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So the PSN is not playing “catch up” with XBL anymore? That to me is just fine and dandy. The more consoles out there pushing new features will only make my experience in the long run that sweeter.

I can say that sony does understand the user base a little better then microsoft. Just look at the ps3. Sony allows the user to surf the web, install an OS and let’s the user go down to the local computer store and put their own hard drive into thr console instead of having to pay 3 times the drives worth just to have it say Microsoft on it.

However for some reason I like to keep my 360 in gold tier of online though I don’t play online often. Definatly not enough to warrant the current price for 12 months.

But now with the praise I give sony about knowing the customer when it comes to features the console owner may want they still have no clue about pricing thier machine. Sony still doesn’t think and is actually getting mad about the price drop idea.

Well guess what Sony I won’t be buying your console until its at least $100 cheaper and you have more games that don’t run on the 360 as well. And for good measure some cool features to go with @home.

Sony listen to the userbase and put the console at a lower price, people do want the box but not enough to buy it for 3 games and blu ray.

Blu ray is useless unless on a nice large tv. Its slow to read and has sold less then HDDvD.

Once you give me some god of wars or heavy rains with a price cut come see me.

Console 360, PS3, Xbox

The other night I was lucky enough to get a copy of Ghostbusters for my 360 the day before it came out. I instantly put the disk in the tray and started going. Right from the bat I could tell this was going to be a great Ghostbusters story.

Most of the original cast and many easter eggs to keep the old fans happy. I instantly found myself looking around at the beautiful graphics and the details within the game. I am also loving the achievements popping up like crazy. In the first 5 min I must have got 6 achievements maybe.

Anyways, this is not a review I just decided to say I have the game and am on the last trek of it now. I believe two more levels. When that’s done I will right a post.

With that said I leave you with this:

Console

My favorite RPG other then the Ultima Series has been remade.  So twice in the last 6 months I must say ‘Thank You’ Lucas Arts!  Monkey Island and Star Wars the Old Replublic (being made by Bioware).

Console, MMOs

Looking forward to this game in so many ways.

Console, Games

I saw this game the other day on one of the random gaming sites. I can’t remember what one but I did prompt me as a Canadian to want to try out this random hockey game I have heard nothing about. Here is a quick video of what I am talking about.

I spent a couple hours playing with this game and I already know this will be a perfect game when my buddies come over. The game is fast paced and hard hitting. Very simple and a low barrier of entry. It’s like playing Bomberman Hockey.

Online games are quick and easy. There are some players out there that will beat the hell out of you. But in general the game is just fun.

Console XBLA

The interview where I am getting this from can be found here.

Joystiq pointed out a specific block in the article

“We set out to keep a few core fundamentals but to re-imagine everything else, discarding some very well entrenched ideas not only about the brand but also about videogames in general,” Mattes said. “What surprises me is how little these high level risks seem to be noticed and appreciated as attempts to shake up the industry and push things forward.” – Ben Mattes

Now I just finished this game the night before last. And I took full advantage of the changes to the game. First things first, the lead characters costume is horrible so I switched it to the Assassins Creed skin. Made things more enjoyable right out of the gate. I also noticed that Ubi has learned a bit from the Assassins Creed team when it comes to how the animations work of the characters with the environment. I even took as much advantage of the On Demand interactions with Elika. I liked her character a lot. Great interactions and the script was great. I am actually looking forward to the sequel.

However. I say the interactions and the actual words are great, but I don’t like the fact that the game is called Prince of Persia but the “prince” sounds more like the Prince of English Speaking America. I was actually waiting for a “Well excuse me! Princess”.

I enjoyed the art style of the game and the frame rate when using the different plates but I did not like the fact that the game feels like a giant QTE. It’s a lot of ‘press this button now’ ‘now press this button now’. I enjoyed combat, but hated that was forced into button mashing the X button whenever I got close to a wall, ledge or when a boss was doing a flailing attack.

But I am still trying to think of these new risks that is said to have been taken.

Elika worked similar to many side kicks in other games as a helping mechanism for the platforming mechanics. Sure she rescued you when you are about to die but that is no different in my head then the reverse time mechanic in Prince of Persia Sands of Time.

The game was large but there was not enough enemies to fight, in fact I received the achievement for killing the enemies before they completely spawned in my first 10 encounters with this spawning corruption enemies.

Boss battles have some really cool aspects to them, but is more or less the same as killing the normal enemies a basic dodge, gauntlet, magic/other move rinse and repeat. I just felt like there was something missing.

As for the “magic seeds” AKA the stupid orbs from Crackdown need to go. At least in Crackdown they gave me, the player something to benefit from. The fact that I need to collect 540ish of these damned seeds to beat the game is absurd, not to mention the fact there is 1001 of these damned things purely for the achievement hunters out there.

Now I have sat here and basically ripped into this game. But I do not dislike this game. In fact if I had the money I would probably buy it. But for now it’s a rental. The story is great, the characters are great and the post final boss fight stuff is pretty awesome. I really can’t wait for the sequel and I hope that Ubi learns from the mistakes of this game and makes it better.

My free piece of advice. No more hidden QTE’s. Give us the mechanics to do whatever the QTE does on our own in the end the player base will be happier.

Also give me more people to fight.

Console 360, PC Gaming, Producer Talk

 
Finally after all these years the game I have been waiting for has arrived.  Though it is not the game I was anticipating for the last decade but beggars can’t be choosers.

Now let’s get started.  The IP is now held by Bethesda.  Great company that makes great games.  Though not always a fan of their choices.  But I can appreciate what they do. 

Fallout 3 takes place 36 years after Fallout 2; 200 years after the nuclear war.  This time it is a different vault. Vault 101.  Interesting people in the vault and this game isn’t all about getting your hands on a G.E.C.K.  Play Fallout 3 to learn the secrets behind it.

I had a chance to play this game about a month ago at length and really enjoyed it.  I am not as far as then now in the game but again now that it is in my hands to play with I can take my time and explore the vast landscape of blown up objects.  Similar to Oblivion the population of the outside world is sparse, but expected in a post apocalyptic setting.

Now I was a little concerned with the change to a FPS style games for Fallout.  Being that the game I loved 10 years ago could never be replicated in the same fashion and be a viable money resource for any company I understood what Bethesda was doing by changing the game to its current format. 

The graphics are outstanding.  I have played it on my PC and the 360 and at this point I can say it might be time for an upgrade of my GPU.  More on the graphics.  It isn’t the most beautiful game I have ever seen but it is a lot nicer to look at then most.  The 3rd person cam feels like it was tacked on so the player could see their character every once in a while.  I personally don’t see a use for the 3rd person cam. The explosions, blood splatter and other particle effects suit the gritty feel of the game.

Lucky for all you old Fallout fans they are still using the same old stats and traits systems from back in the day.

Now with all this praise I had to throw in something a little negative about the game as well.  As someone who tests games for a living, I understand the factors that plague testing the game.  Now that said I still do not know how the game shipped with this many NPC issues.  I have noticed across the internet that people are complaining about NPCs disappearing. I generally am someone that finds a bypass for these issues.  But I was not so lucky.  I was 6 hours of game play in and I had to delete my game as my NPCs that I need to progress were no longer in the game.  To reinforce this issue, I was able to enter a room that I didn’t have the lock picking skill for and the door was locked.  On load of the room the game auto saved and what did I see?  A robot that one shot me.  Because I didn’t save manually since level 2 I was stuck in a death loop.  Pretty sweet.  It actually reminded me of some older games.  But I can forgive these issues as the game is still amazing.  Plus it wouldn’t be a Fallout game if you didn’t have to restart your game play 3 or 4 times.

All in all, I think everyone should give this game a shot.  Now not everyone will enjoy their time in this game.  As Fallout has always been a game to punish its players.  It is also not a FPS in the sense of Halo or GoW and it is not a JRPG as people were complaining on xbox.com forums. This game is a mean games, that looks great, has more replay ability then Fable 2 (in my eyes). Please if you are into post apocalyptic settings and want to play a game that I would call a tribute sequel that modernized the original IP then check out this game.  If anything it is worth the $5-10 to rent, and if you like it pick it up.

Plus at the end of the day every gamer should know what a Pip-Boy is

Console 360, Console, PC Gaming