General PS3 Impressions Thread

[stevevt]

Just login once and it will never popup again on game load....

Haven't seen it popup since...

You're assuming everyone is on Facebook. I guess Farsight is, too.

 

[deathindustrial]

Bingo stevevt. I never have and never will have a Facebook account and I am far from the only one out there.

 

[btmmayor]

Ok, did some testing and am now further confused. I have an old CRT in my living room so I decided to run a cable over to it and test the input lag for PS3.

Now, let me state again that I have both the 360 and PS3 versions, both HDMI, both exact same settings on same TV with NO lag on the 360 and slight input lag on the PS3.

Hooked up to the CRT, the PS3 version was much more responsive, much the same as the 360 version. What gives?

Again, I run the same settings for 360 and PS3 through HDMI on my other TV and see no 360 lag. With those same setting I should not see lag on one but not the other.

Is it PS3 architecture or perhaps the different lighting system used in the PS3 version. If the 360 is patched to match it, will we see lag on the 360 then?

 

[ND3G]

Ok, did some testing and am now further confused. I have an old CRT in my living room so I decided to run a cable over to it and test the input lag for PS3.

Now, let me state again that I have both the 360 and PS3 versions, both HDMI, both exact same settings on same TV with NO lag on the 360 and slight input lag on the PS3.

Hooked up to the CRT, the PS3 version was much more responsive, much the same as the 360 version. What gives?

Again, I run the same settings for 360 and PS3 through HDMI on my other TV and see no 360 lag. With those same setting I should not see lag on one but not the other.

Maybe the issue has to do with the HDMI cables. If the PS3 uses High-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) and digital rights management (DRM) this could explain the problem. Has anyone tried using component cables instead?

 

[jrolson]

You're assuming everyone is on Facebook. I guess Farsight is, too.

You guys cant take 3 min of your time and sign up and then never visit facebook again?....

 

[jrolson]

If you have a TV with abnormally high hz, (120hz or 240hz) that is likely causing the Flipper lag.

The PS3 outputs at 60hz, so the time it takes to "fake" those extra hz is adding the lag.

Look for a "game mode" or "cinema mode" in your TV's settings to fix this problem. Turn off all other features you dont need.

Now this probably doesn't fix everyones lag but it will help some, not sure why some have lag and others like myself dont. We will have to wait for Farsight to figure that out...

 

[jrolson]

Has anyone tried using component cables instead?

Would also like to know these results as HDMI cables and Component cables use different transfer rates...

 

[btmmayor]

Look for a "game mode" or "cinema mode" in your TV's settings to fix this problem. Turn off all other features you dont need.

Again, it doesn't. My TV and consoles are setup strictly for gaming ("game mode", all settings off, etc).

The 360 version runs equally well if connected to my HDMI enabled 1080p TV or an old CRT. The PS3 version does not. Period.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Again, it doesn't. My TV and consoles are setup strictly for gaming ("game mode", all settings off, etc).

The 360 version runs equally well if connected to my HDMI enabled 1080p TV or an old CRT. The PS3 version does not. Period.

Well, again it's weird because it does fix it for some people, so it's not so cut and dry.

 

[ND3G]

I did some more reading and I really think HDCP over HDMI "could" be the problem. The 360 would not have this issue since it only used HDCP with the ill fated HD-DVD player and DVD movies but never games.

Of course it could always just be the system/game...

 

[Mike]

Well I've been playing a couple days with everything off and I have to say it is awesome. Shots are going where I expect them to, and when they don't, it's because I screwed up. Absolutely love it!

 

[ScotchYeti]

Always ignoring the Facebook login is indeed annoying, they could add another option in the menu somewhere in case people want to login later.

Despite the flipper lag I have slowly adjusted to it and managed to complete the wizards goals in Tales of the Arabian Nights. I remember that I didn't like the table at first in the Williams collection but after a while it became one of my favourites and I played it for hours.

 

[btmmayor]

Of course it could always just be the system/game...

That its the game is the conclusion I've finally reached after a ton of experimenting with different cables and settings.

I've played pretty much every pinball game on the 360, PS3 and Wii on my current gaming TV including FX 1, FX 2, Zen, Marvel, Williams collection, Gottlieb collection, and even an imported Pro Pinball Dreamcast game. I've never once experienced noticable flipper lag outside of the PS3 version of Pinball Arcade.

Oh well, its still a fantastic game and certainly looks beautiful on the PS3 so hopefully at some point there will be a fix.

 

[Tabe]

After playing the games some more, I've noticed some flipper lag. IMHO, there's no doubt it's the game and not the system/TV/cable/whatever. There are plenty of other games that require incredibly fast reactions from the buttons and have no lag problems, yet here we have PA with lag problems.

More than that, however, is just that the action around the flippers just isn't right. From having the ball go through the flippers - thank you for doing that right in the middle of my best Theater of Magic game - or coming off the flippers at odd angles, or rolling off even when you flip, etc, the ball just doesn't react "right". It's definitely different in the Android version and is a lot more correct there.

Tabe

 

[Jeff Strong]

It is the game.....it's just that some people's TV's are able to minimize/eliminate it with the right settings......but we shouldn't have to mess with TV settings to this extent to help remedy it. This is something Farsight really needs to address with an update.

 

[DrainoBraino]

OK I just played PHOF, then Zen, then Marvel, ....then PA. I tried every iteration of settings on my TV and nothing changed the physics of any of the games......The flippers lag a little on PA. Also as said above, the physics are "off". I've played some serious pinball in the past and can easily adapt my techniques for grabbing the ball and trapping in video pinball. but in PA this seems daunting and it doesn't want to cooperate no matter when or how I try to do it.

I have a few nit picks about other areas of the game, but these can be easily overlooked. Sadly, the flipper physics are a deal breaker for me as this is one of the most important aspect for playing at a high level.

The question is: how likely is it that FS will be able to address and fix this issue?

 

[bavelb]

This could totally be between my ears, but somehow the L2/R2 triggers feel less laggy to me, which is counterintuitive as those triggers have more deadzone than the L1/R2.

Maybe it's because I'm used to the deadzone due to playing POHF on 360 with triggers, and have adjusted timings accordingly for those triggers, but I generally feel more responsive with playing with L2/R2.

 

[SilverBalls]

It is the game.....it's just that some people's TV's are able to minimize/eliminate it with the right settings......but we shouldn't have to mess with TV settings to this extent to help remedy it. This is something Farsight really needs to address with an update.

There are no changes that can be made to a TV set to overcome a lag problem within the software or the PS3. People with the wrong TV settings (by wrong I mean with any picture tv processing enabled) will get lag. This coupled with some small lag in the software may be very noticable and for some people switching the TV processing off may 'appear to cure it', however I an sure the lag is still there but some people won't notice it, where a lot will. There are a lot of games where lag may not be noticable however Pinball is not one of them so any serious Pinball player is going to have to set their TV up correctly (FS cannot handle lag caused by ridiculous TV settings). The PA software or PS3 lag however needs resolving - any response from FS on this yet?

 

[Epsilon]

I've only played the demo version of the game on the 360, but even with paying exceptionally close and switching back and forth between the 360 and PS3 versions on my TV, I can't notice the slightest bit of difference. I suspect FarSight may be having the same experience. There's probably some strange combination of largely external factors causing this for a minority of people, and they can't fix what they can't reproduce. It's frustrating, I'm sure, but it looks like that's probably what's going on.

 

[Mike]

for some people switching the TV processing off may 'appear to cure it', however I an sure the lag is still there but some people won't notice it, where a lot will.

I think this is correct. I was able to get the lag down to a minimum using the methods everyone described and it plays great, however I can still notice a tiny bit of lag. I have the same thing on Williams collection but it is slight enough that I got used to it. In fact I didn't even notice it until a buddy was over and mentioned it. It was that slight. After paying attention though, I found it is on all my ps3 games. It just seems more noticable with pinball due to how fast and accurate you have to be with the shots. Since turning everything off except game mode, the barely perceptable lag is equal to WC at least on my ancient tv.