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 »
This February, Electronic Arts will release Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, an edition of Criterion's open-world racer that packs all of the game's downloadable content along with a new offline multiplayer mode and other tweaks.
Dubbed Burnout Paradise Party, the offline multiplayer mode enables up to eight players to compete in challenges, one at a time, by passing the controller. For those that already own Burnout Paradise, the offline multiplayer mode will be sold as DLC.
The Ultimate Box will also add a number of oft-requested features, such as a restart option added for racing, easier control of the early vehicles, and a PS3-only social networking tool referred to as Burnout Paradise Network.
EA did not specify if those changes will be available to those that already own Burnout Paradise, which arrived on PS3 and Xbox 360 this past January. The Ultimate Box release will mark the game's promised debut on PC.
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From Eric Lempel (Director, PlayStation Network Operations):
Hi everyone. We’ve been listening to all of your feedback about the PS3 and PSP, and with these next firmware updates (coming soon), we’ve added a number of new features and improved some existing functionality to make your PS3/PSP experience even better.
PSP (v5.00) update
Let’s start with the v5.00 update for PSP. In this version, you’ll notice the addition of the PlayStation Network icon on the XMB. You can now sign up for PlayStation Network, manage your account and access PlayStation Store directly from your PSP - meaning you can download games directly to your PSP while connected via Wi-Fi. Getting games, demos and trailers while on-the-go has never been easier! Check out the screen below.
The current PlayStation Store on the PC will be down in the interim as we take some time to revamp. Don’t worry, it will re-launch soon after we’ve made som... More »
Are $60 games poking holes in your wallet? Looking for some good, fun downloadable games? Here's 11 online gems that you definitely shouldn't miss!
What's better than buying, downloading, and playing a full-feature video game from the comfort of your own home? Online games are the bread and butter of busy gamers, and there are still a great number of titles just around the corner.
If you're a trackball-wielding PC user, frequent member of the PlayStation Network, or a card-carrying Xbox Live Arcade buyer, these are the 11 upcoming online games you'll want to spend your points and cash on.
11. Fez Developer: Kokoromi; TBA on PC/XBLA
By far the most unique game to come out of this year's Independent Games Festival, Fez changes the rules on perspective in a classic way. Every level can be rotated on the fly, featuring a fresh take on 2D-in-3D perspective. As you try to get little protagonist Gomez to the end of each lev... More »
The first bit of “Fusion” that AMD is releasing today is an in-house designed software utility that was described to us as being able to “turn a mainstream PC into a lean, mean gaming machine.”
Essentially, this Fusion Gaming tool is a utility that automates many of the tweaks that hardcore enthusiasts carry out in order to free up system resources for the purpose of maximizing gaming performance. The utility works by temporarily disabling background services and processes, freeing up memory and CPU cycles in an effort to make games run more smoothly.
AMD demonstrated the application to us clicking the gigantic “Fusion” button on a Windows Vista desktop, which immediately shut down usually active applications such as Skype, Google Talk, as well as many other background services. The utility will not, however, override any applications that have a shutdown or save dialog, meaning that clicking the button will still allow Microsoft Word to prompt if ... More »
Ted Price, the CEO of Insomniac games has confirmed that Resistance 2 is just about finished. However, there is still the matter of fixing bugs, adding polish, making tweaks and ensuring the builds of the game are stable.
He rounded off this part of the interview by roaring that Resistance 2 has become everything that they hoped it would be. To quote:
GameSpot: Where are you currently in development? What's done? What's left?
Ted Price: The game is just about finished as I write this. Yet the three to four weeks before we deliver a final disc to the factory are always the most difficult. This is when we're fixing bugs, adding tons of polish, making tuning tweaks, and trying to keep our builds stable for the testing team.
What's great is that all of our features are in, and the game is looking, sounding, and playing fantastic. Resistance 2 has become everything we hoped it would be.
Remember BattleField: Bad Company? Of course you do. Some of you are probably still playing it. If you aren't, then you soon might be because the game is due to get a shot in the arm before too long.
After running a contest through which players could decide on which map pack DICE should start working on first, a post has gone up on the official blog to let us know that there will be other content coming when the map pack drops.
There's no indication on when that'll be, or if it'll cost us anything, but the accompanying patch will be free, at least. With this patch DICE are looking to fix several bugs, such as server lag and VOIP issues. There will also be various gameplay tweaks.
Not only that, but three weapons, previously only obtainable through pre-ordering, playing the demo or signing up to the newsletter, will be made available to everyone for free. Check out the full list of fixes an... More »
The movie experts over at the Criterion Collection, known for their Laserdiscs and DVDs of unparalleled production values, uses the PlayStation 3 as their reference Blu-ray player.
Considering their other equipment, which includes "a Denon AVR-3808CI receiver, an Axiom Epic 80/500 speaker system, an Anchor Bay DVDO VP50 Pro video processor with HD SDI option," this is quite an honor for the PS3.
No one is actually surprised by this though, even as just a plain-ol' Blu-ray player, the PS3 has been rated quite highly. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the PS3 allows for firmware upgrades for any functionality tweaks. Oh yeah, and games!
This October, Criterion will also begin releasing movies on the Blu-ray format, and we are simply quivering with anticipation.
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