Playstation 3....

I've always been into and a fan of the Xbox consoles from Original, 360, Xbox one & Series S. So it's no surprise that the only PlayStation console I've owned has been a Playstation 3. Or maybe that should be a surprise..... Why did an Xboxer get a Pony Slaystation! Simples... I wanted in on a PS3 only FPS. As long as it lasted Dust 514 was 'something special'(to me); But that's just the nostalgia talking, it wasn't a perfect game; But it ticked a lot of boxes.

CCP Games

I've waffled on about old Xbox consoles and the games I've purchased to 'complete' or at least 'round out' their collection. It's a personal thing. One persons favorite game is another's worst. As is I'm really happy with the old hardware and games I've kept and gotten. In looking through the online side of a second hand hardware/games chain of stores, I kept going back and looking at PS3 games. My 360 stuff was always respectable and I've already 'completed' my retro Xbox 'needs'(here, here and here). But the PS 3 road not taken was of interest. After a lot of hemming and hawing I finally took the plunge and splashed out on a bunch of cheap PS3 games. In fact the main hassle with buying them was that the postage and packing was 50% of the entire purchase value! 2 Euro adds up when your getting a bunch of games! Why do it now, I'm no collector, but I do like the idea of owning stuff I've missed, intentionally passed up or never got a chance to 'be into'. Yea the road not taken.... It seems interesting now. Seeing 'game collectors' talk on Youtube about the cycles that consoles and their games go through, now 'felt' like the time to pick up some PS3 games to enhance what I've already got. Right now, 'that time' means plentiful games still available at a cheap price. Not that any I've chosen will age like wine. For me I'm just looking to have a rounded out collection of games I'd like to play/see/experience; See what I missed. That isn't the worst future proofing... For me and this collection. If and when I ever get space to permanently setup things... Whole other story.

I've only bought one game for the PS3 previously. Heavy Rain, second hand for €10 a good few years ago. I got Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus free with the PS3 when I got it initially(no other choice, bundle that it was). 

However I did get a few from a friend who was getting rid of a bunch of PS3 stuff a few years ago. So I inherited GTA 5, Saints Row the Third, Mirrors Edge, Metal gear solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Elder scrolls IV: Oblivion and R.U.S.E. Not a bad bunch at all! 

All that said I've been surprised that the second hand hardware is still priced at high values(at least here in ireland). Second hand controllers going for 40 - 50 and even 70 euro for special editions. Console iterations from original PS3 to super slim going for 100 - 150 and up. 

I have a PS3 super slim and is 'boxed'. To buy that today, second hand, boxed, they are going for €180+. With a coloured boxed PS3 super slim going for €200. 

Maybe I spoke too soon... Prices are going up and up. Crazy. These second hand stores really know how to screw a person over...

I'd say it would be cheaper to find a private seller but after looking at that side of the market those prices are even more insane!

If you can get one from a friend, they're a friend indeed.

So back to a second hand retailer and €2 P&P per game seems more reasonable.

In picking games I went for exclusives or at the very least more Playstation-esque games; Games not exclusive but considered bigger PS games... I'm an Xbox head so I've only my view of what PS 3 was in it's hayday(the enemy.....I joke, I joke). Plus I threw in ones that were cross playform, that I'd not played to get just for fun. As well as some nostalgia thrown in for good measure...... A set of criteria best described as knowing it when I seen it.

So what did I buy(bare with me! Their not all 'classics'):

Virtua Fighter 5, a game series I've not played on any platform since doing so in an actual arcade in the mid 90's. I've always tended more towards Street Fighter and Dead or Alive on console so to get something different for a PS3 collection, this seemed to fit the bill. €2

Brutal Legend is a game I've always heard a lot about but never gotten, one for this new collection just for those reasons. €4

I was tempted to get Fuel but Burnout Paradise Ultimate seemed more bang for buck. And as I've played the need for speed games on xbox......I was looking for a more recent version of the Burnout series for this haul but this was the best version in the moment. Speed and glorious crashes await... €4

Haze had some hype back in the day. That didn't last long once the game came out. Not that it's terrible it just 'under-delivered' and did a lot that was 'meh'... Or am I being too charitable, guess I'll find out.

€2 just to say I own it and have played it.....

Uncharted, 2 and 3.... Because I've not played any of the games. I've heard the hype and seen some interesting gamplay. Given I've been into Tomb raider and Indiana Jones games in the past these games should please me. Drakes Fortune €2, Among Thieves €2, Drakes Deception €3. 

€7 for the three Uncharted games. Pretty good!

A playstation game of legend for €10; I've heard all the ruckus about the second game but maybe I'll get to see it from a fresh perspective once I get a hold of the first game and actually know about it.

Gran Tourismo is a PlayStation icon... I couldn't skip getting Gran Tourism 5 for €6

Given my love of Xcom Enemy Unknown/Within and my newfound joy with Chimera Squad; The Bureau was a good choice for this PS3 collection, €2. I was considering getting Xcom Unknown but I've played it to death on PC and have it free (from Games with gold, June 2016) on XBox... PS3 deserved the next option...

The next few are a bit (more)nostalgic in my choices; As they are games I've played on other platforms.

When my wife had her Wii setup one of the games we played a lot was a basic version of Monopoly, over time that evolved to Monopoly Streets. As with all things over time things get swapped and loaned. The Wii went unused for a while ...... then put in the attic... parts given away..... I saw the PS 3 version of Streets, so had to get it. €6

I've not played Fifa games in a long long time. Not properly since the mid 90's (megadrive/genesis before that) to the 2000's. I have good memories of the 2010 SA game on PC and saw the 2014 world cup version as well so picked up both. Besides I think it's from 2017 on that it's started to slide in quality.....

Brazil €4

And €0.50 for SA (As of posting this I've gotten an e-mail saying that the sole copy in their stock can't be found! Refund it is, pity as the SA game on PC was a good one).

Fallout 3. A game I got on my original Xbox 360 but one that I started and never 'got into'. Which is strange since I was so into Fallout 4. One of the few 360 games I ever traded in. I was tempted to get New Vegas instead but I've no nostalgia for it whereas Fallout 3 at least gets a look from that angle... Worth another try on PS 3. Not going to delve to far.... Famous last words. €4

All in all it added up to €54.50 worth of games + €30 postage and packing... Before refund. Yea PnP is a killer even at €2 per item.... 

Only having the one controller that came with the PS3 was never really a concern. Especially as I played Dust 514 with mouse and keyboard. However as all things PS3 hardware are now commercially unavailable and the second hand hardware is already pricey(or cheap for a reason); However I found a decent, cheap and new(new for real) PS3 controller to fill the need for a second controller. I pickled up a Gioteck VX3 Wireless controller for €12. A controller that takes batteries so long-term a good choice as well. Not a problem now but give it another 10 years and then some, maybe there'll be battery problems with 'official' controllers. Trying to think longterm here as well..... Easier to replace 2 AA than rip the case open and source an internal battery. At a stage like that a wired wireless controller would be a thing....

I didn't expect much from it but after getting and trying it out it's surprised me. It may be cheap but it's not got that feel in the hand. It's a clone of a clone but it works well. It's got a shape that fits well in my hands, buttons are al dente(not to mushy and not rock hard) and the sticks are likewise good. The grips are nicely textured and have a shape that fits my own grip style(little fingers with leverage). I can't complain at all about it. I was surprised. €12. New and very usable.... 

All in all I think I've rounded out a good little collection.

And as I'm about to post this I get a knock on the door and it's the postman with an armful of padded packages, they've all arrived!!

Dust 514....

Over the past year I've had a niggling feeling at me to get into Dust 514.

As Dust shows no signs of going to the PS4 there would be no point in investing in one of those.
With the game being a sony playstation exclusive means to try Dust I'd have to get a PS3.

A friend and his brother have raved about enjoying dust matches. What I've seen so far I've liked.
It's been a while since I did something like splurge on a random piece of tech geekery. 

I've always been an xbox fan, I've had the original xbox, an original 360 which served well and then gave up the red ring of death; A newer special edition 360 that I've had for a few years now, and then repaired the older 360. Both are still going strong. I'm still dedicated to my xbox 360's. BF4, Splinter Cell Blacklist and a few other games that reside on the xbox and not on the shelf shows I play them.

I've stood my ground and not even thought about getting one of the new consoles. Even if the PS4 looks to beat the Xbox One. Yes the graphics look great and the increase in game abilities like the number of players that can play in battlegrounds is a lot better then the older consoles. Right now for me they dont' do or play anything that would justify getting one.

So PS3 it has to be.
 
The good thing about the PS4 being out is the price drop of the PS3 with retailers. Second hand PS3's are currently selling for more or about the same as the reduced shop prices. I've seen none that have games/extras that appeal to me. None that warrant paying a lot more than just getting the console and a free game in a shop.
My thinking places me with the perspective of why buy second hand when I can have a new one for the same price that also has a guarantee.
 
The best deal I can see at the moment gives a 12GB playstation 3 + a game for 169.99 (euro) reduced from 229.98. A voucher I received as a present for that store will take that reduced price down to 109.99.

Not bad at all for a console that still has a few years left too it. I've read it should be a supported platform until 2017, am sure it will be.

The only point that makes me hesitate a little in going ahead with the PS3 is the fact that Dust may be released on pc after the summer.... its a slim chance but the internet blog pundits all seem to be divided on what will happen.

My research has lead me to a few blogs/sites and youtube vids that show self upgrading the HD of the PS3 slim will be easy, I already have a 500GB sata drive ready and waiting to be used. 

 

 
Granted the brackets are cheap online, but I dont' want to pay for something that should have already come with it...   If the ad-hoc fit seems really unstable then I'll see about the proper bracket.

During the weekend I also registered on the playstation network for a user name and listed Dust 514 as a download.

Another great thing is that I have Dust 514 items to redeem after buying the EVE: The Second Decade Collector's Edition for Eve Online.
These are listed in the description as:

Digital items (DUST 514)
Blind your enemies with the reflection of their defeat in your shining Amarr dropsuit while unleashing a torrent of pain from your new arsenal of weapons. These EVE: The Second Decade Collector's Edition items are permanent gear, requiring no restocking or replacement.

    Amarr "Templar" Assault Dropsuit
    Amarr "Templar" Logistics Dropsuit
    Amarr "Templar" Heavy Dropsuit
    Amarr Scrambler Pistol
    Amarr Scrambler Assault Rifle
    Amarr Laser Rifle

As I pre-purchased the Collector's edition I have an extra item code for an Amarr Drop Uplink.

A permanent item spawn point generator for strategy-minded mercenaries. Regroup your team on your terms for the tactical edge.

So it will be good to make use of these items. Maybe they will give a bit of an edge.

I'll be visiting the store this week, I can say that I'm 99% going to buy it.