Hey all,

First post to the forums as a new user. I had a PS2 way back, skipped the PS3 and am now loving the PS4. I'm pretty interested in getting a PS3 to play a bunch of the games I missed; especially ones that have sequels on the PS4 but have not been ported themselves. I'm wondering if the community could offer me some good game ideas for the PS3. Also, what size of HDD should I get for the PS3 and if anyone has any good tips on how to get one cheaply (don't mind used) that'd be great too! I live in Japan, so shipping something from the States is kind of a deal breaker. Some of the games I'm really interested in playing are:

Mass Effect Series

Red Dead Redemption

God of War 1 & 2 (unless they are available on PS4; haven't checked yet)

Pacman CE DX+

Ni no Kuni - Wrath of the White Witch

Thanks all! Any advice/input is appreciated!

Why don't you buy an used PS3 in Japan? The console is region free and used items are way better taken care of there anyway. 500gb is plenty of hard drive space 'cause game sizes are reasonable. All those games are on the psn store so just create a NA account and get US psn gift cards to add credit.

I am one of those fuddy-duddies that thinks that Demon's Souls, warts and all, is the best of the Souls games so I'd say give that a spin. Also if you are at all into crazy interactive movies Heavy Rain and Beyond are both probably cheap as chips by now and well worth it.

I'd say the Last of Us and Uncharted but those both have PS4 ports now I believe.

If you really want to play all of the Mass Effect series I'm pretty sure the 1st one is not on Ps3

It is.

Imfamous 1 and 2

Metal gear solid 4

Demon souls

Beyond 2 souls was good imo

Im blanking on other stuff atm

Yeah, just get a local Japanese PS3. Just watch out so you don't get one of the older models, because they aren't really worth the lower price.

Some games exclusive to that generation that come to mind, assuming you don't have a 360 or a PC either: Vanquish, Resonance of Fate, MGS4, the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus remaster, Far Cry 2, Burnout Paradise, Geometry Wars. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and Demon's Souls are also great, if you're into either of those kinds of things. I've heard good things about the Yakuza games too. I think most other best PS3 games have been re-released on the PS4.

Third-ing this. Book-Off/Hard-Off are pretty good bets to find decently priced used PS3's and PS3 games (if you can read Japanese for the games). Though some Japanese games actually have English voices and/or subtitles for them; just have to research it before hand.

Yeah, guys in here pretty much nailed the most obvious games to get. I'd say the Ratchet and Clank series is worth checking out; also, Yakuza is pretty cool. Make sure to get the Mass Effect Trilogy pack or whatever's called as well.

Play a Yakuza game that isn't Dead Souls.

Great decision. I support this 100%

The PS3 is a great system. I bought one in 2012. I was late to buy a PS3 because up until then I was happy with my 360 but since then I've played a lot of PS3.

If you like JRPG's then there are a lot of them. More than maybe any other system. The Yakuza games are exclusive to Playstation and are great. You can play the older ones on PS3 now that Yakuza 0 and 6 are coming to PS4. I like the Atelier games especially Rorona Plus.

@batmanbatman: The Ratchet and Clank ps3 games are really great. A Crack in Time is the best, very good game. Also I second Infamous 1 and 2, As much as I have a bit of a soft spot for second son, it isn't the same kind of game as the first two. Second Son streamlined the traversal in the game to the point that it became trivial, infamous 1 and 2 require a certain amount of rhythm and light platforming to move around the world smoothly, which feels really good when you get with the flow/pull it off.

I love my PS3 i use it daily because there are so many good games on it.

also alot of remasters i recommend like: The metal gear solid hd collection, god of war collection, kingdom hearts remix 1.5 and 2.5.

LA Noire, MGS4, Portal 2, Saints Row The Third, Spec Ops The Line, Call Of Juarez Gunslinger, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Shadows of The Damned, and Tokyo Jungle

Play them all.

There are a bunch others but they're ported to PS4 or will be soon.

I'll second Demon's Souls which has been mentioned a couple of times already, it's the definite PS3 exclusive to me, at least barring MAG which is no longer available.

I'll also suggest 3D Dot Game Heroes, another PS3 exclusive From Software joint, this time taking on the Zelda franchise, and it's pretty cool.

There were pretty good PS3 versions of Doom 1 and 2 too, Doom Classic Complete, available on PSN. Stay away from the Doom 3 BFG Edition though, it too includes Doom 1 and 2, but none of the expansions.

Shoot I totally forgot about Tokyo Jungle, that's secretly the best PS3 game.

3D Dot Games Heroes

Asura's Wrath

Bayonetta

Condemned 2

Demon's Souls

Dragon's Crown

InFamous 1 & 2

Jak & Daxter Trilogy

Ni no kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 & 2

Ratchet & Clank: Trilogy, Tools of Destruction, A Crack in Time & Into the Nexus

Red Dead Redemption

Siren: Blood Curse

The Sly Trilogy

Vanquish

Yakuza 3 & 4

Being mainly a PC-gamer, I decided to buy a used PS3 & games about a year ago so that I could play all the console exclusives I wanted. These are some of the games I bought and enjoyed, and I don't think are on the PS4.

Max Payne 3 is really good as well, though I think I'm in the minority here.

Lots of the games are out on PS4 as well, but for exclusives I liked Dragon's Crown, MGS4 and Demon's Souls.

For the hard drive, you can replace it with a 2.5" SATA (basically a laptop HDD) drive fairly easily. There are plenty of guides, some even published by PlayStation themselves. A lot of PS3s started to move towards the 250 gb or 500 gb range, so that should be plenty for your needs. 1+ tb drives are nice, but you really don't "need" them.

For games, Mass Effect 2 is an excellent version of that game and Mass Effect 3 I believe was identical across the board. (Some of those games may have come on multiple 360 discs, but I can't remember the specifics now). Mass Effect 1 was ported later and the trilogy is now available in a collection, which I assume you can get in Japan.

Red Dead Redemption is a solid choice. That's a pretty great game.

I never made it that far into Ni No Kuni (not because of the game's quality, more on my part than anything else), but people who have played it to completion seem to really love it.

A lot of the games I would recommend have eventually jumped ship. Valkyria Chronicles is one of my favorite PS3 games...which you can also get on PC and PS4. The Last of Us is one of my all time favorite games...which is even better on PS4 with The Last of Us Remastered.

Here are a few noteworthy games I would mention that haven't made it to other platforms:

Tales of Graces F: I wasn't planning on it, but I sure played the hell out of this game. I got the platinum trophy, invested 150+ hours between the main game, the new game+, and all of the side content. Not the greatest of JRPG stories, but it is a really fun game. There is also Tales of Xillia 1 and 2, but I only finished Graces.

Catherine: A great puzzle game, with a lot of style, and a pretty entertaining story.

If you have a decent internet connection and a PS4 you might want to look into the streaming service Playstation Now. They have a pretty decent selection including most of what's been listed I think. Little pricy maybe, but convenient.

Also the first two infamous games are some of my favorite of last gen. Second Son, while decent, doesn't really do the first two justice.

@rentagosa: I would recommend getting Mass Effect collection on PC. Like some here, I am a Demon Souls fan. I have heard that the Resistance games are alright, though from you list FPS's don't seem up your alley.

I bought my PS3 for one game: Journey

I did get a copy of Demon's Souls, however I could not bear the load times. Not sure if you can install that to disk or something. I've sold it since then.

Oh also played Shadow of the Collossus while I had it. I also played Red Dead Redemption which I fucking loved, but I hated the ending.

Even though I sold it off, it was worth it for those few games, especially Journey.

@rejizzle: I've tried PSNOW multiple times from here in Japan. Since I use the U.S. store, it only lets me connect to the PSNOW service in the States so far as I can tell. The data speeds are super fast here in Japan (usually competing with Korea for the #1 spot); but I think the ping is just too much. Most often it won't even let me load a game and when it does, the little bit of lag kind of ruins the experience (especially on Pac man, lol) Thanks!

Wow! Thanks for all the great info everyone! Nice to have a good community who knows what they're talking about. I found a 160gb PS3 (I think it's the "middle gen" one?) for 16000 yen yesterday which is what I think i'll get. Don't need that much space since I'll probably just have a few old games loaded up on it at once and delete 'em as I beat 'em. Cheers!