Obvious PS3 tricks you may have forgotten about

by Nick Doerr { Nov 15th 2007 at 7:00AM }

We love illusions, things sometimes referred to as magic. Regrettably, true magic does not exist in this dimension (except for in the eyes of our innocent youth ... oh, the fools), but Sony and the PS3 have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep us imagining magic does indeed exist. The following are some obvious tricks worth mentioning that your PS3 can, in fact, do. Remember, some people might not have known these things.

Play PS3 games from any country
Reset your video mode by continuing to press the power button on the console when turning it on (if you have an HDMI issue, this is always a good way to re-establish a poor handshake).
Tap the PS button to see your battery charge remaining (duh).
Google PS3 Game Saves, save some data onto a USB, then copy it into your save data folder. Voila, you magically beat a game you don't even own!
Six-person video/phone chat ... thanks PS Eye!
Multiple page mode in the browser (choose to open a new window in the browser, then use L3 to toggle between pages).
Easily upgradeable hard drives.
Share your PS Store downloads on up to five other PS3's!
Force a PS3 to show your files ... just stick stuff in folders called, verbatim, "VIDEO" or "PICTURE" -- if that doesn't work, hit triangle and choose "Display All". Though, if you're rockin' on Tversity, this isn't really necessary.
Hand-in-hand with #9, you can change your album art for copied CDs using this method.

Fairly obvious? Sure. Even so, these are the types of simple things that you'll forget to explain to the less techno-savvy when showing off your PS3. They're simple, but they can be important when trying to prove how awesome the machine is.
[via Digg]

Tags: ps3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ian @ Nov 15th 2007 7:16AM

Another 'trick' -

When downloading a demo from another region's PSN Store your Demo will will continue to download even if you switch PSN accounts back to your home territory account.

Laurens Holst @ Nov 15th 2007 7:29AM

Ok, Tversity I didn’t know about! Been messing around with Windows Media Player and Nero. You should link to their website!

~Grauw

Robert Barkley @ Nov 15th 2007 7:50AM

TVersity is Excellent... highly recommended for your PS3

edwoodjnr @ Nov 15th 2007 7:52AM

Any tricks to force out a RGB signal on a SDTV using a RGB SCART when playing movies? This for me is the biggest mistake that Sony made with the PS3, even the Xbox supports this as standard.

Niels R. @ Nov 15th 2007 7:54AM

I don't get "Voila, you magically beat a game you don't even own!"
How can a savegame change into a full game?

Innocent Bystander @ Nov 15th 2007 8:04AM

Hey the battery charge thing is pretty cool. Never knew... of course I only owned my PS3 for 2 days... :o)

I like the upgradeable hard drive. I'm thinking that my 40GB model will be transofrmed into a 320GB model soon...

IB

ajrobin @ Nov 15th 2007 8:23AM

Further to point 6 you can also use L2 and R2 to go between the different windows (much quicker/easier)

Rob @ Nov 15th 2007 8:26AM

If anybody needs a savefile for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, I've got one available. I finished the game with all weapons, gadgets and armor:D

Nate @ Nov 15th 2007 8:32AM

This is a great list, but I'd like to see PS3 Fanboy take it further. I'd like to see an article on how to best show off your PS3 to your friends, family, and co-workers. I'm planning on having a PS3 demo party at work someday soon (we just got a 42" Aquos LCD in the office that's totally going to waste), but I want to really plan out the demo so as to spark as much enthusiasm as I can. There are a couple 360 owners in the crowd, but they're not rabid fanboys (any more than most of the unwashed masses). Most of my coworkers are geeky (we're a software company), but I bet most of them probably don't even own a console (and most of them could probably afford to plunk down $400 on a really good gaming/media machine).

Any suggestions?

Willykyu @ Nov 15th 2007 9:33AM

You can add now with 2.00 the fact you can read SACD on 20/60/80 Go with an optical cable. Enjoy super sound and multicanal audio, you couldn't listen to with your HDMI cable before!!!

Jay @ Nov 15th 2007 9:54AM

@Ian,

Squeeze me? Baking powder? You can switch PSN regions? How?

Dammit; bet I've missed GT5 Prologue.....

upz @ Nov 15th 2007 10:19AM

Wow Niels...wow...

Dru @ Nov 15th 2007 10:27AM

@5 It's just the game save file. Of course you'll need the "game" to be able to obviously access the game save file.

@10 It's just a matter of setting up a separate account with another address for a foreign region. You won't be able to buy from those region's PSN unless you have a "local" debit/credit card. I'm certain my instructions could be better, but I bet if you search around you'll find more about it.

My fave has to be number 9. Never knew you could do that. Everything else (except #2, never move my PS3) I've already stumbled upon. I thought the press the PS button to see you battery power was written somewhere...

FixtSux @ Nov 15th 2007 10:47AM

Thanks Willykyu! I've had a Nine Inch Nails SACD that has never been played because I've never had the right equipment. Thanks again.

PETEJOZ @ Nov 15th 2007 10:49AM

I knew about all of them ! Except number nine =/.

mortslha @ Nov 15th 2007 12:11PM

What does this really mean? "Share your PS Store downloads on up to five other PS3's!"

Are you saying that Stardust HD game I downloaded, I could put onto a thumb drive and take it to my brothers house and he could load it onto his PS3? Does this go for all downloaded games? Please...this would be great to know.

resiphiodate @ Nov 15th 2007 12:15PM

Some further tricks I've found:

Using a flash drive to watch video files from my computer on the ps3, and charging the controller through my computer. You can also download some free drivers off the internet (I don't remember the URL, but google search will find) that will allow you to use your ps3 controller as a joystick on your computer.

Sony really got it right this time.

Popfrogs @ Nov 15th 2007 12:17PM

@16: I don't think it works like that, but if you add your account and log in on your friends/brothers/neighbors ps3, you can re-download your purchased PSN games and play them.

cell @ Nov 15th 2007 2:08PM

@mortslha

you can download your previously purchased item up to 5 times on other PS3's using your PSN ID. I believe the only game that does not support this is Warhawk, but yeah Super Star Dust does work.

Another feature Id like to point out is costume themes, you can download them free from some websites.

Oh and that new feature with the 2.00, which lets you create play lists for your music and photos.

And another feature is the one that lets you arrange your games and videos into seperate folders, I have one for demos another for games and one for PS1 classics, its much easier once you start packing up your HDD.
Remember that you can upscale DVD's through HDMI connection, and you can upscale PS2 and PS1 games to HD, if you have the display.
I just recently purchased a new HD video camera that records in AVCHD, all I have to do is connect it through USB, and my PS3 plays all my recordings in HD 1080i.
Dont forget that if you have multiple users, you can create seperate accounts for each. How does this help?
Well you dont have to worry about your little brother messing up your game saves or ruining that perfect online score anymore, as the PS3 seperates each users saved data and designates each user his PSN ID, dont you just hate it when someone plays your games with out consent and completely overwrites your saves?. So if you ever want to play your brothers saves you must log into his account, you wont be able to mess his data through your account. Oh each account can have different themes and wallpapers, to each his own.

cell @ Nov 15th 2007 2:16PM

oh dont forget that any Bluetooth headset works for online gaming, and the PS3 supports mouse and keyboard through USB or Bluetooth.

Overgauss @ Nov 15th 2007 2:40PM

@11 GT5 Prologue is up till Nov 30th.

Jim @ Nov 15th 2007 5:54PM

HAHAHA! Even you forgot about Blu-ray playback!

Jay @ Nov 15th 2007 6:46PM

@Dru

Great. Now I just need to find a random US postal address, presumably.

JayD-1K @ Nov 16th 2007 9:55PM

you forgot to tell them you can now, charch your Sixaxis when the PS3 is turned off! just hook the usb cable.

Carlo @ Nov 16th 2007 11:33PM

How about changing your NAT Settings fron NAT Type 3 to NAT Type 2 so that you can play online games better using wifi....ohh too complicated!! lol

B1gC72 @ Nov 20th 2007 7:15PM

OMG! i had no idea about #2. you would not believe the headaches i had when taking my PS3 to a friends house without HDMI. i had to take it all the way back to my house and set it to Composite in order to play it on his tv. this helps me so much! i even have a note saved in my phone that with the keystrokes so i can change the video settings without being able to see the screen. i feel like such an idiot now lol. but i will definitely have to try that out right now. i knew Sony couldnt have been that near sighted with the video thing!