Category: PS3

Weekly Games: 10/14

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground Cover

Ok, so where I live it’s still officially 10/13. Who cares?! It’s a week in games, meaning someone’s gotta tell you all what you’re missing while you play Orange Box’s Portal or Team Fortress 2.

PS3

  • Tony Hawks Proving Grounds (10/18): In case Skate wasn’t good enough for you and you need something to cling on to for the weekend. Because apparently Everyday Shooter ain’t good enough fer ye.

PSP

  • Thrillville: Off the Rails (10/15): Ever have the need to build amusement parks on the go?
  • Swat: Target Liberty (10/18): So, liberty’s the target, eh? Well, good luck shooting her with a missile.
  • Spiderman 3 (10/18): Amazingly late, we thought this one was all but forgotten. Silly us. Activision doesn’t leave a man behind. Ever.

360

  • Thrillville: Off the Rails (10/15): Same as above, but from the comfort of your own home. Like a real architect would.
  • Beautiful Katamari (10/17): Rolling your way, this nonsensical puzzle make-everything-part-of-you game is fun…for whoever likes that weird stuff.
  • Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (10/18): In the event you have a PS3 but remembered that achievements are meaningful in your life.

Wii

  • Thrillville: Off the Rails (10/15): Hey, why bother taking it with you or using a standard controller. Use the damned wiimote like everyone else!
  • Rockstar Presents Table Tennis (10/17): Finally, the 360 exclusive gets put on the console it was really intended for. That is, if it plays well.
  • Spyro: The Eternal Night (10/17): Say hello to fire breathing dragons and goodbye to…wait, nothing really.
  • Victorious Boxers: Revolution (10/18): Wii Sports, eat your heart out. This boxing game will give you a real workout. And when you throw an uppercut, it’ll work.
  • Tony Hawk’s Proving Grounds (10/18): Well, at least it’s not on the PSP.
  • Ultimate Duck Hunting (10/18): This must be the greatest game of all time. I mean, it has the word “ultimate” in it. That makes it magical.
  • Avatar: The Burning Earth (10/18): It’s a damn good thing you play as the Avatar, so you can blow those bad fires away and make sure the Earth doesn’t get too roasted. It doesn’t taste good burnt.
  • Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (10/18): As if the long and pointless name wasn’t good enough, it’s probably a fighting game with 2d graphics. ’nuff said.
  • Mercury: Meltdown Revolution (10/19): Three words that would never go together, put together, and still have no meaning.
  • Ultimate Board Game Collection (10/19): Can’t get any more straight forward than that. Because hey, you can’t play all these games on Yahoo! games. Or can you?

Nintendo DS

  • Thrillville: Off the Rails (10/15): This would complete the demonic circle of game consoles, but the PS3 was spared of it’s pity. Well played Lucasarts.
  • Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensation (10/15): Ahh, to be young, fit, attractive, and a cheetah girl once again.
  • Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (10/17): Yes, staring at a small 2 inch screen that’s 2 feet from your face is a great way to improve your vision.
  • Bee Game (10/17): Not to be confused with the Bee Movie Game, this is like Catz. Not NintenCats, but close.
  • Prism: Light the Way (10/18): There is no way to be more inspirational then lighting the way.
  • Avatar: The Burning Earth (10/18): This Nintendo exclusive is for you people (all 5 of you) without a Wii, yet with a DS.
  • Pet Wild Animals: Dolphinz (10/18): Oh, for sure. Add a Z to the end of a word where an S should be and now it’s cool. Why didn’t anyone see this earlier?!
  • Fish Tycoon (10/18): Imagine, the best way to spend time while sitting in a car or train or plane, is to deal with virtual fish. Peachy. MAN THE HARPOON!
  • Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (10/18): That’s right, someone had to do it. Be on every system. There’s always one, and this bad boy did it. Congrats to insanity.
  • Mahjong Quest (10/18): The board games may stay at home, but if I had to take one with me, it would definitely be Mahjong. If I knew how to play.

PS2

  • Thrillville: Off the Rails (10/15): blah blah blah…
  • Tony Hawk’s Proving Grounds (10/18): …blah blah blah…
  • Avatar: The Burning Earth (10/18): …blah blah blah…

Seems like that’s it for now. Stay tuned next week when we bring you more of those outrageous bloopers!

Oh, and don’t forget that there will be a ton of demos coming around, hopefully, from E for All. We may be a bit slow on updating with all that, so keep checking your local PSN/XBL provider!

Toshiba: HD-DVD sells more than Blu-ray, more laughing at Sony

Toshiba HD-DVD

One of technology’s more heated battles is between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray storage formats, a rivalry comparable to Windows/Linux/Mac, UT/Quake 3 and Sony/Microsoft. The latest strike has been made, and Toshiba reports that HD-DVD is in the lead!

HD-DVD players began to outsell Blu-ray ones since about mid-September, according to NPD sales figures. Jodi Sally, Toshiba VP for marketing of digital A/V products said that year to date, according to NPD figures, HD DVD players command 53% of sales; Blu-ray players, 44%; dual format players, 3%. The lead may sound marginal, but it may just herald a dark future for Blu-ray.

Sony managed to woo many customers to their camp of evil when they released a cheaper version of Blu-ray players, and attained a status of absolute win. Sally says that the victory was short-lived and that HD-DVD still dominates the scene. Sony can be seen crying in that corner again, like last week (or the week before).

And as for the PC, Toshiba expects 5 million HD-DVD drives to be sold in the fiscal year 2008.  With this, they seek to compete further against the atrocities of Sony’s Blu-ray. What is Toshiba’s master plan?

Toshiba believes more people are buying PC HD DVD drives with the pure intention to watch high-def movies than people who are buying the PS3. Sources have estimated that just 20% of PS3 owners have played movies on the machine.

Where will war turn next? Will Blu-ray strike back? Will Toshiba merge with Sony to form the Imperial Japanese Electronics corporations and attack American shores? We can only hope wait.

[Via Video Business]

Guitar Hero III or Rock Band?

rockband-logo.jpg

On October 28th the face-melting world will finally get its hands on the next iteration of the Guitar Hero franchise. And what is that you say? ANOTHER guitar playing game is coming out on November 23rd, and it has drums, the bass, as well as a microphone? Yes my axe-slinging friend, two games with guitars are coming out.

While the general gameplay and guitar seem to be fairly similar between Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III, the guitar playing in Rock Band has some interesting new additions. One of these such addition is smaller frets at the bottom of the neck of the guitar that are used for solos. These notes can be pressed without stumming the guitar on solos and will be extremely helpful on harder note streaks.

Also, the creators of Rock Band have added a nob on the guitar that allows for the user to change what kinda of sounds come out of the guitar. With new additions like these, I can’t help but try to think why someone would rather get Guitar Hero III than Rock Band? While playing the guitar in the first two Guitar Hero games was absolutely amazing, it got to the point where it seemed like it needed something more, and another slew of songs just didn’t seem like it would do it for me this time.

Ever since I played the first Guitar Hero, I thought about how awesome it would be to play another instrument, especially the drums, and how cool it would be create an entire band with my friends. While the bundle for Rock Band is significantly more pricey than Guitar Hero III (about $80 more), it seems like it’s worth it for what you are getting. Also, from what I’ve seen of the confirmed song lists, it seems like Rock Band’s is more solid.

All in all, if I had to put my money on one of these games for the holiday season, it would most definitely be Rock Band. As a matter of fact, I just preordered it.

Weekly games: Now with Demos!

Balls of Fury
Who needs Halo 3 when you can try out Crash Bandicoot’s newest adventure? Sure, you’ll probably rush out to buy it and stand in line at midnight for hours…oh, its out already? Well, no matter. Balls of Fury is worth the wait. I know. You’ll see.

Here’s a list of all the latest demos for your stay-at-home consoles, because hey, we all know what games are coming out. But just in case you aren’t sure, here’s some of those too.

PS3

  • Sega Rally Revo
  • Folklore
  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • The Simpsons Game (Demo)
  • Bladestorm (Demo)

Xbox 360

  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • Half Life 2: Orange Box
  • Sega Rally Revo
  • Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (Game & Demo)
  • Thrilleville: Off the Rails (Demo)
  • Bee Game (Demo)
  • Bladestorm (Demo)

Wii

  • Balls of Fury
  • Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
  • Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
  • Bleach: Shattered Blade
  • Rock & Roll Adventures

PS2

  • Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • Mountain Bike Adrenaline

PSP

  • Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
  • Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
  • Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • Crash of the Titans
  • Sega Rally Revo
  • Spiderman 3

Nintendo DS

  • Backyard Hockey
  • Flipper Critters
  • FIFA Soccer 08
  • Bleach: Blade of Fate
  • Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck
  • Touch Detective 2 1/2
  • Power Play Pool
  • Cocoto Cart Racing

That’s everything. Couldn’t tell whether there were going to be more Looney Tunes or FIFA to type out, but now it’s quite clear. Ahh, the miracle of capitalism. And don’t forget that the Crysis Beta, for those of you who believe there’s a glimmer of hope of running it, can get that too. Yet in my heart, any game with the…well, balls, to be called Balls of Fury is a winner. Even if it plays like a loser.

New PS3 model

Reported as a rumor earlier this week, Sony has now made it official that a new PS3 unit is on its way, at least in European territories. It sports a 40GB harddrive and lacks 2 USB ports, PS2 backwards compatibility, and does not have a multi-memory unit card port. This new unit will be released on October 10, 2007 at the price of €399 ($565).

It appears that Sony is phasing out the 60GB PS3 Starter Pack units as it will only remain in stock as long as it lasts. They lowered those prices to €499.

All of this has been made to please investors that have been hammered by Sony’s lack of PS3 sales. Their belief is that price is what has halted the PS3 from selling out – But as we all know it’s the games that count and the PS3 doesn’t have them (yet).

Sony Playstation 3

Rumor: New PS3 Model to Be Priced at $400

The PS3

Rumors are running a muck over the supposed release of a newer, cheaper, and slimmer PS3 model. Apparently, the new model will contain a 40 gig hard drive and will only cost $400. This is all according to Ars Technica’s mole who seems to be a very reliable source, previously reporting the addition of HDMI ports to the 360 and the the wireless/wired controllers for 360/PS3 versions of Rock Band (respectively). According to the mole, the 80 gig model will be dropped to $500, the new 40 gig model will be priced at $400, and the good ol’ PS2 will be priced at $99. In addition, a Blu-ray version of Spider-Man 3 will come with the purchase of any PS3, or at least with one of the models.

To fuel the flames of this rumor, Sony has filed information about a new PS3 model – CECHG01 – with the FCC and (as you can see in the post below) has announced that there will be a big announcement on October 12th. Could this be the new 40 gig PS3?

A $400 PS3 is exactly what Sony needs to get back on it’s feet. It would put the PS3 within a competitive pricing range of the 360. If they can manage to release some more good games for their console, this could be Sony’s saving grace.

Ah, but take this all with a grain of salt. In fact, take it with an ounce of salt. These are just rumors at this time. Hopefully, for any PS3 fans, they are true. Sony’s big announcement is in only 12 days so that’s all you have to wait to find out.
Well, see you then.

-Burbank