Damn Sony and Damn the PS3

So, as I mentioned before I picked up a PS3 recently.  It arrived and I was excited, so I set about getting it all wired in and ready to rock.

Right, cabling it in was an arse, due the position of my TV etc – but Isorted it.  I thought to myself “That took almost half an hour – that’s the worst of it over”.   Oh no, I hadn’t factored in the Sony Consumer
Experience!

So, I fire it up, Oooo it works – set the time/date etc, fairly standard stuff.  Go onto the PSP style option screen – go to join PS Network (the PS version of Xbox Live).  It says I need to update the console first before I can sign in (that seems fair, the Xbox would too with the recent GTA 4 Live updates).  So I thought fine, this’ll take a minute or so, a la Live.

THIRTY MINUTES later and it’s updated (connected via 8mb broadband here – actual connection speed of 6mb, so pretty fast as far as they go).  I think, ok the worst is over, OH NO.  Then there is the TEN page form to fill in… Ok so I set off doing that, which is obviously quite tedious.  Get that done (about 20 more minutes).  Think, ok I’m done now.  No.  It updates AGAIN (stopped counting time by now).

Finally I think, I can start playing GT5.  Nope.  The game needs to install. INSTALL?!  On a console?!  Nevermind I think, the PS people on the interweb reckon this only takes a couple of minutes.  Well the truth is, they’re lying.  Over FIFTEEN minutes later, the game is installed (so, longer than it takes to install a PC game…).  Ok, I think, that MUST be it.

Nope.  The game needs to update itself – again, I accept this and think, it’ll only take a few minutes like Xbox.  NOPE.  I have rage by this time, the game starts updating, it takes a full minute still the status bar even moves – I accept that it takes ages now and see I’m in for a long wait. Fifteen minutes in, it says “Download unsuccessful” – and the game starts – please note here that it said doing the update, was necessary, and it might erase any save games.  So I think damn, I better restart because if I need to do the update and get part way through a game and it erases it – I’ll be annoyed.  So I restart, and set the update going again – I’ve had to plug the pad in by this point now, so I’m sat smack in front of the TV with the
woefully short charge lead.  I set the update going again.  SIXTY FIVE MINUTES LATER it’s done, and I can play the game.

The game is crap.  Over 3 hours… and it’s crap.