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.

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

- “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

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.

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