Playstation 3 questions

(Not sure if I should post console gaming questions here or in another forum. If any of the admins here wish to move it somewhere else, that's fine with me.)

My wife and I are thinking of buying a Playstation 3 soon. One of the things we're most interested in is the Netflix movie streaming capability.

I'm interested to hear from people who have used the PS3 to stream movies from Netflix. I realize that Netflix doesn't have nearly as many movies available to stream free as it does rentals on DVD and very few newer films for free streaming but that doesn't concern us as we expect to continue to rent those locally or get them on DVD from Netflix.

If you've used the PS3 to stream Netflix content please post and let me know if you've found the quality acceptable and what sort of TV you're watching on.

I also have read that you have to run the free Netflix DVD to load up the necessary software to use the Netflix streaming service each time you watch a movie. How long does it typically take to load in that software before you can start watching a movie?

In addition, how do you like Blu-Ray movies played on the PS3 built-in player? And last but not least, of the games you've played on PS3 which are your favorites? I expect my PC will remain my primary game machine but will undoubtedly pick up a few games and keep my eye on the used PS3 game selection at local stores.

I know there are far more games available for the XBox 360, but I've also read that many if not most XBoxes make a whining sound and as I said above I expect to continue doing most gaming on my PC anyway. I also understand that the XBox also streams Netflix movies (and without having to load the code in each time via DVD), but I'm not really interested currently in buying an XBox.

Any other comments about your PS3 experience, pro or con, are also welcome as well as suggestions about add on hardware for the PS3 that you've found useful or fun.

Finally, anyone who uses the Roku Netflix player how do you like it? We may just get one of those (much cheaper) and hold off on a game console for awhile.

Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and observations.

 

Don't use Netflix, so can't comment on that at all.

Blu-Ray requires an HDMI cable and a TV that can keep up for it to really shine, but once you have it... it's fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. :drool

Great games for PS3: Hmm... what kind of PC games do you play? Tell me what genres you like, and I'll see what I can find for you.

 

Hi Mimsy and thanks for your response.

I have a large variety of PC games. In no particular order....HalfLife2, Civ 3, Left4Dead, TrackManiaUnitedForever, GRID, TestDrive Lemans, Fallout3, Morrowind, Oblivion, the Quake games, The Witcher, SpaceRangers2 Reboot, STALKER (the 1st one), Bioshock, Sins of a Solar Empire, WoW, Doom3, Portal, and Warhammer 40,000 series games.

I buy very few games when they first come out, but once the price falls to $20 to $30 I scoop up most stuff I'm interested in (I read PC Gamer and online reviews) as well as stuff on sale on Steam and Impulse occasionally.

I guess it's apparent from the list above that I like first person shooters, RPG's (primarily D&D genre -- though not necessarily "official"), some racing and some strategy games and the occasional odd "one of a kind" game ("The Movies" and that old Win98 -- or was it a Win95 game?! -- "Bad Mojo", where your character changes into a cockroach early on after you've been examining an old amulet that was your grandmother's).

Don't play a lot of MMO's. Did play WoW for some months and then got burnt out on it, but will probably go back later this winter to play some more. Have also played LOTR online and a couple of the freebie MMO's (or ones that are free but also include optional purchases of equipment, potions etc).

Among my all time favs are the Civ series (the ones actually done by Sid Meier and company), Doom and Doom3, STALKER, the original Half-Life (which I still go back and play occasionally) and the old, old Lords of Magic (the later version that had most of the bugs cleaned up -- still go back and play that now and then also even though the graphics are painfully dated. If it only had some more maps I'd probably play it more often -- but I'm too lazy to use the map editor to make my own).

Guess that should give you some idea of the range of gaming interests I guess. :-D

 

If you liked The Witcher, you have to get your hands on Dragon Age. Do not deprive yourself of this beautifully marvellous RPG experience. Seriously. You have to get that game.

Now, for PS3 games... Note that not all the games listed below are exclusives. They're just good games I have for the PS3.

Valkyria Chronicles
Hugely under-rated RPG where the combat is turn-based strategy. Best sleeper hit for this console yet.

Prince of Persia
Beautiful beautiful platformer that makes all other platform games feel slow and clunky by comparison. Also one of the few games I've left on the menu screen just to listen to the soundtrack.

Assassins Creed
Another good platformer. This one lets you sneak up behind people and stab them in the kidneys, and has badass swordplay. The sequel just came out, so you might be able to find this one cheap somewhere.

God of War Collection
God of War 1 and 2 for PS2, remastered in 720p, on one blu-ray disk. Not for the squeamish... though if you liked Bioshock that probably doesn't apply to you. This game lets you move rip someone's arm off and then beat them to death with it. Brutality, thy name is Kratos. (Third game slated to come out this spring.)

Uncharted, both games
Might be the best of the PS3 release titles. Very challenging platformer, with fun story, jungles, savages, traps and tombs to loot. Basically an Indiana Jones adventure, but with real death and violence, and a hero that's actually sexy.

Demons Souls
Starts out as a basic dungeon crawl. Gather demon souls to level up, kill demons to save the world. Pay the blacksmith to upgrade your gear. Develops into surprisingly deep story, with complex and fun battle system. And bows and arrows are actually effective in this game! Also, the online sort-of-co-op play where you can leave hints for other players logged in and playing right now, is unusual, creative, and actually helpful.

I hardly play FPS at all, so haven't played the following, but my husband did and recommends them to everyone:

Metal Gear Solid 4
Jewel in the crown of a great franchise. Wiki it... that's all you need to know.

Resistance: Fall of Man, both games
Yet another WWII shooter... sort of. You get to drive the aliens' tank. :major

Resident Evil 5
If you've been gaming since Windows 95, and need to be introduced to the RE games I'm going to let the grue in the corner eat you. A lot more shooter and a lot less horror than previous games in the franchise, but still very enjoyable. Must have been, he played through it three times.

By interesting coincidence I play free MMOs too. LOL

 

Thanks again Mimsy.

Dragon Age: Origins is definitely on my Xmas wish list. I really like turn based strat games so will definitely look for Valkyria Chronicles. I was interested in Assassin's Creed, but then I read something that said it was awfully repetitive and got boring (but then that could be said of a lot of computer games and I've enjoyed some of them, I'm sure). May wait for the sequel and see how it fares. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Demon Souls also sound like my kinda stuff. And I'm interested in all the others you listed too, though I haven't played a platform game in a long time but have certainly heard good things about Prince of Persia time and again.

Will print out the whole list and pass it along to Santa with a few circled. :-D

Thanks a bunch Mimsy!

 

Always happy to help a fellow gamer out.

Oh, and one of the best things about the PS3? Free demos on the Playstation network!

Yes, Assassins Creed is very repetitive. However, so is having coffee every morning, always wearing the same perfume, and always buying the same single malt. However, we keep doing those things because we thoroughly enjoy them. Repetition is not automatically a bad thing. Not when what's repeated is great, fun and enjoyable in every way. If repetition automatically was horribly bad, monogamy would have been extinct a long time ago.

Aw, now I want to kidney-stab people again...

 

Mimsy!

You forgot Little Big Planet!. I wasn't too bothered about the game before I played it (got it free with the console). Single player is OK, but I swear 2player is the most fun you can have on any console, especially online

I know, I know, not a lot of people share my view

 

And that would be why I didn't list it

I like games like The Witcher, Dragon Age, Asassins Creed, God of War, and Demons Souls. Little Big Planet is... too "family friendly" for me. :-D But that aside and more importantly, I never recommend a game to someone if I haven't played it myself, and I haven't played LBP.

 

Eezak,

I work for a rather large European based electronics store, and I always recommend the PS3 as the best blu-ray player on the market. It really is an excellent bit of kit. If its mainly going to be used for media instead of gaming, you're best investment would be the optional Bluetooth remote control. It becomes a pain using the standard controller to rewind/step-back etc.

I've never used Netflix on it, as I tend to download my films onto my NAS. But i do stream all of the content to my PS3 with very little trouble. There is one fault with streaming to the PS3, and thats when you stream 1080p resolution films, and you try to rewind (if 'rewind' is even a proper term anymore in this digital age) the PS3 can shudder to a halt. I think it just becomes too much to cope with. Pause and play work fine though.

If you have a home theatre kit, the PS3 also has an optical output so you can connect that up for the surround-sound experience. Depending on the TV you own, the HDMI cable that Mimsy mentioned may do the work for you.

Mine runs on a Panasonic 42G10, and I couldn't be happier with the gaming and Blu-ray picture quality.

On a side note, working in electronics retail we tend to see a fair few faulty Xbox 360's coming into store. Rarely do we see a PS3 unless it's an ID10T fault

 

My bad. I should have mentioned the gloriousness of any of the above-listed games in 5.1 surround sound!

Don't get me started on the shamefully poor design and quality of the 360. uke We're on our fourth in as many years, which for a gaming console is unacceptable. Seriously... do not get me started on this.

 

I know it's awful isn't it? You would thing MICROSOFT would know a little bit about keeping chips cool

It wasn't the 3 red lights of doom fault was it? MS offer a 3year warranty for that particular fault now because it's got so out of control :-D


Oh BTW. I'm getting you started

 

It was. All four times.

They decided to offer the 3-year warranty on it because they were about to get hit by a class-action lawsuit over that issue here in the US. Bastards. *sigh*

I've spent enough on hardware accessories and shipping for warranty replacements on that piece of *** to buy three additional PS3s... Never again will I buy a Microsoft console. Never.

EDIT:
I'll trade you all those 360 hardware extras for your i7 rig. Deal?

 

Don't even say things like that! I'm such a junk hoarder that I actually considered breaking a deal with you there

 

@ Michenko I was going to begin my PS3 tech apprenticeship and ask what an ID10T fault meant. Glad I didn't or I'd have felt like the village ID10T! :-o

 

Thank you both for your observations and suggestions -- very very helpful.

Best Buy here currently has three PS3 sale packages including extra hardware and all selling for $300 for the 120 gig drive model and the extras. One package has two extra dual shock controllers in addition to the one in the box (and a game also, I think), the second has the blue tooth remote for the player, an HDMI cable and a game, and the third has a bluetooth headset, a game and something else I think...dang, can't recall. Anyway will probably go for the blue tooth remote, HDMI cable (which I'll save for later use -- see below) and a game.

No HDTV/home theater setup yet...probably in a few more months though. Have a pair of floor standing Ohm Walsh 2 speakers that are very smooth and spacious sounding -- wonderful for both music and watching movies/TV with great sound and will probably use those initially until we get a good dedicated set of surround speakers and other home theater hardware. :drool

Thank you both again for your responses.

 

@ Mimsy: referencing http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=203811&highlight=playstation+3

"...buy a couple of good co-op games, like Little Big Planet (creative platformer)..."

Uh, looks like a recommendation to me, Mimsy.

No wait....I didn't mean it....don't kidney stab me!

Aaarrrgghhhhhhh! :heli

 

I have a PS3 and Netflix. Although the amount of videos available online isn't as plentiful, they have a deal with STARZ, and they have all of the videos that STARZ has shown recently. I think it is around 1000 titles.

Now for the quality. I purchased a program called PlayOn to stream videos to my PS3 because it could stream Netflix and Netflix was not officially supported at the time.

Since then, they've released the streaming disc. I've used both the 360 and the PS3 for streaming netflix. Using the disc, I was able to stream Netflix to my PS3 at 480p. Not very impressive. Maybe it was the internet connection and Netflix gave me a lower resolution to compensate for the lack of Bandwidth. Using PlayOn, I get 1080 on PS3. On the 360, using the Netflix app or PlayOn, I get 1080.

I totally recommend the PS3 and Netflix. Using them together as a free service, as opposed to the 360's gold fee, is the way to go. I would still get PlayOn though. It can stream video from Hulu, Netflix, CBS, SpikeTV and a wide variety of other places. It is only $40, which is still less than a year of XBox live.

Happy gaming!

 

BUSTED!

Oldie but a goody

 

Well... how many of the games that I listed earlier in this thread, would you recommend to an 8-year old boy?

When it comes to games for kids, the rules change a little bit. I haven't played games suitable for 8-year olds since, well, since I was around 8, I think... so for kid games, cut me some slack

Oh, and of the deals your local Best Buy is offering, the remote/cable bundle by far seems like the best deal.

 

@ Swami Thanks for that info about the PlayOn software. I'll look into that.

@ Mimsy Well, I thought you'd recommended LBP in that other thread so I had to look back at it and then, well I couldn't resist a poke atcha'. Cut you some slack? You bet, as long as you don't kidney stab me. :eek I generally shy away from cutsie and or kiddie games also as I'm at least a 10 year old emotionally -- at least during the week. On weekends and holidays I reserve the right to regress to the 8 yr old level. And I confess I retain my fondness for the somewhat cutesy Lionel 3D Traintown. Woooowoooooo! :celebrate

As for the package deals at my local Best Buy I referred to earlier in this thread, I misunderstood the three/six pricing signs in the display. My confusion was caused by the way all the boxed PS3's in the display, with a sign saying $299.95 (with the price highlighted in yellow), had all this extra hardware actually strapped to all the boxes in the display. But there were other signs with the total costs of the three different package deals there, but they weren't highlighted in yellow as the $299.95 price was. I won't say that it was intentionally misleading, but I took a close look at the three different package "deals" after I was told I'd misunderstood them and the display wasn't a model of clarity in my judgment.

In addition, I had phoned Best Buy to ask a couple of questions before driving out there this evening and someone there picked up the phone (after about a dozen rings) and immediately hung up on me before I could say a word. Considering all the above, I left the store without buying anything tonight and my wife and I will shop for a PS3 at a different store tomorrow as well as purchasing PS3 games and additional PS3 hardware somewhere else in the future.

Thanks again everyone for the additional info and comments from all of you. :clap

And now this for a certain big box store's display designers and phone (non)-answerers...... :rasberry

 

@ Swami Can you tell me about how long it takes for the PS3 to load up the Netflix player software -- both the free "official" stuff from Netflix and the PlayOn 3rd party program? It's not a big deal, but I'm curious.

I've read somewhere online that the reason for having to load the software each time is that MS/XBox has exclusive rights from Netflix to be the only console with "built-in" Netflix capability. The article said that contract will expire next year sometime and speculated that it might not be renewed in which case Sony might update the PS3 firmware to include the Netflix software and eliminate the need to load in the code from the disk each time you wish to stream a movie. Still, if the video quality of the PlayOn software remains superior to the free stuff I'd want to use PlayOn most of the time anyway.

 

The time to load the software is relatively short. It is just like loading a DVD or a game. The videos load quickly.

It is just as quick as selecting Netflix from the 360 menu and picking your movie. The interface is just as friendly and you usually don't notice buffering or anything like that.

I run on a 3.0 Mbps connection and there are always at least 3 computers other than my 360 or PS3 on my network. At least one other pc is streaming video at the same time or playing WoW or something like that. I rarely notice loading issues.

The only plus to loading Netflix rather than loading PlayOn (which just shows up as a media server on the PS3s XMB) is that you don't have to have another pc on to load Netflix. I always have my media server on though, so no biggie.

If you'd like, I can run some tests to give you actual time, but I would say offhand that you are looking at a fraction of a minute for either to load. 10 to 20 seconds max, in my experience.

 

Swami, thanks for the info about loading times of Netflix software. Appreciate the offer to get actual times, but no need -- your estimates are fine as I was just curious and don't consider the software load issue a deal breaker.

But I do have one question about the PlayOn software after reading your latest post but I'll search online first as I can probably learn what I need about PlayOn that way. If not, I'll get back to you here.

Thanks again for responding. :cool

 

@ Mimsy -- I'm going to be looking for some of the games on your list, but have one important question. While I've used console controllers of several types in the past (including the original PS) I know there are many games that really are easier to play on a PC with a mouse and a keyboard. Are there any on your list of recommended PS3 games that would, in your judgment, be better played on a PC, assuming that they're available in a Windows version. (I will, of course, check game version availability and hardware and software requirements before purchasing.)

In addition, I'm wondering if you found any of the PS3 exclusive games on your list to be especially awkward (not merely a bit difficult to get the hang of -- that's fine) to play with a game controller? If so, I may want to shy away from such games as I'm older and my fingers (and my mind, I'm afraid :banghead) aren't as quick and nimble as they were when I was younger.

For example, a new game on your list, available for both PS3 and in a PC version, is Dragon Age: Origins and I expect I'll be happier playing the PC version. And never mind that most of my and my wife's stuff is in storage which means only one TV for now -- my wife will certainly protest if I want to hunker down after dinner and monopolize the TV playing whatever on the PS3. She likes watching me play some games, but isn't much into gaming herself, though I'm hoping with the PS3 I can get at least a couple of 2 player cooperative games that she'll enjoy playing.

Any info or suggestions about games better played on a PC or just avoided for those of us who are somewhat game controller challenged :confused? Any recommendations for good 2 player games for PS3?

Thanks!

 

Even if Mimsy can't give you a Thumbs Up on LBP, I will give you a resounding Thumbs Up. Get the Game of the Year Edition.

Good multiplayer games are hard to come by these days. Most of the time they want to add an online aspect rather than have a good offline experience. Is there any particular genre that you are looking at?

 

I was very awkward with a controller as first, since all my game-learning was on a PC, but now I find that platformers and action-games (God of War, Demons Souls) are easier on a controller, primarily because of the analog sticks. Just make sure you have a sturdy controller that sits well in your hands. I have big hands for a woman, so I never buy a controller unless I get to handle the display one in the store and feel it out first.

For games like Dragon Age, where you control your NPCs and may want to pause during pseudo-realtime combat to give strategic commands and direct spell-casting, I definitely recommend a keyboard and a mouse for optimal control.

Note that the above are a personal preference though. Others may disagree.

Several of the games I listed have either an online multi-player section, or a split screen co-op, but they can be difficult for someone new to gaming. If you can get it cheap, a game from the Dynasty Warriors franchise is excellent to introduce someone to co-op gaming, especially on a larger TV, where your half of the screen won't be as small. The combat is refreshingly simple -- mash the attack button and move while you do it, and is spectacular with enemies literally flying across the screen when you hit them, so it looks very impressive when you get it right. Getting into combo attacks for extra bonuses is also very simple, and you are not competing against each other, but rather helping each other on large battlefields. So if the newbie-player isn't getting the hang of it right away and not doing very well, they won't be told by the game that they're a total loser that sucks, and start hating this gaming thing since being mocked by a pixel-opponent just isn't any fun. (Kilik! Looking at you!)

Dynasty Warriors is a blast actually... I might pull it out over the holidays and slash through a campaign or two.

Gameplay video! DW6 is out for PS3, but it's not something I'd be willing to pay full price for. Get it used, or on a sale after the holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puk3UOGZzEI

 

@ Swami Take a look at the list of games I posted earlier in the thread to get an idea of the variety of games I enjoy. I expect we'll pick up a PS3 Trivial Pursuit Game as both my wife and I should enjoy that. My wife, who is a fiction writer, also enjoys games with a strong story element and well developed characters, but those are hard to come by. And she prefers games with a grittier, harder look rather than soft and sweet. At the same time she likes some action which means most adventure games bore her.

Neither of us is terribly interested in fighting games (I mean games with little story and almost continuous fighting as opposed to D&D and other RPG games which also involve exploration and a variety of different environments and conversations (even if rather limited in scope) with various NPC's as the story advances.

My wife has expressed an interest in a plague or bacterial warfare themed game. Indeed, we have the board game Pandemic, but it's a bit more abstract than the sort of thing she keeps hoping to find in a computer based game.

Beyond that my wife enjoys watching me play Doom3 and some other FPS's as well as Thief, the old first person sneaker. She also likes Sacred Gold primarily because of the interesting variety of detailed graphics and wandering wildlife (rabbits, deer, fireflies, butterflies, birds, etc). But neither she nor I like the almost continual combat with wandering monsters -- though at least in most if not all areas of Sacred Gold they don't respawn. And of course the same is true of most Diablo clones. I feel fewer monsters with more interesting and challenging fights when they do occur would be better.

My wife enjoyed Spore and was interested in playing the beginning "cellular life" part of the game because the game design and graphics were so different.

What we two need, ideally, is something that will allow two players to play together cooperatively even though are skill levels are quite different. If a game has an adjustable difficulty setting I won't mind playing at a lower level so she won't feel overwhelmed as she's learning to play.

My wife is quite good at card games and board games, but I've been playing computer games since 1979. (Bought my first computer then -- a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 that loaded data and programs and saved same to an external cassette tape drive with a clunky-pixeled black and white display. 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives were available for it but they cost $600 or $800 in those days. And clunky dot-matrix printers were almost $1000 back then!) But my wife got her first exposure to computer and console games when we met in 2003 so I've had a lot more years of gaming experience on a number of different consoles and computer systems while my wife is still a relative beginner.

So I expect it won't be easy to find many games we both find interesting and can play cooperatively, but surely we can locate a few. And some single player games that have an adjustable difficulty level may suit her fine for solo play also.

I will keep an eye out for the version of LBP you mentioned, but doubt we'll buy it or many other games new. I have plenty of computer games to keep me occupied and we expect that at first, at least, we'll use the PS3 primarily to stream Netflix movies and watch Blu-Ray DVD's (once we get an HDTV in a few more months).

My wife, while interested in watching me play new games from time to time, isn't yet an avid gamer herself. Still, I'll keep an eye on the used PS3 games at Gamestop and other stores and sooner or later LBP will surely pop up and we'll give that a try. I also have a number of old (original) Playstation games and will look through those as I understand many of them will run fine on the PS3. Games akin to the old original version of Lemmings (which I played happily on my old 8-bit Atari back in the day) would be good to play together if there's something like it that has a cooperative mode.

Thanks again for the helpful suggestion and I welcome further recommendations if you have more.

 

@ Mimsy

Thanks for the recommendation and video of DW. Will keep an eye on the used games bins at local stores for that. Not really fond of the fighting genre but if it's a relatively easy way to kick some virtual *** I think my wife will enjoy it at least for awhile.

Understand about the subjective element of keyboard/mouse vs game controller. As with so many things personal preference usually favors what you're used to using. I still have problems with a number of the games I bought to play on my PSP because they're controller based of course and some of the schemes are not very well thought out -- or just too complicated for my aging gray matter. Still, I keep trying to get the hang of and improve on the games I really enjoy.

Thank you also, Mimsy, for the additional comments and suggestions.

 

Your wife needs to play The Witcher. Really. So do you


So I expect it won't be easy to find many games we both find interesting and can play cooperatively, but surely we can locate a few.

Dynasty Warriors or Little Big Planet.

 

I have the PC version of The Witcher and made a good start into the game but then they released a patch including some additional game content and I figured I was going to have to uninstall (because I'd used an "unofficial" patch to uh, enhance the game), reinstall, repatch and start all over again. My wife did enjoy what she saw of the game, but said she'd rather watch me play than try it herself. Is there a PS3 version of The Witcher? Doesn't have a 2 player cooperative mode does it?

Will keep checking the used PS3 games locally for one of the DW series to try that with my wife and also LBP. Thanks again Mimsy.

Anyone considering buying a new PS3 might like to know that Target stores have the 120 GB "slim" model for $299.95 (regular price), but if you're going to buy a second dual shock controller (about $55 more) you can get the 250 GB slim for $349.95 and Target will throw in a second dual shock contoller at no extra charge (I did read the signs carefully on this deal. Target's offering this deal through Dec 5th but don't think they're offering rain checks for it if a given Target store is out of stock of PS3's .

 

The Witcher was really improved by the patches they have released for it... lots of glitches went away, and of course I like the fact the extra content was completely free.

Was going to get ported to consoles, but the port was cancelled in favour of... wait for it... a sequel! :celebrate

No co-op mode, only competitive "versus" mode. I don't play it.

 

@ Mimsy
Good to know there's a sequel coming for The Witcher. Think I'll stick to the computer version of that, unless there's a two-player option in a PS3 version which doesn't seem likely.

We bought our PS3 two days ago. Target had the 250 GB slim model for $350 and it included a second dual-shock wireless controller at no additional cost. (That deal at Target ends today, Dec 5, I believe.) While we don't generally buy additional product warranties, we did spend $45 to add an additional 3 years through Target to the standard 1 year PS3 warranty . (For the $299.95 120 GB model the additional 3 yr warranty from Target costs only $30.) In addition, we purchased the Blu-ray DVD remote control as I'd read that using the game controller for disk based movies, while possible, was much more awkward.

Home setup, including putting it on our home wi-fi network, was quite easy. But since we don't have an extra USB keyboard currently, I had to use the virtual onscreen keyboard to enter all the registration info and signing up for several additional Sony features. So, it did take longer than I expected but everything worked without a hitch.

We've purchased 5 games so far -- Assassin (the 1st one), Sacred 2, LittleBigPlanet -- Game of the Year Edition (thanks again for the suggestion Swami), Trivial Pursuit, and Resident Evil 5. All but Assassin can be played with two players and I think those games are all co-op rather than versus which is what we prefer.

In addition, I downloaded the demo for Dead Space and my wife was really enjoying playing that last night in spite of her unfamiliarity with the controller. In addition, we played a bit of Trivial Pursuit. We didn't care for the narrator's running commentary though, so we turned the volume down. But the game is serving it's function for my wife and me as a good way to become familiar with the wireless controller without the frantic pace of an action game or FPS.

In addition, we've watched parts of a couple of streamed movies from Netflix and found the picture quality exceptionally sharp with some videos (e.g. take a look at the Sony store's online preview of the Alien vs. Predator film -- the first one -- which, with the PS3 sharpening feature turned on, looked incredibly good).

Parts of several other streamed films appeared the same as DVD versions we've watched. All in all, we were quite pleased with the video quality of streamed movies and DVD based PS3 games on our old, old 27" Sony Trinitron TV. Some in-game text was difficult to read from our sofa, but we expect to get an HDTV early next year and that should solve the fuzzy text problem.

Online text generally wasn't a problem (in game text tended to be smaller than online text), and while I'd read online reviews from a few people who said the web browser was rather slow, I didn't find it so. Our broadband cable streams standard def movies fine so far and web pages loaded up quickly in the PS3 browser.

All in all, my wife and I are quite satisfied with our PS3 so far and looking forward to watching streamed movies and sharing some good gaming together as well.

Thanks to Mimsy, Michenko, and Swami for providing helpful info about the PS3 and suggestions for good PS3 games. We will continue to monitor this thread, so more games and addon hardware suggestions are welcome as well info about same that you've found disappointing. :-D

 

Have you taken a look at the PSN Store? I noticed that you'd mentioned Lemmings and they have a version of that available on PSN. I'd also say to download every demo they offer as they can give you a decent idea of the game.

Other than that, if you don't mind peripherals, try out Buzz Quiz TV or Buzz Quiz World. Both are trivia games and are extremely easy to play. The offer online play too, so if you decide that multiplayer gaming is up your alley, there you go.

Oh, and I want to remind you to look at the ESRB rating on the games you purchase. They are only recommendations, but they are usually spot on and you can tell why the game got the rating on the back.

As for an 8 year old... Although it isn't multiplayer, I'd probably say TMNT. It does have cartoon violence, but it isn't a very difficult platformer, and it runs on a modified Prince of Persia engine. Very good for getting the timing right on button pushes.

You have LBP, and I hope that you are enjoying it. The next game in that style is Mod Nation Racers. It isn't out yet (February 2009) but it takes the idea of LBP and applies it to the kart racing genre. Very interesting to me.

I'm glad you went with a PS3 and am happy to answer any questions that I can.

 

I played the demo and it ROCKED! Nostalgia ftw! :dood I just wish they had splurged on the license fee and got the rights for the original 80's cartoon soundtrack... It's on my "to get when it drops in price"-list.

Back to Lemmings and others, the PSN store is about to get a whole slew of old PS1 and PS2 games, if it hasn't already. I haven't looked there in a while since Uncharted 2 and Assassins Creed 2 are very distracting. (I have TWO hidden blades! Dual-wield stab! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-violent092.gif)