12th October 2016, 6:23 AM
Top loading has fewer moving parts, but slot loading is still less prone to failure than front tray loading drives. That's been shown many times (and from my personal experience, tray loading mechanisms fail a LOT).
I prefer front loading simply due to it looking like "the future" compared to any other method (even though it's closest to how old floppy disks were loaded). It's what the XBox One uses now too, so pretty much everyone has switched to it at this point (including Apple). The most important thing in a front loading design is an emergency eject, which sadly none of the consoles (or Apple computers) bother with. That's just my personal taste though. I can see how one might prefer the Playstation 1 design.
The PS3 interface isn't that good in retrospect. It was clearly modeled after the PSP interface. The only interface I would consider worse is the Wii one, ironically enough. I mean, if you are aiming with the Wii remote, it's quick enough, but it has a huge number of issues. There's no good sorting, since folders aren't supported. Everything's shoved together across multiple "pages" of icons, and past a certain amount of space, you must relegate everything else into the "SD card" menu, which was as badly implemented as it could have been. Firstly, that SD card menu doesn't allow running the software off the SD card itself. Numerous people who have broken down how the Wii operates can tell you there is no good reason for this restriction. All software on the SD card is first copied to free space in the internal flash, and THEN is executed. This adds needless read/writes to the internal flash, bringing that flash ever closer to death. Once the Wii store shuts off for good, I'm going full-on hacked mode on my Wii.
Your list of games is sub optimal. I see a few good ones, but a lot of bad ones (Lair?). Here's some recommendations:
Demon's Souls - This game, and the series as a whole, has a reputation for challenge. It's true, but not nearly as much as you might think. This game is not NEARLY as hard as it is made out to be. It's just harder than most modern games is all. It isn't even close to as tough as Battle Toads or Super Ghouls and Ghosts. It is closer to the difficulty of an old game like, say, Double Dragon or MAYBE Zelda II. (My perspective on Zelda II is warped a bit because I've played it so many times, Zelda II in all fairness is probably still harder than Demon's Souls). The Souls games do have big enemies that hit really hard, and you can go down in only a few hits to even a regular enemy, but that's par for the course if you play classic games. I recommend it very much though. There's a lot to like about the game design. Namely, it is FAIR. I'm sure you know what I mean by that at this point. When you die, you'll almost always be cursing yourself, rather than the game. There's a scant few sections where you might be mad at the game, but the vast majority of the game is completely fair challenge where the fault lies with the player if they die. That's how I like it. Take your time and spend a few minutes just studying how each new enemy moves before you attack, and you'll get through. Even the placement can generally be turned to your advantage, as numerous enemies I tricked into falling to their deaths can attest to. Also, read item descriptions. There's a bit of lore behind the "souls" mechanic across this series that basically means you can read the past of every item you touch directly from the soul of those who touched it before you, and that's where you're going to piece together the game's backstory from.
Dark Souls - More of the same, if you don't already own this one on another system, go ahead and pick it up here. Unlike Demon's Souls, this one can't be purchased from the digital store.
Kingdom Hearts - I know you like anime, and if you're an American you like Disney, so this one's really a no brainer. The Final Fantasy references are pretty thin on the ground, so you really don't need to have any familiarity with that series to enjoy this one. Pick up the two HD collections and see for yourself. They are basically beat 'em ups, closer to something like God of War or Devil May Cry than to an RPG of any sort, but enjoyable. I mean c'mon, don't you want to pal around with a big blue genie while beating up pirates? Maybe beat back a monster invasion alongside Scrooge McDuck, Stitch, and Tron? Yeah, you do.
Journey - This is more or less a "walking simulator", but one of the games that really makes the genre justify it's existence. You're randomly paired with other strangers playing the game, and it works just fine. I've never had a trek up a mountain path feel so grueling as in this game. It's short, but it is also cheap.
I prefer front loading simply due to it looking like "the future" compared to any other method (even though it's closest to how old floppy disks were loaded). It's what the XBox One uses now too, so pretty much everyone has switched to it at this point (including Apple). The most important thing in a front loading design is an emergency eject, which sadly none of the consoles (or Apple computers) bother with. That's just my personal taste though. I can see how one might prefer the Playstation 1 design.
The PS3 interface isn't that good in retrospect. It was clearly modeled after the PSP interface. The only interface I would consider worse is the Wii one, ironically enough. I mean, if you are aiming with the Wii remote, it's quick enough, but it has a huge number of issues. There's no good sorting, since folders aren't supported. Everything's shoved together across multiple "pages" of icons, and past a certain amount of space, you must relegate everything else into the "SD card" menu, which was as badly implemented as it could have been. Firstly, that SD card menu doesn't allow running the software off the SD card itself. Numerous people who have broken down how the Wii operates can tell you there is no good reason for this restriction. All software on the SD card is first copied to free space in the internal flash, and THEN is executed. This adds needless read/writes to the internal flash, bringing that flash ever closer to death. Once the Wii store shuts off for good, I'm going full-on hacked mode on my Wii.
Your list of games is sub optimal. I see a few good ones, but a lot of bad ones (Lair?). Here's some recommendations:
Demon's Souls - This game, and the series as a whole, has a reputation for challenge. It's true, but not nearly as much as you might think. This game is not NEARLY as hard as it is made out to be. It's just harder than most modern games is all. It isn't even close to as tough as Battle Toads or Super Ghouls and Ghosts. It is closer to the difficulty of an old game like, say, Double Dragon or MAYBE Zelda II. (My perspective on Zelda II is warped a bit because I've played it so many times, Zelda II in all fairness is probably still harder than Demon's Souls). The Souls games do have big enemies that hit really hard, and you can go down in only a few hits to even a regular enemy, but that's par for the course if you play classic games. I recommend it very much though. There's a lot to like about the game design. Namely, it is FAIR. I'm sure you know what I mean by that at this point. When you die, you'll almost always be cursing yourself, rather than the game. There's a scant few sections where you might be mad at the game, but the vast majority of the game is completely fair challenge where the fault lies with the player if they die. That's how I like it. Take your time and spend a few minutes just studying how each new enemy moves before you attack, and you'll get through. Even the placement can generally be turned to your advantage, as numerous enemies I tricked into falling to their deaths can attest to. Also, read item descriptions. There's a bit of lore behind the "souls" mechanic across this series that basically means you can read the past of every item you touch directly from the soul of those who touched it before you, and that's where you're going to piece together the game's backstory from.
Dark Souls - More of the same, if you don't already own this one on another system, go ahead and pick it up here. Unlike Demon's Souls, this one can't be purchased from the digital store.
Kingdom Hearts - I know you like anime, and if you're an American you like Disney, so this one's really a no brainer. The Final Fantasy references are pretty thin on the ground, so you really don't need to have any familiarity with that series to enjoy this one. Pick up the two HD collections and see for yourself. They are basically beat 'em ups, closer to something like God of War or Devil May Cry than to an RPG of any sort, but enjoyable. I mean c'mon, don't you want to pal around with a big blue genie while beating up pirates? Maybe beat back a monster invasion alongside Scrooge McDuck, Stitch, and Tron? Yeah, you do.
Journey - This is more or less a "walking simulator", but one of the games that really makes the genre justify it's existence. You're randomly paired with other strangers playing the game, and it works just fine. I've never had a trek up a mountain path feel so grueling as in this game. It's short, but it is also cheap.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)