Why, oh PlayStation Network, why?That's right, I'm sick of it. I own both a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and love both of the systems very much, but Sony, I simply cannot enjoy logging on to the PlayStation Network as much as I can with Xbox LIVE. I would've thought after three years, they would've refined their online service and made it more user friendly, but it appears not.
Why are some of the most basic, online-designed features that are available on my Xbox 360 still not available on my PlayStation 3? You know what I'm talking about:
Universal voice chat
Voice messages
Developers actually enabling the option for custom music in-game (Sony forcing it would be nice)
Party or Clan system
Further developed profile system
Reporting system (countless times I've experienced childish behavior online)
Maybe even spruce up the XMB a little bit to an interface based around the PlayStation Network to keep your personal gaming and media along with the online service itself all integrated. Like that I wouldn't have to go around looking to see what's new, so it's right there in front of me when I turn on my system.
I don't know. I mean I thought the main jist of these things were pretty basic for a company with so many experienced programmers such as the guys at Sony. Maybe I'm wrong. All I know is I'm sick of waiting for these community features that should've been there in the first place.
It's a blog, so don't kill me if you disagree *puts up shield*. Although I'm happy to discuss.
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With E3 starting Monday, GameTrailers TV was nice enough to give us a bit of the show before it happens, with Geoff Keighly claiming "E3 starts now", even though he's not really the person who should make that type of claim. I did see a nice bundle of goodies though.
Joker Playable in Arkham AsylumJoker's playable in the PlayStation 3 version of Batman: Arkham Asylum. Yes, we knew this. However, I did not realize just how awesome that would be until the debut of the trailer. Playing as a psychopath definately looks fun, but you'll be playing as more than a psychopath, you'll be playing as Joker.
BOOM!The first gameplay trailer for Split/Second was shown tonight and I was left speechless. Showing cars that only Bill Gates can afford racing through a destructive and visually cunning world, the trailer had me reimagining what I just saw over and over again after it ended. The choice of color in the game is another thing that got me. It seems to focus on that bright yellow-ish orange color. It could just be the trailer, though. Blackrock is a great developer though, and I played the shit out of PURE, so I'm expecting great things for this game show racer.
Insomniac showed off a small portion of Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. The main spectacle from this show was Ratchet's new gravity boots which will allow him to travel faster since he can use them any place, any time. They really are fast, that's for sure.
Co-Op in Uncharted 2New to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is multiplayer. The first game didn't feature this almost required addition to new games these days. Naughty Dog showed off the cooperative mode in the game, called Warzone. You'll be fighting and seeing the game in a different view while trying to keep the enemies away from whatever treasure it is they're after.
Madden NFL 10 is going to feature online co-op. This is supposedly a big announcement for the series, as you can join up and play games on the same team. That means you can be quarterback and your buddy can be a wide receiver. EA says they have another big announcement regarding online play to come during E3, too. To tell the truth, I was never that big of a Madden fan, but this next iteration is starting to sound worth it. I'd really like to know what's going on with Backbreaker though.
One sentence for Modern Warfare 2: "Multiplayer is fuckin' awesome." Yeah, that's a direct quote from Infinity Ward staff at the GT show.
Gameplay form Blur and Lost Planet 2 were both shown. Blur looks pretty good, but it's not really picking up my excitement as much as Split/Second is. Lost Planet 2 looks great without snow all over the game... finally.
Shepard lives!Mass Effect 2 was shown in gameplay form, finally. I'm pretty sure most of us knew Shepard was alive, thanks to the latest OXM, but nonetheless I was still excited by this trailer. The gameplay looks magnificent and I'm glad to see the game making a return. Definately keeping an eye or two o nthis one.
Finally, Brink was announced from Bethesda and Splash Damage. I'm not too sure what to say about that one. Start the Conversation
Tales of VS.When I think of a fighter, the first game that comes to my mind is Marvel vs. Capcom 2, followed by Street Fighter IV. While these may be two of the best fighting games I've played in my day, we're starting to see the likes of role-playing games coming into the fighting world and they seem to be taking in quite a light. Square Enix is doing it with Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Namco Bandai with Tales of VS. While they're entering the world of fighting, they're not really maintaining the traditional elements of 2D fighting games. They feature more of a Kingdom Hearts-like fighting system. That's not really a problem though; taking any RPG and changing it from a game with a story you'd want to pay attention to into a fighting game where you could have some mindless fun is good enough for me.
So you one PSP game coming where you could fight as your favorite Final Fantasy characters and another where you could play as your favorite Tales characters. However, as RPGs are just beginning to enter this fighting game phase, when will we see 'A New Age of Heroes', or a versus game between two or even three franchises? Who wouldn't want to take Cloud Strife onto the battlefield and fight against the likes of Yuri Lowell? I wouldn't go against it. Or even exapnd to broader titles. Instead of Final Fantasy vs. Tales, why not Square Enix vs. Namco Bandai. You would have Cloud Strife, Edge Maverick, and Chrono on one side and Yuri Lowell, Frederic Chopin, and Haseo on the other.
The point I'm trying to make here is that more companies should get in on these fighting games. It's great to be able to take characters from a game that features no elements at all of a fighting game and just mindlessly battle them against other characters from that series or company. Following that, take it to the next level by going the Capcom and Marvel way and bout against characters from other companies.
I'm really hoping to see a Square Enix vs. Namco Bandai someday, now that I think about it. Start the Conversation
Depiction of a past E3E3 is like Christmas to me, that one time of year where big things happen and there are always presents under the tree, except this Christmas isn't about owning those gifts, it's about obtaining knowledge of those gifts and getting them physically another Christmas. What could possibly be wrong in an event almost like Christmas? The lack of Japanese influence during the event.
If there's one game I'm dying for to be announced, it's Kingdom Hearts III. When I post around on message boards and forums that this is what I'm hoping to come out of E3, most gamers would say that if it happens it's most likely to come out of the Tokyo Game Show. If you're waiting for any Japanese game to be announced, you'll hear just the same thing.
However, here's where my criticism ends, because this year's different. One of the most respected men in the gaming industry as well as a legendary Japanese video game developer, Hideo Kojima, is preparing his next game (definitely Metal Gear Solid 5) for a huge reveal during E3, presumably during Konami's press conference in which they've already promised "revolutionary announcements". So what does this do for me? It gives me hope that more Japanese developers, such as Kojima will rise up and attend E3, instead of waiting until the Tokyo Game Show to announce a Japanese game.
Gay Tony is GTA IV's new starRockstar's always been a developer favorite of mine, putting out a constant amount of hits like Grand Theft Auto IV, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, and even the upcoming Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption sound promising. What Rockstar has done with Grand Theft Auto IV, however, is their current king under the crown. Rockstar has taken downloadable content to a whole new level with The Lost and Damned and are keeping it coming with The Ballad of Gay Tony, which was just announced today for a release this Fall on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
"This episode's focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities."
While little is known on the story, Rockstar did give word that you'll play as Luiz Lopez, a part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to nightclub impresario Tony Prince, also known as Gay Tony. Now, you know how critics are, some controversy is going to come into play just because the word "Gay" is in the title, even when that controversy is not necessary.
Whether or not the character you play, Luis, is gay is yet to be known, but even if he isn't and the expansion doesn't feature that heavy of an emphasis on gays, I can smell at least one journalist stirring up some report regarding how this game is offensive to gays. Even if it's not. Just remember the alien sex controversy with Mass Effect and Fox News. It was barley even a scene, but we all saw something big go down thanks to the news station.
With a title like 'Ballad of Gay Tony', Rockstar sure is embracing controversy (since the media's going to jump all over "Gay" in a video game, personally I don't mind) and for that I respect them. Just my two cents. Three actually. 4 Comments
Happy Memorial Day! I would first like to salute all the soldiers and those who died in the military service of the United States, and express my condolences to the families who lost not just soldiers, but loved ones. However, as the most of us are spending our day with the family, having a barbecue, grilling ribs, hotdogs and burgers, let's talk about family. Or family gaming, which should be more appropriate.
Bada-bing!I've been spending the weekend at my father's in Philadelphia with the family and as the barbecue is grilling down our prime meats now, I'm kicking back writing this blog post and playing The Godfather II with my younger brother. I haven't played it before, mainly because I don't like the way how they altered the story of the movie to make this Dominic fellow the Don, but the game's not half bad. It's a lot like the first game, but there's a lot of added tweaks like the Don's View, how you don't have to exit the game's story mode to change your apparel, the whole addition of you having a crew, managing your crime business, etc. Assigning positions is also a pretty neat feature since it helps to have a medic on hand.
I guess it's not really the proper game to play during Memorial Day, but I think I'll hold off on Call of Duty: World at War. Maybe not in all views, but in gaming World War II can kiss my ass. 1 Comments
Nier, revealed in latest OXMSquare Enix is set to announce three games this coming E3, two of which are multiplatform. I can go right ahead and tell you what two of those games are right now. I'm not going to say I'm 100 percent sure of this because you never know what can happen but I am almost certain on this.
The first game is going to be called Nier, which was teased in a recent issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine and revealed in a new issue of Official Xbox Magazine in snippet form. The game's protagonist is in his 30s and is searching for a cure for his ailing daughter. The game's very remniscent of God of War and Dante's Inferno, and will be set for a 2010 release.
Front Mission Evolved TeaserThe second game is none other than Front Mission Evolved, which was teased in a recent issue of the Official Xbox Magazine and has a teaser site already up in the Japanese sector claiming itself only as "NEW GAME", but it's all so obvious.
As for the third game, that's still unknown to me. It could be the rumored Grasshopper title or the joint project between Square Enix and V-Jump, it could be none of those. I'm placing all my hopes and prayers on Kingdom Hearts III, though. If not that, the miracle that would make millions of role-playing gamers around the world piss their pants: a Final Fantasy VII remake. But I know that's not happening so I'll be happy with Kingdom Hearts III.
Ah, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is readying itself for yet another big year. In the heat of San Francisco in early June, we can only expect hot announcements and a megaton or two from the show floor. The show is drawing ever closer with each day that goes by.
Halo 3: ODST: One of Microsoft's Top ContendersMicrosoft is kicking off the event with their press conference on June 1, claiming that they are going to “completely transform how people think about home entertainment”. What we know so far is that the company's newly acquiredBigPark studio will be announcing their first Xbox 360 title, which will also be playable on the show floor. A source has said that Microsoft will have four behind closed-doors showing which only one of the titles has been said to be Halo 3: ODST. However, the source has also claimed that one of the titles behind those doors is an "unannounced AAA exclusive". Microsoft CEO Steve Baulmer further built up the hype by telling gamers to "pay attention to the stuff [Microsoft's] announcing in the next month on Xbox." The next month being June, being their big conference at E3. Rumors of a new kind of motion control for Xbox 360 have been circulating as well and seems likely to be true. With that, Microsoft will most likely have Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 2, and Splinter Cell: Conviction at the show as well as some newly announced exclusives since the Xbox 360's "Only on Xbox" list looks rather bland this year from as far as I can see.
So what do I expect from E3 2009? A whole lot of awesome. While I can't tell you what's going to be announced and what won't, I can tell you my wishlist includes the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3, Mega Man Legends 3, more exclusives for Xbox 360 to brighten its year, more features for the PlayStation Network (that's a firmware update, folks), a next-gen Persona, and a little more action on the RPG sector of things.
The show's only about a week away, now. 5 Comments
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