PlayStation 3

Thanks to iCloud and our AppleTV, I realized that we don’t really need to keep our Mac Mini around at home just as a media server. We could instead replace our DVD player and our Mini with a game system—and get the benefits of having a game system as well. I may be a Serious Web Designer now, but growing up, I adored games. I also spent a year as a digital artist at a now-defunct game studio in Santa Cruz, so I have a deep appreciation for the craft that goes into a good game.

We promptly went shopping and picked up an XBOX 360 with Kinect. I was very interested in this system, since it seemed to have a lot going for it that our little three-year-old would enjoy. However, I was soon completely let down by the device, and returned it within 24 hours, replacing it with a PlayStation 3 with Move.

Here are my issues with the XBOX, all of which were remedied by the PlayStation:

  • The XBOX had a miniscule hard drive, and a seriously small limit to its external storage (16 gigabytes!). So it wouldn’t really work as a media server. Our PS3, by comparison, has a 320 gigabyte drive, and can accept any properly-formatted USB drive as well.
  • The unit is promoted as being a way to watch services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and so forth… but what they don’t mention is that you have to pay Microsoft $60 a year! That’s not the case with my AppleTV, and it’s not the case with the PlayStation.
  • The user interface is filled with ads. This isn’t a show-stopper, but I’ve built my “entertainment system” with the concept of zero ads in mind. I’m not about to change that now.
  • The Kinect doesn’t really work that well. It’s a cool idea, and apparently a hot seller, but I was disappointed. It doesn’t really work for small kids, and when the room’s lighting wasn’t just right, it didn’t really work for me.
  • Finally, I came to discover that most of the really interesting, nontraditional, “indie” games are PlayStation-exclusive. Games like LittleBigPlanet and Journey and many more. These kinds of games fascinate me.

So we’re already much happier with the PlayStation 3. I think we’ve made the right decision. It does help that our daughter totally loves the Everybody Dance game that we’ve been playing with her…

Raymond Brigleb

Creative Director, dreamer, partner, father, musician, photographer. Has been known to ride the rails. Pulls one heck of a shot.