Sony Playstation3 Top Secret Info Down at the ‘R’ Zone

I had an interesting exchange with a manager in the video games section of my local Toys R Us tonight. As I entered the games department there was this man and his wife checking out the Xbox 360 aisle. Standing next to them was the games manager telling the husband that if he waits until 2007 he can buy the Sony Playstation 3 which is what he himself is planning on doing.

This conversation catches my attention so I stop next to the three of them and rudely listen in uninvited. The manager, now having an audience, proceeds to tell us how his Sony rep told him that two different variants of the PS3 will be out in 2007 – one costing $800, the other $1200.00. The higher priced unit has a hard drive and acts as a multimedia server. You can use it like a TiVo box as well as stream all your media to it.

The man then asks the manager if it will play all of the current PS2 and PS1 titles. The manager goes on to say that (pretty weird) in order to be backwards compatible you will need to buy a PS Bridge that will link the PS3 to an actual slim line PStwo (purchased previously). He explains that the Cell processor will be looking specifically for modded PS2 consoles to prevent them from getting online. He stresses that only the new smaller PStwo will be able to connect to PS3.

This offers the manager a nice opportunity to discuss with the couple how the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Gamecube Revolution (that’s what he called it) are both “closed” Internet gaming environments. He explains that the PS2 is a server and that you will be hosting games on your own box. Somehow this is much better than a huge state of the art backbone like Xbox Live?

The guy had a serious chip on his shoulder complaining that you had to connect to Xbox Live to get backwards compatibility patches. He kept referring to Bill Gates as if he is some guy he knows personally – “Bill wants to force us to connect to Live services when you may just want to play a game. They’re trying to force you to use Live”

I chime in at this point and tell the couple that I have been thoroughly enjoying my own Xbox 360 for about three weeks now and think it offers quite a lot right now. I explain that you can download the backwards compatibility patches from the Xbox website and burn them to disk which the manager has never heard of. I then tell the manager that I intend on also buying a PS3 when it does finally come out but who is sure when that will be.

The security tag alarm into the gaming section goes off – some holiday shopper walking out with a game – so the manager cuts the conversation short and leaves. The couple disperses more confused about their purchase than before. I stand there wondering why a PS3 would cost $1200 and how cluttered would my gaming area look with a PS3 connected to a PStwo. I wonder why in the hell you would even hook up the PStwo to a PS3 and not just connect it directly to your TV. It was time to leave the R-Zone.

Atari 3600

Engadget found a very cool mod featuring an Xbox 360 packed inside an Atari 2600!!!

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=435696&seqNum=1&rl=1

My love/hate relationship with Jonna Dark

Now that the dust has settled from the Xbox 360 launch I’ve finally been able to give Jonna Dark the attention a hot young secret agent deserves. As with most “exciting” females – Jonna comes with her fair share of baggage and psychosis. Perhaps it is due to its incredibly long development history that Jonna’s growing pains pain me so much. Perfect Dark Zero is unfortunately… less than perfect. That’s not to say that it is a bad title – just… well, it’s like a psycho girlfriend: when it’s good – Holy Mother of God it’s good! But when it’s bad…

The first thing I’d like to tell you is – hang in there! Yeah, I know the first 4 levels are kind of boring and very 1996. Scanning generic thugs with an identity scanner and busting up crates. But really – hang in there, it does get much better.

My guess is that Microsoft must have purchased Rare about 4 levels into development. For here is where the game really begins to take shape. Up until now you are playing a fancy version of Goldeneye.

The presentation is top notch throughout. The load menus and options screens do a good job of keeping you involved in the experience.

Additionally, there is some great in-game techo music that manages to not be annoying.

Now, I understand the desire to keep their original fan base happy, but do we really need ultra-crappy 1996 animations of bad guy armor popping off their body? It reminded me of the Nintendo DS Goldeneye I was playing a few months back – not kidding. This is in the middle of some of the most beautifully rendered locations. But, not all locations are as beautiful as others – in a dramatic way. You’ll go from a bland generic cement compound to a fantastic lush green jungle and wonder why the whole game doesn’t look that good. Rare made a weird decision to make the character profiles during the pre-mission briefings look super cartoony – like the character cards in the board game Clue. Totally out of place.

One thing that stood out was that the frame rate varies greatly from level to level. Sometimes it is unbelievably smooth while other times it drags. Even the rendered cut scenes are inconsistent with regards to frame rate. I guess I’d rather have some really great frame rates than none. Not that it ever seriously stutters, but the contrast is very noticeable.

As far as game play goes, there were some real problems for me during the off-line missions. The first and most annoying is the wacky-land levels of difficulty offered. You can either casually stroll through the levels in novice mode – maybe achieve objectives – maybe not if you are not feeling up to it. Don’t worry about blowing things up with explosives – they are not available at this difficulty. Be sure and brew some coffee though to keep you awake. The alternative is the hard difficulty which has some great challenges (and is the only real choice that generates a fun experience off-line) but makes the fatal decision to eliminate desperately needed checkpoints in the longer levels. It wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t escorting your Dad who has not mastered the ability to fire from cover. He just walks up to groups of generic bad guys and takes it all with a smile. You’ll end up throwing your new wireless 360 controller into that HDTV. Each time he dies you have to start all the way back at the beginning of the level!!!! This WILL make you crazy. Perhaps I am spoiled by PC FPS, but I’d like to save anywhere.

Another game play flaw is the inconsistent accuracy of weapons. The selection of weapons and secondary fire modes are great, but aiming and actually hitting your target is a crap-shoot. There were times that I zoomed in on enemies at close range and shot them clean between the eyes just to see their armor pop off in 1996 fashion. Other times I would aim at a spot at least a foot away from someone’s head and get a perfect head shot?

One thing they got right was adding slight objective marker arrows on the ground if you mill around not knowing where to go for too long – and trust me, you’ll be wondering where to go plenty of times. This is an excellent feature and is well balanced. You don’t see the arrows until you are really on the wrong track and they go away once you are heading in the right direction.

As you could expect – Online is a blast and a VERY different experience. I won’t bore you with the details here; you can read about it just about anywhere.

I’d like to note that the Special Limited Collectors Edition is WELL worth the extra 10 bucks. Pick that version up if you can.

Even with its flaws, the off-line campaign keeps me coming back for more which is not something many games can do. This is no Halo but it is a pretty good way to pass the time until Halo3 comes out.

Magnavox Odyssey 2 - A Look Back!

"So realistic, the court has a built-in gravity field!"

Let's take a minute to break away from being smothered with Xbox360, PS3 and Revolution news to reflect on a truly revolutionary console - The Magnavox Odyssey 2!!!

Magnavox's 2nd outing in the home console arena was a good effort. Coming out five years after the original static cling model, the O2 promoted itself as a home computer! How exciting! Remarkably, many of it's titles were written by a Magnavox salesman who was full of great ideas (presumably removable joysticks not being one of them), the great Mr. Ed Averett.

The Odyssey2 would see some interesting titles and peripherals in it's life. Among them a voice module, Lord of the Rings game, an into to programming cart and a Pac-Man clone that sent them to court.

If you ever want to experience a great pre-Atari 2600 cartridge based console - pick one up!

For more information visit the museum faq @ ClassicGaming.com Here

We have a winner!!!!

Eddie Ramirez writes:

"Steve balmer doing his "Developers, Developers, Developers!" tirade. "

YES That's the correct answer and you are the first one to e-mail it to us!!! You WIN!!!!

Thanks to all who played!

3rd and Final Clue!!!

Okay, okay, guys, here is the Third and Final Clue!!!!





For info on the contest click here

Shag-a-delic Xbox 360 Faceplate baby, yeah!!!

Just when you didn't think it could get any more ridiculous than those freakin' Xbox shoes! Well here it is - the very special limited edition "Shag Carpet" Xbox 360 faceplate for your amusement. Just a matter of time until the official linoleum faceplate comes out...