Ben-DutkaSo we all know the PS3 has been available in Europe for a little over a month now, but while sales have been great for Sony, what are the initial reactions by European publications? Well, The Inquirer posted up one of the first in-depth overviews after having "tested" the system for about four weeks time.
They first mention the "sheer size and weight of the beast," which is, of course, one of the first things we noticed about the PS3 as well. However, we also agree in their "sleek, shiny and sexy" assessment, despite its large size. They say they also prefer having the power supply and everything "all under one roof," in contrast to the 360's supply, which is "bulky, lengthy, and hot."
They next touch on the speed of accessibility with the Cross Media Bar, another aspect of the system we noticed and appreciated, and believe the PlayStation Network is "far superior" to the Xbox 360's "mishmash" offering. The testers further tested out some Blu-Ray movies and games, both of which impressed them on their snazzy Bravia HDTV. They say the visuals of the PS3 "suffer none of the usual Sony wear and tear," although they can't really see the advantage over the 360 just yet. Again, this makes sense considering the one-year head start of the 360 and the vastly more intricate architecture in the PS3…which developers will have to spend more time with to understand fully.
Obviously, one of the first games tested was Resistance: Fall of Man , and we couldn't agree more with their assessment: it's "easily on par with the majority of the best FPS out there." And of course, due to the setting (the UK), they very much like the environment. They also liked MotorStorm a great deal, although that's one title we in the U.S. didn't have at the PS3's launch.
The Inquirer does think the motion sensitivity of the Sixaxis is "oversensitive," though, and that's probably true. With our testing over the past few months, games like Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII have pointed out this drawback. But in the end, they were "thoroughly impressed" with the PS3, even though they don't think it's currently worth the £425 price tag (well, it wasn't worth $600 here, either).
"It's sleek, it's powerful, it's quiet, the games look awesome, and the online element has been done incredibly well."
So it's no wonder the system has done so well in Europe so far, given reactions like these. And now, the PAL regions are waiting along with the rest of the world for all those great games on the horizon.