What to expect from PS3

It also looks like Sony's making good on all those claims that the PS3 will be much more than a game machine. For starters, delving through its assorted setup menus reveals that you'll be able to create partitions on the hard drive, and use them to install new operating systems - presumably Linux-based ones.

Getting online is another story. After getting the PS3 hooked into your internet connection - either using an Ethernet cable or a wireless network - you'll need to install a patch before you can get out there. Depending on your connection speed, this can take around an hour of watching a progress bar inch across the screen.

After that's finished, you're free to register for Sony's online network. This also takes a while, but it'll go a lot faster if you hook a USB keyboard up to the console instead of trying to use the onscreen, phone-style "keyboard." You should also be prepared for the extremely lengthy end-user license agreement, which takes a few minutes just to scroll through without reading.

The setup hints that you'll need a credit card to register, although that's completely optional and is only used to buy stuff from the PlayStation Store. Other uses for the service, including playing online, are free. So are the user avatars it comes with, although the vast majority of the low-res little pictures you can represent yourself with are either dull or just horrible.

Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.
Latest in PlayStation
Monster Hunter Wilds Nu Udra Palico
Monster Hunter Wilds players are so obsessed with Palico armor that turns your cute cat into a freaky little octopus that even Capcom is sharing fan art of it
The Sinking City 2
After a years-long battle with its publisher, Ukraine-based studio reveals first gameplay footage of survival horror sequel The Sinking City 2, launches Kickstarter, and hits $100,000 goal in hours
The Last of Us 2
Naughty Dog has done it: it's remastered the PS5 controller with a Last of Us-themed DualSense announcement 24 hours after Neil Druckmann dashed our hopes for The Last of Us 3
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows reverses roles to show off Naoe's combat and Yasuke's stealth, and I'm suddenly sold on playing Yasuke like a clumsy Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3
A painting shows a woman sleeping as a demon with three eyes bites her chest.
Final Fantasy 7 concept artist Yoshitaka Amano's new gallery exhibit summarizes everything I love about the Square Enix games, even though he might have stood me up
Hollow Knight
Day 1,251: Hollow Knight's strongest soldier has been fighting the boss version of Silksong star Hornet every day for over 3 years, and watching them master the Metroidvania in real time is truly amazing
Latest in Features
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX still of protagonist Machu
I beg of you, learn nothing more about the incredible new Gundam anime beyond the fact that you should learn nothing more about it
A painting shows a woman sleeping as a demon with three eyes bites her chest.
Final Fantasy 7 concept artist Yoshitaka Amano's new gallery exhibit summarizes everything I love about the Square Enix games, even though he might have stood me up
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks to finally bring my anime-inspired dreams of truly active combat to life
Frieren and Fern with their foreheads pressed together in Frieren Beyond Journey's End
Frieren season 2 release date, story, trailer, and everything else we know
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 screenshot of Henry wearing a fancy coat, hat, and spectacles
I'm terrible at the combat in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, so I'm beating the RPG as a medieval rizz master instead
Lego Twilight, Easter Egg, Eeyore, and Flowers divided by white lines, with a GamesRadar+ new Lego badge in the middle
New Lego sets in February 2025, from Twilight to Winnie the Pooh