Additional accessories for games consoles seem to be all the rage just at the moment, primarily because they add that little something extra onto your already-beloved console. So, it’s no real wonder that Sony has decided to release another official PS3 accessory, this time in the form of a wireless, clip-to-your-controller keyboard.

The keypad itself is pretty run-of-the-mill. Including a standard QWERTY keyboard and some OS-specific buttons, the keypad itself is just what you’d expect it to be.

The keypad includes some nice little features, too – ones that you wouldn’t really expect to usually find. The keypad features three new buttons just above the Select and Start buttons, which allow you to quickly navigate to your friends list, message inbox or activate the keypad’s built in touch-sensitive mousepad.

However, some niggling little flaws prevent this accessory from being all it could be. For starters, the buttons are tiny. When typing with the keypad, you find yourself constantly making mistakes and having to either delete or edit what you’ve already written in order to make it at least legible, which can be an irritating and time consuming process. Also, the buttons are so small that you can’t type without forever looking at what you’re doing – you find yourself staring at your fingers all the time, just to make sure you’re pressing the right thing, even if you can usually touchtype.This can be seriously annoying.

Another thing: the mousepad. A great idea, don’t get me wrong, but it just doesn’t work well enough to be worth adding in the first place. It is amazingly inaccurate – you can use the mousepad to move your cursor to a link, just to find the cursor jumps back again once you take your finger away. Also, the mousepad is so well hidden that you often only find it by mistake or if you’ve actually read the manual (and, let’s be honest, who does read the manual?).

Symbols can be difficult to handle too. Instead of utilising the standard ‘hold shift, press button, insert symbol’ interface which pretty much every PC user from five to ninety years old is used to, the keypad uses two ‘dedicated’ shoulder buttons on the top of the keypad which you use instead of shift. Now, call me whatever you like, but these shoulder buttons are actually more trouble than they are worth – it is much easier and more instinctive to merely use the normal shift interface.

The keypad is good for a few things though. You’ll notice that logins on websites immediately become less cumbersome and much quicker – the keypad is particularly good for quick input of passwords. The dedicated OS buttons make XMB navigation lightning fast – whatever you’re doing, a press of one of those buttons will get you where you need to be fast. And, if we’re honest, it does exactly what it says on the box; it does work as a keyboard. Just not amazingly well.

In conclusion, however, it really isn’t worth buying if you’re likely to use it to type loads of messages or use online forums through the PS3 web browser. For the 18 quid it costs, you’d be much better off looking for a standard bluetooth keyboard.

4/10

Linford

Labels: PS3, Review, Sony, XMB

Grandparents. At Christmastime, they always give you some money to spend and tell you, in their little elderly voices, to spend it on something useful. Then, when you spend it on games merchandise, they shake their heads and look disappointed, and you feel bad. But not any more - welcome, everyone, to a PS3 application that might actually help you: Life With PlayStation.

LWP is a valiant attempt by the good people at Sony to make your PS3 more than just a games console. Not that it isn't already, but you get my drift. The app brings you the latest news, weather and other important information direct to your beloved console, and (surprisingly) has some promise.

It's easy to get, too. All you have to do is load up Folding@home from the [Network] tab on the XMB, start the update and wait for it to download. At only 126MB, the update won't break the bank, either.

The main graphical interface of LWP is the Earth. Simple, you think? You'd be absolutely right; you control where you want to look at on the planet using the analog sticks and the left and right D-Pad buttons. It's intuitive and easy-to-use, so full marks in that department.

Content-wise, LWP is a little bit bleak. At the moment, all that's available is news and weather data, but Sony promises more to come soon. On the plus side, however, the content which is there is well implemented and quite clever.

There are some criticisms, I have to admit. Modifying the options of LWP can be difficult, and I still haven't found a way to access Folding@home, even after extensive searches. But apart from these couple of niggling glitches, and the lack of content, LWP isn't a bad bit of kit. One tip for Sony, though...

I'd rather have fantastic games than XMB add-ons.

Linford

Labels: Life With PlayStation, PS3, XMB

Remember when you were young and the only games out there were little black and white things with a moving snake? Well, now you can play two much loved classics on your £400 console, using one of the PS3's more low-key features.

BD-J, or Blu-Ray Disk Java for those who didn't know, is a handy bit of tech which allows your PS3 to play bonus content back from a form of remote storage (whether that be a Blu-Ray Disk or a USB Drive).

A mysterious programmer, known only as Dragula96, has created some fantastic renditions of the old favourites Snake and Pong to be played back on your PS3.

The Snake game works very much the same way as the original - collect the food without hitting the walls, and everything's hunky dory.

Pong is also true to the original, but written for two players as well as just one, so you can play with a friend, should the next-gen graphics of MGS4 become too much for you.

They're simple to install, too - download the .rar file, unzip it using a client such as WinRAR, copy the AVCHD folder to a USB drive, Memory Stick, SD Card or whatever you like, and then browse to where the folder is under 'Video' on the XMB menu.

You can find the download links below.

Linford

Windows users: Right click > Save Target As...

PS3 Snake (RAR archive, 362kb)

PS3 Pong (RAR archive, 80kb)

GGTL takes no responsibility for the content of external sites.

Labels: BD-J, Geeky but cool, Misc., Pong, PS3, Retro, Snake, XMB

The new PlayStation3 system firmware and the European release of the DualShock3 controller are just two of Sony's upcoming treats.

Sony revealed in a press release that the newest firmware, which will give PS3 owners in-game XMB and Trophies, is due to be launched as a free download on Wednesday.

Most games will have in-game XMB support from release, but only some will feature Trophy support. Amongst these games are Warhawk and PAIN. The feature has also been announced for currently unreleased games such as MotorStorm: Pacific Rift and Resistance: Fall of Man 2.

However, the latest firmware is not the only thing on SCEE's release agenda. The long-awaited DualShock 3 controller is set to be released to Europe on Friday. The controller brings back the old rumble feature familiar to that of the old controllers. Motion sensing technology will still be included in the controller.

This is good news to many PS3 owners who have eagerly been anticipating both features. More as we get it.

Linford

SCEE PRESS RELEASE: Firmware v2.40
CONSOLE GAMING: DualShock3 Hits Europe - 4th July

Labels: 2.4, Breaking, Dualshock 3, XMB

Rumours that the new PlayStation3 firmware 2.40 is on the horizon could have some basis in fact, sources report.

Although nothing has been officially announced about the release date of the software update, many seem to think that connection problems on the PlayStation Network are due to the fact that the system is being upgraded to v2.4 - which will allow the XMB to be accessed in-game.

Sony have already confirmed that in-game XMB, support for the new 360-like Trophies system - so it is entirely plausible that these rumours have some substance.

Hopefully this is an indicator that 2.40 is on the horizon, finally. Check out CVG for a list of supposed in-game features.

More as we get it.

Linford

Labels: Rumor, XMB

Sony confirmed that the Playstation 3 will get Trophy support and in-game XMB access in firmware 2.4.

Also announced (probably to hit on the 18th/19th June) is a small bug-fix firmware: 2.36. This update will help towards "improving system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles".

More as we get it,

Matt

[Source: blog.us.playstation.com]

Labels: Matthew, Matthew Meadows, XMB