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 »
I used the various tools and information from NPD and sites like Chart-Track to compile this list of PS3 games with worldwide sales over one million units, as accurate as I could make it with the latest information I had.
Games listed in order of sales (in millions):
1. Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two Interactive - 4.8
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision - 3.7
3. Motorstorm, Sony Computer Entertainment - 3.6
4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Konami - 3.4
5. Resistance: Fall of Man, Sony Computer Entertainment - 3.2
6. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft - 2.9
7. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Sony Computer Entertainment - 2.2
8. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony Computer Entertainment - 1.9
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Konami - 1.6
10. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, RedOctane - 1.6
11. FIFA 08, Electronic Arts - 1.6
12. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Sony Computer Entert... More »
In a recent interview, Insomniac CEO Ted Price admitted that he sees the benefits in going multi-platform and breaking the company's exclusivity with Sony.
However, for now it seems as if the benefits of actually sticking with Sony slightly outweigh the benefits of parting, so don't expect any radical changes in the immediate future.
To quote: Of course, Insomniac has historically been a Sony mainstay. "For the last ten years or so, we have been working very closely with Sony," Price said.
"I mean, people ask me all the time, 'so, do you consider going multiplatform? What are the drawbacks?'" He says that one benefit of exclusivity is that the company's games "tend to be associated with the hardware - but that could be a drawback too."
He cites the original Resistance: Fall of Man as an example of this kind of product association. "We did get a lot of additional exposure simply because it was synonymous with the PlayStation... More »
Per Grace Chen (Senior Manager, PlayStation Store) via PS Blog today:
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the PlayStation Store weekly update.
Downloadable Games
Age of Booty ($9.99)
Fight for pirate supremacy in this game of strategy and cannon-blasting action that’s fun for all ages. Sail the high seas alone or with friends as you build your pirate empire by plundering villages, sinking ships, and sending your enemies to the briny deep! Upgrade your ships with new, more powerful weapons, and explore 25 different maps or create your own to share! With so many features, Age of Booty is a treasure chest of fun! Download the game today!
File size: 44 MB
Add-on Game Content
LittleBigPlanet - MotorStorm Stormers Costume ($1.99)
A premium costume for SackBoy!
File size: 1.04
LittleBigPlanet - Sack-Eating Plant Costume (SCEE contest winner) (free)
A community co... More »
Nine years ago, the DVD of "The Matrix" shattered records and catapulted the budding DVD format into the mainstream. Can "The Dark Knight" do the same thing for Blu-ray?
The Blu-ray release of "The Dark Knight" is slated to Dec. 9, and as Video Business [via High-Def Digest] reports, Warner Brothers has more than a million Blu-ray copies of the Batman blockbuster teed up for retailers—reportedly, the most ever for a Blu-ray movie to date.
Indeed, "The Dark Knight" is perhaps the biggest gotta-have Blu-ray title yet, bigger even than "Iron Man" (which has sold about 500,000 Blu-ray copies so far, according to Video Business) and "Transformers."
But here's the big question: Will the popularity of "TDK" translate into a tipping point for Blu-ray, as "The Matrix" (which was the first DVD to ship more than 1.5 million units back ... More »
Two years after the initial release of Resistance: Fall of Man Insomniac Games brings us the second installment of Resistance.
The game has been hyped as being bigger and better in every way. Now that the game is finally out, does it stand up to the hype machine or leave players aching for just a little bit more?
Resistance 2 picks up right where the first game left off. Nathan Hale is rescued and brought back to the states where the Chimera has refocused their attacks in huge numbers. In a sense HUGE is the word to describe Resistance 2.
Everything about it is huge. From the bosses, to the levels, to the multiplayer etc. Everything really is that much bigger, but not necessarily better. For starters the story is simply not all that good. While the first game had a narrator filling in the gaps between levels.
Resistance 2 relies solely on short cut scenes. They are animated well and make for good eye candy, but in the end they jus... More »
This Christmas, both Sony and Microsoft are placing their bets on a bunch of ugly aliens and a couple of anti-heroes who are almost as ugly.
The massive gaming companies are going head-to-head in the build-up to the crucial holiday sales season with two much anticipated and very similar titles, Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2.
The games, both sequels, are first-person shooters, in which the player assumes the role of the man behind the big gun and the main antagonists are sharp-toothed aliens. Both games were released this week.
In Resistance 2, the invading creatures are called the Chimera, horrific beings that have the ability to turn mankind into disfigured slaves. In Gears of War 2, the focus shifts to stopping the evil Locust Horde, a subterranean race trying to exterminate the human race. In both titles, it's up to the dysfunctional hero to save the day.
But a far bigger battle is going on behind the scenes, where executives be... More »
(3) 
