IGN (linked above) has posted its review of the official Sony wireless keypad for the PlayStation 3, and seems to have a problem with its general design more than anything.
They note that the biggest issue is the top mounted nature of it, but essentially QWERTY keypads for game controllers don't really work that well and its probably best to pick up a microphone and talk.
To quote: But regardless of the poor touch support and ill-advised key design, the biggest issue I had with the Wireless Keypad is that Sony opted to design it as a top mounted add-on. I don't want to seem partial one way or another, but I definitely think Microsoft had it right when they made their keypad attachable between the handles of the Xbox 360 remote.
The keys seem much easier to view and access when they are located just below your thumbs on the thumbsticks. To be fair, the choice in top versus bottom attachment may have been out of Sony's hands. It's possible that Mi... More »
Nintendo released a recent update that once again tries to secure some existing bugs on the console, breaks some things, deletes others. This time they’ve also gone around and modified the TOS. As usual, mass panic ensues.
The people who are panicking can be divided roughly into two groups (non exclusive):
- The pirates
- The clueless
This should go without saying, but we don’t want to have anything to do with the former group. Nintendo is obviously going to fight piracy (and that’s going to hurt homebrew). We’ll have to deal with the homebrew part, but don’t expect that to help piracy in any way. It may, or it may not. And if it doesn’t, pirates will have to deal with fighting nintendo themselves.
The usual messages about WADs, “backups”, and all that crap are going straight to /dev/null, and we’re seeing... More »
There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
The New Xbox Experience, a.k.a. the new Xbox 360 Dashboard, hits today. If you've got an Xbox 360 that's connected to the Internet, you're going to be prompted to update your console as soon as you turn it on.
No exceptions; this is what your machine will look like until either it dies, you die, or Microsoft decides to make ANOTHER Xbox Experience.
Unfortunately, unlike Batman, you didn't have time to prepare. Here are the ten things you should know about the new Xbox experience so you can be set for today.
1) Installation is quick. Owners with hard drives that aren't 100% full will be able to update with no problem, but Xbox 360 Arcade fans that rely on memory cards can get in on the free 512MB card deal from Microsoft. We'd recommend you go for the 20GB hard drive for $20 if anything.
The update won't be as fast as the 10-second patches you're used to for standard Xbox Dashboard upgrades, but clocking in at somewhere between five... More »
What happens when people are reluctant to spend money? Well, they're reluctant to buy a $400 games machine, that's what.
Blu-ray predictions are down due to the struggling economy. PS3 sales should also be affected, an obvious conclusion made by analyst Piers Harding-Rolls.
"At the top end, the PS3 with its high price is arguably more likely to be impacted by a recession than the other platforms. This may prompt consumers to consider other consoles or wait for the PS3 price to drop."
But, sluggish sales of the PS3 won't be the only outcome of a recession economy. Credit has dried up in many areas, meaning developers of games may be forced to cancel or stall projects, before funds become more readily available.
"Where I do see an impact is with regards to access to credit for publishers that look to borrow to invest in content production... More »
Will splashing out on expensive RAM make a real difference to PC performance? And if so, how much should you buy? We supply the benchmarks and lay the details bare.
According to legend, Bill Gates once concluded that “640KB of memory ought to be enough for anyone” (a legend he’s at pains to repudiate). These days it takes more than 800 times that much RAM just to make Windows Vista work smoothly.
But as the idea takes hold that more RAM is always good, we’re increasingly seeing home systems armed with a vast 4GB of storage. Indeed, with 64-bit Vista gaining traction, we’re sure the 8GB home PC can’t be far away. Is there any need for this much memory, or is it a waste of money beyond a certain point?
This month we set out to discover the truth. Armed with a comprehensive set of benchmarks and a big stack of DIMMs, we’ve tested performance on both XP and Vista to find out how much memory you really need.
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo may dominate the global market for video games, but they don't rule in every corner of the world.
The extremely high cost of new video game consoles and games in Brazil has led to unusual market conditions in that emerging country – and a potential market for video game hardware makers. Due to high import taxes, new consoles like the PlayStation 3 regularly fetch in excess of $1,000 USD in Brazil.
However, an intrepid Brazilian company called Tectoy hopes to capture a portion of the young, casual gaming market in Brazil with the launch of their Zeebo home console.
This innovative piece of hardware presents the first credible challenge to the popularity of the other big three manufacturers, and lights the way toward other potential opportunities in markets south of the equator.
Under the hood, the Zeebo is no slouch, especially considering that i... More »
It seems no matter which Web site you go to, they all shower praise on the latest game by Valve entitled Left 4 Dead. As a zombie—and video game enthusiast—I assumed this would become one of my favorite games. It sounded like a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, I came away from the demo very underwhelmed. Sub par graphics and average gun play killed my enthusiasm pretty quickly. I did find the gun play enjoyable in Left 4 Dead, but I really wasn't overwhelmed by how good each gun felt. They felt appropriate.
The guns sounded average. Nothing praise worthy, but nothing to whine about, either. I don't want to offend anyone, but if you're going to tell me that this game has amazing texturing, lighting effects, environments, character models, and animations then you are probably one of those people that think Turok is a great looking game.
The environments themselves looked appropriately drab but they weren't very inspired or pleasing to the... More »
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