• 16Jul 08

  PSN - Video Rental Service - Short Review

  

  When I first heard Sony would be launching a video rental service, I never thought it would be anything like how it actually turned out. Myself, along with many other people thought it would launch with just a few movies to rent...man, were we all wrong. It went live just days ago and I'm truly shocked at all the effort and content they put into this new service. From the full 'Rocky' series, to full seasons of Television shows like 'Family Guy.' I'm absolutley dumbfounded at how well this launch has gone. You can rent in SD and HD formats along with being able to buy the movies as well. The prices however, I do have a small complaint with. I feel that if they wanted to compete with Netflix or your local video store, they should have adjusted the prices. The SD formats are around $2.99 and HD is $5.99. While SD price is decent, I feel they were a bit off on HD prices. They should have knocked it down a dollar in my opinion. Also the purchase prices are a little random, most of the movies they want to charge you $9.99 for, you could easily find for 4 dollars at a bargain bin. I'm a pretty cheap person when it comes to these types of things though, maybe others will feel different.

  The interface is probably the coolest part. Although as the library grows larger, they will most likely have to tune it up a bit, it works pretty well. Just like the 'Game' section of the Playstation Network, the 'Video' section tab is now at the top left corner and does a seemless transition to the new page. Watching previews is simple and quick and even with great quality. Although, that may effect those like me who have a 3meg DSL service! Whatever the case, as long as you have a high connection speed, you will breeze through the interface and watch previews instantly.

  I got my Playstation 3 only months ago and watching this thing grow has been very fun. It seems our money that we spent on this machine is finally starting to show. With the launch of 'Home' on its way, I can't help but to be excited to see what else Sony can toss our way.

  I would really like to see what Xbox 360 has to offer consumers with that new Netflix deal!

  • Posted Jul 16, 2008 2:21 pm PT
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• 11Jul 08

  Siren: Blood Curse - Demo

  

  I have been looking forwward to seeing what magical force could make this series take off. It has certainly (In my opinion) been nothing short of medicore. I played the first Siren, only to get fed up with all it's "trial & error" trash and just turning it off. You can only play the same level over and over again before you just lose your mind.

  I've been keeping tabs on the series though, not only are they remaking the first game for more of an American crowd, they are also releasing this spin-off type game, Siren: Blood Curse. The Demo was released today and I will say it was better then I was expecting.

  They start you as some guy and give you some basic gameplay tutorial-pop-ups. The controls seemed simple and the camera is now over-the-shoulder...which seems to be popular ever since Resident Evil 4 hit the market, years ago. Oh well, I won't complain...nothing was wrong with that camera system. It's a little awkward in this game because the paths are so narrow that it will bounce off walls and trees. The game may spread out later, so I won't bash this to much. Siren: Blood Curse, still carries the infamous "Sneeking" method from the original, but what is good about Blood Curse, is that you can still fight. Going into conbat with your fist would most likely spell d.e.a.t.h but there are weapons and even guns along the way to help you out, when you must fight. The demo proved worthy of a download...until it was over. Not even 10 minutes went by and the demo was over. Pathetic. Nevertheless, it was pretty fun to give it a swing. I look forward to the full release.

  • Posted Jul 11, 2008 6:35 pm PT
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• 9Jul 08

  Indigo Prophecy - Impressions

  

  I picked up 'Indigo Prophecy' brand new on amazon for under 15 dollars. I had seen very little gameplay footage on Youtube and decided it looked pretty unique. I'm happy to say that it really is a different type of game. I like to consider it more of a interactive film. You can play between three different characters and all three of them are pretty cool. There isn't to much cheesy dialgoue or anything, which is good because this game has a huge script and like I said before, it's more of a movie then a game. All the music and camera work is such a beautiful thing to watch. So far, I'm really getting some bang for my buck.

  With every pro there is a con. 'Indigo Prophecy' has really bad movement. There is also to many different camera angles for such simple locations. One of the main characters of the game is Lucas. His apartments living room has like six different camera angles for such a little space, it's really difficult trying to keep his direction when the camera turns. It's been a while since I have had to deal with assanine movement like this in a video game. It's also been a long time (if at all) that I have had to hold down left, to make my character run right. Yes, you heard me correctly. Let me explain: Whatever camera angle you start with is going to be the point-of-view of your characters movement until you completely release the analog stick. Confused? It's actually very hard to explain. You'll be running forward (up) and then the camera will flip to a birds eye view, then you are forced to remember what your characters left would have been, if the camera did not change...I still don't know if I'm explaining this right but let me just say this, it's not broken movement, or a broken camera; it's that both of these things have flaws and when combine, they cause conflict. You can't just quickly change the direction of the analog stick either, you must completely let go and start again with each camera angle. Games like 'Clock Tower 3' also have this type of camera and movement work. However, Clock Tower 3 got it right. You continue to hold the direction you were holding in the last camera angle to keep the same direction, no matter what view is coming. Then you can easily just flip the analog-stick and keep right on trucking. Having to let go, is just not cool at all. Especially since 'Indigo Prophecy' has so many timed objectives. I don't have time to think about what is going to be considered "Left" on the next camera angle...sorry. They messed up here.

  Thankfully, the game does not focus on timed missions the entire time and juggles all kinds of different and unique gameplay mechanics. Although you can relate these mechanics to a number of other games, 'Indigo Prophecy' blends all this pretty well. I will say, I was hoping for it to be a bit more of a game and not so much, "Press-this-button-at-this-time," type of deal. In closing, I look forward to reviewing this game and seeing it through to the end. Look for my review soon.

  • Posted Jul 9, 2008 2:04 pm PT
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