I'm thinking about getting a PS3 primarily for GoW Collection and the upcoming GoW 3, and wanted to know any other games my fellow STCers would recommend.  I'm primarily interested in 2D games (shooters especially, and as far as I've seen the system doesn't have any) and fast-paced action games.  So far I'm interested in Dante's Inferno and Silent Hill Homecoming, both of which are actually on the 360, so I'm thinking that getting a 360 might be a better option in the long run considering Futari isn't region-locked, Death Smiles is getting ported and it has Raiden IV.

If you're looking for just the exclusives, I'd recommend the following:

- Valkyria Chronicles.  A flawless experience from start to finish.
- Uncharted & Uncharted 2
- Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

for starters.

This thread might be of some help:

http://www.soundtrackcentral.com/forums … hp?id=5148

If your primary interest is in shooters (and by "shooters", I'm assuming you mean shmups) then the obvious choice would be to go with the 360 instead.  Even outside of Japan, there's more shmup titles available on 360 than PS3; Ikaruga, Triggerheart Exelica, and R-Type Dimensions on XBLA, and Raiden Fighters Aces and Raiden IV to name but a few.

Super Stardust HD and Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer are about the only worthwhile shmups I've played on the PS3.  I'm hoping the upcoming sequel to the latter will blow minds.  Capcom's 1942: Joint Strike, available on both XBLA and PSN, was pretty decent too.

Wii. The amount of good shmups on Virtual Console is huge, so much that people joke "does Wii need even more shoot-em ups"? For example, there are the Turbografx-CD versions of Gradius II, R-Type, Monster Lair, Star Parodier, the infamous Chooaniki, the "Thunder" series and M.U.S.H.A. on Genesis/MD. Then there's the new stuff on WiiWare like Gradius Rebirth and Space Invaders Get Even and retail releases like Ultimate Shooting Collection (which includes Karous, Radirgy/Radio Allergy and Chaos Field) and the original Gamecube release of Ikaruga. Radirgy 2 is also coming to Wii.

Just as an example!

On the Wii?! REALLY?! I got the soundtracks for all those games, and have been wanting to check out the games themselves! F.'NG A!!!

I have a few PS3 questions, can anyone help me out?

Recently, I've been having a lot of problems with my slimline PS2. I've been getting tons of read errors on games that have ran perfectly only a few months ago, and those games are always stored away when not in use. Previously, I ran into a problem with a lot of dual layer PS2 games as well.

I've never really liked the slim model (I got it the year it was introduced ~ 2004?) and was thinking of buying an old brick. But then I got to thinking about the PS3. This might seem like an extreme solution to the problem but I got to thinking a few of things it may offer might suit my needs.

Can you install PS1 games directly onto the hard drive and play from there? I assume that would reduce load times (although I'm not too concerned about that).

The new 250GB PS3's only play PS1 games, not PS2 games, correct?

I'm also thinking about the future need to upscale these games. PS1 games probably get the most of my play time and I'd want them to look halfway decent on a HD TV.

The PS3 is not a replacement for the PS2, you'd do well to remember that.

Only the older models have backwards compatibility (the 60GB and 80GB versions, I think, but don't take my word for that) and it's not 100% from what I hear.

PSX games run great though, and the automatic upscaling ensures that games still look pretty decent on an HDTV.

You canNOT install PSX games, but you can download them from PSN, which will shorten load times (I believe there's increased reading speed for when you play off a disc though)

U.S. 20GB and 60GB PS3s (the original two models) actually have the PS2 hardware in them, so their compatibility rate with PS2 games is near 100% (though not quite there... I think there are a tiny fraction of problems).  The next model, the 80GB, had software emulation in it, so compatibility was not as good, but you COULD still play most(?) PS2 games.  Every PS3 plays PS1 discs.

I'm going to disagree with Amazingu here and say that if you can get a 60GB PS3, it is a great replacement for a PS2.  It runs everything I've put in it flawlessly, gives you near infinite memory card space due to the hard drive, and the games look much better upscaled through my PS3 on my HDTV than they did coming through a regular PS2 (partially just due to the hdmi, I'm sure).  Plus wireless Dualshock is kinda nice*.

*except for the fact that it uses an internal, non-changeable battery that you have to plug in via usb to charge, and Sony gives you a cord for that which is too short to actually USE while playing, AND the PS3 shuts off its usb ports when you power off the system.  Super annoying.  Way happier with just changing my own rechargeable batteries in the Wii's and 360's controllers...

Thanks for the info. That's kind of a bummer you can't put PS1 games on the HD (although I kind of figured that because multi-disc games would probably present a problem there) because it be great to just fire up the console and have all my games waiting for me.

Still, since I can't do that, the size of the HD isn't really an issue anymore, so it's the earlier models that I would be after. Probably won't try and look for one until after Christmas if I do break down and do it. I'm a little more iffy now than I was last night however. Not having to use memory cards would be nice however.

However, can anyone give me their opinion on what has been going on when playing through this one game? I continually get messages to put the disc back in - which is already in - it often times it says I've put the wrong disc in. Thing is, it's not isolated to one disc or another, or the same place, it's happening on both during their concluding levels. Both discs look fine (not that that's saying anything) but I have a hard time believing both discs are messed up. I played through the same copy a few months ago and can't remember having an issue.

I should probably try another copy before I get too far... I have to replay it on hard to unlock things anyway.

It runs everything I've put in it flawlessly, gives you near infinite memory card space due to the hard drive