Pee Ess Three

[thesameguy]

My PS3 hasn't been used in about three years, and since xbone won't run x360 stuff I really think I need to keep the x360 around for a while. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the xbl gwg later this month, and I definitely want in on that. Seems like the PS3 has to go to accommodate that.

It's sole possible reprieve is if someone can tell me a way to get it to stream media content from the network. PS3 Media Server isn't an option because my home server is an AMD E-350 and nowhere near powerful enough to transcode. (Since WHS is discontinued and xbone doesn't support streaming from SMB (yet) I *may* replace the server with a W7 machine, but probably not). I need a media player on the PS3 that can play media natively, primarily MP3, FLAC, XVID, and h.264 in primarily AVI and MKV containers. I don't think there is a way to do that. Can anybody tell me different?

Related, does anyone know how to de-upgrade or otherwise hack a PS3 to run Linux? That could be an option as well. I'm 80% ok with the risk of bricking it, because used PS3s are worth like $100. I wouldn't miss that all that much.

[harper]

PS3s could run Linux, but it's been removed about five firmwares ago. If yours really HAS sat and gathered dust for years, turn it on but WITHOUT going online (so as to trip the updater). From there, just google about it, I'm sure there are still guides.

The funny thing is, I'd suggest getting PlayStation Plus is the best bargain in gaming right now. For the membership (which costs about $50 a year, though there are sales) you get at least one full-retail title per month, and sometimes more than that -- especially in November and December and around E3 in June.

Take a look: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/...e-for-members/

[Rob]

Related to both of those posts, I got free Guardian Of Light about 14 months ago on PS+ and it was dull. I Cam'd that shit after an hour or so.

[thesameguy]

XBL Gold gets you two full titles per month*, so it's pretty competitive. Regardless, over time, I've bought three titles for PS3 (Fat Princess, GT5, and that one game that won lots of awards) and the only one i ever played was Fat Princess. There just haven't been any compelling PS3-exclusive titles that have held any interest for me. I kept the PS3 this long simply as a backup Blu Ray player, but I don't even need that with the xbone. My relationship with PlayStation is at an end, unless I can come up with a way to use it as a media consumption device.

Unfortunately, the "remove other os" update came out long before I stopped using it, so I need a hack to undo or bypass that. Or some other app entirely that has built-in codecs or something. Like VLC for PS3, which sadly does not exist.

* XBL only costs me $30/yr, right Novi?!

[thesameguy]

Related to both of those posts, I got free Guardian Of Light about 14 months ago on PS+ and it was dull. I Cam'd that shit after an hour or so.

Shit. Well, whatever. I'll save it for a drunken, rainy day when my judgment is impaired.

[Rob]

It's essentially Robotron with a load of fluff mechanics and tedious timing puzzles added. The co-op might be a laugh though.

[harper]

XBL Gold gets you two full titles per month*, so it's pretty competitive. Regardless, over time, I've bought three titles for PS3 (Fat Princess, GT5, and that one game that won lots of awards) and the only one i ever played was Fat Princess. There just haven't been any compelling PS3-exclusive titles that have held any interest for me. I kept the PS3 this long simply as a backup Blu Ray player, but I don't even need that with the xbone. My relationship with PlayStation is at an end, unless I can come up with a way to use it as a media consumption device.

Unfortunately, the "remove other os" update came out long before I stopped using it, so I need a hack to undo or bypass that. Or some other app entirely that has built-in codecs or something. Like VLC for PS3, which sadly does not exist.

* XBL only costs me $30/yr, right Novi?!

I would dare argue that PS+ has been the better deal for a long, loooooong time, but I'll just let this long list of PS+ titles in North America do the talking for me.

[Rob]

I can't help thinking that the PS+ quality will take a bit of a shit though as the "free" offerings get diluted by the currently awful PS4 additions in the same way it did when they added the underwhelming Vita games, reducing the amount of PS3 stuff up for grabs every month.

Can't complain though, 18 months of generally really decent games the price of a couple of those discs in a shop.

[thesameguy]

I would dare argue that PS+ has been the better deal for a long, loooooong time, but I'll just let this long list of PS+ titles in North America do the talking for me.

Yeah, not for me. There are maybe a dozen titles on that list I have any interest in, and of those dozen titles I'd have played or preferred them on the PC - Saints Row, Borderlands, Bioshock, etc. There are exactly three games on the list I'd have liked in their native format - VF5, Altered Beast and Golden Axe - but like so many retro games I think I like the idea of them more than the reality. I am reminded I downloaded Outrun for free as part of the "we got hacked" apology, and my enjoyment lasted exactly one Delirium Nocturnum, and then the PS3 went back to sleep. 80% of that list is, IMHO, shite.

[Rob]

80% of that list is, IMHO, shite.

You'll love Guardian Of Light.