• 16Oct 08

  New Playstation 3 Features, No Games That Use Them!

  I wasn't sure what to title this particular post. I just read on videogaming247.com that "No games support PS3 2.50 screen capturing yet". What? Really? Yet another new feature (trophies being the other -- although isn't there YouTube capability built-in that no one uses?) that isn't widely supported by games.

  

  Has Sony learned nothing from the blunders they and all the other console makers have made? Do we need yet another half-baked feature that will only work with some games but is completely unusable in all old titles? I just can't see the reasoning behind adding feature after feature without thinking about how developers and gamers will feel about not being able to access them.

  Don't get me wrong, I think the PS3 is a beautiful console that is open and reliable. You can upgrade the hard drive yourself, backup/restore the system to any external hard drive, connect your PSP to it, fight cancer with it, and run Linux on it. There are even a few games out for it if you are inclined to use it for that.

  I think that Sony runs the risk of appearing too detached from the gaming community by adding features in such an apparently random fashion. A better plan in my mind is to tell developers about new features ahead of time, get them access to the dev kits they need to program against them, and then inform the public sometime before those games ship. That would even give Sony and other publishers a chance to hype games and the PS3 and show what's unique about it.

  

  Enter the Xbox 360. What I think Microsoft needs to do is this:

  1) Drop the Elite altogether. Now I realize it probably sells well and has a better profit margin than the other two models, but for gamers it's just too closely priced with the cheapest PS3.

  2) All Arcade models should either come with a HD or have something in the box that tells people how to get the low cost 20GB HD MS recently announced.

  3) The $299 Xbox 360 should have as big a HD as possible, hopefully something approaching 200GB.

  Do this and people will start to see the PS3 as some expensive, esoteric electronic device made for the rich and famous. I realize I'm not an executive with any game console maker, and I'm probably wrong on this, but I think MS is half way to winning the war.

  Now they need to just finish the job.

  Gary

  http://goldenagegaming.blogspot.com/2008/10/playstation-3-as-open-platform.html

  • Posted Oct 16, 2008 9:26 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 16Oct 08

  Why I Hate The PS3

  Like many people I owned a Playstation 2 at the time Sony announced the PS3. I too salivated at the feature set and dreamed of HD gaming in the far off future. The Xbox 360 shipped first, and even though I wasn't one of the first in line, I did buy one in May of 2006.

  The DVD drive stopped working on my first 360 within two weeks. I swapped the system out and within days was having numerous DVD read errors. I returned it again, this time opting for a full refund. Six months later I bought another 360, and this one worked better, longer.

  The red ring of death (RROD) was never much of an issue on the 360s I owned, but between DVD problems, lock ups, and other peculiarities, I always found a reason to swap them out. All told I went through five or six Xbox 360s before settling on an Elite that never gave me a single problem.

  Earlier this year, after having played dozens of great games on the 360, I decided to make the jump to the PS3. I figured I could play third party games like Fallout 3, Civilization Revolution, etc., on either console, so I didn't see a reason not to get one. I sold my Elite and bought a PS3. Sometime shortly after that I also bought a PSP. I was in heaven, right?

  Well, Drake's Fortune was awesome. Metal Gear Solid 4 was good but nothing earth shattering. Games like Resistance and most of the PSN titles were middling affairs or strange Japanese games that were overly difficult and just plain weird. The PSP had a few good games but nothing to keep me attached to it.

  Then came E3 2008. Oh my god, Sony's showing was horrid! It was even worse than Nintendo's. Only Microsoft seemed to have a handle on the gaming market. It was then that I decided I had made a big mistake. Microsoft would have the RPGs and XBLA titles I really wanted while Sony continued to focus on odd shooters, online games (which I don't play), and strange PSN fair.

  I sold my PS3. About the same time MS released their 60GB 360, so I picked one up. You know what, it's great to be back! My good friend and blog partner Mike was holding onto my Xbox Live account (thanks Mike!) and with it I had all my XBLA games and other DLC again! Life was good.

  Bottom line is I don't hate the PS3. I am harsh on it and the PSP because I don't find them compelling gaming platforms. For what I like, which is Western RPGs and shooters, as well as the odd JRPG, they don't offer the goods. Neither does the Wii or the DS.

  The only other platform I regularly play games on is the iPod Touch. I have some PC games but really what I like are console games and the Xbox 360 has what I need and will continue to for the foreseeable future. I know I spell doom and gloom for the PS3 but I realize that there are a lot of people who have invested in the platform, love it, and want it to succeed. If that's you, I hope it does. And I would like to one day find a reason to own one again. Let's hope I do!

  Gary

  http://goldenagegaming.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-i-hate-ps3.html

  • Posted Oct 16, 2008 9:03 am PT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 14Oct 08

  Nintendo and Sony Haven't A Clue (Western Gamers Unite!!!)

  I'm glad Nintedo is making so much money from Wii sales. I'm glad its core gamers are happy with the paltry offerings Nintendo gives them. And I'm glad people love Blu-Ray and are excited about all the first person shooters coming out on the PS3. Well, they have Little Big Planet too but I'm less glad about that.

  But face it, while your Wii and Playstation 3 sit idle, hundreds of dollars you COULD have spent on quality Xbox 360 games is wasted. Yes, you'll fire up your Wii or PS3 for a few weeks here and there, but in the end the 360 has more games and you really should just buy five or six of them so when one fails you have a backup! Why buy a PS3, which will run forever because you never play on it, when you can own multiple 360s and stagger your returns to Microsoft?

  But kidding aside, the 360 does have the best game line up as far as I'm concerned, but you know what, I grew up playing games on the Commodore 64, Amiga, and the PC. I grew up on Western games and even though I find Japanese games fun, especially JRPGs, I prefer those that come out on the Xbox 360.

  Where could someone like me find refuge, you say? Especially in a world where most gaming sites and publications are run by people who sat with diapers on playing Mario Bros on the NES, you have to have someone to trust. Someone whose played Populous, Lord of the Rising Sun, Faery Tale Adventures, The Bard's Tale, Baldur's Gate II, and more. Someone who doesn't own a Macintosh, but still owns PCs and loves Windows. Someone who thinks the Xbox rocks and the DS sucks!

  That someone is The Western Gamer's Haven:

  http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_topics.php?board_id=909186401

  http://goldenagegaming.blogspot.com/

  • Posted Oct 14, 2008 2:00 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion
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