PS3 for non-gaming parents (Update!)

bficky

I'm talking to my mom this morning, and she says, "Our old DVD player just broke. When you come in for Thanksgiving, you need to help me pick out a blu-ray player for Dad. I want to get him one for Christmas. Either that or just spend the $50 extra and get a Playstation." :shock:

I never thought I'd hear her mention getting a PS3 in my life. She knows I'm on mine all the time, and when they are at my house they're impressed with the blu-rays I play. I don't know what other blu-ray player she's looking at, but I don't care. I think that a PS3 for them may actually make sense, even if they have never played a video game in 20 years (since Tetris on original Game Boy).

Ways I think I'm going to sell a PS3 to them:

1. Blu-ray. It's actually one of the best blu-ray players out there. (This is still correct, right?) Of course, it also plays regular DVDs also. (Getting them the remote control is a must, as they'll never use the controller if they can help it.)

2. Netflix streaming. You can pop in the disk and watch a movie off your queue. (They don't have Netflix but have looked into it in the past. Will it take a while to get a Netflix disk? Their internet much faster than they need, so I doubt buffering will be a problem on their end, only if if it's on the PS3's/Netflix's end.)

3. Watching Hulu/internet videos on a big screen. Whenever you miss a show, you don't have to go on your desktop to watch the episode. (I use PlayOn to stream to my PS3, and it works fine for the occasional episode that didn't get recorded on our DVR.)

4. Look at pictures on the computer on the big screen. (They take quite a few pictures with their little point and shoot digital, and they're pretty good at loading them on the computer. I'll set up PlayOn's media server to stream the photos to the PS3.)

5. Webcam. You can video chat with the grandkids on the TV. (We live 8 hours apart, and they only see the grandkids a few times a year. If the Eye works well, this might be a huge selling point. I have one but haven't used it for chatting so I don't know if it works well at all. Anyone know?)

Any other selling points/features I can mention? Again, they don't play games at all, so I doubt showing them Uncharted 2 will do anything but have them say "they should make this into a movie." A PS3 has way more features than whatever blu-ray player she was looking at, but I'm upping the cost by a good bit (the difference in machines + HDMI cable + remote control + PlayOn + possible netflix + possible webcam). What else can I mention?

CelestialBadger

They might enjoy small casual games like Bejewelled, Zuma, or Mahjonng . PS3 is not so good as other platforms for casual games, however.

PeregrineFalcon

An HDMI cable is like two bucks from Monoprice, the remote can be found for around $20, and there's often bundled games that you can probably eBay off to make up some of the difference.

Or get LittleBigPlanet as a bundled game and see how fast your parents buy a second controller.

CelestialBadger

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

Or get LittleBigPlanet as a bundled game and see how fast your parents buy a second controller.

Probably not... it'd be a little complicated and confusing for someone who has never played a game before.

bficky

CelestialBadger wrote: »

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

Or get LittleBigPlanet as a bundled game and see how fast your parents buy a second controller.

Probably not... it'd be a little complicated and confusing for someone who has never played a game before.

I tend to agree. I have LBP, and even though my wife plays pop cap and mario kart/party games and enjoys watching me play Uncharted and R&C, she only tolerated LBP enough to help me get the 2x areas. She has no interest in playing it herself proper.

I mentioned this to a coworker just now, and he mentioned that standard blu-ray players are now starting to get into the Netflix streaming / Hulu watching party. I'm assuming that if my mom was looking at a $250 blu-ray player, she was probably looking at this Sony one (they have a Sony Bravia TV, so I bet they think they need to stick with Sony), which does have the Netflix feature.

Anyone know if the streaming features of these standard blu-ray players work as well/better than a PS3? I doubt having a browser on the PS3 is a huge deal to them. Any other ways to put a PS3 above a souped-up blu-ray player?

RUNN1NGMAN

Well, the major plus of having one of those BR players that supports Netflix is that there's no disc required.

The PS3 has the PlayStation Store, which has online rentals of some new releases and they can also purchase digital versions of some movies. It also has TV shows. That's a feature they might be interested in. Even with Netflix I sometimes buy a movie just because nothing I have a the moment appeals to me.

Wulf

Well, aside from the fact that you know your PS3 isn't going to be outmoded by updated BlueRay firmware, like the original BlueRay players had the potential to be,
It can also be used as a player for old home movies that you've helped them digitize, to build off the whole photo player idea. I know my family has a TON of old VHS films that they've been trying to play as of late, and I don't think we deviate all that much from the norm family that has a DVD player and a decent TV.

Not sure the Shows thing would be all that great though, seeing as how they are very expensive per episode. Unless the whole industry cranked its prices to 11 when I wasn't looking, that is.

variant

You can get a bluray player for like $100 now a days, might as well just give them that, save them $200 as they probably wouldn't have the time to play even if they wanted too.

Jasconius

HDMI? 2 dollars? No.

29 cents from Amazon.com

Anyway, sell them on the fact that the PS3 can also be updated so new Blu-Ray software will work on the PS3, which may pay off in the long run.

LewieP's Mummy

You can use it as a hard drive recorder, too, just make sure you buy a biiig hard drive - everyone complains that I have 2 series of Dr Who on mine!

Shorn Scrotum Man

To the people who're talking about BR players that have Netflix built in being an advantage, he's already talked about getting them PlayOn, which allows for the same thing, plus a whole lot more.

Basically, for me it comes down to one question:
Do they want just a blu ray player, or an extendable multimedia machine? If they want flexibility and lots of options, they need a PS3.

RUNN1NGMAN

Shorn Scrotum Man wrote: »

To the people who're talking about BR players that have Netflix built in being an advantage, he's already talked about getting them PlayOn, which allows for the same thing, plus a whole lot more.

Basically, for me it comes down to one question:
Do they want just a blu ray player, or an extendable multimedia machine? If they want flexibility and lots of options, they need a PS3.

PlayOn cannot compare to direct HD streaming. It's not an issue anyway, because the PS3 has Netflix streaming.

Bartholamue

I still recommend this if someone wants a blu-ray player, as it adds a lot more than what a standalone player gives you.

bficky

Wulf wrote: »

Well, aside from the fact that you know your PS3 isn't going to be outmoded by updated BlueRay firmware, like the original BlueRay players had the potential to be...

Just playing devil's advocate, if other blu-ray players can get firmware updates (as I'm assuming the ones that connect to the internet to stream Netflix can), what makes them less future proof than the PS3? Is it that the PS3 is (theoretically) gonna have a longer life span than the random blu-ray player, and therefore will continue to get updates when blu-ray players will be ignored by their manufacturers (trying to get you to upgrade)? I'm just wondering why the updates to the PS3 make it future proof, but updates to stand alones do not.

Also, I know it's not much, but I can cross off the extra cost of a remote from the pro/con list I'm making for them. I just upgraded my remote control from the official PS3 remote to the Blu-Link universal remote, and it seems to work great for my setup. So I can just give them mine and not even mention that it wasn't in the box when I set everything up for them.

Wulf

bficky wrote: »

Wulf wrote: »

Well, aside from the fact that you know your PS3 isn't going to be outmoded by updated BlueRay firmware, like the original BlueRay players had the potential to be...

Just playing devil's advocate, if other blu-ray players can get firmware updates (as I'm assuming the ones that connect to the internet to stream Netflix can), what makes them less future proof than the PS3? Is it that the PS3 is (theoretically) gonna have a longer life span than the random blu-ray player, and therefore will continue to get updates when blu-ray players will be ignored by their manufacturers (trying to get you to upgrade)? I'm just wondering why the updates to the PS3 make it future proof, but updates to stand alones do not.

Yeah, partly because of the planned obselecense. Lets be honest, the average shelf life of current BlueRay players according to the companies accounting people is not likely to outlast the manufacturers warranty by more than a few weeks, and then the next wizbang model comes out. The other reason is again also because of the fact that it can do much more than a normal BlueRay player can.

cooljammer00

Wait, you can use the streaming disc to stream more than the meager movie and TV selection they have for streaming? I assumed it was a licensing issue that was keeping me from streaming something like How I Met Your Mother or Pushing Daisies. But OP mentions streaming stuff from your queue and I don't know if that's accurate.

RUNN1NGMAN

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Wait, you can use the streaming disc to stream more than the meager movie and TV selection they have for streaming? I assumed it was a licensing issue that was keeping me from streaming something like How I Met Your Mother or Pushing Daisies. But OP mentions streaming stuff from your queue and I don't know if that's accurate.

Whatever's in your queue that's available to "Watch Instantly" is available to watch on the PS3 (or Xbox, TiVo, laptop, etc.)

Black Ice

I don't know anything about PlayOn, but I tried to do the whole Media Sharing thing on my PS3 about a year ago. I couldn't figure a damned thing out, and I (used to be) pretty great at networking and I am very computer savvy.

I cannot recommend a PS3 for Media Sharing unless the people using it are patient and willing to figure things out. I tried for an hour and just gave up.

bsjezz

Black Ice wrote: »

I don't know anything about PlayOn, but I tried to do the whole Media Sharing thing on my PS3 about a year ago. I couldn't figure a damned thing out, and I (used to be) pretty great at networking and I am very computer savvy.

I cannot recommend a PS3 for Media Sharing unless the people using it are patient and willing to figure things out. I tried for an hour and just gave up.

buh? run tversity? run windows media player?

Willeth

LewieP's Mummy wrote: »

You can use it as a hard drive recorder, too, just make sure you buy a biiig hard drive - everyone complains that I have 2 series of Dr Who on mine!

PlayTV is only available in the UK, unfortunately.

EDIT: I would also check out what deals are going on tomorrow. You could quite easily find a PS3+bajillion games+remote deal for pretty cheap. Netflix is being updated to not require the disc at some point soon, also, and even then, if you order it now you'll get it well before Christmas.

For the camera, EyePet or a knockdown copy of Eye of Judgment would be your best bet. They might even enjoy EyePet. For the photos, a simple SD card reader might be a lot easier than setting up a network thing. Also, remember the PS3 can connect directly to a networked printer, so if they wanted they could pop the SD card into the PS3 and view them in HD on their TV, and then print them on photo paper right then and there.

MichaelLC

Willeth wrote: »

For the photos, a simple SD card reader might be a lot easier than setting up a network thing. Also, remember the PS3 can connect directly to a networked printer, so if they wanted they could pop the SD card into the PS3 and view them in HD on their TV, and then print them on photo paper right then and there.

I've printed from mine, and it's pretty easy to setup and use. Not something I'd use instead of a PC, but worked well enough.

I don't think the new models have the built-in card reader, though? I guess you could use an external.

halkun

Hulu blocks PS3s

Willeth

Yeah, the only models with the card reader are the first ones at market. You can get a USB SD card reader for about two bucks, though, which is what I meant.

bficky

halkun wrote: »

Hulu blocks PS3s

In the browser, this is correct. You can watch Hulu on PS3s though, at a small price.

I watch Hulu on my PS3 with PlayOn, a TVersity alternative that costs $20 and streams Hulu, Amazon VOD, Youtube, and other internet videos to your PS3. It works well for me whenever we have too many things we want to record on our DVR and don't feel like watching the shows on our little laptop.

I tried TVersity and WMP, and I think PlayOn works better and is worth the $20.

On the picture thing, my parents are pretty good at hooking up their camera to the S-video input at the front of their TV and looking at the pictures on the SD cards that way. The PS3 photo sharing would be to look at the pictures that are on their desktop already, or the pictures that I upload and are automatically downloaded onto their computer.

bficky

Update!

I got my parents a 120GB PS3 for Christmas and got it all hooked up for them (1080p on a 52" Bravia is soooo pretty, I'm jealous) with PlayOn for streaming music and videos from the desktop, a Netflix streaming disk for their brand new Netflix account, and I gave them my old remote. They are really digging the Netflix streaming thing, and they've even used the media streaming to show neighbors pictures of my brother's Christmas wedding. I'm shocked it worked out as well as it did. They were a little intimidated as I was setting it all up, but they are old and resist change, so I wrote them a front and back cheat sheet to help them understand all this new fangled technology. They have yet to use it for an actual game, and I bet they never do, but so far they're using it way more than I pictured.

Success!

MichaelLC

bficky wrote: »

Update!

I wrote them a front and back cheat sheet to help them understand all this new fangled technology.

Page 1: "If lost, turn over."
Page 2: "My cell # is 214-555-1233"

Good job, man. I'm still shocked at how open and friendly SONY made the PS3; and they keep improving it. As they say, it's really a completely separate company (from the media division).