The Gamer's Quarter

[SuperWes]

Hey guys! So I'm starting to really like my PS3. I use it as a Blu-Ray player all the time and a lot of the exclusives are good. But between last weekend and today I'm so totally sick of waiting around.

First off, the Metal Gear Solid Online beta became available for download. So I downloaded it, which for some reason takes forever, then I started it and was greeted with a message saying there's an upgrade available already. So I started the upgrade (using bit-torrent) and it basically downloads the entire thing again, but at 12kb/s. It took 24 freaking hours to download. What the hell! Then I tried to start the game and it wouldn't let me because the beta hasn't started yet. That's fine. I can deal with that, but if it needs another upgrade before the beta starts I might just give up on the beta.

After realizing I couldn't play the beta I decided to try an old standby, being Super Stardust. Only it wasn't the old standby! It also needed an update. A 150 MB update that enables rumble for the Dual Shock 3. What the hell man!

So today I bought Gran Turismo Prologue. I haven't played it yet though. I put it in to play it and it required a 10 minute install. Not a big deal, but my wife wanted to play Rock Band and I couldn't use the excuse that I was already playing something. I was able to buy myself 10 minutes, but when I tried starting I was prompted for an update download. I just gave up and now she's playing Rock Band and I'm waiting to update the banners.

Damn you current gen for making me wait around for fucking everything!

-Wes
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[kirkjerk]

[Shapermc]

My thing is that this is as much a PSP problem as it is a ps3 problem. Almost every time I get a new game I both have to 1) find my PSP and the power supply, 2) completely recharge my PSP, 3) Update my PSP before I can play. It's really awful, honestly.

The only time I've had to update my PS3 so far is going to the store, usually to do that you need to have the most recent updates which come out every week or two. Then you have to download the whole firmware patch (re: from 1->2.3 as opposed to just 2.2->2.3 which would be a much smaller download). Then I have to install it. Then I have to restart. It takes a damn long time to do that as well. Then again, this could be the same issue with store-bought games too, I've only bought one so far, so I don't have much experience.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[ryan]

Yeah, it took me forever to download the MGS4 beta - and everything else - too. For some reason I had to go with the bittorrent route because it would crash when I tried to get it from an official server. The thing about the PS3 is that, not only does it take a long time to download anything, it's that you then have to wait for it to install. The first half of MGS4 takes another 10 or so minutes to install, with the last half only taking 2-3. Still, that's a nice chunk of extra time to tack on to an already long wait. Damn those system updates!

I ended up turning it off after I installed the beta, since it had taken me the better part of the day and was late. Having it sit there for hours, unable to exit out to watch a movie or anything, was a blast.

P.S. I saw you online Wes!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[SuperWes]

[jjsimpso]

You guys who had slow bittorrent downloads for MGO, did you reconfigure the port forwarding on your routers? The default port the update client uses is not the standard bittorrent port, so that MAY explain the slow downloads. I averaged 150 KB/s on Sunday afternoon when I downloaded the update.

I'm not completely clear on how their updater works, but I do wonder how much the efficiency of the P2P network would be compromised if very few peers are set up to allow incoming connections.

[ryan]

The first time I tried it, I got around 150 as well. I stopped it to watch movie, and when I went back it would cap out at around 65-68.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[jjsimpso]

Can anyone verify that games come with the firmware revision needed to play them on the disc? I read this once, but I've never been able to test it since I usually download firmware updates within days of release. It seems like a no-brainer, but if anyone has ever updated their firmware off a game disc it would be nice to get confirmation.

[jjsimpso]

I played a bit tonight and I feel like I suck, but I wasn't doing all that bad relatively speaking. I guess everyone is still figuring out the game. Having 3 different camera modes feels kind of clunky, but I guess it is necessary for an MGS game.

I sent out friend requests to everyone who has posted in this thread. I'm not sure how it works having a separate game id from your PSN id, but mine are the same, TaipeiGamer.

[ryan]

Ah! Okay - I'll have to accept you the next time I get on.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[jjsimpso]

I played some more and am starting to like it quite a bit. I'm at least getting better. Doesn't appear to be an easy way to organize games though. There is a friends list under Personal Data, but no one shows up in mine yet. Maybe my friends have to log in to the game first? There also appears to be an MGO mail system. All this stuff is very new to me! The last time I played online with nonrandom people was on my college LAN during the heady days of Quake and Diablo.

[Shapermc]

I might try to get on tonight, may not. This whole "friend" system not being the same as the PSN is turning me off a bit. I also don't have a bluetooth headset, and I don't really look forward to the prospect of playing with people who I know but can't talk with.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"