Our friend David writes in with another set of questions involving the Playstation 3:

Dear Jason,
First of all, some people have said that the online expereince will get enhanced, therefore making it better. If you know anything about any of this, can you tell me what is going to change?

Also, when you buy a PS3, there is an Ethernet cable included? What is it used for? Can you buy one or a substitute?

My last question is: can you save game data on a USB memory stick or memory card?

Thank you for reading and hope to hear from you soon.
Happy Holidays!

Well David, happy holidays to you too!

First the online experience of the Playstation 3 is receiving a bunch of incremental upgrades. Generally, the feedback has been positive, although the online experience is still not as unified as the Xbox 360. With that being said, every game is going to be different, and no matter how unified the experience is, the individual game experience is going to change from game to game. So, what I would recommend is taking a close look at the games you want to play - if they’re getting bad feedback then you might want to find another game.

The last time I checked, the Playstation 3 did not include an Ethernet cable; however, I’m sure someone can comment on this article and correct me if I’m wrong, or you could ask your local Gamestop, EB Games, or Best Buy employee and they can give you a more definite answer.

If the Playstation 3 doesn’t include an Ethernet cable, or if you find that you need one, they can be purchased from pretty much every place that sells computers and computer parts: Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon.com, and even eBay. The only thing you’ll need to keep in mind is the distance from the Playstation 3 to your Internet connection (or router, depending on how your home network is setup).

As to your final question, I believe the Playstation 3 only supports storing images and other media files on these devices. Again, I would refer you to the more knowledgeable people in this threat or your local sales associate.

Thanks for the questions David!

If you need any Hardware Help feel free to e-mail me, lordkat@gmail.com