On March 10, Sony officially announced the PlayStation Move controller, which is the finished version of its PS3 motion controller. Similar to that of the Nintendo Wii controller, a camera is used to detect its movement from the position of an orb located at the top of the controller. Also, it has a sub-controller with a directional pad that can be used for menus or games that need that, along with motion, at the same time. However, the system is claimed to be much more accurate than Nintendo’s game system; Move can recognize the exact angle, position, and speed of the controller’s movements.
Both multi-player and single-player games compatible with these controllers are currently under development.
For the avid PS3 hardcore gamers out there, Sony is expected to ship the Move out this fall, along with multiple packages for different types of gamers. Among these is a Starter Kit that bundles the camera and a game, which is expected to cost below $100.
This new form of gaming is sure to be one awaited by game-aficionados with bated breath; with this new Wii-like addition, the PS3 experience is likely to be better than ever.
If you have a Playstation 3 or other DivX certified device, you can get one free movie download when you register. You will need the DivX VOD Registration Code from your PS3 to register. Here is a video showing you how to get the registration code.
Just got my Netflix instant streaming disc for PS3 last week. The interface is intuitive, but there is not a manual or help about what the buttons on your pad are for. I am compiling this cheat sheet for reference. Hope this is useful. I’ll also update the post once I learn more about Netflix for PS3.
Browing Mode:
D-Pad or Left Analog Stick: Navigation
X: Confirm
Circle: Exit Netflix for PS3
R2: Page right
L2: Page Left
Playing Mode:
Up on D-pad or Square: Go back to Browsing Mode.
Right on D-pad: Next frame
Left on D-pad: Previous frame
R2: Fast forward (3 speed)
L2: Fast rewind (3 speed)
Select: Media info
Start: Pause/Resume
Circle: Exit Netflix for PS3
Triangle: On screen menu
Here are some notes:
The Left Analog Stick’s function is the same as the D-Pad. The Right Analog Stick is not used.
If you want Netflix to remember your viewing progress, remember to press Up or Square button to exit out the playback. Wait until the updating message disappears before you turn off the machine.
When the network is slow, the picture quality is bad. You can pause the playback for a few seconds and resume it. The picture quality would be improved for a short while.
Windows 7 has made sharing media easy. You can streaming your music and videos to other computers or devices on the network. Here are the steps.
Click on Start and type Media Streaming.
Click on Media Streaming Options under Control Panel.
Click on Turn on media streaming.
The media server is ready. You can fine tune the settings here.
Once you have it turned on, all the DLNA compatible devices like PS3 and XBox 360 on your local network can access the media on your Windows 7 computer.
I installed Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 on my PS3 this past weekend. The updater yum worked initially, but it stopped working on Sunday. I found that the problem is the server hosting mirrorlist is down. The workaround is to specify the base server manually. By editing the yum repo files, yum is working again.
In order to edit these files, you need to get root privilege first. In a terminal window, type su, press enter key and type the root’s password. Change directory to /etc/yum.repos.d. Use your favorite editor and edit the following 3 files.
yellowdog-base.repo
#generated by system-config-ydlnet
[base]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 Base
baseurl=http://ftp.yellowdoglinux.com/pub/yellowdog/yum/6.2/base/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd62-base-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY
yellowdog-extras.repo
#generated by system-config-ydlnet
[extras]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 Extras
baseurl=http://ftp.yellowdoglinux.com/pub/yellowdog/yum/6.2/extras/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd62-extras-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY
yellowdog-updates.repo
#generated by system-config-ydlnet
[updates]
name=Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 Updates
baseurl=http://ftp.yellowdoglinux.com/pub/yellowdog/yum/6.2/updates/
#mirrorlist=http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/resources/yd62-updates-mlist
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
gpgkey=file:///etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY
Note that I use the Yellow Dog Linux version 6.2, if you use other versions, you need to modify the files accordingly.
Playstation 3 supports a lot of media types, but it’s not clear about what are the media types that support subtitles. I tried several different formats and found that DivX format supports subtitles on PS3. I wrote a post about how to convert .mkv file to .avi (DivX) earlier. Even though I can finally watch the video with soft subtitles, the process is long and the video gets degraded because the encoding process. The conversion is also sometimes buggy.
Later, I found AVCHD on PS3 can also show subtitles. There is an excellent program multiAVCHD which can convert .mkv file coded with H.264/AC3 to AVCHD without re-encoding the video.
(Optional) If your .mkv file uses AAC as the audio codec, follow this post to convert it.
Run multiAVCHD.
Click on MKV/*TS/MPEG/MOV files to select the .mkv file you want to convert.
Click on Menu tab and select the correct TV System. Use NTSC in North America.
Click on the Audio/Subtitles tab and check Use embeded ASS subtitles if your .mkv file uses ASS subtitles.
Click on create multiAVCHD to start the process. By default, a subfolder called AVCHD will be created under the multiAVCHD folder.
When it’s done processing, copy the AVCHD folder to the root of your USB flash drive.
Safely remove the USB flash drive from your computer, insert it to PS3 and enjoy!
Note that AVCHD is kinda picky about the resolutions and the H.264 level of the video source. If the generated AVCHD folder is not viewable on PS3, you might still need to convert .mkv file to a different format.
While I was looking for a better way to convert mkv file with soft subtitles to be played on my Playstation 3, I found there are some tools that allow me to to the conversion. Most of the conversion tools assume the mkv file uses H.264 as the video codec and AC3 as the audio codec. Even though most mkv files stick to H.264 for video, a lot of them use AAC as the audio codec.
Without re-inventing the wheel, I came up a way to convert the AAC sound track in mkv file to AC3 without re-encode the video. Here are the tools needed. Download and install them. Note that MKVToolnix doesn’t require installation, just extract it to a folder.
Run MKVE Wizard to extract the audio. Specify the file location and click on Next.
Select the AAC audio track and click on Next to continue. Note that if the Wizard cannot find where you install MKVToolnix, you have to click on Settings to specify it manually. After a few moments, the AAC audio track is saved. It’s save as test_Track2.aac in this example.
Run VLC player to convert the AAC sound track to AC3. Click on Media and select Convert/ Save.
Change the Filter in the dialog window to All Files (*.*) , so you can select the AAC file extracted by step 2.
In the Stream Output Windows, check File box and enter the file name. I named it test_Track2.ac3. In the Encapsulation tab, select RAW.
Click on the Audio codec tab, select Audio check box and change the Codec to A52/AC-3. Specify the Bitrate and Channels if needed. Click on Save to convert the audio.
Run mkvmerge GUI(mmg.exe) from the MKVToolnix folder.
Drag and drop the original mkv file (test.mkv) and the converted audio track (test_Track2.ac3) to the Input files box. Uncheck the A_AAC track and move the AC3 track up before the subtitles tracks. Enter an output file name. Click on Start muxing to create the new mkv file.
There are quite a few steps, but the whole process doesn’t take long because the video is not re-encoded.
I have been waiting for this game to be on sale for a while. As of this writing, it’s $44.95 shipped at Buy.com. Most other places still have it for the MSRP of $59.99. The discount might not seem that good, but it might come in handy it if you cannot wait to play the game. Click here to go to the sale page.
This game has great reviews everywhere. Here are some of them.
One of the main reasons for me to buy a PS3 is the Blu-Ray playback and DVD upscaling. For those who are not familiar with upscaling, it’s also called upconverting, it’s a process to scale the DVD signal from 480p to 1080i or higher.
Before I bought my PS3, I did a bit of homework and found that PS3 doesn’t come with a component cable which is needed for higher resolution. I bought a component cable for PS3 like this. When I finally received my PS3, I hooked it up using the component cable and to my surprise, the DVD playback is not upscaling!
I later learned that you need a HDMI cable for the upscaling to work. My old TV set doesn’t have HDMI input, it only has DVI input. Thankfully, all I need is a HDMI to DVI cable. This is the cable I bought from Amazon. You won’t believe how affordable this cable is and it’s a quality cable, too.
So, does the upscaling work? Yes, you bet. Before I thought the progressive scan DVD player is good enough, the PS3’s upscaling bring the picture quality up a notch. It’s definitely worth the investment of the HDMI cable.
BTW, the PS3’s component cable is compatible with PS2, too. I use the cable on my old PS2, so I didn’t spend the money for nothing.
If you have a Playstation 3 or other DivX certified device, you can get one free movie download when you register. You will need the DivX VOD Registration Code from your PS3 to register. Here is a video showing you how to get the registration code.
Just got my Netflix instant streaming disc for PS3 last week. The interface is intuitive, but there is not a manual or help about what the buttons on your pad are for. I am compiling this cheat sheet for reference. Hope this is useful. I’ll also update the post once I learn more about Netflix for PS3.
Save to convert the audio.
