How would you change the PlayStation 3?

Remember how would you change? It's the Engadget feature where we ask you, the oh-so-demanding Engadget reader, how you would change a particular gadget, service, device, etc. Well, how would you change has been on vacation a while, but it's finally friggin back, and since everybody's got video games on the mind this week (and because our last how would you change was for, you guessed it, the original Xbox 360), we're happy to ask: how would you change the PlayStation 3? As usual, we'll get you started with a few of the more obvious changes we'd go with. Personally, we'd really like the PS3:

• Gain rumble
• Lose a few bucks off the pricetag.
• Tie down some additional codecs, and perhaps a decent home media streaming system.

Ready, steady, go!

[Jesse S @ Apr 27th 2007 3:12PM]

More games.

[n.p. @ Apr 27th 2007 11:51PM]

this one is a dumb thing to want -- of course more games are coming. the thing's just a baby at a few months old.

[Lyle @ Apr 27th 2007 3:13PM]

Add larger, lower RPM fans! Damn that thing is loud!

[miguel235 @ Apr 27th 2007 5:45PM]

HEY! it is not as loud as the damn 360 I think it is pretty silent

[James @ Apr 27th 2007 7:03PM]

You do realize the PS3 already only has 1 large fan. It's thermo controlled so if the PS3 is hot it'll run faster making it louder. If you put a PS3 where there is not adequate ventilation it'll get loud.

[Mak @ Apr 30th 2007 6:20PM]

Nice to, detracting from how loud the 360 is.

PS3 is almost silent, when given adequete ventillation.

[Jesse S @ Apr 27th 2007 3:13PM]

More powerful, too. All these game consoles are nothing compared to pc's.

[Big @ Apr 27th 2007 3:34PM]

I've heard MOUSE FARTS louder than the Playstation 3. Nothing like my Xbox360.

Xbox360 is loud EVEN WHEN ITS OFF.

Plug in a controller to charge it and you can hear the cooling fans while your trying to sleep.

[2Perfect @ Apr 27th 2007 8:43PM]

yeah that's true... oh wait.. that's because they're not PC's o.O
---
Price tag a little lower, and I'm good with the PS3.

I would say speed up making the games but that might create crappy games, and besides that's not under Sony's control.

[omer @ Apr 27th 2007 3:13PM]

also, i would change the shape of the console and the controllers.

[Miguel @ Apr 27th 2007 3:15PM]

External power brick, thus making it run cooler and quieter--less fans for cooling. Also, it would slim down the console and I could hide the power brick behind my A/V set-up. Damn, that thing is large.

[Mr. T @ Apr 27th 2007 3:16PM]

I would turn it into a Wii!

[Chris @ Apr 28th 2007 1:18AM]

if the HDD is formatted in fat32 or something you can read it right from the ps3, my media player (iaudo x5) works like that and i run movies off of it all the time

[Mark Price @ Apr 27th 2007 6:22PM]

"I would turn it into a Wii!"

nICE

[Jonny @ Apr 27th 2007 3:17PM]

Well i dont have a PS3...so i dont know if it already has this, but i really wish my 360 had it, ability to play any content from an external HD, like movies, music, and photos....especially movies. for some stupid piracy reason i cant do it on the 360, and loose about 200 on the price and im game'

[rothgar @ Apr 30th 2007 10:35PM]

the ps3 can already do this. Plug in a usb key, hard drive, or memory card and you can view the photo's watch the video (supported codects) and listen to the music.

[Andir3.0 @ Apr 27th 2007 5:29PM]

The PS3 supports playing Movies/Music/Photos from an external USB Mass storage device (USB Key/HardDrive/etc.) You just select Movies in the menu, select your drive and it lists all the files in the Movie folder. There is a special folder structure that it looks in, but you can manually browse by hitting the triangle button.

It won't do copy protected media, but it plays all the supported codec movies and music beautifully.

[ryan @ Apr 27th 2007 5:48PM]

it depends on the codec, but it does. i have a couple WD externals and it runs them almost too well, and the interface is incredibly intuitive.

[Jonny @ Apr 30th 2007 11:51PM]

thanks guys, i dl'd Orb and its a really neat program. Its a bit slow so i might just LAN line both 360 and laptop to the router...but then agian i could just media centerextend to both computer and console.

[Neptune5 @ Apr 27th 2007 3:18PM]

I wouldn't change anything about the machine , it just about perfect , maybe make it smaller and add security lock port to it , i could really see what else you could do to the 60 gb its perfect

i fell sorry for who ever buys the elite360 , your paying extra for a color and hdmi lol

who ever bitches about the price of the PS3 just doesnt get it and don't even see the value in a great machine.

[Jon @ Apr 27th 2007 4:10PM]

@ Neptune5...

No, you're not just paying for the color and hdmi... there is a 120gb hard drive as well. Also, please learn to spell. Are you ok for falling when people bought elites?

[Vilhelm @ Apr 27th 2007 4:13PM]

Some of us don't see the value of paying extra for features we don't need/want. Simple as that.

[Grant @ Apr 27th 2007 3:19PM]

cheaper, first and foremost.
and def more games, they really need to get the party started.

[AG @ Apr 27th 2007 3:20PM]

First I'd go back in time and ask that they refrain from lying about it's capabilities, it's price, it's software, and it's release dates.

[Chris @ Apr 27th 2007 3:20PM]

Mine is not loud at all - nothing like my xbox 360.

I would change the shape to make it stackable and add an external power brick. I'm not going to say I'd change the specs of the console itself since we haven't even begun to see what it's really capable of yet.

[Jon @ Apr 27th 2007 3:20PM]

In addition to more codecs and rumble to the controller, I would like to see these features:

1) Bigger HDD (200+ GB anyone?)
2) "Slideshow" like bluetooth remote please?
3) Better DVD upscaling
4) Open up restrictions for homebrew OS

For what you get the PS3's price isn't too bad.. OMG did I just sound like Ken?! :P

[rothgar @ Apr 30th 2007 10:35PM]

1. You can go buy a 200 gb drive and put it in there yourself (if anyone made them)
2. Can't argue with that
3. upscaling is comming this fall
4. I agree

[primetime4 @ Apr 27th 2007 3:20PM]

Odd to hear people complain about noise. Mine has been completely silent. The only part I would change would be to lower the price to make it more accessible and change the way messages are accessed (even though I never use it). But overall no complaints.

[Scabies @ Apr 27th 2007 3:21PM]

More memory (both RAM and VRAM)
Greater multi-taskability (downloading in games, access to XMB in games, etc)
External PSU to decrease footprint/cooling needs
Video-in (speculated to be released in the future, "PS3-TiVo" business)
DVD upscaling (speculated to be released, which subconsciously [but inaccurately/illogically] undermines next-gen video formats)
Downloadable media, other than demos and trailers (PS3tunes?)
More PSP-PS3 functionality (which I have yet to get to work)
Stock [dongle-less] PS2 controller support (think Guitar Hero/DDR)
Friend-to-friend media sharing over PSN

hmm... I'll probably be back with more later

[Mak @ Apr 30th 2007 6:20PM]

More memory? Why?

PS3 has more than enough (512Mb, same as the 360)

[Andrew Jones @ Apr 27th 2007 3:21PM]

"More powerful, too. All these game consoles are nothing compared to pc's."
I really have to ask - where are your facts? According to folding@home, the PS3 is quite capable of outdoing a PC. The efficiency isn't as high as running it on a GPU, but it's much more flexible.

[Hector @ Apr 27th 2007 10:15PM]

I would ditch the blu-ray player and put a geforce 8800 gtx based RSX gpu, also add more RAM.

The cell cpu maybe powerful for tasks such as folding@home, but it does not matter how powerful it may be if the gpu (rsx) can't keep up since most of the graphics job is handled by the GPU, besides it is based on almost 3 year old technology: "Staff at Sony were quoted in Playstation Magazine saying that the "RSX shares a lot of inner workings with NVIDIA 7800 which is based on G70 architecture. The specs announced at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2006 confirm this.","NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stated during Sony's pre-show press conference at E3 2005 that the RSX will be more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultra video cards combined."

[Eric @ Apr 27th 2007 3:21PM]

Add an infrared port so I can use my universal remote control!!

[Victor @ Apr 27th 2007 3:22PM]

- Redesign it, I don't like having a big ugly curvy brick on my shelf.
- Add content to it. PS3 games... online... whatever. You're competing with an established Gaming platform that's been out for a year. Even the younger kid (by 2 days) has more stuff on it.
- Pricetag of course.

[WackyWombat @ Apr 27th 2007 3:22PM]

The PS3 is a pretty tight unit. So far I have been very happy with it but there are features I'd like to see.

The gaming is flawless in my opinion. I'd like see more rpg's but I still have along backlist of games to finish.

On the media side it needs some work. File orginization and playlists are big. I can not make a play list of audio,pictures or video. That should be added.

I'd also like to be able to use the PS3 to change playlists on my walkman or Ipod. That would let me get rid of my PC.

A link into the Sony connect store would be good to. I already have a sportswalkman and would like to just use my PS3 to purchace and organize my music.

Drivers for a usb based DVR could also be nice but I'm not sure I'd use it all that much.

I way to connect the PS3 media files to the LINUX side of things could help out lots also. It weird to have to use a CF card to transfer files between the PS3 os and the Linux install.

More Zoom options on the photo player, maybe a bluetooth/usb printer driver. More camera support for raw formatted images.

I'm sure there is more but that is what I can think of off the top of my head.

[Krishan Patel @ Apr 27th 2007 3:22PM]

The ability to see the XMB by pressing the PS button, like the 360 guide button, to view friends, play music (IN GAME) e.t.c
That would rox my sox :D

[Manuel @ Apr 27th 2007 6:04PM]

u mean u cannot play or change music while on a game?
that sucks !

[Manuel @ Apr 27th 2007 6:04PM]

u mean u cannot play or change music while on a game?
that sucks !

[Chris Ward @ Apr 27th 2007 3:25PM]

Make it $300 instead of $600

[Big @ Apr 27th 2007 3:25PM]

#1 DUAL SHOCK REQUIRED

#2 make a special editi9on controller with the LEft analog stick in the same position as the 360's.

#3 Drop the price $100

#4 change the 802.11G to 802.11N

#5 allow me to add Windows Vista

#6 an online service similar to Xbox Live

#7 GAMES NEEDED !!!! shoulda had updated versions of the same games PS1 launched with.

#8 external power block

[IrishGandalf @ Apr 28th 2007 11:59AM]

#2 + #5 screem MS fanboy, but besides that i agree with most of what you say, on #2 i couldn't disagree with you more the PS2/3 controller, IMHO, is the most comfortable and well designed controller since the N64 (maybe slightly more so), the XBOX 360 controller is a PS Controller gone wrong all they did was swap the D-pad and the left analog stick, which is soo uncomfortable. I know many ppl disagree with this (since someone made a PS3 controller fit in a 360 case), but I know more then one person who has a 360 and would prefer if you could plug in the PS3 controller, it's just more symmetrical and (again IMO) alot more comfortable and playable.

[Abuzer Rafey @ Jun 2nd 2007 8:12PM]

ya, umm u cant add Windows Vista to a PowerPC processor. Its like installing Windows Vista on a Mac, lol. It's just like not possible if u get my point.

[WackyWombat @ Apr 27th 2007 3:26PM]

Jonny,

Yes you already can use external drives with the PS3 to store your stuff.

All,

I would like it to be quiter. It is much quiter than the 360 but the fans still are to loud for the quite movements in classical music.

[Ryan @ Apr 27th 2007 3:26PM]

How about adding a video scaler to the damned thing. Since you charge $600 for the system, not bad for Blu Ray yet terrible for a game console, the least you can do is make sure everyone with an HD TV can enjoy playing all games in HD.

[Rick wilson @ Apr 27th 2007 3:27PM]

1) Dust collects way too easily and too much.

2) Metallic touch sensetive buttons are great, but I've never been shocked so much in my life (this only happens on the unit at work, not at my house)

3) ADD A POWER OFF button to the Bluetooth "TV" remote control. It turns the console on with ease, but if you're not on that input, you can't easily get the console off cause there's no power button.

[Cupajo @ Apr 27th 2007 4:39PM]

You have a PS3 at work? Do you need a male secretary that can only type 10 words a minute and can't make very good coffee?

[joe1059 @ Apr 27th 2007 3:29PM]

Add an automated podcasting download client. And as someone who has the Wii, PS3, and 360, I must say this is by far the quietest machine of the 3. I can't even stand to turn the 360 on anymore....

[Matt @ Apr 27th 2007 3:57PM]

Your PS3 is the quietest machine of the 3? Have you even turned on your Wii?

[Fuzz @ Apr 27th 2007 3:31PM]

Make it not so ugly. If Sony wants this to be more than just a game system, they should style it like piece of home entertainment equipment, so that it fits nicely with everything else in the rack.

[lazygamer @ Apr 27th 2007 3:31PM]

make blue ray as a external drive. like HD to Xbox 360.