PlayStation

Gamers Log: inFamous Beat. Final Fantasy XIII Time!

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 12, 2010 | 3 comments

As I’ve written in the past, I recently started inFamous and what a ride it has been. I cannot stress how much fun this game is and the quality of it is wonderful. To start off, I’m a big story guy. I like playing games for their story and boy does inFamous deliver. Especially the ending; that’s all I’ll say on that matter. Now let it be said that I’m not really a fan of the GTA series or the open world concept yet here I was with inFamous, completely pulled in and it made sense. The city was alive and the story and its missions beautifully revolved around it. Plus, the city really had a grand size while not getting too annoying in that respect. Also, I have to mention that the enemies were great and fun to beat up on. However, and I’m not sure if this is a positive or not, but I never once felt too powerful. I’m not sure if the enemies got stronger over time as well to keep the balance or what, but I can confirm that I attained all of Cole’s powers a while before the ending and I still died plenty of times at enemies’ hands. Another blessing from the developers was the fact that the trophies were fun to get and not ludicrous. If anybody has played Brutal Legend or Killzone 2, you will feel my pain.

I must say that during my time with inFamous, I had an amazing amount of fun and would love the guys at Sucker Punch to make a Spider-man game because that’s all I could think about during many of the building climbing that I did within the game. With inFamous knocked out, I’m now moving on to Final Fantasy XIII. I’m both excited and scared for this because I’m a huge RPG nerd and own every Final Fantasy game, including FF1 for Nintendo. But I’ll be the first to admit that Square has dropped the ball this generation. Before, I picked up Xenogears because it said Square on the box. I had never heard of the game and its now currently my favorite game of all time. But this generation, Square seems so focused with trying to appeal to Western gamers that I think it’s losing itself. Plus, this is their first true next gen game and we are in the 4th year! But onwards I march with FF13. After that, I believe it will be God of War collection and God of War 3 time. And yes, I somehow did miss GoW 1&2 on the PS2.

Playstation 4 Teaser Trailer

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 11, 2010 | 15 comments

I already know what this is so let’s have some fun with it. What do you guys think?

I Don't Use My PSPgo Because I'm Cheap

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 10, 2010 | 5 comments

On October 1st, 2009, I was a giddy person. It was the PSPgo launch date and I had my unit already paid for and only needed the UPS man to bring it to my door. It was a little opposite of the PSP-1000 launch as I waited in line that day at a GameStop store. The original PSP was one of my favorite gadgets. Before I had an iPod, that little guy would hold my music, I had a load of UMD movies and had downloaded Anime on my memory stick and a load of games. Fast forward the PSPgo launch: I received my unit, fired it up and was in love. I immediately downloaded Grand Turismo and a few other games and took my PSPgo with me everywhere. But I noticed I kept going back to my PSP-1000 and it was for the simple reason that I still needed to beat Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7. Because of lack of option of playing Crisis Core on my PSPgo, my PSP-1000 had me in. But now I owned this beautiful unit and I couldn’t even give it the attention it needed. Soon I noticed that Amazon had a fantastic deal on Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Of course, this was on the UMD version, but for $20, how could I say no?

It’s with this that I noticed that the reason I don’t use my PSPgo is because I’m cheap! Seriously, one of the reasons I have been playing my original PSP more than my PSPgo is because I can go on Amazon and get cheaper prices or sales on games. Plus, at the end of the day, it will be the same game because yes the PSPgo is sexier and has a better screen, but the game itself is and will be the same. So while I do love my PSPgo, I don’t want to pay extra for games when I don’t have to. Also, the whole point of digital distribution is that there is no shipping, no packaging, no producing and booklets and boxes, so does it not make sense for the digital version to be cheaper? Plus, the big worry with game publishers right now is secondhand selling and how they don’t get a cut of that market. Well have the UMD version for $40 which can go be sold again and the PSN version for $30 because I cannot share those and sell that copy.

That is ultimately not the only solution. Sony needs to give a retailer like Amazon the capability go also put the PSN versions on sale as well as the UMD and give the buyers a choice (remember, there is a PSN store on Amazon as well for those who want to gift games or just buy them some other way). So to wrap this up, I’m not against digital downloads. I own 2 iPhones (soon 3) and my iPad, and I have nearly 30 PSN games on the PS3, but when I can get the same game for cheaper on the PSP as opposed to the PSPgo version and they are of the same quality, capitalism and supply and end demand indicate that the PSPgo will flop and so far, its been true, sadly.

Here’s a funny thing: in order to take the picture I did for the profile, I had to plug my PSPgo back in and charge it up and during its initial setup, I felt very guilty about this post and the lack of attention I have given that unit and the lack of marketing and attention Sony has given it as well because it feels so damn nice in the hand. Dammit Sony!

Domino's Blu Tuesday!

by Jenni Petot | Jun 8, 2010 | 14 comments

Back again for another look at this week’s blu-ray releases. This week I’m very, very excited for Shutter Island. I’ll be the first to admit Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor. This is not in any way an “Oh he’s so cute” reason, (although he’s not bad on the eyes) I believe he is a brilliant actor and continues to blow me away in all of his performances. Shutter Island is one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year, and I can’t even get into how excited I am for Inception, it’s a slight obsession. Ok enough of Leo and back to blu-ray releases.

Two other movie releases that appeal to my taste are From Paris with Love and The Illusionist. I haven’t seen From Paris yet, but this is definitely a renter for me and I wanted to catch it in theaters. The Illusionist came out around the same time as The Prestige, both films about magic and illusion with a romance sub-plot and both were great. I will admit I loved The Prestige more, but the Illusionist was a very enjoyable film that will be on my blu-ray ‘to buy’ list.

Lastly, I must mention a blu-ray set that I forgot to include last week that will be added to my collection, Life. For fans of the incredibly beautiful, Planet Earth, Discovery channel did a similar 10 episode series on wild life around the world. The few episodes I’ve seen, I watch with my jaw open. It’s really amazing seeing what these animals do to survive and the beautiful shots that were captured. I should note that there are two versions of Life, one has narration by David Attenborough, and the other is narration by Oprah Winfrey. Numerous reviews say go with David’s version, it’s slightly more expensive but worth it from the more interesting commentary.

PS3s Heavy Rain becoming a Movie

by Jenni Petot | Jun 7, 2010 | 2 comments

The PS3 exclusive and highly rated game, Heavy Rain, is very close to getting a film deal. The rights are rumored to be sold to Unique Features which is a Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne company. They founded New Line Cinema back in 1967. I hope this will be a good game to film feature that is casted well since it is very character based game. The gameplay of Heavy Rain is very cinematic already with camera angles, music and action placement. For those of you that haven’t played the game, the story follows four protagonist that are involved with the mystery of the Origami Killer. It is a drama-thriller that I can very much picture as a movie if they make the story easy to follow because at times, it can be very confusing in the game.

PS3 Coming With HDMI Cable

by Jenni Petot | Jun 3, 2010 | 34 comments

I’m sure your reaction to this news is same as mine was….FINALLY. I personally can’t believe it’s taken 3 and a half years for Sony to ship new PS3s with an HDMI cable. My $600 PS3 system came with a lousy composite cable, the same connection I used for my Nintendo 64 over a decade ago. On the down side, it’s rumored that an HDMI cable won’t be bundled with the $300 120GB models, only the $350 250GB PS3. As seen in the photo below [Via PC World], the system will also come with LittleBigPlanet game of the year edition. I hope Sony will eventually include this cable for all models so new buyers of this system can open the box and easily enjoy HD gaming and Blu-rays.

PSP Promos and Deals in June!

by Jenni Petot | Jun 2, 2010 | 1 comment

Kristin Neirinckx, Sony’s Marketing Manger for PSP, announced yesterday three new promos/collections for the PSP, and they are very exciting.

Deal #1: Introduction to $9.99 “Favorites” Software line. These games are obviously a great value and include many games you love or want to try. Included in the lineup are:

Ape Escape: On the Loose
Buzz Master Quiz
LocoRoco 2
PixelJunk Monster Deluxe
SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo
Twisted Metal: Head On
Sims 2
Justice League Heroes

Deal #2: The PSP will now have a “Greatest Hits” collection just like the PS3. I usually buy games on launch date but there have been a few that I purchase once they are greatest hits. It’s a great way to buy the best games at a low cost. The PSP titles in this collection will be $19.99. Included are:

Gran Turismo
Little Big Planet
Resistance: Retribution
Secret Agent Clank

Deal #3: For those of you that don’t have a PSP Go and have been on the fence about it, here’s something to guide you to the right side. When purchasing a PSP Go from now until March 31, 2011 you will get a e-mail voucher for 3 free games! Up to an $80 value, amazing and a wide variety of games will be available for purchase. As seen below, this bundle will give you a great start to a path to quality handheld gaming. [Via Sony Blog]

Insomniac Games: Betrayal And Good Business

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 1, 2010 | 19 comments

As you may or may not have heard, long-time Playstation exclusive 2nd party developer Insomniac Games has announced that they are going multi-platform. Now, because they are 2nd party means that they had formed an alliance with Sony but were never owned by Sony and could pull away from the Playstation brand whenever they wished. Insomniac has been exclusive to the Playstation brand since the PS1. They continued this on the PS2 where they had huge success with their Ratchet & Clank series. Once on the PS3 though, the story was different. The first Resistance game they released was a launch title for the PS3 and had huge sales and is still in the top 10 most sold games for the PS3. Still, their followup games never caught on. They have since released 3 Ratchet & Clank games that have had sliding sales. While Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction sold 1.94 Million, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time only pushed 1 million copies. Again, the first Resistance game had sold 3.69 Million while the far superior Resistance 2 (and I think one of the most underrated PS3 games) only managed 1.88 million.

This of course brings me to Insomniac’s decision to move to a 3rd party, multi-platform release. As the numbers have shown, the guys over at Insomniac have been hurting. This doesn’t make any of their games a flop in any form, but from such a AAA developer, it’s not the numbers I’m sure they had hoped for. So if we look at this as a pure business deal, it makes perfect sense. Cater to 35 million PS3 users or cater to PS3 and Xbox 360 (39 million) users? The decision is a simple one and my business side couldn’t agree more with their decision and wish this fantastic developer the best. But then the fan inside of me is the person who feels betrayed. This is the same company who has made their life on the Playstation. Insomniac wouldn’t be who they are if Sony didn’t give their space and say, just make fantastic games and here are all the resources you need. So it’s with that side of me that I don’t see them in the same eye and I’ll be the first to admit it: that’s my fanboy side.

But the question that really needs to be begged here is: is this Sony’s fault? Insomniac was pushing out a new AAA title per year for Sony (something that is very hard to actually accomplish), but as we see, the sales weren’t there. There is of course two causes for that. A lot of those games were published during the high price time of the PS3. With launch prices of $599, we’re only reaching the one year milestone of the $299 PS3. So this alone meant that the install base of the PS3 was not huge during the prior years. But maybe more damming then the price was the marketing or lack there of marketing for the Playstation. As many Sony fans will tell you, Sony has had zero presence on television. While Microsoft would blast ads left and right for Gears and Halo, I saw maybe one Resistance ad on TV, and ads for the Playstation were nonexistent. Again, it’s only really been in the last year that Sony has done a great job with the Kevin Butler ads, (I still wished that they aired more of them but it’s far better than years prior). But even with all of this in mind, the Playstation now has a healthy number of users and yet, it doesn’t move games like the 360 does and part of this is due to the more mature crowd. When a big 360 title comes out, it’s sure to sell over 1 million the first week, but with the Playstation, if it does 500k, it’s doing big. Some might point to the extra 4 million 360 users out there but the numbers don’t add up to those extra 4 million consuming so much more. I believe this has more to do with the younger 360 gamers being hardcore gamers who need to have something on day 1 and have had a 2 month pre-order where the PS3 users are more casual and older. This means that although they will buy, they don’t need to own it on day one and have other things in their lives besides gaming.

So in the end, what is to blame for Insomniac’s departure as a PS3 exclusive developer? The lack of sales? The failure of Sony to promote or the Playstation fans? Maybe all 3, and maybe that’s just the tide as long time Microsoft exclusive partner Bungie (creator of the Halo series) is now a 3rd party developer and will have their next game on both consoles as well. Regardless of the reason, I wish the guys over at Insomniac the best.

Sony's 30 Best Playstation Network Games

by Jenni Petot | May 29, 2010 | 58 comments

I found a great article from GamePro listing the top 30 games for the Playstation Network. I’ve purchased some on the list but this reminded me of the great titles that I want to purchase and play. Two games that didn’t make the list that I think are worthy are: PAIN and PixelJunk Racer. PAIN is a very comedic game where you literally launch a character in the air and as he falls try to create the most destruction and damage to him; check it out and get a good laugh. PixelJunk has four fantastic games exclusively on the PSN and all but PixelJunk Racer were included on the list so don’t forget about racer!

I’ve spotlighted three PSN exclusive games on the list I’ve really really enjoyed

Echochrome: M.C. Escher is my favorite artist and I can’t help but to think of him during this puzzle game. Echochrome consists of over 56 levels with simple looking puzzles that get increasingly difficult as you guide your player through them. It’s all about point of view, angles and connecting walk paths for your player. You can also challenge friends by creating your own levels.

The Last Guy: This game has a simple concept of guiding survivors of a monster-apocalypse through large cities to safety. Bigger and bigger groups come your way in need of saving keep up the challenge and I love the birds eye view the game is played in. This game is fun, addicting with fun music. Check out the demo that’s available on the PSN.

Pixel Junk Monsters: This was one of the first PSN games I bought and I remember numerous late night session playing it. I love this game. The concept is your basic tower defense protecting home base from waves of monsters. As you move throughout the map levels get harder with more waves and stronger monsters. What’s great is the variety of defense towers you have, some to be unlocked, and the ability to power them up by ‘dancing’ in them. It’s such a great game that I recommend you buy, I don’t think you’ll be dissapointed. Also, there’s an “encore” expansion pack that adds another 15 levels if you feel you’ve outplayed the game and the levels are very hard.

Want to see the full list? Hit the jump for the list of the 30 games (and their prices!) that made the cut. [Via GamePro]

Read More ›

PSP Go Buyers Will Now Get 10 Free Games

by Jenni Petot | May 28, 2010 | 10 comments

Sony’s making an offer you can’t refuse.

The PSP Go was released fall of last year and since then Sony has been finding a way to boost their not so high sales. It was announced this week that Sony will give PSP Go buyers 10 free games bundled with this handheld system starting next month. That’s right, 10. This deal will also apply to existing buyers who got this system after April 1st. The catch? This only applies to buyers in the UK. (Boo!) The games included in the free bunch are impressive too and not duds. Titles will include: Little Big Planet, Grand Turismo, Wipout Pure, FIFA World Cup 2010 and Need for Speed Shift. SCE UK sales director Mark Howsen revealed a scheme during an interview:

“On PSP Go we’ve decided to innovate with that particular business model. Next month we’re launching a free ten game offer. And this isn’t just older titles – we’ve worked with third parties and there’s some really good core products. We’re using it as a method to drive the hardware as well by making the whole proposition much more appealing.”

There’s no indication this amazing deal with be offered to us in the U.S. but I’m hoping for it! I’ll sure jump on board and purchase one and enjoy with a slice of the PSP cake. This deal is like Sony is giving the hardware for freeeee. Man I love that word, free.

You Can Now Eat Your PSP

by Sohrab Osati | May 26, 2010 | 36 comments

One thing I’ve always wanted to do is experience a surprise and have it be a cake of something I love. So if anybody out there wants to, please make me a Matrix or Lost or PS3 or iPad cake. Chocolate, too. But the folks over at Debbie Does Cakes have now gone out and pulled at my taste buds in another way: A PSP cake! What’s freaking amazing too is the amount of detail on this thing. From the yellow port for the power plug, to the button placement and logos to the rough design over the joystick. If I didn’t love chocolate stuff so much, I would almost feel bad about eating this. Now, I want to see a PSPgo cake!

[Via Walyou]

Sony Bringing HBO To PSN

by Jenni Petot | May 25, 2010 | 11 comments

Sony’s Playstation Network is now offering original content from HBO. Users have the option of purchasing single episodes or full seasons. Available immediately are the first two seasons of “True Blood”, “Eastbound and Down“, “Big Love” and “Entourage”. Other shows will also be available from HBO’s backlog such as “The Sopranos”, “Sex and the City” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.

I like the idea of having HBO on PSN and possibly other premium networks like Showtime hopping on board with Playstation, but the cost seems to be a bit high. Newer shows like “True Blood” will cost $2.99 an episode, and it’s been said that most shows will cost .99 cents per episode. For myself, I would not buy complete seasons on the Playstation Network. I love having the box set of a season on Blu-ray and have it on a shelf accessible in person. I would, however, see myself buying an episode or two if I happened to miss it a certain week. This was a great move by both parties to help the declining DVD/Blu-ray sales and I hope more networks will provide their shows on the PSN soon.

Sony Launching $70 Premium PSN At E3?

by Jenni Petot | May 20, 2010 | 95 comments

I bought my PS3 on launch date not only because I’m a huge fan of Sony, but because it includes a Blu-ray player, great exclusive games, and bluetooth controllers. Still, a big selling point for me was also the free Playstation Network. The PSN is the online hub for downloadable content, games and the ability to play multiplayer online (which I do a lot of).

There has been rumors for a while that Sony will start to charge for online play like Xbox does which is very disappointing. Although nothing is official, this rumor isn’t bad.

Word is on June 15th at E3, Sony will unveil their new premium features for the PSN which will cost approximately $70. The good news is that no one will be forced to upgrade (like we are with firmware) leaving online play and all the current features still free. YES. I’m sure happy about that. Right now it’s unknown what the premium features are but sources have mentioned two. A free PSN game per month and possible music streaming. If rumors are true we will find out officially from Sony at E3.

I think this is a great move from Sony that will excite players and give them the option of a paid or non-paid PSN. Would you go premium?

Editorial: My PS3 Facebook Dream

by Sohrab Osati | May 19, 2010 | 5 comments

I have to admit, I’m kind of a Facebook whore. I have it on all my devices. See our Sony Dash review. I have it on my iPhone and iPad and I enabled it on day one when Sony allowed for it on the PS3. However, I think the experience has left a lot to be desired for. The good news is not only that I have a game plan here, but it’s something that’s fairly easy to implement.

So first, lets start off with what I like about Facebook on these devices. I like how if you currently gain trophies, it posts them on your Facebook feed. It’s nice to show what you gained and it tells your friends what your playing. I also like it when you purchase something, it again posts it to your wall. How else would people know how many different adorable Sack Boys and Girls I have! But beyond that, there is not a whole lot more.

The idea of Facebook is to be in touch with people and let them know what you’re doing/thinking. If we pause for a minute, PSN sort of does this as well. You can see people’s statuses by going on your friends list, what game they are playing and a little blurb on top of their name. The problem is that currently there is no convenient way of changing that, so for most people, it stays the same. The first implementation that I would do is, when you change your “blurb” on PSN, it updates that to your Facebook. “So-and-so thinks MAG is awesome”. To really go the extra mile, let’s give users the capability to update your Facebook from your PSN, but also, if you update your Facebook status from your Mac/iPhone etc., it should also update your PSN. I think that single move will give PSN a sense of fluidity and “currentness”, for lack of a better word. It’s much more up to date on what you’re doing and is now much more socially integrated into your life. This seems like a very possible and easy setup on Sony’s part that will give PSN a very social pulse and put it out there more.

Other things I would like to see, though they are a little more out there, are to be able to upload pictures and videos to your Facebook. Currently, some games allow you to to take screen shots or record videos and put them on YouTube. Why not Facebook as well? The key for all of this is two-sided for Sony. It first gets people to interact with your content which is always good. “Oh hey, awesome kill in Uncharted, I should go back and play that and try that too”. Also, it’s free advertisement for them. So if you’re listening to this, Sony, and would like some more ideas, I’d love to give them to you. Contact Us?

Sony Removes Linux from PS3. Cry Me A River. Air Force Edition!

by Sohrab Osati | May 18, 2010 | 12 comments

Hah. Ok, so remember that article we wrote about the fact that it really wasnt a big deal that Sony had removed the Linux feature from the PS3? I still stand by it for the average consumer, but there seems to be a little side effect to all of this. A long time ago, we wrote about how the Air Force had purchased 300 PS3’s for internal use and they went on to actually purchase a few thousand more. Now, with the most recent software update, Sony has of course removed the Linux functionality of the PS3. If anybody has used a PS3, you will know that once a new update is out, you are not allowed online until you complete the update. However, you can use all of the current features and options (minus again, anything to do with online). So does this move somehow screw the Air Force over? Some sites say yes. I’m not too sure about this. It seemed like the Air Force was really interested in a cheap Super Computer replacement which is what the Cell Processor inside of the PS3 is. With Linux and some networking, many have turned the PS3 into a computing machine and I’m not really sure these would have ever been units that connected to online.

Update:

The Air Force has confirmed that they do not upgrade the firmware on the units so it dosent really matter in the short term but.

“We will have to continue to use the systems we already have in hand,” the lab told Ars, but “this will make it difficult to replace systems that break or fail. The refurbished PS3s also have the problem that when they come back from Sony, they have the firmware (gameOS) and it will not allow Other OS, which seems wrong. We are aware of class-action lawsuits against Sony for taking away this option on systems that use to have it.”

The result was the 500 TeraFLOPS Heterogeneous Cluster powered by PS3s but connected to subcluster heads of dual-quad Xeons with multiple GPGPUs.