Sleepy Gamer » ps3

God of War III First Impressions

Van — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:10:45 +0000

I know the Net is already saturated with God of War III info, but I thought that I should share my 2 cents. Being a huge fan of the God of War franchise myself, you can probably take my opinion with a grain of salt. But when you have tight controls, beautiful graphics, and the hi-def boobies … who isn’t a fan of that? Show me a game with all those qualities that didn’t make your top 10 list. Garret and I waited well over an hour just to play this game at E3, so was it worth the wait? Hell yeah it was.

Story
If you’ve completed part 2 of the series, you must have wanted to kill yourself after witnessing that disappointing cliffhanger. Seeing Kratos leading the Titans to Mount Olympus for the climactic battle with the Gods sure was exhilarating. Until you were abruptly left with: “The end begins…” It might as well have said, “Please reserve God of War 3 at your local Gamestop”. Unfortunately, this 20 minute demo doesn’t reveal anything new about the story either. As soon as you press the Start button, you’re immediately thrown into the heat of the battle with no where to go, but forward. You only see the fire Titan in the background throwing fireballs and wrecking havock in the city below. But other than that, the entire demo doesn’t explain where your other Titan buddies went.
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What Sony Needs to Do in 2009

Van — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:44:47 +0000

With the phenomenal sales of the original PS1 and PS2, Sony was once way ahead of the curve. So it’s come to be quite a disappointment to see the PS3 limping along this generation. When Ken Kuturagi unveiled the PS3 back in 2005, it was touted as the most powerful and revolutionary gaming system ever made. Apparently, all that power and revolution didn’t mean squat. Looking at the December 2008 sales figures, we can see that the Wii completely outsold the PS3 almost 3:1, with the Xbox 360 outselling almost 2:1.

* Wii — 2,150,000
* Xbox 360 — 1,440,000
* PlayStation 3 — 726,000

Sony needs to do some damage control, and they need to do it fast. Here are some suggestions to make 2009, the year of the Playstation.

PS3 Price Drop
Since there’s no way for the PS3 to compete with the Wii, the best that they can do right now is fight for 2nd place. With the current recession, it’s obviously not a good idea to be the most expensive system on the market. With the PS3 models retailing at $399 and $499, it’s much more expensive than the Xbox 360 at $199, $299, and $399. Sony justifies this price difference due to the built-in blu-ray player capabilities, but it appears the general public is still quite happy with their DVDs and can’t justify paying the extra premium for this feature. To top it off, most PS3 versions of a game often look worse than its Xbox counterpart. So why pay more when its competitor is providing a better gaming experience at a lower price? Sony needs to drop the price to $299 to simply compete with the Xbox 360.
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New IPs That Desperately Need A Sequel

Garret — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:32:04 +0000

Brand new game series’ are usually few and far between, and good ones are even more unlikely. The current generation has seen it’s fair share of potential new franchises, but many new notables have yet to have produced proper sequels. The cycle of innovation, refinement, then innovation is the foundation that the games industry is built upon. So, here are some recent gems that are definitely worth revisiting.

Dead Rising (Xbox360)

You, trapped in a mall with thousands of zombies and the freedom to use practically anything as a weapon. It’s no wonder we haven’t seen this game concept done earlier. The zombie playground idea could be applied to almost anywhere too. Amusement park, airport, or even a small, open-world town would all be great locales. Throw in a bunch more interactive objects for creative, new ways to kill the walking dead and you’re all set. Oh yeah, how about some online co-op, please?

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

It’s the brilliant, Wii, point-and-click adventure that was a critically success, but a retail failure. Sadly, we probably won’t ever see a sequel any time soon. Some of the later puzzles were down right diabolical, but when you finally did figure it out, that “eureka” moment was pure magic. The cute, lovable animations, the multiple solutions, and the clever use of items and enemies all worked to create an experience that could only be compared to the days of playing an old-school, LucasArts adventure game. More of the same is all I ask.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DS, pcgaming, ps3, PSP, wii, xbox360

Fallout 3 Review

Garret — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:42:58 +0000

The gamble that Bethesda made in acquiring the rights from Interplay seems to be paying off. The fanatical outcry from the incredibly vocal Fallout fans has died down. The game is finally out and available for the masses to judge for themselves. And yet, as I log yet another hour in this wonderfully crafted, post-apocalyptic vision of Washington D.C., heading into the credits of my second playthrough, it’s apparent that the game lives up to every bit of the hype and then some.

Destroyed Beauty

There’s just something about the meticulous attention to detail of Fallout 3, how the environment was lovingly created and just as lovingly destroyed, that gives it that personality that is so rare to find in games. The Fallout series has always had a brilliant art style, mixing old 1950’s-inspired culture with the futuristic technology of tomorrow. With Fallout 3, Bethesda truly outdid themselves by presenting a world of hauntingly beautiful structures that spell a cautionary tale of nuclear war at every turn. Every corner of the game’s world is enriched in amazing little touches; torn-down walls, pieced together suits of armor made of shopping carts and old tires, tons of humorous, fake products and advertisements. There are even a handful of in-game radio station broadcasts with a wonderful selection of music from the ’40s and ’50s that help in immersing you in the alternate-history dystopia that the series is known for.

The characters themselves offer an incredibly rich selection of voice-acted dialog, whether or not you recognize the Liam Neesons or Malcolm McDonalds of the bunch. And just like Oblivion, there are naturally some repeats here and there (for example, three ghouls outside a vault all had the same exact voice and slightly different thing to say), but it’s never quite as noticeable, possibly due to the smaller amount of settlements and survivors that the Fallout setting lends itself to.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bethesda, pcgaming, ps3, xbox360

Gaming 101: Hidden Costs of Gaming, Part II

Garret — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:45:07 +0000

Be sure to check out Part I for the Wii and PS3 breakdowns.

Xbox 360

None of the current consoles have fragmented the consumer experience more than the Xbox 360. One could argue that the tiered offering of the of Xbox 360 line of consoles was designed to appeal to a broad range of gamers, from the very casual to the hardest of hardcore. Unfortunately, most of the omitted features in the lower end models tend to be components you’ll regret buying piecemeal at a later date. To make things a bit clearer, the Xbox 360 breakdown will be done in two separate parts, based on what Xbox 360 model you “jump in” with.

First things first, let’s get the common stuff out of the way. Every Xbox 360 system comes with one wireless controller, and supports up to a maximum of 4 controllers at a once. Each additional wireless controller costs $50, or if you prefer (although I’m not sure why anyone would want to), $40 for wired controllers that plug in via the USB ports. Like the Wii’s wiimotes, the wireless gamepads also require either a steady supply of AA batteries or you could spring for a set of rechargeable battery packs made specifically for the controllers themselves. The battery packs can cost as much as $15 a piece, and the charger itself can be bought as a USB “Plug & Play” cord for $20, or as an AC adapter plug-in “Quick Charge Kit” that comes with one battery pack and charges 2 rechargeable packs at once, all for $30.

First Impressions: Resistance 2 Multiplayer Beta

Van — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:02:55 +0000

Upon receiving a beta key for Resistance 2, I was really eager to rush home and download the beta. However, after 3.5 hours for 2GB download, in addition to the 10 minute install, plus another 15 minutes for an update, I was finally ready to play. So is this game worth that 4 hour wait? Read on.

Beta Basics
Just to clarify, this beta only provides the multi-player feature. You won’t get a sneak peak at the single player campaign until you buy it. Starting the beta, you’re introduced to 2 game play options: Cooperative and Competitive. In the cooperative mode, you have the choice to play online or offline with friends. This mode allows casual fun play without affecting your ranking stats. The competitive mode is where the meat of the game is focused on. Similar to Call of Duty’s “Perks”, Resistance 2 has the “Berserks/Loadout” system. As you gain more experience and rank up, you can unlock additional “Berserks/Loadout” that enhance your abilities. The default beserks/loadouts provide small enhancements like upgraded radar or electric burst shots. But leveling up will provide much better abilities, such as force fields or healing rings, that will help keep you alive longer.

The main appeal that Resistance 2 has over other shooters are the 60 player skirmishes. When you jump into a 60 player battle, things can get really chaotic. The first time I jumped in, my average lifespan was less than 10 seconds. However, as you get more accustomed to the map layout, you’ll realize how grand and epic these matches are. It’s quite exhilarating when there’s a stand-off between the two factions fighting on opposite sides of the ravine. One side is desperately defending the beacon, while the other is trying to overtake it. The whole beauty of this is that this grand experience is practically lag-free, so any deaths that you encounter is because of your own noob skills.

© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beta, first impressions, ps3, resistance 2

Gaming 101: Hidden Costs of Gaming, Part I

Garret — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:09:59 +0000

Sure, there are plenty more expensive hobbies out there to spend your hard earned cash on, but the cost of gaming can get pretty daunting if you’re not too careful. With any big electronic purchase, it’s best to know how much of a dent to your pocket book it will all be with all the hidden fees and additional purchases added in. This guide will try to give you an idea of which buys are absolutely necessary, which ones are nice-to-haves, and what you should avoid like the plague. And for simplicity’s sake, let’s just round all prices up to the nearest dollar.

First things first, you’ll need a television. Yeah, I know, everyone’s got a TV, but if you’d like to game on a nice big screen and don’t yet have one, you should probably factor that cost into your budget. If you’re interesting in a high def set, check out our HDTV buyer’s guide, otherwise, any regular TV will do. Just be aware that most 360 and PS3 games were made with higher resolutions in mind, and in some cases, the text is displayed using extremely tiny font sizes that don’t show up very well on SDTVs. Okay, now onto the consoles..

Nintendo Wii

The Wii offers the most basic retail configuration out of the three consoles.. one box and one box only. For $250, you get the Wii game system, one wiimote controller, one nun-chuk controller add-on, and one game, Wii Sports. However, if you want to invite your friends over to play, you’ll need extra controllers ($40 each) and possibly extra nun-chuks ($20 each). You might only need to buy one extra nun-chuk though, since most games don’t require the analog stick. Otherwise, buying a full set of three additional controllers will cost you $180 more. You might be tempted to buy a copy of the game Wii Play, since it nets you an extra wiimote, but unless you have really young children, I’d say pass. Wii Play costs $50, same as any other game, so you’re really just buying a $40 wiimote and getting a mediocre minigame collection for $10 more. Also, if you plan on buying any old Nintendo games on Virtual Console, you should pick up at least one Classic Controller ($20). And if you decide to use the Wii’s backwards compatibility and play any Nintendo Gamecube games, you’ll need a Gamecube controller (I suggest the wireless Wavebird for $25) and a memory card (around $10), both of which aren’t sold at retail anymore, but are plentiful online at Amazon and eBay.

Weekend Bytes – Obama Edition

Garret — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:06:58 +0000

- “Yes we can has change!” Obama ads show up in video games.. You heard right, Barrack “That One” Obama has taken the first leap by a presidential candidate and bought ad space in a video game. Make that nine games, published by EA, from Burnout Paradise to their Madden ‘09 roster update.. err cash cow.

- Nintendo dominates NPD sales once again. In other news, ice is cold and paper cuts hurt.. No big surprise here. The Wii dominated with an outrageous 687,000 units in the month of September, easily outselling both the 360 and PS3 combined. The recent price drop that put Microsoft’s box as the same price as the Wii ($250) clearly gave the 360 a bump to beat out the PS3, but that race is more of a 2nd place affair between Microsoft and Sony.

- Xbox 360 Memory upgrade program makes HDD-less Core and Arcade owners less screwed.. By registering your console ID at this MS site, you can apply for either a free 512MB memory card or pay only $19.99 (rather than the usual $100) to upgrade to a 20GB HDD. Even that might not be enough HDD space once you start installing console games like PC games this Fall.

- Valve’s Half-Life 2 Episode 3 continues to define episodic gaming as every 2 to 3 years.. Those of you eagerly awaiting the next chapter in Valve’s Half-Life saga will have to wait a bit longer. Seems Left 4 Dead and TF2 have delayed the episodic trilogy’s conclusion. You can also expect a more signficant play experience to come from Episode 3. Here’s to hoping we’ll see something new before year’s end.

- Bioshock 2 sequel/prequel teaser shows off cutest Big Daddy ever.. Not much is yet known about the follow to the breakout-hit, objectivist, uptopian, FPS, critical darling of last year. Seems it will be both sequel and prequel. Whether that means it will contain flashbacks or some totally off-the-wall story telling device remains to be seen.

- PSP 5.00 update brings long awaited online store. Take that DSi.. The latest firmware update makes the PSP online store more accessible (see iPhone store) by no longer requiring you to be tethered to your PS3 or PC. Also, the new PS3 2.50 update grants the gift of hulu.com video streaming, so you can enjoy the latest episodes of The Office on your couch, not hunched over a computer monitor.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: hl2, npd, ps3, PSP, wii, xbox360

Rock Band 2 Review

Garret — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:27:06 +0000

Those interested in getting Rock Band 2 will inevitably fall into one of two camps: those who already own the Rock Band 1 bundle, and the rest who have yet to hop on the bus and join the tour. For the latter group, the improved instruments and huge selection of songs make the choice a relatively easy one for anyone even remotely interested in an incredibly fun, party-accessible, music rhythm game. But we don’t live in a vacuum and this isn’t exactly the first game in the series. So, is Rock Band 2 worth your $60 to upgrade to this year’s model?

The Patch Upgrades.. I Mean New Features

While the first game was the biggest leap forward in the music game genre since the original Guitar Hero, it was also missing a couple key features. One of them was the in-game music store, which was patched in early this year free of charge. Unfortunately, the online and single-player band world tour modes, cost the price of admission. Many of the improvements make Rock Band 2 feel more like a patch upgrade than a full fledged sequel. This seems to be the current direction most game franchises are heading, so I’m afraid we’ll probably have to start getting used to it. Despite all this, everything Harmonix has added makes the game a whole lot better experience overall.

From the UI improvements, namely adding difficulty ratings on songs for each instrument component. To the improved character customization options and loosened restrictions on using which band members. To an incredibly diverse song list that crosses through genres and music eras with surprising choices. To the brilliant inclusion of a drum trainer, complete with actual drum fills for those overdrive (ie: star power) activation moments. Even the new Battle of the Bands mode provides a host of unique daily challenges that keep you coming back week after week.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ps2, ps3, rockband, wii, xbox360

Playstation 3.5? Xbox540? Wii HD?

Van — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:26:49 +0000

Console revisions are nothing new to the gaming industry. A look in history will show us that most successful systems has gone through at least 3 console revisions. Take a look at the Genesis, Gameboy, PS2, and the list goes on. This generation is no different. These changes are made to either reach a new markets, introduce better security, or just to save a couple of bucks. Here’s a general look at what we’ll be expecting this generation.

20GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB, 160GB, what next?

Since its November 2006 release, there has been a total of 5 PS3 model changes. Initially, you had the choice of a 20GB or 60GB model retailing at $499 and $599 respectively. Despite the enormous price tag, Sony was still taking a $300 loss for each console sold. They needed a way to bring the price down fast if they wanted more consumers to purchase their platform. In late 2007, Sony introduced the 40GB and 80GB models for $399 and $499. Although that seemed like a much better deal, one key feature was lost… backwards compatibility. The older 20GB and 60GB models, included the PS2 “Emotion Engine” CPU that allowed it to natively play PS2 games. To save manufacturing costs, this CPU was removed from the later models. Thus, the 80GB model only provided limited PS2 backwards compatibility through software emulation, while the 40GB cannot play PS2 games at all. Just recently, Sony announced a newer 80GB and 160GB models to replace the current ones. Like the 40GB model, the new revisions will completely remove PS2 backwards compatibility as well. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to play your old PSOne games.

© van for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DS, Features, ps3, PSP, wii, xbox360

The Changing Face of Exclusivity

Garret — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:35:25 +0000

It wasn’t too long ago that game exclusivity was king among “third party” blockbusters like Final Fantasy and Guitar Hero. When games were only released on one system and one system alone. However, with this console generation having no clear cut leader to shoulder the burden of millions of sales, like it was during the Playstation 2 era, the ideas of exclusivity are beginning to change. But why move away from single platform exclusivity when it’s obviously much easier to develop for one system? The sad truth is that game development costs are a lot higher now than they were a few years ago. The move to HD graphics means much more detailed art assets are required and production quality expectations are at an all time high. Just like the movie business, video games are turning into a big budget, blockbuster-obsessed industry. So game publishers are finding little reason to stick to one platform when they could be selling to a much wider audience.

The concept of exclusivity is not altogether dead yet. Although not an entirely new idea, timed exclusivity is one way Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are continuing to compete for dominance in the continuing console war. Traditionally, when a game receives a timed exclusivity window of a year or more, sales are generally skewed heavily toward the first version of the game, since all the buzz and anticipation will have worn off by the time the ported game comes out. After all, the Grand Theft Auto series became a timed exclusive for the PS2, which later appeared on both the PC and Xbox. The same could be said for Resident Evil 4, which first debuted on Nintendo’s Gamecube and was later ported to PS2. Today, the timed exclusive has all but replaced the “third party” exclusive. Bioshock and Eternal Sonata were both timed exclusives for the Xbox360 and Unreal Tournament III was temporarily a PS3-only game.

Weekend Bytes for 9/26

Garret — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:45:36 +0000

Bungie countdown brings a cryptic trailer and possibly more Halo 3 content.. There is no doubt that this is the trailer Microsoft pulled from their E3 press conference, to make way for an even bigger announcement. Looks like Bungie is teasing a new Halo 3 campaign expansion of some sort. However, I’d love to see more updates like the recent title update to multiplayer though.

Early Mirror’s Edge tech demo is amazing.. The proof of concept that DICE brought to show EA is definitely an incredible showpiece for the first-person, platforming game.

It’s not even out yet and Little Big Planet is already remaking the classics.. First Mario, and now Tetris gets the LBP treatment, according to this video. I’m glad these are being made, but hopefully the community downloads page won’t be overloaded with old sidescrolling remakes.

In addition to Halo Wars, Ensemble was also working on a now-canceled Halo MMO.. Throw this in with the prototyped Halo DS game as something you won’t likely see any time soon.

Wanna calibrate Rock Band’s audio/video setup the old fashioned way? This video shows how manually, without using the in-game tool or the fancy new instrument sensors.

Be careful of Sony’s restrictive PS3 video DRM.. Seems like you can copy purchased or rented movies off the PS3 store just fine. But should you happen to delete a movie to make room on your hard drive, just be prepared to call up tech support for a one-time re-download. At least with Spore’s DRM, EA is always happy to give you an activation reset.

WoW + Bejeweled = Farewell to any hope of sleep or rest.. Yeah, that’s right. You can now play Bejeweled while waiting to group in World of Warcraft. Good luck ever leaving your PC desk.

Play Fallout 1 for free, right freaking now.. GameTap is offering up the free download, so what are you waiting for? Prepare for Fallout 3.

© garret for Sleepy Gamer, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fallout, halo, lbp, mirrorsedge, ps3, rockband, wow