;)
Here is the PS3's killer app. Why do I believe this? Because for me it sums up exactly what I wanted from the so-called "Next Gen"
Nope, not merely a bunch of polished-up last gen games dressed in new shiny HD clothes - but something really "out there", something that uses the power of the new machines to harness physics, kinetics, to allow the player and the user to do things they can't do in other games. The user-created stuff for Little Big Planet just sounds right up my street so when the public beta hits in the Spring, and the game finally arrives in September, I'm afraid I'm going to have to sack off (hah see what I did there?) all the testosterone-fuelled run and gun stuff in favour of playing with sacks, cotton reels, mini skateboards and orange baskets!
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( 2.6 / 332 );)
Without turning this site into a techy bitchfest I want to look at the HD “war” again.
It now looks like Paramount have bowed out and are heading exclusively to Blu Ray. Of course this has set the interweb forums alight with “zomg!11 HD DVD is dead” and to be honest, they might have a point. With all the big studios signing exclusivity deals with Blu Ray, who will realistically stick with HD dvd now?
This is no bad thing of course. No one really wants a format war causing confusion amongst the masses and at the end of the day it’s going to stop people spending money on tech and dvd’s in case they back the wrong one.
What has been making me laugh this morning is the amount of idiots spouting rubbish, “Micro$oft tricked us!!”
WaH?
How, and in what way?
No one has forced people to buy into HD. It’s a choice not a trick. MS have even today not ruled out the possibility of a blu ray add on for the 360.
Then you have the people in the “What’s the point in HD? I can’t tell the difference between that and normal DVDs”. You people are idiots. Idiots with TV’s no bigger than the 16” 4:3 I had when I was 13.
Seriously, I’ve been playing my 360 on our old 32” CRT for the past week, in anticipation of my exciting new Sammy HD arriving. Before then I was playing on a 22” LCD, and Christ it’s unbearable going back. So much so, that it’s cut my gaming time down to about…. Well nothing. I can’t be assed squinting at the text, and getting shot in Call of Duty thanks to a blurry radar.
From a movie point of view, the jump hasn’t been as radical as the VHS – DVD leap. It was never going to be. But the clarity is certainly noticeable. Not only that, but people are buying bigger and bigger screens to view stuff on, and with this comes the need to upgrade the equipment you’re using as a source else you’re just going to be watching big blocks moving around with 5.1 sound.
So that leaves one other factor. The cost.
Buying into HD costs an arm and a leg. First there’s the TV, then the stand to put it on, which costs almost half of that again. I did a search the other day and the cheapest Blu Ray player is in fact the PS3 at £299. How’s that possible? I guess it’s down to the format war then. Companies aren’t willing to spend loads on factory setups until they know which format is going to come out on top.
It’s kind of a twisted circle then. Until the price of HD comes down people aren’t going to fully buy into the concept, and until the format war is won, the prices won’t come down. The format war can’t be won until the consumer chooses which horse to back.
Then there’s my mum. Who’d never heard of blu ray OR HD dvd.
Ok my brain hurts now.
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( 3 / 202 )Well it would seem the format war took a turn for the Blu this weekend as Warner pledged their allegiance to the united states of sony, sorry, BluRay, meaning that from May 08 all work on HD DVD releases are to be ceased. As pretty much the only big name left on the fence the decision to think Blu really could swing this battle once and for all.
Of course this was always going to be the case, because I grabbed myself a 360 HD drive at the weekend. Typical.
Still for less than £100 it’s still the cheapest way to experience a bit of HD movie action and seeing as my new Sammy is on its way I thought I’d give it a whirl. Not only that, but with a few trade-in’s in the right place, you can get the drive for even less!
I don’t think I’ll be building up an extensive collection though, not with a format that could well be breathing its last. Instead I’ll be changing my subscription at lovefilm.com to renting HDDVD instead of standard DVD.
Salted.
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( 3 / 180 )So there you have it...
A week off work and all I managed was 2 hours of Mass Effect and a few rounds of Call of Duty. Oh and 1 level of LocoRoco, whilst having a particularly interesting time on the throne.
However. it would appear even gamers need family time.
I didn’t particularly miss it all that much either. Instead I was spending time with the family and the usual Yule time telly “treats” for my entertainment.
Did you see Noel Edmunds was back on? You must have, he was on all the bloody time! I even sat through hours of EastEnders, which was its usual xmassy self. Christ if you ever want to feel good about yourself you can forget blue sky gaming, take an hours dose of East End life. Everyone is so fucking miserable you’re bound to find something in your life that is better than theres!
We even cracked open a few BOARD games. Remember those? They’re a bit like Mario Party 8, less the waggle controls and… er, less shit.
It’s odd though, I’d spent the days leading up to the “hollydays” (and I’m using that in the true English sense of the word, well I say true…) thinking about what games I was going to be able to play. I’d narrowed it down to 3.
Mass Effect, BioShock and Call of Duty for its multiplayer goodness.
I really thought I would be able to finish off ME in a few days play, especially as my wonderful wife had shown an interest, meaning I could game AND spend quality time with her. She even helped create my Shepard.
8 hours in and I haven’t scratched the surface. In fact, I’m not even waving at the surface from behind scratchproof glass.
So of course, that meant the time I’d set aside for BioShock was completely out of the window. That poor game has been sitting on my shelf for so long now, that frankly the fake rust effect on the special edition tin, has started to go rusty.
That left Call of duty then.
But oh no, Microsoft had other plans. If like me, you tried accessing LIVE over the crimbo period then you, like me, may have been greeted with the spinning dots of doom. And like me, you’d have been pretty angry and annoyed that you couldn’t play your online games that you’d bought or got given for xmas presents, using your £40 annual fee Gold Subscription.
Premium service you say?
Hah. Bumhug.
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( 3 / 205 );)
The PS3 had a bit of a dusting down after its brief flare of activity surrounding the disappointing (for me anyway) Drake's Fortune. Bizarre Creations, famed for their fantastic PGR arcade racing series seem to have turned their combo-tastic touch to things more concerned with shooting and The Club is their big new franchise for 2008. The PSN store has a demo available and it's worth downloading for a couple of reasons...
1) It doesn't tear or slowdown like just about every other PS3 game going and
2) It's actually rather addictive in an arcadey "1 more go!" style...
So - what's the skinny? Well it's standard FPS fare with a twist - rather than tactically planning your route through one of the variety of in-game levels, you have to try and keep your shot-combo bar as high as possible. That means no sneaking stealthily around corners or working out the best angle for a sniper shot, it means charging gung-ho through each level attempting to put a bullet through an enemy's head in order to rack up the highest possible combo-points scenario. Sound weird? It is, and it's reminiscent of that other Sega FPS from yonks ago, Outrigger.
Don't be too put off by the fact that this sounds pretty unoriginal - what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in adrenaline and it may well end up changing the way you play other FPS games forever. It trains you to make a quick sight-kill to keep your score as high as possible.
There are a variety of modes ranging from a standard chase through a level, to timed events and specific kill count challenges. Annoyingly there are no boobie-clad female gunplayers though, I mean what decade is this?
Check it out. 360 demo to follow soonish.
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( 2.9 / 228 )
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