangemax router that works great when I go online with my PS3. Some people argue that the online gameplay is laggy, but I think it's above average, and I have very little to complain about aside from the occasional lag in games, but that doesn't occur so often that it hurts gameplay.4.5

• The online communityis large so there's no need to worry about ever sitting in a lobby for long periods of time trying to find a game. To this day, it still takes seconds to get into a match in Call of Duty 4. The only time the community is scarce is probably if you're playing an obscure PS3 game (Section 8) or very old and unpopular game.4.5
  

[QUOTE="MarcRecon"]

[QUOTE="brickdoctor"]

It's not as good as the 360 in terms of online but it gets the job done.

brickdoctor

They are equal...I use both!!! Now I must say that wasn't always the case when the PSN first launched, but with all of the updates over the years...the PSN has caught up to live.

Wrong. It's catching up. It's still not as good, but it's constantly getting closer. However, the only place I play the 360 at is at my friends house (which I do a lot) and he has a slightly better internet service so that may be part of it. :P

Be specific...what "ACTUALLY" makes it better!! I don't have to go over a friends house to see the service in action, I ACTUALLY own a 360 also.;)

For me it gets 5 on almost all of them but gaming population, they are'nt that many people on multiplats online that aint mw2. Dashborad and the other stuff are pretty good actually. Just some minor faults on the online but that won't affect you that much for online. Defenetly get one.