Posts Tagged ‘PlayStation 3’
PS3 firmware 3.00 goes live
It was recently made known that the PlayStation 3 firmware update version 3.00 has officially gone live and is now available for download.
Below are some of the features found in version 3.00:
- “What’s New” – The “Information Board” will be replaced with a “What’s New” section, which allows you to enjoy interactive PlayStation news every time you start the PS3 system. Located under the PlayStation Network icon, “What’s New” displays the latest and greatest game, video, PlayStation Network and PlayStation news and releases, as well as your recently played games, in a sleek, new animated format.
- Status Indicator – In the top right corner we’ve added an indicator bar, which displays your user icon, friend icon, the number of friends you have online and a small message icon to let you know if you have any new messages. The indicator also includes a scrolling ticker that features the latest news from PlayStation Network. In addition, when you press the PS button, the battery life indicator will no longer cover up the clock.
- Friends List – Now your PlayStation Network friends will appear in a slightly redesigned format on your Friends List. Also, messages will now be viewable from each of your friends’ respective profiles.
- PlayStation Store Shortcuts – We’ve added a handy shortcut icon to the PlayStation Store under both the Game and Video categories so you can access the latest content quickly and easily.
- Personalization – Personalize your PS3 with new dynamic custom themes and avatars. Dynamic themes as well as free and premium avatars will be available through PlayStation Store. A dynamic theme takes your screen to a whole new level as it incorporates animated objects into the background.
- Trophies – Showcasing your hard earned trophies just got better. Update 3.00 gives game developers the ability to modify how they display trophies for add-on content. Base and add-on game trophies will continue to be combined into a single list so you can see where you stand in a game as a whole. Within that list, trophies will be broken out into subcategories—base trophies and add-on trophies—that way, you can easily view the percentage of your base game trophy collection, and separately track your trophy progress in add-on packs. Look for this enhancement to be included in upcoming games.
Well, what are you waiting for? Stop reading and go get it!
Australia getting PS3 Ultimate Blu-ray Movie Kit
It seems that Sony feels gamers in Australia take to the Blu-ray format more than the rest of the world as they have recently announced the PS3 Ultimate Blu-ray Movie Kit.
Just how ultimate this kit is, however, remains questionable considering it only comes bundled with a PS3 remote and either 10,000 B.C. or Batman Begins with no console in sight.
Of course, it’s $60 AUD/$51 USD price tag makes it a bargain, and that’s all that matters.
via engadget
Free DLC Coming to Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires
Koei has been doing quite well with the Dynasty Warriors series for years now. Sure, they’ve got a lot of reviewers bored to tears by the repetitive gameplay and storylines, but the cult following of the series is quite happy with how things go every time. They’re certainly smart about how they sell it as well, with my brand spanking new copy of Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires, purchased on the release date only setting be back a mere $40.
One of the perks of the title is the custom character mode where you can assemble your own legendary warrior(s) for use in the game. You start off with a handful of outfits and though you unlock more as you play, the variety is not as wide as one would hope, but they’re going to remedy this soon via DLC. I definitely feel appreciated as a fan because all the DLC for the game is completely free of charge. They’re also adding in a pack of new background music for those who are a fan of their odd composite of traditional asian music and rock.
Killzone 2/MGS4 80GB PS3 bundle available now
Just as rumors had suggested, Best Buy has begun offering an 80GB Playstation 3 bundle that will include both Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4.
Priced at $399.99, just as I said yesterday, this bundle will be very enticing for want-to-be PS3 owners waiting for Sony to lower the price. But wait, what if Sony does lower the price? Or what if they release the PS3 slim?
You can check out the bundle over at Best Buy, here.
Backwards Compatibilty Returning To PS3?
In the days of catridge gaming playing games from a previous system meant you had to hook that system back up to your TV and slot the game in to achieve the appropriate tinglings of reminiscence. When storage formats were universalized via the adoption of CDs as the medium of choice the question of backwards compability began, even before it became an industry/gamer buzzword.
The PS2 was the first to feature it, allowing gamers to still play their old favorites. The Xbox 360 followed suit somewhat, with a few hundred original Xbox games playable. The Wii can handle any Gamecube title, though there likely aren’t too many people go back to. The PS3 offered backwards compatibility as well, but only on certain SKUs and only for a limited period of time.
If you didn’t buy one of the 60 gigabyte models you were out of luck as your system didn’t have the necessary hardware to play PS2 games. It seems that all might change though as Sony filed an application for a patent that would allow backwards compatability to be integrated into existing systems via a software update. According to the patent Sony has figured out a way to get the PS3’s cell processor to emulate the PS2’s emotion engine.
I admit that after trying to read through the garbled nonsense of patent filing I have no clue whether or not IGN has interpreted this correctly, so this could be for something else entirely, but it seems logical. Now whether this would be available for everyone is the question. They could hold it back for release with the PS3 Slim, offering it at a later date as a paid download to anyone with a non-slim PS3, or they could simply show they’re nice guys and release it for free.
Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires Review- The Same, But Different
While most series thrive on innovation and change, advancing storylines to greater degrees of complexity the Dynasty Warriors series strides the line between stagnation and enjoyable familiarity with great success. Though not as universally loved as some series it definitely has a huge cult following. The newest release for the series follows the formula they’ve established so far: a new Dynasty Warriors title is released with some alterations to gameplay, improved graphics and possibly some extra characters. Then they release the Empires update which is designed to provide a more strategic gameplay experience.
Here’s the basic rundown on the Dynasty Warriors series for anyone unfamiliar: you (and possibly a friend) play as warriors in feudal China and spend your time plowing through hordes of opponents on a variety of battlefields. Many characters have story modes which are held together by text explanations and cutscenes, though this is a fairly optional experience as the game is in no way detracted from by skipping them. The battles are rather epic as your characters are generally larger than life, featuring heavily stylized costumes and bearing powerful weapons allowing you to sweep aside entire groups of enemy soldiers in a single swing. As you progress through battles you improve your character, gain new and superior weapons and collect horses.
The Empires games play differently than the rest of the series. Gone are the cutscenes and detailed stories where you simply go from one battle to the next. The vast majority of the game is still centered around the epic conflicts, but you’re allowed to do things at your own pace. You begin a campaign by choosing your time period which only affects which factions will be the most prominent.
Uncharted Heading To Film
Video game movies are usually a big swing-and-a-miss, often because they’re either based on games with sub-par plotlines (Doom) or games where they throw out the well-crafted plot in favor of their own take on the story (Hitman, Resident Evil, etc. etc.) tossing in unnecessary elements and generally doing a ham-fisted job of things. While gamers generally groan at every announcement of another adaptation, most of us are crossing our fingers behind our backs and praying that for once they’ll get it right.
Most recently picked up for potential ruination is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Following the adventures of rough and tumble adventurer Nathan Drake on his quest for fame and fortune (of course) the game’s existing plot has plenty to offer for cinematic entertainment; interesting characters, an unfolding adventure with plot twists and betrayals, a romantic subplot and plenty of action. The film has been picked up by Columbia with Kyle Ward writing the script. Ward is already writing scripts for Kane & Lynch and Hitman 2 films so if he gets this right he could be considered the avatar of the video game gods on earth, struggling mightily against the Hollywood infidels to ensure that these stories are told in all their majesty.
Who would you like to see play Nathan Drake? The obvious choice being voiced by many is Nathan Filion of Firefly/Serenity cult fame since he’s already demonstrated his ability to play a snarky-talking, pistol toting badass, but I’m sure there are plenty of other options out there. I
Activison Expressing Concerns Over PS3 Sales Momentum
I’m going to start this post of with a disclaimer: neither myself nor anyone associated with this website have any stake in Sony’s success/failure. I own every current gen console and handheld and play them all regularly. That being said, let’s get on to the news. While advances in technology often lower the price of operating in certain media, the video games industry is often on a upward slope.
Some are estimating that the next generation games will cost up to $60 million to develop and one publisher is already expresing concerns over current generation costs. Activision boss Bobby Kotick is suggesting that unless there’s a price cut for the PS3 the company might have to reconsider supporting the console: “I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform.”
He suggests that if the price for the console doesn’t drop the attach rates will diminish, following that line of thought with: “if we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console – and the PSP [portable] too.”
Considering the as-yet untapped potential of the console and Sony’s insistence that their strategy is long term, things could still be turned around, but if enough publishers and developers shift their efforts elsewhere the console could founder before it has the chance to take off, though I doubt this is actually going to happen. This could very well be nothing more than posturing to achieve some greater concessions from Sony in their business arrangements.
Newest COD Map Pack Sells One Million In First Week
I continue to be amazed at the sheer number of World War II based shooters that can be put onto the market and still perform well. There have been countless digital reenactments of almost every important battle in the entire conflict yet it seems that gamers aren’t sick of them yet. Despite being jaded about the genre, I admit to being somewhat interested in Call of Duty: World of War.
Everyone else is too it seems because Treyarch announced that in the first weekend the second map pack was downloaded over a million times. The $9.99 content pack contains four maps, including Shi No Numa. Yes, that’s right, it’s another zombie level. That’s got a lot to do with the appeal of this game for many I’m guessing. If you’re unfamiliar with the mode, it’s an online co-op mode similar to the Gears of War horde mode where players face wave after wave of enemies, only this time they’re a combination of two popular video game enemies: Nazis and zombies.
Sony: “We’re Not Copying The Wii”
At E3 both Sony and Microsoft unveiled their own offerings in the grand world of motion sensing controllers. Microsoft’s Project Natal goes a different route than the Wii, utilizing a camera to track players movements and translate them into control inputs while Sony uses a wand device similar to the Wiimote. It didn’t exactly catch on, but Sony in some ways was first to the hit the motion sensing gameplay market with their Eyetoy.
Since their newest motion control device bears a striking similarity to Nintendo’s, they’ve come out to insist that they’ve been working on a wand device sine the original EyeToy. They released a video on Youtube of a tech demo made with the original EyeToy where they showcase some of the features that are now integrated into their new wand.
Red Faction Guerilla Gets Smashingly Good Promotion
Whatever the review scores say (I haven’t played the game or read any reviews yet), I have to give THQ some major points for their interesting choice in promotions/publicity stunts/giveaways for Red Faction Guerilla. If you’d been strolling the streets of London yesterday you might have seen a car being pounded on by strangers with a sledgehammer.
This wasn’t a case of revenge, random violence or vandalism; THQ had taken a rather odd event most often used for a fundraiser at state fairs and utilized it to promote their newest game. Usually whoever’s running the ‘car smash’ charges a few bucks for a few whacks at the vehicle, but this time taking out your aggression on the automobile was more than free; it was profitable. Inside the car were over a hundred copies of Red Faction Guerilla. Folks at THQ said it was an ‘experiment’ to see how many people would stop in the middle of their day to wail on a car in order to get a free copy of the game, inspired by the game’s incredibly realistic destruction engine. They also get kudos for taking the car in for recycling after the conclusion of the event.
First Details On New AVP Game
The Alien and Predator franchises are the biggest sci-fi powerhouses to be created since Star Wars and Star Trek. Despite the huge let-down of the long anticipated Alien Versus Predator films, the continuing battle between the vicious aliens and the honorable predators (not to mention the humans getting caught in the middle) still delights fans.
We’re now getting the first details regarding a new Alien Versus Predator game which is being developed by Rebellion, the team who created the original 1999 classic. If you’ve played either of the other two games the overall setup won’t be surprising. Its a first person shooter with a different storyline for each species, though the events of each will swirl together and inform each other.
The marine will rely on his array of fancy gadgets and weapons to help him against the more numerous and physically superior creatures, the predator uses his own gadgets and hunting skills to survive while the alien uses stealth, superior senses and sheer single-minded fury. There will also be a three-way multiplayer mode with each species battling for superiority.
The game is a multiplatform release, with versions for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 all planned to release in early 2010.
Analyst Says Declining Game Sales Bad Sign For Economy
When newscasters aren’t reporting on the dangers of the swine flu, they’re speculating on the recession, namely when we can expect to be out of it. As things worsened the video games industry grew despite declining currency values, rising unemployment rates and general low-level panic. Yet recently things have started to go the other way for the industry, with analyst Douglas McIntyre saying that this is an extremely bad sign, pointing to lower console and game sales than last year as a suggestion that most people’s discretionary income has dried up.
Don’t panic people, because there’s a rational explanation for all this. When Mr. McIntyre suggests that video games are a reflection of how much consumers have to spend, he’s correct, but he fails to account for the fact that unlike other discretionary spending such as food or apparel, the video game market fluctuates depending on what’s available. There’s a near continual trickle of video games released year round but the titles that really spur sales are fewer and often clustered around certain periods of time. In April 2008 both GTA IV and Mario Kart Wii were released, two powerhouse titles that gobbled up cash, while this year April didn’t have much to compete.
Falling console sales can simply be attributed as much to market saturation as low cash flow. In 2008 the Wii and PS3 had been out for around a year and a half. Now they’ve been available for two and a half, with the Xbox 360 having been on the shelf even longer. No matter how powerful, intuitive or flashy a console is eventually it’s going to hit the point where the number of people hoping to buy one drops off.
Right now fans are holding out for the big titles. E3 is on the horizon, meaning that many developers are holding back their big guns to debut at the event, thus achieving the maximum publicity. Games aren’t struggling, you’ve just got a lot of gamers playing through old favorites while they wait for the next big game instead of picking up less impressive titles.
Fallout 3 DLC Going Multiplatform, More On The Way
Sure, there have been some major issues with two out of the three downloadable content packs Bethesda has released for Fallout 3, but in spite of that they’ve been selling well. Soon they’ll be selling even better since Microsoft’s exclusivity is coming to an end and more content packs are on the way. All three of the existing DLC packs are going to be available for the PS3 this year. Operation Anchorage releases in June with The Pitt and Broken Steel following after with a four to six week interval between each.
The two new content packs will be released for PS3 eventually, but they’re going to be released for the Xbox 360 first. Point Lookout will bring the player to a new swampy area with new quests based around the real Point Lookout State Park of Maryland. Although the Fallout universe is set in an America where events eventually diverged from our reality, some of the events will draw on the collective past, including the Civil War.
Mothership Zeta continues with the running reference in the Fallout universe to the existence of aliens. In previous games you could get your hands on a powerful albeit short ranged alien blaster if you stumbled upon their crashed ship. In Fallout 3 the same thing happens, but in the DLC pack you’ll find yourself abducted by the alien ship responding to the distress call you can pick up on your Pip Boy.
As with the previous packs there’ll be new quests, characters, items to collect and even some new perks, but at this early stage no details are being discussed about what they might be, though they did say that we can expect a ton of new art for Mothership Zeta. Lookout Point is set for a June release and Mothership Zeta for July.
Resonance of Fate Unveiled for PS3 and Xbox
Role Playing Games (RPG) are a big hit and while we have tons of them around in the market, expect one big splurge from this latest from tri-ace, Sega in Resonance of Fate. Resonance of Fate will be the next big RPG from tri-Ace, Sega announced today, as the title is currently in development for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 . A release date sometime during spring 2010 is all we could get out of Sega, though the company did share a few details about the game itself.
Resonance of Fate will include highly stylized graphics and focus on “realistic gunplay” for its core gameplay mechanic. And speaking of mechanic, players will find themselves role-playing their way through a gritty, mechanized world that is ripe for supporting Hollywood-style action sequences.
With its focus on gunplay, Resonance of Fate will let players completely customize their weapons, presumably giving unique weapons for each of the game’s characters.
(Source) Daily Game
Tags: ace, action sequences, fate, Game, gunplay, hollywood, hollywood style, mechanic, PlayStation 3, resonance, role playing games, sega, splurge, style action, weapons, Xbox, xbox 360