Category — video games

Sony Movie and TV Service: The biggest ‘news’ of the Sony press event was the U.S. launch, today, of the previously announced (see here) video service. Sony, Fox, MGM, Lion’s Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount and Turner Entertainment have partnered with Sony to provide movie and TV content for the on-demand download service. The system uses progressive downloads so users can watch as a movie/TV show as it downloads. Sony says, content is playable a minute or so after ordering. Purchased content only plays on PS3 and PSP. No PC, iPod, iPhone or other device support was announced. No official word yet on how long rentals will be available for viewing - one site mentioned that it will be the usual 24 hours and 14 days to start.

Note: While the previous announcement stated that a service like this would be made available ‘world-wide’, I checked my PS3 in Canada and there was no such content available. Note the “video” button circled in red in the picture above (click for larger view). If it isn’t there, no movies for you!

Resistance 2: They showed a little of Resistance 2. It’s looking good and includes 8 player online co-op support (probably only for certain missions). I quite enjoyed Resistance 1 so I’m looking forward to this one. What is it with the ‘brown’ colour in all the PS3 and 360 games this year?

Massive Action Game (”MAG”): This massively multiplayer shooter looked interesting. MAG supports up to 256 simultaneous players with 8 player squads, ongoing faction campaigns and character growth. The trailer looked great. It’s hard to imagine that 255 players will follow a command hierarchy that goes up to one or two generals. In my experience 8 players will rarely ever co-operate in an online shooter battle. I’ll have to see this one to believe it. See the blatantly pre-rendered trailer below.

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Tags: e3, ivod, sony

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And nothing happened. Nothing captured my interest and certainly nothing was announced to satisfy the hard-core gamers.

New Products

Wii Speak: A microphone that sits atop the TV that picks up all the sounds and voices from a room. This will be used in games in lieu of a headset. But the Wii doesn’t have a system-wide voice system (let alone a decent online game strategy). This will need to be supported from game to game.

Wii MotionPlus: An add-on that plugs into the WiMote to add wrist based twisting motions to its repertoire of recognized real-time movements. One wonders how developers are going to appreciate the burden of developing titles that work with both the WiiMote alone and with the MotionPlus adapter.[gizmodo review here]

Wii Sports Resort: A new game, similar to Wii Sports, but situated at a beach resort. They demoed Frisbee throwing (with a cute dog catching it), sword fighting and lumber chopping. This game uses the new Wii Motion Plus for accuracy. Coming March 2009.

Wii Music:  A new music game featuring 50 virtual instruments was announced. A virtual piano, violin, sax and drum kit were demonstrated. Unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the user doesn’t need to purchase physical plastic instruments. Nor do they follow note patterns on a screen to play. The instruments are ‘virtual’. Waiving/moving the WiiMote around in a manner similar to the instrument being played simulates the instrument. The virtual drum kit (see picture below) that uses the WiiMote and Numchuk as the drumsticks and a WiiFit board as the drum peddle was clever. But the other instruments looked like little more than air-instruments where regardless of what the user does some facsimile of music will be produced. Lame. And it sounded pretty awful. [more info here]

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Tags: e3, nintendo

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(Click image to watch abridged version of Microsoft’s 2008 E3 press briefing)

[Full Microsoft E3 2008 coverage is here]

A new Dashboard Interface for the 360: It’s coming this fall. [ Watch demo here]It’s nicer than, but seems influenced by, the PS3 ribbon. It looks like it will be easier to use than the current blade system. I question whether people will want to learn a whole new interface.

Avatars coming on 360: Looks like Microsoft is trying to bring a bit of the Wii and Playstation Home to the 360. I’m not sure if my adult friends will take the time to create their own avatars.

Integrated Netflix coming to the 360: Netflix users will be able to queue up their Internet ordered videos to be played on the 360. This probably won’t be available outside of the U.S. for years (if ever). Regrettably, it appears that movies will only be streamed through the Netflix service and not downloaded. This means (i) fastforwarding and rewinding will janky; and (ii) the quality of the picture will vary depending on your Internet connection speed.

Final Fantasy XIII Coming to the 360! The hitherto PS3 exclusive franchise is coming to the 360 on the same day and date as the PS3. Final Fantasy XIII coming to the 360 is another Microsoft coup. Other than Sony Studios first party games and Metal Gear Solid, I can’t think of any major game franchise that is a PS3 exclusive any more. Interestingly there will be no Japanese 360 version.

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Tags: avatars, dashboard, e3, final fantasy, ivod, microsoft, netflix

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Diary: Entry #1, 
Reviews: Metacritic | Game Rankings
Reference: GameFAQ |
Developer: EA DICE, Engine: Frostbite
Status: Finished “Welcome to Bad Company” (the intro level)

Pros: Boat load of shooter fun - Immersive - Humorous - Destructible environment - Terrific death/penalty system - Save points therefore a non-issue - Very good graphics/character models - Difficulty Level is just right - Amusing squad - PC can jump

Cons: Fighting with camera while driving - No coop - No customizable controls - Daft syringe/help system - No prone position

Introduction

In Battlefield: Bad Company (“BBC”) you play Private Preston Marlowe, of “B”ad Company, a band of misfits in the 222nd army battalion of the U.S. army -currently fighting the Russian Federation.

Somehow BBC had escaped my radar until I read Paul Thurrott’s review here. Our tastes in gaming are almost identical. So on his recommendation, I decided to try it.

Other than a few hours here and there, I’ve never played a Battlefield franchise game before. So I’m new to this franchise and, so far, I’m really enjoying it! Much,  more so than MGS 4.

Initial Impressions - The Good Stuff

Fun From the Start: From the amusing jazzy-organ playing opening credits/main menu this game felt like was going to be something different.

Immersive: As with other leading shooter, the ambiance, 5.1 sound, terrific graphics and, in this case, almost instant death if hit, give this game a terrific immersive (feeling like you are really there) quality that is still too rare.

Destructible Environment: The much touted destructible environment is definitely fun! But it is odd that you can’t totally destroy a building. You can knock out most of its walls but try as you might its support pillars will not blow up. So you can not, for example, topple over a two story house - even though you can knock out every one of its walls. Kinda lame.

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Tags: battlefield bad company, bbc, EA, save points

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MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

As beautiful and cutting-edge as MGS4 is, after making it past the laughing Octopus stage in the second act, I abandoned the game, at least for now. This surprises even me. I have been waiting for years to play this game, but the lack of a decent checkpoint system and endless cut scenes turned me off.

Poorly Implemented Checkpoints

You cannot save the game when you want and it’s checkpoints are few and far between. Adult gamers do not have endless hours, nor the desire, to replay extremely long portions of even a great game over and over.

When I play stealth games I want to be stealthy and play it right. This means taking my time, exploring every nook and cranny. Being sneaky. But when I sneak around for 30 minutes, successfully execute difficult manoeuvres and then die, I do not want to play through the whole 30 minutes again. No game should ever force a gamer to replay more than 5 or so minutes. Period.

Yes, I could have cheated and run through sections with abandon, gunned down everyone until killed, thereby learning where all the baddies are and what their tricks are, to avoid them on the next play through. But I refuse to do that. That’s gaming the game and not playing the game. It takes all the fun out of it.

Stealth games, by definition, are designed to be played thoughtfully and slowly. The player should have a realistic chance of beating a level if they play that way. But, when they die, as they will, they shouldn’t be forced to replay the last thirty minutes or an hour to get back to where they were.

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Tags: checkpoints, cut scenes, metal gear solid 4, mgs4, rations

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MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

Progress: I made it to Act 1 - Crescent Meridian (7th of 8 parts to Act 1)

What a difference a day makes. Discovering that Weapons/Items need to be equipped before they appear was important! (See Update in Diary Entry #1). You’d think the game or manual would have mentioned that somewhere up front!

Visuals

I can’t say enough for the visual and cinematic feel of MGS4. The particle effects, fabrics, lighting, character models, rich and detailed environments, the camo suite, the Dolby surround sound audio. This is a visual and audible masterpiece.

Love the Bright Sunny Arab World

Stealth games are usually too dark (can you say “Splinter Cell”). Heck, too many video games are too dark. One of the reasons I love the GRAW series so much is because they are mostly set outdoors in the bright sunlight. I wish more games were set in the sunlight.

How Do You Tell the Difference Between MPCs and Militia?

If you kill militia, by accident or not, they’ll turn on you. So it’s important to either avoid them and PMC’s in all battles with stealth or determine which of the factions is militia and which is PMC and then side with the militia (you can side with the PMC but they’ll still shoot you).

So that’s been my big question/challenge today?  Previously, the only way I could tell was to use the solid eye and zoom in close to read the character’s names (militia’s are named ‘militia”). I had thought there was going to be a colouring difference (ie: the text and symbols) but there is none – at least initially.

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Tags: metal gear solid 4, mgs4

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MGS 4 Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Abandoned!
MGS4 Reviews: Metacritic | GameRankings.com
Reference: GameFAQ Walkthrus |

Progress: I made it to Act 1 – Urban Ruins  (4th of 8 parts to Act 1)

This is the first video game I’ve played since slicing open my left index finger on May 15. I had to abandon my GTA game play and diary to let my finger heal. It isn’t fully back to normal again (still can’t feel anything above the knuckle on my left index finger) but I couldn’t wait to give MGS4 a try.

I wrote this first diary entry mostly in real time as I played through the initial scenes of the game.

My Limited MGS Experience

The only prior experience I’ve had with the Metal Gear Solid franchise is when I played a couple levels of MGS 2: Substance on the original Xbox. What I recollect from that experience was that the cut scenes were spectacular and the game was, to me, unplayable. It had a clumsy over-head camera mechanic. There was a handicapped first person view that only allowed you to look around when you were stopped. You couldn’t shoot or move in that view. After a couple levels I gave up in frustration.

From everything I’ve heard about MGS4 (and I’ve heard, read and watched a lot over the years) it has been revamped into a thoroughly modern stealth, shooter.  I guess we’ll see.

So here we go.

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Tags: metal gear solid 4, mgs4

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  (5/5) super-hero, sc-fi, action, comedy
Iron Man (2008) is as good as super-hero movies get. Up there with Spiderman (2002) (IMDb) and Batman Begins (2005). It is a visual, dramatic and comedic treat, worthy of several Oscar nominations, possibly even a Best Picture nomination.

Prior to Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. had not made a movie equal to his talents - though very good in both Chaplin (1992) and Zodiac (2007). Ironically, his previous inability to control his drug addiction (single handedly torpedoing the admittedly declining Alley McBeal TV series), combined with his undeniable acting talent made him perfectly suited to play the eccentric, alcoholic, playboy, munitions magnate Tony Stark.

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Tags: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, jon favreau, Robert Downey Jr

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GTA IV Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3, Entry #4

Key Stats: 43.45% done |  55 missions passed | 66 missions failed | $323,224 in cash | 37:47 Playing Time | 3rd & 4th safehouse

It’s been a week since Diary Entry #3. My objective was to get to the point where all of Liberty City was unlocked before making this entry. It was harder and took much longer to get to that point than I thought it would.

Despite being frustrated with GTA IV’s save system (see below), I’m still enjoying the game. I suspect I won’t post diary entry #5 until I complete the campaign.

Helicopter Fun!

Soon after the last entry, I was surprised to discover that you can park (and then save) the helicopter within the yellow lines outside the various safehouses. It’s not easy to land close to buildings without destroying the helicopter but its possible, as these pictures demonstrate (click on them for larger view):

I was able to fly to Michelle’s house, land there and take her out on a helicopter date - a personal flight over Manhattan (see picture below).

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Tags: achievements, gta iv, helicopters, police chases, ricky gervais, save system, tips

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GTA IV Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3, Entry #4

Day 5 | 29.14% done | 36 missions completed | 25:10 hours played.

Bridges Crossed - Flights Taken

Shortly after Diary Entry #2, I made it to Manhattan (err, Algonquin). The first thing I did was purchase a new outfit. Then I headed over to the helipad for a helicopter ride over Liberty City. Take a look at Nicko posing in his new gangsta suit in front of the helicopter (click for larger image).

The ride was fun, we flew up and down the length of Manhattan, over Times Square, Central Park, the Trump Tower, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building.

But flying the helicopter myself was much more fun. I ‘accidentally’ jacked the helicopter for my second flight - then proceeded to dump the helicopter into the Hudson!  It’s much harder to fly than I thought it would be. Here’s me flying past the Statute of Liberty (Statue of Happiness).

They say it is modelled after Hillary Clinton. I didn’t get close enough to tell (maybe next time). I tried to get a look at Ground Zero but couldn’t see anything there, not even a memorial.

Tip: Take a cab or a junker to the helipad because when you return, your ride will be stolen. I lost my Porsche that way.

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Tags: diary, grand theft auto IV, gta iv, hidden armour

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GTA IV Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3, Entry #4

I’ve finished day 4 of my Grand Theft Auto IV adventure. I spent most of my game play achievement hunting so I’m only 25.06% of the way done - and still not off the first two islands. I suspect I’m very close.

Achievements

Day 4’s achievement hunting yielded mixed results:

It’ll Cost Ya: Take a cab over a bridge and don’t skip ahead while riding. Time consuming, but easy.

One Hundred and Eighty (aka Darts): Probably the easiest achievement points (outside the plot-line achievements). Triple a 20 three times and you’ve got it.

No More Stranger: I found my first ‘blue man’ icon on the map and found him. I have no idea how many of these guys I have to find for this achievement. I haven’t found any other in hours of play.

Wheelie Rider: Argh… I’ve been trying to get the ‘Wheelie Rider’ achievement from the beginning and I keep falling off. Man that’s hard.

Tip 1: don’t try this one when in the middle of a mission. You’ll likely die and have to start the mission over again.

Tip 2: I hear doing wheelies on the airport runway is the way to go.

Pool Shark: I beat Little J (and earned 10 points) on the first try. Actually, he was about to win but sunk the black-ball giving me a victory by default.

Gobble Gobble: Forget this one. Bowling three strikes in a row is way too much work for 10 points.

‘Courier Service’ & ‘Order Fulfilled’: OK, I thought these would be much easier than they are. The first involves 10 drug delivery missions, the second - 10 car stealing missions. All involve extensive travelling.  They are doable - just very time consuming. And, some are tricky. I’ve done 3 of each so far. I think I’ll wait to the end of the game and come back latter.

As a reminder, GTA IV Achievement Point details can be found here.

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Tags: diary, grand theft auto IV, gta iv

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GTA IV Diary: Entry #1, Entry #2, Entry #3, Entry #4

It’s day 3 of my Grand Theft Auto IV adventure. Given the sheer size of this game and the fact that I may not be finished for a week or two,Chad Sapieha’s daily GTA IV Diary inspired me to write diary posts as I work my way through. I will write a detailed review when finished.

Wow!

I came in to GTA IV expecting to hate it as much as I did the earlier games in the series. Despite my reluctance, the staggeringly high review scores (see Meta Critic and Game Rankings) made it worth taking a look. The reviews got me to the party. The ‘atmosphere’, the scope, the beauty of the city, the cinematic feel and the well written story kept me coming back. Now despite some frustrations, I’m hooked.

Thanks for the May 6 netfiler, tax extension Revenue Canada! Otherwise I’d have had no free-time to play this over the last few days.

Initial Impressions!

Scope & Style: I was drawn in from the beginning with GTA IV’s engaging, Chronicle of Riddick-like interactive opening credits. The massive sand-box magnitude of the game is similar to Crackdown and Assassin’s Creed. The writing is good, very good. On par with Naughty-Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. But, not on par with The Godfather as some reviewers claim.

City Alive: You’ll notice almost immediately that this game is alive unlike almost any other game you’ve played. People are walking, jogging and driving around this huge city (see interactive ‘hood’ map), obeying traffic lights, conversing and going about their business  in a convincing manner (well, if you don’t look too closely). Neighbourhoods have their own distinctive feel. I feel, more than in any other game, that I’m moving around in a real city.

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Tags: diary, grand theft auto IV, gta iv

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Below is, in my opinion, a list of the best video game podcasts ordered by preference. I have listened to, and abandoned, many video game-related podcasts. Those listed below have survived the culling and, with one exception, are recommended without hesitation.

1. The 1Up Yours Podcast:

This is my favourite video game podcast. It ‘airs’ Friday evenings. Despite 1Up Yours seemingly continuous personality turnover (Luke Smith - now with the Bungie podcast; Bryan Intihar -now with Insomniac Games; Dan ‘Shoe’ Hsu - now on permanent vacation), Host Garnett Lee, with Shane Bettenhausen, John Davison and a revolving set of guests consistently provide an entertaining and informative podcast week-in and week-out. My only criticism of the show is that it is often too long and the interesting content is usually held back to the the end. Otherwise, its the best video game podcast.

2. Game Theory Podcast :

The Game Theory podcast (formerly the Next-Gen.biz podcast) is also a terrific weekly video game podcast. While 1Up Yours is strong in  games coverage, the Game Theory podcast’s strength lies with its strong industry coverage. Gary Whitta & Colin Campbell are veteran video game industry reporters who put on an engaging and enlightening podcast. And, there’s something about their British accents that seems to elevate it. I highly recommend this podcast.

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Tags: 1UP Yours, EGM Live, game theory, Joystiq, Major Nelson, podcast, X-Play

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I recently listened to the March 31, 2008 EGM Live Podcast (download) where Garnett Lee interviewed Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Director of Product Management for the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Among other topics, Aaron had the unenviable job of defending the concept of Microsoft Points (time index 17:40).

Reading several articles today on Sony’s pending PS3 on-demand service (see here, here and here) and Sony’s pending Playstation cards, to be denominated in local currency (here), it occurred to me that Microsoft’s use of points alone is going to become increasingly untenable as Microsoft’s key game/movie/TV show download competitors all offer competing products denominated and purchasable in local currencies.

Below I discuss Aaron’s arguments for Microsoft Points and what, to me, are overwhelming competitive arguments against them.

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Tags: amazon unbox, apple tv, microsoft points, playstation card, tivo

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Grrr…..  Why does Sony make simple things so complicated?

I’ll start with the answer to the titular question. After firing up the PS3 with your new Dual Shock 3 (DS3) controller:

• start Resistance Fall of Man (RFoM)
• choose “Multiplayer”
• choose “online game” - the following notice will appear:

“An update to Resistance: Fall of Man is available. This update is required for online play. Download update?

• choose ‘yes’
• exit the game when the download is complete
• start it up again.

You’ll finally have 10 year old technology in your sparkly new PS3 - yeah!!!

Who came up with this clever idea? How are people that want to play the single player campaign offline supposed to know this?

Now for the back-story.

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Tags: dual shock 3, playstation, ps3, resistance fall of man, rumble

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(2.5/5)

The new PS3 Playstation store is a much needed improvement over the older store.

The Old Playstation Store:

The old store (pictured to the left) booted slowly, was unresponsive, had tiny print and was almost unusable. It relied on a ‘mouse’ like interface with a pointer that needed to be moved around the screen with the PS3 controller’s analogue stick. It was very difficult to use and imprecise.

The New Playstation Store:

• The new store boots up faster
• Thankfully, the mouse-pointer interface is gone
• The main menu now presents a grouped items column on the left
• Selecting an item group brings up a much easier to read sub-menu (see the “New Releases” submenu below).
• The submenu has a navigable list of possible selections on the right
• Selection details show up in a big, easier to read, panel on the left.

• Everything is faster and crisper (more pics on joystiq here).

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Tags: console, movies, playstation 3 store, ps3

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