An Assessment Of Piracy And DRM Through The Use Of Pornography.

I know you’re here for the porn. But now that I have you I’m going to present one idea about piracy first. Misleading you with promises of sexy fap-time and then forcing you to listen to my nonsense. In the real world it’s lying. On the internet, it’s good advertising.

Recently there have been a few cases of games releasing only to have launch day DRM problems. I’m not going to name names, that’s childish. Very childish. Not as childish as Diablo III though, he’s the mostest childishest. Since presumably 300% of my readers will be playing Diablo while half-reading this, ignore the next paragraph if you are familiar with Diablo’s first time jitters. No wait, actually don’t skip it. To make it fun, I’m going to hide one misspelled word in the next paragraph. See if you can find it.

Diablo 3 released after 500 years of waiting and everyone was so excited that special medication was bundled with the game for people who have erections the entire time they play. Release time came… and went. One of the most controversial exclusions from the game is an offline mode. It is all online, all the time. Even StarCraft 2 came with an offline mode, sure it limited you severely but at least it was still there in case a squirrel decided to mate with your local internet exchange creating an explosion in both the exchange and the squirrel’s pants. It was a token gesture on Blizzard’s part but at least it existed. Not the case with Diablo 3, if you ever want to play you better be running a stable and fairly quick internet line. On release day, servers crashed, the infamous Error 37 got shown, tables were flipped, forums exploded with creative exaggerations of suffering and generally we showed the world why gaming is still occasionally mocked as an immature hobby.

Are you still looking for the misspelled word? It isn’t there. I lied. It feels shitty right, to be lied to so blatantly and obviously to make you read more of my article. You feel used, like just a piece of meat. Congratulations, you now feel like every hot girl after a one-night-stand. Looking back, all the signs were there. All the clues look like pimples on the tip of your nose they’re so obvious. You swear, like we all have, that we won’t be taken in again.

This is before we’ve even gotten to playing the game, we are already annoyed and frustrated. Not a mindset most developers are aiming at. Gaming is about fun, and always will be. The primary directive of any developer, general as it may sound, is to make its customers happy. In some way.

If there is some kind of dissatisfaction stemming from the purchase of a game, we won’t buy it. That’s what five years of Economics education has taught me. The same thing a five-year old understands intuitively.

This brings me to my epiphany. Piracy happens when developers go against the force of demand. Demand is simple; we want the best product for the lowest price. In a DRM-free world, piracy offers the same product but for free. The cost is that it is illegal and wrong. Companies believe appealing to consumers to “do the right thing” or to understand that what they’re doing is functionally no different from stealing is the way to curb piracy.

No. There are underlying issues here. The first problem is the idea that piracy can be stamped out. There will always be pirates. Many people claim they would NEVER buy the game if they didn’t pirate it. This is largely crap. Most would eventually buy it. However, there are a select few, a tiny subsection of this group who actually mean it. If they have to pay, they won’t play. Companies are infuriated by this. This is where the growing up needs to happen.

Companies have tantrums. Executives watch with bulging eyes and slobbering terror as their game is taken and all they see with their greedy, beady, little pig-eyes is lost profit. The sooner they understand that this group, the small group of what I have affectionately called fish, are not customers. They will never be. They are denizens of the pirate sea. They do not exist on dry land. All that they can be used for is free marketing, a loyal fanbase and some modding. That’s it.

Then we move onto the second issue. Looking back at the idea of demand, people can only be swayed away from piracy if in their minds, the product they are pirating is the SAME product as the legitimate version.

Piracy happens because this isn’t the case. Do you want the best experience of Mass Effect 3? Pirate it. No Origin service to worry about. All the pre-order content and Collector’s Edition exclusives are included and it never needs the internet to authenticate. It is a superior product. I have the Collector’s Edition staring down at me from my shelf, yet I’ve cracked my game. This is ludicrous. Buying a game is already scary, it’s a lot of money. It doesn’t help if developers keep locking their beautiful, virgin creations behind a chastity belt. Especially when the internet is still 90% free porn.

It is a hard enough sell to ask consumers to pay for something they can get for free without leaving their homes. It is near impossible to tell people to do the same thing, but for a worse product. This will never change.

When I buy a game and watch as the great pirates of yonder ocean have a better experience than me, it can only mean I regret my purchase. When companies realise that locking away game content behind DRM only makes piracy an easier choice for most, we might see some progress. Otherwise companies can continue to scream at the heavens, never understanding why good, honest people elect to follow the laws of demand.

I lied about the pornography, you should have guessed this by now. I know you feel betrayed and hurt. If this were the real world not only would we not be friends but you wouldn’t even say excuse me if you farted in front of me. In fact you might designate my personal living space and breathing air as the perfect place to fire your bum-cannon.

It’s okay. Be angry with me for lying about using porn, but that doesn’t give you the right to steal the porn I AM actually selling to you for a small additional fee.

I’ve treated you badly today. I know this. Come back in two weeks anyway.

I’ve been feeling nostalgic of late. Maybe it’s the cold, wet weather of contemplation or perhaps it’s the long lonely, music filled bus rides of late or perhaps it’s my impending 21^st birthday but for some reason I find myself being all wistful about my past. Suddenly everything reminds me of something else. The cold misty rain and my near constant listening to music have given things a vaguely ethereal quality.

Some people might say I’m too young to be nostalgic. Go out, get drunk, mack a girl, fight a douche, live a little. To those people I say this:

People were never so rude back in my day.

My weirdness aside, this recent plunge into the nostalgic got me thinking about the times I used to share a room with my younger brother. Close as we are, we discussed every possible topic imaginable – well beyond our given bed time, beyond our needed bedtime and once beyond possible bed time.

Naturally gaming was a dominant topic of this chubby-cheeked, red-faced, enthusiastic, prepubescent, escapade of psychological gold. I remember early 2008 most clearly.

Riding on the back of a ridiculous 2007, we seemed to discuss Modern Warfare most frequently. Thinking back now I still believe it was the herald of the singleplayer, linear, explosion-filled jizzfest that ultimately moulded the styles and expectations of most modern greats.

It was the first time, for me anyway, that I truly felt at the center of a massive adventure; non-stop, larger than life, beyond gargantuan action. What’s more it introduced us to near perfect pacing. Just enough quiet and calm to make the climax that much more poignant. For every epic battle, every explosion, there was a moment of calm awe, a chance for us to marvel – something later games have lost. Even watching the electrical tower fall into the ravine after blowing it up – it was actually a calm moment. There was no chase, no screaming, just the falling of a tower. Or even the harrowing but action-free opening. It gave me chills.

Then of course we have the ghillie suit mission that basically became the yard stick by which all stealth sections in action games are measured. Then finally the infamous nuclear blast, a moment I will never forget. An experience once again made frighteningly epic by our struggle to stop its launch, by our calm moment of defeat watching the missile climb slowly into the sky and then our eventual horror at being inside the head of a dying man.

I have made no secret of my status as a singeplayer gamer – I know that the COD series is mostly multiplayer based but what I’m speaking of here is what makes people love the game. Balance is an issue, sure, but more than balance is the feel of the game – one of the biggest factors in Modern Warfare’s monstrous success – its right there in the name. Modern Warfare was the first Call of Duty to leave the past behind and bring us to the present. There was something exciting about it, something magical about using modern weaponry, using the very best technology. It made it real and dangerous.

For a very long time, Infinity Ward, the makers of the Modern Warfare series, were the premium developers. Treyarch and their games were the filler between Infinity Ward games. Then Modern Warfare 2 came out and what we got was, to quote a magnificent writer, the conspiracy ravings of a homeless man wearing a tinfoil hat who blinks his eyes independently. It was bad. Plain and simple.

So we turned our gaze to Treyarch, albeit a skeptical, reluctant and disapproving gaze. We got Black Ops, my favourite Call of Duty since the original Modern Warfare. Not perfect by any means but still one hell of a good time. Sure it was still a little too focused on wars no one cares about anymore (especially outside of the US) and yes it did stick uncomfortably close to an almost stereotypical “twist ending” type of story but it sucked me in and I had a good time.

Then there was Modern Warfare 3, set to take back the throne of COD. The almighty, beer soaked, 11-year-old boy populated land of almighty “noobs”, “fags” and people who exclusively sleep with each other’s mothers….

…..aaaaannnnnndddddd no. It didn’t. Modern Warfare 3 was better than its predecessor but actually worse than Black Ops.

This brings me to today, and Black Ops 2 – the stage is set and the audience primed. Infinity Ward have all but disbanded, the head honchos moving off into the sunset amidst legal battles with parent publisher Activision Hitler (creative license may have been employed with publisher names, maybe) leaving Treyarch with one shot, one opportunity, they better not blow it, they need to own it, the moment, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime…

What made Modern Warfare so compelling was its freshness, in a franchise as stale as COD, freshness was like, well, a breath of fresh air. Ba Dum Tss.

That was 5 years ago, 5 games ago, 5 horse beatings ago – they now have the chance to do something COD needs: something new.

If Treyarch play their cards right, they could make me and a whole host of bored, jaded COD players care again. The ball is in your court, call has been made, will you answer?

My new column, NOW WITH WORDS!

Immersion is an odd thing. Developers toss and overwork the word as if each use directly correlates to another sold copy of their game.

As a child I believed it. As an angsty teen everything was a lie. Now as an adult, the world is the appropriate shade of murky grey. Some things are lies and other things are near truths.

What amazes me is that there seems to be almost no correlation between what marketing teams say and what the game actually is. I know that there is some logic behind this, no marketing douche is going to admit the faults of the crap he’s peddling, I understand that, respect it even. Marketing departments and companies make their living finding the best in what they sell. At least that’s the most romantic way I can think to put it. They emphasize the good and hide the bad. Welcome to the real world.

What I don’t understand is when they just lie. I get that exaggeration plays a part in any bit of advertising; it’s understood by all and accepted as fair play. When we pick up a product and its features are a little less shiny than the Stepford-esque zombies flogging it would have you believe, we aren’t too surprised. At least we shouldn’t be.

The idea, I’ve always assumed, is to take a nugget of truth and to expand and embellish it. What I don’t understand is when a company prances the marketing dance, but without even that nugget of truth to hang its web of silky fabrications on.

It seems to me that marketers would be better suited emphasizing and selling the good aspects of a product rather than trying to make it compete in categories where it is obviously and laughably inferior.

Let’s take one of the most stalwart buzz words of our time: immersion.

The routine is always the same;

“We’re cranking up the immersion.”

“We have many immersive elements.”

“Immersion is a key feature\priority\design philosophy\aspect of our game.”

Not every game can be and have everything and I don’t understand why marketing monsters try to make us believe otherwise. Does it actually work?

Does this actually convince anyone? Is my understanding of the collective minimum intellect of our fair ape-race so off base that this is actually an effective way to part man from his money? I have gotten to the point where I barely even hear this kind of drivel. I base my purchasing decisions entirely on gameplay footage, trailers, and hard facts about features.

Don’t misunderstand, if a company tells me they’re going for immersion by creating or using a core, large new feature – awesome. Show me some gameplay and I might be convinced. When I hear that a game now comes with “amazing, cutting-edge, artistically beautiful graphics to help immerse players” all I think is are there so few actually impressive features with your game that this is what you have to resort to?

To the ladies out there, if a man approached you and said he had an impressive two hands with a matching pair of feet would you be impressed or would you wonder what the hell was wrong with his brain?

The sad part is that I know where this trend of over marketing comes from – the blinding harsh reality of game development. We might expect a series of impressive, standard features to accompany any game and for the AAA titles out there, they generally do. For the smaller companies, the indie darlings and the garage start-ups out there, this makes breaking into the industry all the more difficult.

For the penniless developer, every single little feature represents a good portion of their budget and considerably more risk than even an entire game for a huge publisher. This makes it very tempting to suddenly start advertising every little thing they’ve ever done.

All I can say is that I hope they don’t. Even when they mean well, they just come across as tacky. Maintain some dignity and make it look easy. I understand struggling and fighting to be one of the big boys. We’ve all had that feeling. Some people out there seem to make it look so easy, seem so effortless, and they have so much.

Even when you’re a part of the group, one of the blokes, and happily one of the cool kids, there is always going to be that insecurity. What if I’m not good enough?

This extended high school metaphor is no different for game developers, big and small. Games are immensely difficult, expensive and time consuming to make. It requires a level of passion, dedication and sheer balls than most things to go out there and create an experience for the entire, nasty world to judge.

You know what? Have faith. Nothing makes a game look cooler than when its developers clearly love and are genuinely proud of it. You want a great marketing campaign? Give me a 5 minute video with random artist drone #47 and show me the level of passion and care that has gone into making a weapon look cool, or a character animate properly, or a shoe lace flutter just right.

You want to make me appreciate your game? Show me what goes into it and then show me the best of its features. Shame creates shame, when a gamer smells a cover up, we become like blood hounds. The same is true for love.

Show me the love and I’ll show you the money.

Love it or hate it, Mass Effect 3 has come. My personal feelings for the final chapter in Shepard’s tale will be discussed at some point after I finish the game – university can be quite demanding apparently. I feel quite angry that Van Wilder lied to me as a child. I expected my time at university to be spent with the triple B of awesome: Babes, Booze, and Bros.

Also Tara Reid. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and my tiny 10 year old brain didn’t know what to do with those feelings except to try and one day go to university and live in a whirlwind of vodka soaked women and good mates.

Then I got to university. There’s a lot more icky learning than you would think. I wanted to sue Van Wilder at first but sadly one of my courses is a Law course which taught me, with callous, brutal efficiency just how powerless we all are.

I have looked forward to playing Mass Effect 3 for along time now. A very, embarrassingly long time and here I find myself not having the time necessary to devote to it.

This got me thinking, with time becoming increasingly strained by “real world” problems; and with games becoming longer and longer – I’m looking at you Kingdoms of Amalur, you bloated, unwieldy behemoth – what will I actually have the time to play?

Naturally I started mentally making a list of the games that, like Mass Effect 3, I will make sure to find the time to play – even if I have to wait for an ebb in the sea of work I find myself drowning in.

My brother, taking a quick break from one of his girlfriends to refill the cocaine dispenser, suggested I write what I think into my article. Then with a resigned sigh my 17-year-old brother returned to the super model triplets waiting for him in his room.

My brother is basically Van Wilder.

It’s fun to watch.

As it turns out, my brothers prophecy is coming true.

 
A Disclaimer On The Choices

I am a singleplayer gamer. I’m not going to bash multiplayer, we occasionally go out for drinks and we have a good time when we do, but we don’t have the same circle of friends. The picks are chosen for their singleplayer offerings only.

The games will also be multi-platform. I like to ignore exclusives most of the time. They are a factor when you buy your console but for the rest of us – multi-platform titles are the bread and butter we live on.

Some hard cuts had to be made. These are my top 5, some or all of your top 5 will not be on the list – casualties of war. Sad casualties of war.

Assassin’s Creed 3

I don’t know why but I’m excited for the final Assassin’s Creed.

I shouldn’t be – Ubisoft have tried really hard to destroy the love I had for the franchise. They milked the premise, added layers and layers of fluff and mercilessly dragged out every piece of exposition possible. Knowing them, Assassin’s Creed 3 will probably be the first in a trilogy.

I will hate them for every moment I play the game. I shouldn’t give the faintest flying ffffffudge about this game, but make no mistake, I will play it.

Love conquers all.

I want to sneak through the snowy settlements. Assassinate the Red Coats, who are really the British but everyone seems to gloss over this slightly uncomfortable fact, I want to sneak into the colonies and truly help bring the current world power to independence.

It sounds like an adventure I want to have.

The ball is in your court Ubisoft – give me a reason to love you again.

Far Cry 3

I loved Far Cry 2. As a South African, it was eerily enjoyable to run around in a landscape full of the noises and sight I remember from my childhood. The music, the aesthetic and even the gun-play were all top notch.

Did it have problems? Large, bucktoothed, inbred, dumb-as-a-plank problems? You betcha sweet behind it did. It was so close to true greatness, and yet so far.

Games are personal and long. Little annoyances and minor gripes become infested thorns in our sides by the end. There is no give, no leeway and no sympathy.

In many ways we are a cruel and unforgiving people.

Yet in others we are a wonderfully simple group.

Give us stability, give us freedom, give us beauty, and give us fun, and we will be happy.

Borderlands 2

I never expected to play Borderlands. Review scores were good but not great. From everything I’d read, it seemed like it was a little grindy and repetitive for my liking.

Then I played it.

There was something magical about Borderlands. I don’t know if it was the humour,the music or just the style of it but somewhere in the great sea of binary that make up its code, the captured something special. The artstyle left me filled with wonder. The humour kept me grinning and the zany guns kept me entertained. I never even played it co-op until a second playthrough.

It seems odd to put a primarily co-op game on this list but I truly enjoyed my time with Borderlands, alone as I was.

Gearbox seem to be fixing every problem I had with the original – injecting more animated and lifelike characters, making a more involved, deeper story – the future looks bright.

Of course my expectations are higher now as well but the sequel looks to better is predecessor in every way and I can’t wait.

Risen 2

Not many people played Risen. I can’t blame them. That game is hardcore.

It demands you pay attention and work for your reward. It’s not necessarily a bad attitude, some might even argue that modern games need a little more of this, but it does mean the audience for the game shrinks down.

It’s a real shame because Risen is one of the most carefully crafted, authentic, and magically atmospheric games I have ever played. Like Borderlands, there was something magical in what this game ended up being. The NPC interactions and dialogue were so uncharacteristically human that the characters came to life.

Little squabbles and minor conflicts felt that much more poignant because of the extensiveness of the world and it’s characters.

Now steps in Risen 2, a game set to polish up the original’s overly sharp corners while still maintaining the engrossing, deep world that marks the Risen franchise as something truly special.

Also it’s pirate themed. How many good pirate RPGs have you played recently?

This one is already coming out in April for the PC which makes the potential it brings all the more enticing.

BioShock: Infinite

I know that harping on about BioShock: Infinite is nothing new, I know that at this point every man, woman, child and animal with opposing thumbs is excited for this game.

I am too.

I play games for their worlds, their stories and characters, that feeling of awesome accomplishment and sense of wonder that comes from being a hero in a magical land. Delving down into the scariest corners of my mind, making me care, making me angry, making me think. These are all the things I love about gaming. Unlike any other medium, games let you actually be a part something bigger, something greater than the world we’re in or the problems we typically face.

Games aren’t supposed to take you away from the “real world” they’re supposed to make you excited to be alive.

BioShock gave us a world and opened our minds.

BioShock Infinite looks to do the same, it is rich and mysterious, full of wonder, unanswered questions and answers to questions we didn’t know we had.

It is a world, an idea, a universe all its own. I look forward to untangling its secrets.

The PlayStation Vita seems to finally be finding some stable ground after a rough and shaky launch in Asia in December. According to Sony’s latest sales figures, the Vita has currently sold more than 1.2 million units worldwide.

That’s really not too bad when you consider that sales will only improve from here on in. Factor in that the 3DS sold about 8 million units in its first year and the Vita may yet be the success it deserves to be and that we want it to be.

“PS Vita was designed to deliver the ultimate portable entertainment experience, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the reaction we’re seeing from consumers and the pace at which PS Vita is selling,” says Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “The market has responded and there is clear demand for a mobile device capable of providing a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real-world context. To sustain momentum, we’re working closely with third-party developers and publishers to ensure the best games and franchises possible will be available on PS Vita, and our software line up for the remainder of 2012 will have something for everyone across the globe.”

As far as games are concerned, upwards of 2 million Vita games have been sold both at retail and through PSN.

It’s also likely that Sony will cut Vita prices at some point to boost sales although the impending influx of quality titles onto the console will certainly help.

The harder we love, the more viciously we hate. I love hard.

Mass Effect 3 is only two weeks away. Fourteen days. 1 209 600 agonising seconds.

I wish I could freeze myself and wake up when my delivery arrives.

I can’t.

So I’m left to wonder, ponder, brood and endlessly, mind-numbingly ruminate on all the promises Mass Effect 3 may fulfil; and what hellish shower of fiery pain I will rain down upon BioWare should they disappoint me.

It all comes down to this. There can be no cliff-hanger, no threads un-tied, no mystery left unsolved, no arc left un-arced.

It is terrifying. In the unknown there is hope. In reality there is both disappointment and only the possibility of fulfillment.

We risk unhappiness for the chance of satisfaction.

At this moment, before we cross from the threshold of hope into the starkness of reality, here are 5 things Mass Effect 3 must do so that I don’t firebomb BioWare’s head office.

Read quickly, the end approaches.

5. Creating And Solving Problems Within The Same Game

This is the quintessential problem I had with Mass Effect 2. The clean slate. The fresh start. It was a slap to me and my Mass Effect 1 hours of playtime.

It seems like every time a sequel to a story driven game is released, some marketing donkey is up and braying about how newcomers to the series are welcome and catered for.

When a guy says accessible my Spidey-sense tingles. It is simple, unarguable logic – if I spent thirty hours getting to know a world, its characters and their motivations along with the subtle web of relationships that go with it then any subsequent story cannot be accessible to a new player.

If it is, why the hell did I waste thirty hours of my life? What I mean by this is that by assuming I’ve played previous games developers would be free to create truly deep content. The stuff gaming nirvana is made of.

Instead, what most games do is what I’ve said in the title: they create new, never before heard of, referenced or even hinted at issues and then they solve those problems and call it progress.

It is not progress, it is a detour. Not a very good detour at that, it’s a circle.

What Mass Effect 2 did was to lightly coat all the new problems with undertones of Reapery goodness, ending with a little bit of real progress and then called it a game.

Enough.

Release the previous games for free, or at least cheap and then make a sequel that assumes I’m not a cross-eyed chipmunk.

Why not make a game aimed at the fans, you know, the diehard people who make your lives and jobs possible.

I want real, genuine progress in Mass Effect 3.

Give me progress or give me death. BioWare’s death.

4. Don’t Make Shepard A Bland, Crew Cut Vanilla American Boy

Shepard is a character. To me, Shepard is a handsome man of goodness. He is the last thing of sanity in a world gone mad.

He defends the weak by being strong.

Your Shepard may be different. That’s the beauty.

Nothing will pull me out of my state of immersion than with Shepard behaving like an all-America boy.

Already we started to get that football playing jock in Mass Effect 2, and it stank. There was little emotion, no worry or sadness. There was maybe one line of dialogue, at the end of the game shortly before I had my way with Miranda, where Shepard shows a hint of humanity.

A part where he lies awake at night wondering if he’s worthy of the universes trust.

I don’t want him to become a whiny bitch but at the same time I’d like a bit more reaction to the atrocities around him. When people died he shrugged it off, always in control, calming other people down.

I’d like to see him lose it. Lose his temper.

Over-react. Better yet, show me something besides anger and determination.

That’s what is human, what is relatable.

I don’t only need grizzled manliness, I want to see some humanity.

You want me to worry about the Reapers? To truly wonder if we can win the war?

Show me Shepard doing it. Show me Shepard breaking down in a moment of privacy. Show me a crew member, a friend consoling him.

Then I’ll care.

I’ll care plenty.

3. Do Not Substitute Climatic Story Moments With Climactic Battles

Clearly BioWare are trying to make an action game. It’s not a bad thing. Imagine the nailbiting satisfying action of something like Gears of War combined with the depth and RPG awesome of Mass Effect 1 and 2.

That’s the goal in Mass Effect 3. Quite clearly, that is the goal. It’s a good goal, an admirable one.

But do not forget what makes Mass Effect special: the world, the story and characters, the final frontier – aliens and a society not our own; the jaw dropping magnificence of new worlds, new planets and species, new technology.

Give me a mission with no combat. Give me a stealth mission and give me resolution of story.

I don’t want to fight eleven Reapers, I want to find out how they were made, what drives them, who are the Protheans?

Answering these question will be as, if not more compelling than any huge climactic battle and I just hope BioWare understands this.

Battle is not the only way to make me feel awesome.

Let me meet the families of my crew. Let me see Garrus fall in love.

Let me be a wingman for Wrex or Grunt as they court a sexy Krogan.

These will make me shake my head in wonder. The battles are important, but no less than this.

2. Tone. Stop Making Me Re-Live Angsty Puberty

What makes Sci-Fi special? Why is the lure of space, of worlds unknown so inviting?

The wonder of it. The sheer unbridled unknown is inviting because it holds possibilities.

Somewhere along the way everything became serious political upheaval. The end of the world.

Bummer.

The climax is always going to be less mysterious and less about wonder than what came before. We understand the world and the cause now let’s fight. Understandable in a sense but that’s not why I’m here.

The fight for survival is a primal thing. It’s why we do amazing things when our existence is threatened. To those who even played Mass Effect 1 will remember that survival, a place in the universe is why we’re here fighting.

Sci-Fi is about the beauty of exploration, the thrill of the unexplored and discovery. The alien, life and otherwise.

I want that quiet wonder, those moments of exquisite, lonely quiet that makes the battles all the more empowering. Perspective can be powerful. It’s why we all go quiet when we stand next to huge statues or see pictures of the sun compared to Earth.

I want that calm and that wonderment so that my fight and my struggle are all the more poignant.

Give me that magic that makes me want to explore the heavens and unearth its secrets.

1. Do Not Make Earth The Focus Of The War

Earth is not my home. Not in the world of Mass Effect. To Shepard, the closest thing he has to a home is the Normandy, his family is his crew.

Earth is supposed to be an idea, a small important symbol of hope and home. We’re struggling for a place in the universe, a way for humanity to become a part of a greater civilisation and society.

Watching Earth get destroyed, watching cities and countries not my own at war is nothing new. It is nothing special and it is nothing meaningful.

Blow up the Citadel. The place I spent hours exploring and the people I spent hours getting to know. Destroy even one wing of the Citadel, then I’ll feel something.

All too quickly, Sci-Fi series and writers return to Earth as the obvious soft spot. The thing we all want to defend, whose destruction has the most impact.

I don’t give a tinkers cuss about Earth and it’s sweaty apelike inhabitants. We’ve never explored or even visited Earth. It should remain an important symbol.

Now I know that exactly 119% of BioWares sales are in America. I know that to anyone living in North America the destruction of America is the greatest tragedy ever. It’s not a bad thing, I wish I had more patriotism and more pride but I don’t. I’m proud, sure but watching another country get destroyed, fighting levels in foreign cities is not immersive to me.

Fighting on other worlds, defending human and alien alike, that is immersive.

If we got to watch the Earth get destroyed in the first few minutes of the game, then we’d have something.

Take away our home and force us to defend the Citadel because it’s all we have left.

Now we’re talking about compelling narrative.

I’ve come to care about the alien races. I enjoy the idea of a mixed society, where all races must learn to live together.

That is why the Citadel is so important. It represents just that. I want to defend that more than our little blue marble.

I just hope that BioWare understand how powerful they are. In only a few hours of playtimes, spread over a few years I already care more about their world than my own.

It sounds odd to say but it’s the truth. The destruction of Earth is too ridiculous; it’s too foreign and crazy an idea for me to ever accept it fully.

If the war is kept firmly lodged in the ethos and world of Mass Effect I will be happy, if it all comes down to Earth I will feel nothing.

The Conclusion

I love the Mass Effect franchise. It is a space opera. I saw its inception and I’ve watched it grow into the thing it is today.

The world of Mass Effect is a far bigger place than only three games can hold, and we know there will be more.

But as the end of the trilogy, I hope BioWare do us proud. I’d like to believe. I want to believe that things will be okay.

Was research really necessary to come to that conclusion? Anybody with a moderate IQ can see that the PS Vita is not doing well and a big part of this is that it’s a new console and people are reluctant to buy but they’re so reluctant because of the price. Sure, you get your money’s worth in a way but it’s a lot for a handheld by any standards.

Anyway, research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics did do a bit of research and based on that expects Sony to follow Nintendo’s strategy of cutting the price of the 3DS early in its life-cycle.

That’s funny because it was just yesterday that SCE UK boss Fergal Gara said that Sony has no current plans to cut the Vita’s price. However, the research suggests that Vita can shift a respectable 12.4 million units if price-cuts come in early enough.

“Vita’s hardware sales could reach $2.2 billion assuming a $180 [£114] average retail price,” Strategy Analytics said. “In the time of austerity, consumers are considerably sensitive to prices, and Nintendo proved that a price cut can save a product. Their decision to slash the price of 3DS’s from $249 to $169 revived sales of the console.

“Sony now is experiencing the same story in Japan. Sales of the Wi-Fi version of PlayStation Vita at $249 initially exploded, selling more than 300,000 units in the first week of release. But the new console is barely moving 20,000 units per week in its home market after all the hard-core fans made their purchases, mirroring the experience of the Nintendo 3DS.

“Strategy Analytics expects sales of PlayStation Vita in North America and Europe to follow the same pattern, suggesting that a price cut will be essential to stimulate sales and forge a competitive position.

“Despite the solid design and strong processing power, it is challenging to convince consumers to buy a dedicated game console above the $200 price range in today’s economic environment as Nintendo has learnt. Sales of 3G models will be a particular challenge as it demands a $50 premium and additional data plan charges and in the long run is likely to represent only a small portion of total PlayStation Vita sales.”

Personally, a price cut is the only way to go if the Vita is to salvage itself and surely Sony has experience with this as it had to initially sell the PS3 at a substantial loss before it could eventually make a profit off the console sales.

Officially, the PS4 doesn’t exist yet but it sure is getting enough press to make you think it’s on the brink of launching. Earlier this week, we reported on how Sony themselves dispelled any notion of the PS4 getting out anytime soon as developing it would be a “distraction”. Anyway, a new rumour from a likely unreliable source claims that the PS4 will use GPU’s from AMD.

At this point we should note that the source is a few former employees of AMD who said, “[AMD] may play a key role in the new product.”

Seems legit.

AMD also makes the GPU’s for the Xbox 360, funnily enough. As you’d expect, neither Sony nor Microsoft were up to commenting on these claims.

A diamond in the rough. Because the Aladdin in us never dies.

Have you played my favourite game? Do you agree with my choice of console? Masterchief or Kratos?

No?!

Death to you, your parents, your unborn children and any person who has willingly, unwillingly or unwittingly helped you.

Also I’ll pee on your lawn and shave my initials onto your dog.

Intolerance.

We all know it, we all understand it and hate it. We all propagate it, in some way or another.

We’re all small blonde girls on the inside. That Powerpuff looking thing we call confidence is really quite fragile and the result is that we crave validation.

Every time we meet a like-minded individual, who loves what we love, Bubbles gets a little stronger. When we fight intolerance, ignorance or just plain cruelty, it gets a little smaller.

Where is this hippie speech leading?

To a single quote:

A wise man can learn more from a fool than a fool from a wise man.

Life is almost never black and white. Right and wrong are ideas taught to us as children, when we knew nothing. At this stage we were barely better than retarded and the natural inclination to dichotomise makes us accept this idea unquestioningly.

Stop it. Just stop it.

Of course there are some clear evils and some clear goods in this world but they are far rarer than we think. Almost everything is a matter of perspective.

The above quote is a very powerful idea. The stupid, close-minded, prejudiced morons of this world cannot broaden their horizons; they cannot accept new ideas or fathom other perspectives.

The best of us can and do just that. Every scientist, artist and business man will tell you that failure is as valuable as success. Not to the person failing obviously, but as a broader concept.

We immediately dismiss most things. We live in an age of information downpour; so much, all the time, on every topic. Brain explode. Given this society, dismissive behaviour is understandable, a natural development and almost unavoidable. That doesn’t make it right.

Sometimes it’s worth looking at the average and the bad to find some insight into the good. If we learn from the past we can improve our futures.

That’s what we’re doing here today. As a follow up to last week’s 5 Terrible Features In Great Games here are 5 great features in average or unpopular games.

Some of these games are good. Others are not. All of them have some excellence brought down by bits of mediocrity.

We can still learn from them, because we are wise men.
 

5. Alice Madness Returns – Imagination

The game was solid but repetitive. The structure workmanlike and the platforming never made it past “quite fun”. Even the combat was only good up for a couple of hours before it got boring.

I only noticed all of this after 6 \ 7 hours of play time. I am a nitpicky, anal gamer. Little things bug the hell out of me if they’re not done at least adequately.

Not all of these relatively glaring flaws were noticeable because of the sheer amount of imagination in the game’s setting, world, style and characters.

When I look at Skyrim, a small part of me dies at the blandness of the world. Where is the colour? The life? The imagination?

We could all learn a bit from Alice.

4. Alpha Protocol – Dialogue Structure

Mass Effect popularised the dialogue wheel. Letting us the know the gist of what was going to be said without actually ruining the dialogue Shepard will say a nanosecond later.

This worked well and many games copied it, some well others not.

Meet Alpha Protocol; a largely broken game from Sega that failed spectacularly. Yet I remember it. I remember some missions with the same fondness that I remember some of the best gaming moments.

In Alpha Protocol the dialogue sequences and discussions were turned into a whole game in itself. Just by adding a timer to the dialogue I was forced to make decisions on the fly – making the whole experience far more intense and rewarding. It also flowed a lot better.

Then, there was their whole character system where certain characters responded to certain behaviour well and other behaviour poorly. The implementation was sometimes lacking and clunky but when it worked, damn it felt cool to say things and manipulate characters.

Alpha Protocol made me excited for dialogue and non-combat scenarios in a way few other games have. There are entire missions in Alpha Protocol that are primarily about a stake out or recognisance. They were the most compelling missions, and that is saying something.

If you’re in a gaming noir mood, grab a copy of the game. It will cost you like a buck at this point and if you view the exercise as a case study, you’ll have a good time.

3. Zeno Clash – World Building

At a guess, most people will not have played this game.

I played it when it released and it haunts me still.

What can only be described as a first person, melee brawler running on Valve’s Source engine, this game is something ridiculously unique. The weirdness and imagination of the world will hit you immediately. This is a game that shows us its world without shame.

If you can accept its premise and its eeriness, there is a warm, interesting and fully realised world beneath the relatively short game. The society has its own sects and the interactions between characters are weirdly real for such a fantastical game.

The characters behave like their world is the only one there is. Their way is the only logical one. They take for granted you understand political and personal motivations that web the story while still explaining them so you’re never lost.

With more environment variation than most triple A games the whole art style was a contender for the imagination award as well.

What set Zeno Clash apart was just how well realised the world was. By the end of the game, the world had carved its own niche in my mind.

It’s a magnificent place to inhabit if you can appreciate the weirdness.

Full of mystery and questions, itching to explore more and to experience everything, please dear lord let there be a sequel soon.

Yeah, we all love free stuff. Deny it and you’re just a liar which is a mortal sin on the 3rd Friday of the month. SCEE has released a list of titles that will support cross-platform play and the great thing is that you don’t need to buy the game for each console to make use of this feature. You buy it once and can play on both PS3 and Vita.

MotorStorm RC, Top Darts, Hustle Kings, WipEout HD, the HD Fury DLC for WipEout 2048, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 DLC are the designated titles to be compatible with both of Sony’s platforms.

What’s more, if you own one of the games for Vita, you’ll be able to download the same content for PS3 and vice versa.

“But it is not only the ability to buy these games for one price and access them across both platforms that makes the relationship between PS3 and PS Vita so important,” Sony says.

“Motorstorm RC, Hustle Kings Top Darts and WipEout HD and HD Fury DLC for WipEout 2048 all offer Cross Platform Play, which allows users to compete with gamers regardless of which system they are playing on. Whether it is real time or turn based play, this new way of competing creates a unique gaming experience.”

Pretty awesome if you ask me but once again we have to ask if this will help boost Vita’s sales in any way as the console just hit a new weekly low in sales figures this week.

Ken Levine seems to have a new-found love for Sony. At the publisher’s E3 press conference, he showed off BioShock: Infinite’s Move support and then proceeded to whip out a Vita and pledge to develop a BioShock title for the currently struggling little handheld. I can’t wait for said BioShock title to release but until then it’s pretty clear what we all have to do: because Ken is like Jesus to us and we heed his every word, we should all go out and buy a Vita. In fact don’t just stop there, take it to the next level and become a Sony freak. Screw that BB, get an Xperia.

Okay okay, I’m obviously kidding, mostly. Seriously though get an Xperia, they’re shiny.

Anyway, Ken Levine showed some more love for the Vita in the latest issue of PSM3. When asked what he thought about the handheld, he was initially cautious – probably because he wanted to choose his words carefully given the console’s precarious position – but then called the Vita a “really interesting platform,” citing the platform’s ability to preserve the purity of different gaming experiences and genres as a core strength.

“It’s a really interesting platform because, as a gamer, it’s the first platform that really sort of gives of everything. It’s the first time I can play things like shooters on an aeroplane; and I don’t like feeling I’m playing something that’s compromised in any way.”

Levine also believes that in the very near future “there will be whole kinds of games that you wouldn’t have been able to play before on the Vita.”

It may be that Irrational is currently working on BioShock: Infinite and that Vita’s BioShock will be built from the ground up but I can’t wait to see what it eventually looks like given how well Uncharted transposed itself onto the Vita with Golden Abyss.

Fan favourites that no one will remember when something better comes alo…ooohh look! Something shiny.

We have all started to use the word memorable to mean fun or enjoyable. I’ve been slapped by a woman before and it was neither fun nor enjoyable but it was pretty memorable.

This is the distinction I’m making. Memorable does not mean good or fun, it doesn’t even mean intense or shocking. It’s far more personal than that. What is memorable to one person might be completely forgettable to another.

What we find memorable is what touches us. Something about the world, story or gameplay somehow becomes linked with powerful emotion. Certain songs remind me of ex-girlfriends, some books are so vivid in my memory I still can’t believe they aren’t real, and some games I will remember forever.

Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. The first is a masterpiece, the second is arguable the first game to ever seriously grab you by the scrotum and pull you on a wild globe-trotting adventure so spectacular you’re left almost feeling sexually satisfied, but what about the third? Releasing to positive but not spectacular reviews, why do I lump that piece of coal in with those other gems? It’s personal. The game lets you choose which of the two brothers to play as and their interactions and dynamic were so similar to my own relationship with my brother that I genuinely loved the characters. I will remember them forever and I cannot defend the game as anything more than good. Memorable is personal.

Last week I wrote an article on 5 Games We’ll Remember In 20 Years. Those were the select few games from the last year or so that gave experiences that lead to a profound feeling of inner growth. They all had those “OMG!!” moments but what made them special was what you got left with afterwards.

The games on this list are the one night stands. Fun, special, one hell of a good time, and they make you smile when you think about them but I won’t remember them when their sequels release or bigger things come along.

I’m not speaking about recollection. Any normal person who has their morning coffee without whisky and leaves cocaine on toast only for special occasions will hopefully be able to recollect most of the good games they’ve played. They should even have some fond memories and when the ice caps melt, our grandchildren are plentiful and Half Life 3 is a folk legend, we should still be able to do a healthy bit of reminiscing while sitting in a nuclear-powered rocking chair, but they won’t make us fall silent. In our private moments we won’t suddenly remember them and get a warm sensation in our bellies.

5 games from the last 24 months that took the world by storm but that I won’t remember come the sunshine. These games burn bright and fiercely but when I put the down the controller, once the initial awe and excitement has died down, I’m left satisfied but I’m not in love.
 
 

5. Call of Duty. Anything After 4.

This may seem obvious but it’s being said anyway. This is the epitome of what I’m talking about here. Fun, well made and maybe even awe-inspiring, until the sequel comes along. These games are fast food, cheap wine and the easy, drunk chick at the party.

There’s fun to be had and lots of it too, but these game won’t stick with me. I barely understand their stories and the action starts to meld together into one big ‘splosion of Scottish, bearded, magnificent mustached, action.

I’ll probably continue to play them every year. The same way I’ll watch the new Transformers movies.

Pretty things and things that go boom.

Not everything has to be profound and that’s completely fine.

I love Blue Mountain State – who doesn’t?
 
 

4. Batman: Arkham City

Yes, I know – this was an outstanding game. Certainly the best Batman experience you can have short of actually eating gravel and becoming Batman.

Fluid, well designed combat, fun gadgets and even a memorable story.

Nothing new enough.

After Arkham Asylum swept me off my feet Arkham City was going to have to work really hard to impress me. It did to an extent but the problems start right at the conceptual level.

Arkham Asylum but bigger and more open world. If the game wasn’t so big and fleshed out this could have passed for an expansion.

As it stands, I remember the feeling I got when I first ran around feeling like Batman – in Arkham Asylum. Now I have a lot of fun but this just feels like an expanded game without any serious innovation or hooks to make me remember Arkham City over Asylum.

Rocksteady are talented developers and I’m excited for whatever they do next.

I’ll remember the first time I silently took out a room of thugs using my bad-assery. It was in Arkham Asylum.
 
 

3. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

I know I’m not alone here. In fact my distinguished colleague wrote an entire article on why the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become that weird slightly over 40 woman at the teenage party.

In fact I’m going to quote him directly and link to his article because there is nothing left to say that he hasn’t already said.

Firstly, and amongst the biggest issues with the game, is that it showed me how exhausted the gameplay was. With barely anything worth writing home about added to the game, and an identical formula to its predecessors, Revelations couldn’t bring back the excitement of past games. Variety was a lot less, and things like the renovating system and slow pace often made playing it a serious chore. The game relied heavily on its previous successes, and failed to really build from its predecessors in any significant way.

Azhar’s Full Article. Go read it and then send a letter to Ubisoft.
 
 
Find the next two entries on the following page.

It looks as if Sony is working on a touchscreen handheld controller much like that of the Wii U. It’s a little more sophisticated though as Sony’s controller seems to be intended for use in conjunction with 3D TV’s so that the viewer’s perspective changes depending on the controller’s position in relation to the TV.

It’s called the “Position-Dependent Gaming 3-D controller, and Handheld as a Remote” and below you’ll find a description according to the patent information:

“Methods and systems for using a position of a mobile device with an integrated display as an input to a video game or other presentation are presented. Embodiments include rendering an avatar on a mobile device such that it appears to overlay a competing user in the real world. Using the mobile device’s position, view direction, and the other user’s mobile device position, an avatar (or vehicle, etc.) is depicted at an apparently inertially stabilized location of the other user’s mobile device or body. Some embodiments may estimate the other user’s head and body positions and angles and reflect them in the avatar’s gestures.”

If you hit the link above, you’ll notice that the patent was filed back in 2010 so Sony has had this idea for a while but the real question is whether this is in fact a potential controller for any potential PS4 that may come along between now and 2014 or thereabouts. You should also take a look at this aerial diagram of pretty much how the diagram is supposed to work although it’s a bit technical.

Not much info is given on the device other than that it’s a mobile device with position-dependency. Let the wild theories start flying.

The PlayStation Vita is by no means an outright failure just yet but that doesn’t mean it won’t be. It’s no secret that Monster Hunter kept the PSP ticking over for quite some time with the series’ huge Japanese following and Vita could follow suit.

It’s no surprise then that a Sony official has told the world that there is a Monster Hunter title scheduled for release on the Vita later this year. He’s made this statement before any official announcement was made but did it in response to the Vita’s slow Japanese sales. He firmly believes that launch sales would’ve been much better if Monster Hunter was there amongst Uncharted: Golden Abyss and those other titles when Sony popped Vita out.

“The games available at launch in Japan do not correspond to the typology of the Japanese public. It lacks a particular game, Monster Hunter, scheduled for the coming months,” said PlayStation France CEO Philippe Cardon. “Had it been there from the start in Japan, the story would have been different.”

I really hope Vita’s sales pick up although Monster Hunter is reputed for causing a console’s Japanese sales to soar. You’re also welcome to take this as an announcement for Monster Hunter Vita.

Short of free porn and comics, what should Sony do to push Vita’s sales up or are you of the belief that the console will eventually find its feet?

I quite like the Vita’s design and it isn’t really that bulky given the hardware it has on-board. However, being Japanese means that Takashi Sogabe, the console’s designer, isn’t quite happy with it. In fact, he wanted it to be skinnier.

Sogabe’s resume includes designing the Sony Walkman and he said the following in a recent Sony roundtable (via CVG): “The original design of the PS Vita…was very much thinner than the current retail product. From a designer’s point of view, thinner is better-looking, but the engineers wanted to put all the features in.”

So is a Vita slim on the cards?

“Maybe it will become thinner in the future, but the engineers would have to come up with a means to do that,” said the designer.

Sogabe also wasn’t thrilled about the positioning of the analogues although game publishers eventually won that battle citing that it was the best solution. That wasn’t all, though.

“As a designer, I wanted to use metal rather than plastic, but because there are a lot of antennae in the body, we couldn’t use metal.”

Again, I rather like the look of the PS Vita but a slim version certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.

So someone decided that instead of receiving the super awesome Kevin Butler treatment, the best way to market the PlayStation Vita now that it has launched in Europe would be with some lifestyle shots showing how happy and aesthetically pleasing the average Vita user looks. I don’t know about you but they just look like colossal tools to me.

However, I am but a bespectacled nerd and so do not understand the finer nuances of coolness displayed by these strapping gentlemen.

I guess the only question remaining is which one of these guys most resembles Alessandro? Speaking of which, have you seen his rather cool unboxing of the PS Vita?

PlayStation Vita is nowhere near being a failure just yet but people seem to be writing it off already due to a slow start in sales. What they seem to neglect is the fact that Vita, like the 3DS is doing something largely different to other handhelds and so people are reluctant to buy in because they want to be absolutely certain that it’s worth the money and for the amount of cash a Vita will set you back, you can’t really blame them.

Vita is arguably making a giant leap in handheld gaming but only once people start seeing good reviews for the games and console and when they start to hear things like, “Person X has a had a Vita for almost two months now and they say it’s amazing,” will they consider forking out the cash.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president and CEO Jim Ryan told MCV that Nintendo’s success is a good sign for handheld gaming.

“One of the encouraging things about 3DS’ sales performance at Christmas is that it is confounding the naysayers who say that there is no room in the market for a dedicated handheld gaming device,” the European PlayStation boss said.

“And to that extent we were encouraged by how 3DS did over the last month.”

Ryan also said that it would be counter-productive to estimate launch sales in other regions based on how it started off in Japan.

“One of the things we have learnt over a long period of time, is that whether it is PS1, PS2, PSP or PS3, it is dangerous to the point of impossible to take any experience from the Japanese market and try and extrapolate it, and propose upon what will happen in Europe or North America.

“Not withstanding the fact that it is just way too early to make any conclusions. The markets are now just so different, I actually think they are diverging to a greater extent than they were different in the past – if that’s even possible.”

I personally think that Sony is on to a winner in the Vita but it’ll be a while before the sales figures begin to reflect that. Similarly, it was only after several years that PS3 console’s became profitable for Sony who had previously been selling them at a reported loss.

Mazel tov to Alessandro who will be taking delivery of his shiny new PlayStation Vita today but it seems like the good captain won’t have much of a crew to command if sales of the PlayStation Vita locally are anything like they’ve been abroad.

So Vita has sold around 500 000 units worldwide which isn’t abysmal but it’s not great either. The epic slap in the face though has got to be the fact that it is being matched in sales by the geriatric PS2. A newly released handheld console with some serious power under its skin is drawing level with a more than eleven year old console that many believed to be dead until it turned up as the base of a TV and was also revealed to be poised for launch in Brazil a few years ago.

According to an official release from Sony Computer Entertainment, “The PlayStation 2 platform continues its sales momentum and remains robust sales especially in emerging counties and regions such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America, and exceeded half million units worldwide.”

Despite it’s age, the PS2 is still a solid and affordable console with a vast library of even more affordable games that are still great to play otherwise we wouldn’t be getting all these fantastic remakes and HD collections.

Of course, it also helps that PS2′s are helping to fund Hezbullah since that’s always good for your bottom line.

This isn’t so much a slating of the Vita, which I sincerely hope picks up in sales and becomes successful, as it is a testament to the staying power of the PS2 and just what a phenomenal console it was. It’s doubtful the current gen of consoles will enjoy such a long and prosperous life but the PS2 doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment president Andrew House, the firm isn’t yet contemplating talking about “anything to do with future console iterations at this point”.

There’s been a great deal of speculation regarding the PS4 as of late, but what should quieten it a little is that House told CVG at Japan’s December PlayStation Vita launch that Sony is “just entering into this great period for PS3″.

He said: “I don’t think we’re contemplating talking about anything to do with future console iterations at this point.

“But one thing I always point to is that, somewhat in contrast to our major competitors, we have, particularly with PS2, managed the length of the lifecycle and ensured its profitability for our publishing partners for a much longer lifecycle than has been true of the competition.

“I would say that’s in part because of the global reach of Sony from a distribution, infrastructure and marketing standpoint. Because in many markets, we work alongside really long-standing, established operations in electronics, we’re able to migrate out into rather more emerging markets much more easily and sustainably than is possible for some of our competitors.”

When pressed further regarding his thoughts on the next generation, House commented that in his opinion there are still “significant barriers” for game streaming on high-definition consoles, and physical media is still seen as “the easiest consumer experience”.

“There are clearly a lot of opportunities [in the future] with regard to business models around games, all of which we’re interested in and are exploring,” House said.

“Some of our group companies already have a stake in free-to-play models and so on. But in my view, for the very highest quality high-definition console gaming, I think there are still some significant barriers to streaming solutions.

“Whether it’s in mobile or cloud-based services, there are opportunities there for more casual content and in our case potentially for legacy content, which we would definitely like to explore. But I think we are a way away from being able to deliver the full-on top-end experience like that.

“The scale of data involved and issues around latency do mean that, at least for now, the easiest consumer experience is from physical media. Although, having said that, we’re starting to see some growth in the number or proportion of our consumers that want to access their content via download. But I think it’s still pretty small.”

What makes this all the more interesting is that House’s comments arrive shortly after MCV claimed that both the PS4 and Xbox 720 will be unveiled at this year’s E3 press conference.

But when CVG quizzed Sony’s Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida about the PlayStation 4, the man simply laughed and said: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Sony seems to have learned from the overall mistake that is the PSP and promises to do things right with the PlayStation Vita. The Vita will be billed first and foremost as a gaming device as opposed to the PSP which Sony kept trying to sell as a multimedia device.

Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine UK, SCEE president Jim Ryan was very candid and open about the company’s dead-in-the-water handheld console.

“I think with PSP we tried to position it as a rather broad multimedia device. We talked a lot in the early days of PSP about its video playback functionality its use as a music device and a host of other multimedia functionality that it had,” he explained.

“I think this time we’ve realised that perhaps ended up confusing consumers, and they weren’t quite sure what the device was really all about. So this time the Vita does all of that stuff that we talked about on PSP, and it does it a lot better.”

PS Vita still has plenty of multimedia functionality, the SCEE boss reminded, but this time “what it does best is play games.”

He said: “We’ve been a lot more single minded and much more focused in our positioning of Vita. We’re saying that this is primarily a gaming device. It has been developed from the ground up as a gaming device. What it does best is play games.

“The other thing would be that we learned that what consumers didn’t really appreciate [about PSP] was, in many cases, getting ports of PS2 and then PS3 games for their PSP.

“They said if that’s what you’re going to do, I’ll just play the game on PS2 or PS3. We’re helped here by the nature of the interfaces that are available on the Vita. What we learned is that the gaming experiences need to be unique and differentiated for gamers to be able to get into them.”

The Vita titles that I’ve seen thus far look great and the console should succeed if it keeps getting exclusives like those. Perhaps the biggest hurdle for Vita will be its price but then again, the PS3 wasn’t exactly cheap either in the beginning.

The PS Vita is due in February 2012 and should fetch for around R3200.

Okay so it’s not exactly a revelation and Sony’s not exactly dropping huge details on us but we finally know something about the PS3′s successor despite the complete lack of an official announcement or any real details yet.

After that truly epic intro are you ready for that little nugget of information? Well, are you? Okay, here we go.

PlayStation Europe deputy president Jim Ryan has come out saying that any possible PS3-successor would likely come very soon after the practically announced Xbox 720.

“I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation].”

The Wii U has already been announced and could still be the major contender that the original Wii never was and there’s been a lot of talk about Microsoft’s next Xbox but Sony has been mum on the so-called PS4.

Let us remind you that the Xbox 360 got a year up on the PS3 and it has stood the console in good stead.

Free movies will be coming to the virtual world of PlayStation Home thanks to a deal that Sony has signed with movie streaming provider Crackle.

The movies will be available on the LOOT EOD screens found around Home – in the LOOT EOD Theater, Sunset Yacht, and the Hollywood Hills House. The lineup is currently limited to Step Brothers, Cruel Intentions, Snatch, Resident Evil, A Few Good Men, and Final Fantasy: Advent Children.

And now the bad news. The service is currently limited to the US PSN but should be making its way abroad in due time. By then, it will hopefully have a lot more on offer.

This is not exactly the most concrete scrap of news since industry site Develop references only “a trusted source connected to the matter” as the origin of this information. However, if it is to be believed then a number of Sony’s 16 internal studios are already at work on coming up with concepts for PS4 games.

Let us remind you that the list of studios under Sony’s wing include Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog and a host of other quality outfits. So irrespective of the validity of this rumour, Sony’s PS4 will have a very strong contingency of launch titles.

Develop also claims that, according to the source, Sony has yet to finalise the technical specs of the console and that the next-gen console is not due until 2014. This comes amid talk that the NeXtBox (Xbox 720) is set for a Christmas 2013 launch.

Sony has undoubtedly made one of the coolest gaming TV adverts ever, if not the best we’ve seen to this date. Seriously, check it out yourself.

The advert features some of the most iconic gaming characters around, including Solid Snake, Ezio, Nathan Drake and Kratos, all rallying to honour and thank their collective hero – which is you.

The advert is the latest part of Sony’s Long Live Play PlayStation 3 campaign, which made its debut in August when Sony dropped the famous “It Only Does Everything” slogan in favour of the new ‘Long Live Play’. And it’s a pretty brilliant move at that, I think.

Also, the ad kinda makes you think how cheesy some of these characters sound out of context. Like Snake.

One of the PS Vita’s big back-of-the-box-advertised features is the PS3 Remote Play which allows users to play all of their favourite PS3 games on the Vita by remotely accessing your PS3 system.

SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida used his keynote address at this eyar’s Tokyo Game Show to demonstrate the Remote Play feature. In the video you’ll see him playing Killzone 3 off the Vita and while it doesn’t offer all of the DualShock 3′s buttons, the controls incorporate the console’s rear touch panel.

Excellent news for all of you sitting at home with a heap of PSP titles and wondering whether any of them will be playable on the new Vita handheld console. Because after all, there are some really great PSP titles and it would be a shame for them to just be forgotten with the PSP. Well, if Sony comes through on their UMD conversion program, which is currently being considered, then you might just be able to enjoy all your favourite PSP games on the new console.

In the same way that Sony has made a number of PS1 games available on PSN, Sony said at its pre-TGS conference that some 500-600 PSP titles will be playable on Vita, as almost all digital PSP games on PSN are compatible with the new console.

According to Destructoid, Sony is also “considering some kind of program to offer special download versions” of older PSP titles although this has yet to be confirmed.

And here we are again with the Vita adding even more games to its catalogue, even if these are oldies.

No controller is perfect, right? The PS3′s one has clunky ergonomics and sticky trigger buttons whereas the Xbox 360 has a soft D-pad. Do you prefer to 360 or PS3 analogue layout, convex or concave analogue sticks? So many variables so many possibilities for the perfect controller in every indivdual’s eyes.

Usually perfecting the ergonomics and layout of your controller is more expensive than coating it in Muir but Mad Catz has an answer. They’ve developed a modular controller where every aspect of it can be swapped, tweaked and adjusted.

Christened by Major League Gaming ( that’s usually an indication that it’s pretty good), the Pro-Circuit controllers from Mad Catz utilise what they call the ProModule system. What it entails is a controller designed for elements such as the D-pad and analogue sticks to cheaply and easily be swapped out and adjusted.

Each controller also comes with four analogue sticks, two concave and two convex as well as a PS3 and Xbox style D-pad. The layout can also be tweaked sicne each analogue and the D-pad can be locked into any one of three open slots.

If you really want to get anal (no homo), Mad Catz has designed a special compartment in the base of the controller which allows suers to add or subtract as much as 70g from it so as to control its weight and feel.

For aesthetics and being arbitrarily different, the controllers are also fitted with a series of magnetic faceplates which can be removed and skinned for a custom look.

Pricing is yet to be announced but this definitely sounds like one to consider if you’re into crafting a precision controller for the ultimate in gaming control.

Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America and presenter of Sony’s press conference, revealed Sony’s big plan of action to show their commitment to 3D and HD classics.

The first exciting announcement was that of two HD collections, namely God of War Origins Collections and the ICO Collection. God of War Origins Collections includes both of Kratos’ PSP adventures, namely Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta. The ICO Collection of course features ICO and Shadow of Colossus.

But here’s the grand kicker. Both collections will not only be remastered in HD, but will also be entirely playable in 3D as well. The two collections will both be releasing in September of this year.

Tretton then unveiled two highly impressive new 3D hardware products. First was a PlayStation branded 3D display monitor, 24 inches in size, designed to be an affordable 3D and HD screen for bedrooms and family rooms. With this monitor, you’ll get to watch your favourite movies, TV shows and play your favourite games in HD and 3D (varying depending on functionality and support for it), but the massive cherry on top was what was said next.

This new display monitor from Sony will launch with the ability to view two separate images on one screen using your 3D glasses. This means, no cutting the screen in half for split-screen play. You’ll literally be able to view two completely different images on the same screen.

On top of that, Sony recognises that the call for more affordable 3D glasses has been a common one. This lead them to create a new, affordable pair of 3D glasses to work with most 3D capable screens.

Finally, Tretton revealed a new bundle, which includes the PlayStation 3D Monitor, Resistance 3 the game, a pair of the new unveiled 3D glasses and a six meter HD cable. The entire bundle will cost $499, which is approximately R3360.76, and that’s a pretty neat price tag to say the least.

Overall, this is Sony’s way of broadening their 3D market and really pushing towards making it a key part of the PlayStation experience.

Like the proverbial 16 year old who can be convinced that strawberry jam is an effective contraceptive, Sony really doesn’t seem to care about using proper protection. Yes, PSN has been hacked yet again.

According to NeoGAF, EuroGamer and Nyleveia.com, Sony’s PSn password reset system, which was put in place after the major PSN hack some weeks ago, has been compromised i.e. it too has been hacked. This allows hackers to change user’s PSN passwords if they know your e-mail address and date of birth, which they very well could after the original hack yielded the personal information of 1000′s of PSN users. Or possibly from the Deus Ex website hack where the perpetrators got away with the personal information of around 80 000 users  registered to the site.

Luckily, if your account was compromised then you should have received an e-mail from Sony stating that your password was reset and your account should be safe, for now. An official community moderator on the PlayStation EU forums noted that the following services are offline:

PlayStation.com
PlayStation forums
PlayStation Blog
Qriocity.com
Music Unlimited via the web client
All PlayStation game title websites

Well, just when things looked like they were on the road to recovery for Sony, PSN and PS3 owners, the hackers swooped down once again. You know, it’s fine to prey on helpless fools like those at Sony once but to go back for seconds (possibly thirds) is simply cruel. When will it end?

From the depths of hell, better known as the Activision CEO’s office, have come murmurs from a figure we’d almost forgotten about. Yes, your favourite rabid capitalist and mine, Bobby Kotick, is back with fresh news that is bound to steal the money from right under our mattresses.

Speaking to Financial Times following Activision’s first quarter earnings call, Kotick said, “We’ve more confidence in consumer spending, we feel like some of that has stabilised and there are price cuts on the [console] hardware in the works.”

Wait, what? Nani? Did he just say something concerning us SAVING money? This is unbelievable. Some good news, some hopeful news has escaped his lips.

Kotick did however say that current platform holders, i.e. Sony and Microsoft, should focus more on developing their online networks rather than looking ahead to the next generation. Possibly a jab at Sony for the PSN disaster.

Strangely, he may be on to something, Nintendo has already announced price cuts for the Wii and Microsoft are rumoured to be planning to announce the Xbox 360′s successor at E3 so it’s price could well drop but the only unknown is Sony with the PS3. As usual though, we will have to wait until E3 to see what materialises and separate the speculation and rumours from fact.

Ahead of the  NPD Group’s release of official market data this week, game industry analysts have weighed in with their own sales predictions for the month of April, in the US.

Analyst firms Wedbush and EEDAR both predict that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 will be named the month’s top-selling console, with the “It only does everything, except go online” PlayStation 3 tipped to edge out the Wii.

Wedbush’s Micheal Pachter said in a research note that things aren’t looking great for the 3DS. “The long-awaited introduction of the 3DS has so far had a smaller impact than we originally expected,” he wrote.

“The handheld is off to a slow start, as a lack of compelling software has kept many consumers on the sidelines for the expensive hardware.”

Mostly because Nintendo have released an expensive piece of hardware with almost zero first-party application support. Well fucking played, guys…

On the software front, Pachter expects April sales to be dominated by everyone’s favourite puzzle-orgy, Portal 2, and everyone’s favourite guts-orgy, Mortal Kombat.

Here are the actual numbers for those who are interested:

Hardware sales estimates, Wedbush / EEDAR (year-over-year change):
360 – 315,000 (+70%) / 315,000 (+70%)
DS – 300,000 (-32%) / 325,000 (-26%)
PS3 – 210,000 (+16%) / 215,000 (+19%)
Wii – 215,000 (-22%) / 200,000 (-28%)
3DS – 200,000 (N/A) / 250,000 (N/A)
PSP – 90,000 (+37%) / 80,000 (+22%)
PS2 – 15,000 (-66%) / N/A
Total – 1,345,000 (+13%) / 1,385,000 (+16%)

Sony Computer Entertainment has provided the latest update on the whole PSN downtime business, while the service is fast approaching its third week of being offline.

Sony’s head of communications Nick Caplin, speaking on the PlayStation Blog, reiterated that the company will not restore the service to its functioning online status until it’s completely sure of security.

The statement from Sony Computer Entertainment reads as follows:

“As you may know, we’ve begun the process of restoring the service through internal testing of the new system. We’re still working to confirm the security of the network infrastructure, as well as working with a variety of outside entities to confirm with them of the security of the system. Verifying the system security is vital for the process of restoration.

“Additional comprehensive system checks and testing are still required, and we must complete that process before bringing the systems online.
As you’ve heard us say, our utmost priorities are the security of the network and ensuring your data is safe. We won’t restore the services until we can test the system’s strength in these respects.

“When we held the press conference in Japan last week, based on what we knew, we expected to have the services online within a week. We were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system.

“We know many of you are wanting to play games online, chat with your friends and enjoy all of the services PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have to offer, and trust me when I say we’re doing everything we can to make it happen. We will update you with more information as soon as we have it. We apologize for the delay and inconvenience of this network outage.”

Elsewhere, in case you missed it, Sony revealed this past weekend that it will offer two free games to all PSN users for all of the trouble caused by PSN’s downtime and as a thank-you for those who remained patient.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that things are back up and running as soon as possible.

If you’ve been following recent news over Sony’s PSN network outage and we know you have, you’ll be delighted to know that at least some PSN and Qriocity services will be available this week. Or will you? Here, have a read of the official statement by Sony regarding the latest on the mater:

SOME PLAYSTATION NETWORK AND QRIOCITY SERVICES TO BE AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Phased Global Rollout of Services to Begin Regionally; System Security Enhanced to Provide Greater Protection of Personal Information.

Tokyo, May 1, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) announced they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStation®Network and Qriocity™ services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s data-center located in San Diego, California, U.S.A., SNEI quickly turned off the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. SNEI and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. With these measures in place, SCE and SNEI plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. The initial phase of the rollout will include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation®3 (PS3) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) systems
• This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation®Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

Working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of Chief Information Security Officer, directly reporting to Shinji Hasejima, Chief Information Officer of Sony Corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks
• Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption
• Enhanced ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns
• Implementation of additional firewalls

The company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

“This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

Complimentary Offering and “Welcome Back” Appreciation Program

While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.

The company will also rollout the PlayStation Network and Qriocity “Welcome Back” program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company’s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

• Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.
• All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

SNEI will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the PlayStation®Store and other Qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.

For more information about the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services intrusion and restoration, please visit http://blog.us.playstation.com or http://blog.eu.playstation.com/

About Sony Corporation

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $78 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net/

About Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Recognized as the global leader and company responsible for the progression of consumer-based computer entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) manufactures, distributes and markets the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and the PlayStation®3 (PS3®) system. PlayStation has revolutionized home entertainment by introducing advanced 3D graphic processing, and PlayStation 2 further enhances the PlayStation legacy as the core of home networked entertainment. PSP is a handheld entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PS3 is an advanced computer system, incorporating the state-of-the-art Cell processor with super computer like power. SCEI, along with its subsidiary divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd., and Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc. develops, publishes, markets and distributes software, and manages the third party licensing programs for these platforms in the respective markets worldwide. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, SCEI is an independent business unit of the Sony Group.

The always-on DRM systems that many developers/publishers embed into their games in the war on piracy have yet to curb piracy by any noticeable margins but they have succeeded in frustrating at least one in every 3 gamers; and quite often too. Capcom’s system is the latest to cause widespread annoyance, no rage-quitting though because players can’t even access the games.

Capcom’s specific anti-piracy system requires an active connection to PSN for games to be played, even if you’re playing offline. This is a problem since PSN has been down for a number of days now and could be down for a few more.

Capcom has confirmed that Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Final Fight/ Magic Sword game pack are both unplayable as a result of PSN currently being down. Admittedly not the biggest loss if you can’t play these games.

Sony continues to work to bring PSN back online after an “external intrusion” forced the company to take the system down. DRM continues to do absolutely nothing to prevent piracy.

Again we give you a graphical representation of what DRM is in-fact doing to the paying consumer:

Exhibit A

According to Epic Games VP Mark Rein, the all new DX11 Unreal Engine, which was showcased at GDC last month with a tech demo, justifies the next generation of gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft. The studio claims that the engine’s support for DirectX 11 (DX11), physics engine PhysX, APEX, and NVIDIA 3D vision brought “bring unprecedented new levels of realism”.

“The DX11 demo itself, that’s our love letter to hardware manufacturers. We’re able to give people another road map. If companies are building new consoles – and, who knows, I mean Apple just released an iPad that’s nine times the power of its predecessor.

“If Apple continues on this scale, they’ll have a device that can run this [points to Unreal Engine DX11 demo] in a couple of years. But, that demo we’ve shown is aimed at the game console makers. We’re telling them that this is the big leap that we think justifies that new piece of hardware you’re going to build, and we’re telling them that this is what we need next-gen consoles to be capable of, because we can’t build a more powerful PC than the one that’s running the DX11 demo! [Laughs]

“For us, now when we sit down with various companies and talk about the future, the discussion is no longer theoretical. We can show them this. We can say ‘here’s our demo, try it on your hardware’. And we want feedback – let us know what we can simplify, let us know what we can improve.”

The PS3 still has at least 5 years on its acclaimed life span while the Xbox 360 may trundle along for some years still so I doubt whether this really justifies the next generation of consoles. Also, both consoles should certainly be capable of handling the engine, if not a bit stretched.

Quantic Dream boss and Heavy Rain creator David Cage has made claim that he isn’t about to leave the PlayStation just yet, calling Sony’s console the “best platform out there.”

Speaking during a chat with CVG, Cage spoke of Quantic Dream’s “fantastic” relationship with Sony during the course of Heavy Rain’s development, and described Sony’s internal studios portfolio as the ‘best in the world.’

“The relationship on Heavy Rain has been fantastic,” enthused Cage. “They trusted us from day one, supported us all the way through. It was really a very risky project [for them] and they never let us down.”

“Being a part of a company with the best studios in the world is something really pleasant for us. We’re happy to continue this relationship and create content for the PlayStation brand. But they fund our projects, so we’re staying exclusive to PlayStation.”

“I am very loyal in general – or I try to be. I know that trusting me is always a big risk and when people do, I feel like I owe them something. It’s not just because I want to thank them, though. We have a relationship that works, we’re excited by the platform – we think it’s the best platform out there. We’re glad to continue to work this way.”

When asked if Quantic shared tech with Sony’s internal studios, Cage side-stepped a little bit, but he did confirm that the studio often engages with the likes of Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games and other great studios.

“We talk to Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, Guerrilla, Media Molecule – all these great studios,” he revealed. “We talk about technology, best practise, how we do things – we share experience and expertise. I think that’s of real value for everybody.”

Personally, I’m a big fan of David Cage and his work on Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit) and Heavy Rain, and I’m eager to see what his next project looks like.

Speaking of, Cage recently revealed that has interest in working on a war-themed game as soon as his business with current projects is sealed.

Scott McCarthy, the senior brand manager for Sony’s MLB: The Show, has revealed that the big guys over at Sony are making PS3-only in-game content their priority instead of PS3 exclusive titles.

McCarthy was recently asked by Scrawl FX if Sony is still working together with third party developers in order to secure exclusives.

He replied: “We work very closely with our 3rd parties publishers, not necessarily to lock down games exclusively, but to lock up exclusive parts of games. A good example is Batman: Arkham Asylum, where you could only play as the Joker on PlayStation 3.

“When you make a title exclusive, you limit its promotional power; we don’t want to do that. We want games to be as big as possible – it’s great for the industry.

“However,” he added, “we want to make sure that you play it on the best system possible, so we like to take parts of games and make them exclusive to the PlayStation system.”

Sounds reasonable, and it’s great to get extra exclusive goodies with each game purchased.

SCEI chief Kazuo Hirai has revealed that the matter of a next-next generation console, in this case a PlayStation 4, is something that Sony hasn’t even started debating yet.

Chatting to PC Impress Watch (although it had to be translated by Eurogamer), Hirai once again reminded us all that Sony is targeting a 10 year life span for the PlayStation 3, and because of this people shouldn’t be waiting in anticipation for a PlayStation 4.

“As regards home consoles, the PS3 was put into business in 2006, and it has a 10 year life cycle,” said Hirai.

“This means that we aren’t even at the halfway point. There are certainly many more desirable first and third party titles coming out. As we announce and implement new initiatives on an annual basis, I still believe in the importance of improving the software and feature set of the PS3.”

He went on to add that the PS3, together with the upcoming Next-Generation Portable (NGP), will be the product of what Sony describes as a “new, co-operative partnership.”

Hirai said that this is currently where Sony’s attention is for the future.

“I think the value of the PS3 will continue to rise. Because of this, a near-future PS4 or next-generation home console is not something that we are even debating now. That is to say, we are still concentrating fully upon the PS3. Right now, I appeal to you to think of the PS3 and NGP as a new, co-operative partnership,” he revealed.

The PlayStation 3 first launched in Japan and North America all the way back in November 2006, while the European and of course the South African debut happened in March 2007.

*Note: Don’t let the header image mislead you. It doesn’t mean anything in the context of the article – just looks cool.*

It’s official, after much speculation and countless rumours, Sony has made a PSP Phone or a gaming phone, whatever you want to call it. It will be known as the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY and will combine the best that both Sony Ericsson and PlayStation have to offer for such a device.

The Play will land in March in the US preloaded with 50 games, 4” multi-touch display and a very decent 5.0 megapixel camera with LED flash. Of course a big feature on the phone is its dedicated gaming controls which slide out and come complete with right/left shoulder buttons, touch-pad analogue sticks and to put those gaming controls to good use, the Play wil use the 1GHz Snapdragon processor and further optimised with enhanced GPU the Adreno 205.

Besides the dedicated gaming and PlayStation features, the Play will run on the latest Android platform and subsequently be open to all the great customisation, personalisation and apps that it offers. PlayStation features will come via the PlayStation Pocket App although it is believed that PSN functionality and the downloading of games will be dealt with separately.

Here’s a decidedly comprehensive list of just about everything you need to know about the Xperia PLAY. Unfortunately, the two key factors: namely price and release date are crucially unknown. Since it will release in the US in March, we can only assume that it will hit SA around the first quarter of next year (that is usually the trend with phones) and as far as price is concerned, it’s anybody’s guess but my personal estimate wouldn’t put the standalone price anywhere above R7500. If you find the list of features and specs a tad too lnegthy and, err, wordy for your tastes just skip straight past it all to see the Engadget video preview which, despite a difficult to handle accent, will show you exactly what the phone is about, what it’s functionality is like and how all the key features work. Sony has yet to release any of the games that will be available for the phone at launch and so you will notice a stark lack of any gameplay in the preview but fear not because the third-party has come to the rescue.

The Xperia Play will support third-party PSX (PS1) and GBA emulators and there’s a nice little video after the Engadget preview to show you just what it’s like and should give you a fairly good idea of what gaming will be like on the Play. The full graphics capabilities of this machine are still something I’d love to see. Bare in mind that the phones in the videos are preview models and any minor issues that are encountered in the videos will almost certainly be solved by the time the phone releases in March and most definitely by the time it finally crawls onto SA shores.

*Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 8 hrs 25 min*
*Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 425 hrs*
*Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 25 min*
*Standby time UMTS: Up to 413 hrs*
*Talk time CDMA2000®: Up to 7 hrs 40 min*
*Standby time CDMA2000®: Up to 405 hrs*
*Game play time: Up to 5 hrs 35 min*
*MP3 playback: Up to 30 hrs 35 min*

Camera
5.1 megapixel camera
Auto focus
Flash / Photo light
Geo tagging
Image stabiliser
Send to web
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Video blogging

Music
Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Google™ Music Player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™ service*
Sony Ericsson Music player
Stereo speakers
TrackID™ music recognition application

Internet
Android Market™*
Bookmarks
Google™ search*
Google™ Voice Search*
Pan & zoom
Web browser (Webkit)

Communication
Call list
Conference calls
Facebook™ application (from Android Market™)
Google™ Talk*
Noise Shield
Polyphonic ringtones
Speakerphone
Sony Ericsson Timescape™***
Twitter™ application (from Android Market™)
Vibrating alert

Messaging
Android Cloud to Device messaging (C2DM)
Conversations
Email
Google Mail™*
Instant messaging
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)

Design
Auto rotate
Keyboard (onscreen, 12 key)
Keyboard (onscreen, QWERTY)
Picture wallpaper
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation

Entertainment
3D games
Dedicated gaming keys
Flash Lite™
Gesture gaming
Motion gaming
Video streaming
YouTube™

Organiser
Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document editors
Document readers
E-Manual
Flight mode
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Infinite button
Phone book
Set-up Wizard
Widget manager

Connectivity
3.5 mm audio jack
aGPS
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified
Google Latitude™
Google Location Service
Google Maps™ with Street View
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB Connector
Modem
Synchronisation via Facebook™**
Synchronisation via Google Sync™
Synchronisation via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync®
Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
USB 2.0 high speed support
Wi-Fi™
Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality
* The service is not available in all markets.
** Requires Facebook™ application installed on the device.

Google™ services*
* These services may not be available in every market Android Market™ Client

Gmail™
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Google Latitude™
Google Maps™ with Street View
Google Media Uploader
Google Music Player™
Google Phone-top Search
Google Search widget
Google Sync™
Google Talk™
Google Voice Search
Set-up Wizard
YouTube™

Facts
Size: 119 x 62 x 16 mm
Weight: 175 grams
Phone memory: 400 MB
Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32 GB
Memory card included: 8GB microSD™
Operating system: Google™ Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Processor: 1 GHz Scorpion ARMv7

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Engadget Preview

Third-Party Emulators On Xperia Play

Is it an iPhone-killer or just maybe the one to really put Android on the map despite its steadily growing support? Only time will tell but it’s a safe bet that the Xperia Play will be something quite special and definitely not a rehash of the woeful Nokia N-Gage.

Ever since I can remember, when you buy a PC game you have to enter a code to install or play it, now Sony’s PS3 may be headed the same way. It started with a bunch of hackers who managed to round the PS3′s security system, went on to a lawsuit against said hackers and may conclude badly for all of us, not just the hackers.

According to Dutch site PS3-Sense, Sony is considering implementing serial codes as a security measure in much the same way as PC games. You would have a lengthy 10-or-so digit code that you have to punch and that would only work on a maximum of 5 consoles. While it is without doubt that some bright sparks will find a way to negate these codes, they will still annoy and frustrate the average gamer and retailer alike.

Entering the code will be a task that you know you shouldn’t have the need to do and lending games out will effectively become a measure of who your real friends are. People will have to start thinking long and hard about who they lend their games to and as a result only your absolute closest friends will receive your games and vice versa. Hell, I’ve already loaned several of my games out more than 4 times and still sold them.

This is another drawback of Sony’s possible scheme, the second-hand market will dry up. Buy a game that’s been loaned out too many times and you won’t even be able to play it.

When confronted by Kotaku, Sony has this to say:

“We are looking at a few options”, but are “not ready to confirm our next steps yet”.

For the love of God don’t do this. The piracy paranoia that’s gripping the gaming industry already threatens the PC, don’t let it spread to consoles as well. Like DRM and a host of other equally ludicrous ideas, companies are taking the wrong direction. Instead of making life more difficult for the honest gamer, reward them with retail incentives.

According to a source who attended a Sony NGP developer meeting recently, Sony is pushing for developers to make cross-platform games that will be designed to work across both the NGP and PS3.

“They want us to do cross-platform,” the source told Eurogamer.

However, Sony has apparently said that it “does not want exactly the same game” on the NGP and PS3.

“They want at least some kind of interactivity between the two versions with NGP-only extras,” the site was told.

“Any shaders for PS3 stuff will just work,” said the source. “We won’t have to rewrite. What would have taken two-to-three months before looks like it could take just one-to-two weeks now. The architecture is obviously different, but it’s the same development environment.”

In the developer presentation Sony listed the wifi only NGP model to be releasing in “2011″, while the 3G-included model was listed as “Holiday Season 2011″, which possibly means that the 3G model won’t be available at the console’s launch.

It was also revealed that pricing details and a more specific release date would be provided “very soon”.

Sony may have just reinvented the wheel with the rear touch pad that will feature on its NGP (PSP2) handheld console.

The NGP has an OLED touch screen which in itself is nothing to boast about despite the awesome visual quality that teh screen can produce but what really sets the NGp apart from its competitors is not the touch-screen up front but the one in the rear. The rear pad is the same size as the screen and therefore allows for intuitive and instinctive touch interface with every movement on the rear pad being able to correspond perfectly with what’s on-screen.

Sure, using the front touch-screen as one would in any other touch interface isn’t exactly impossible but especially where gaming is concerned, it can clutter the screen up so being able to keep the screen completely clear gives you a perfect view of the screen. It is also a very natural place for your fingers to be since your hands tend to wrap around a controller/handheld console anyway.

Interestingly, there is an iPod patent froma few year’s ago which boasts similar tech but Sony is intent on filing their own patent. There are also plans to extend the technology to other Sony devices possibly phones and maybe even some new kind of PS3 control but we can dream for now.

Yes, the PS3 Slim has gone bling with a Satin Silver colour option coming in March. Luckily, it is not actually plated in silver and will therefore cost the same as a regular PS3 and will even come with a DualShock 3 controller.

Unfortunately, the silver Ps3 has only been announced for Japan at present and it is not yet known whether it will sneak out to the rest of the world. I have an oroginal PS3 in white, which I got from Malaysia and I’ve never seen another anywhere else.

While it is not a listed feature, it’s safe to assume that a silver DualShock 3 to the heart will safely kill the kind of sissy werewolves that frequent the silver screen when a new Twilight gets rolled out each year.

The much rumoured and very intriguing PlayStation Phone seems to be quite real having received a handful of reviews along with some fersh shots of the device.

Officially the XPERIA Play, the device is said to have a solid 1 GHz of processing power and according to reviwes, employs a very similar UI to the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Arc and contains 315MB of memory with the option, like most Android phones, to ramp it up with a bigger memory card.

The Play comes with Timescae, a new media menu and a PlayStation Pocket app which will allow PSN-exclusive games. Unfortunately, the service wasn’t live at the time of the reviews and so could not be tested but it has been claimed that the Play will feature PSN access.

The XPERIA Play is expected to be announced during tyhe Mobile World Congress in Barcelona fro 14-17 February and rumoured to be set for a June 2011 release which means that it could find its way into SA early on in 2012. Provided all the rumours pan out.

Read the review here

Thought the PS2 was dead did you? Thought it was only still on sale in 3rd World countries where everyone is called Jose, Juan or Agmed? Well think again because the PS2 is still alive and kicking albeit on life support.

You see, it’s been symbioted onto this Sonia Bravia LCD TV. Officially it’s recently been released in Europe and features a 22” screen with 4 HDMI ports, 2 optical audio ports and 3 USB ports. What’s more they’ve incorporated a PS2 into the base of the TV to give it not only built in gaming functionality but also make it a combo DVD/CD player.

At around $310 (R 2400) it’s a great buy even if you get a puny screen and outdated console. At least you’ll have a piece of gaming history and be able to play all those original copies of God of War or Shadow of the Colossus or the Sands of Time trilogy.

Sony will be releasing goodies in February to coincide with the release of the hotly anticipated Killzone 3, namely the “Jungle Green” Dual Shock 3 controller and the “Sharp Shooter” PlayStation Move gun attachment.

Priced at $39.99, which is about R276.61, and looking really cool, Sony is quite adamant that this gun will be the revolutionary enhancement to motion control in shooters.

“The PlayStation Move sharp shooter provides the most intuitive and immersive control experience for shooter games,” says Sony.

“The streamlined design features easily accessible buttons, responsive digital trigger, realistic pump-action, firing mode selector, adjustable shoulder stock and convenient access to the navigation controller, allowing gamers to take aim and move into the firefight for hours of comfortable and engaging gameplay.”

The PlayStation Blog writes:

The PlayStation Move sharp shooter houses both the motion controller and navigation controller, giving you complete control over aiming, movement and interaction within the game. It will truly offer the most intuitive and immersive control experience ever found in a shooter game. It was designed for both comfort and precision, including easily accessible buttons, a responsive digital trigger, adjustable shoulder stock and convenient access to the navigation controller. In addition, the sharp shooter has incorporated a firing mode selector, realistic pump-action and a reload button that allow for new ways of engagement.

So what games will you be able to use the PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter with? The PlayStation Move sharp shooter was designed specifically with games such as Killzone 3 and SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs in mind and even comes with a Killzone 3 and SOCOM 4 sticker pack. Other compatible titles include Time Crisis: Razing Storm and Dead Space Extraction, but you can expect many more upcoming games that will work with it as well.

Check out the gadget below. If it’s looking plain to you, Anand Agarwal, Product Marketing Manager at Sony, said in a comment on the blog, in response to a reader, that “the sharp shooter will come with Killzone3 and SOCOM4 stickers for you to dress it up with.”

As for the new Dual Shock 3 “Jungle Green” controller, it’s basically just a standard controller with different looks. It may be called Green, but the back casing is black, and while it looks pretty decent, the price isn’t going to make many people happy. Then again, it’s hard to accept sometimes how expensive controllers actually are. Either way, the new controller will cost $54.99, which is round about R380, but that price will be very different over here in South Africa of course.

It looks like Sony has churned out a wireless keypad that fits on to the SIXAXIS and Dualshock3 controller.

The keypad provides the freedom to use texting and mouse input capabilities, all while maintaining full gameplay functionality in one easy-to-hold device.

This Bluetooth^® device attaches to any Dualshock3 or SIXAXIS wireless controller and enables effortless internet browsing, e-mailing and instant messaging on the PlayStation^®Network and PlayStation^®Home.

It features a touch pad allowing convinient scrolling and mouse input on the PS3 system on-screen display as well as dedicated short cut keys providing instant access to ‘Message Box’ and other online communication applications on the PlayStation Network.

• Key Features:
• QWERTY keypad designed for fast, thumbs-only typing.
• Touch pad mode turns the main key area into a touch pad. When touch pad button is pressed, user can not use the keys for character input but can slide her finger on this area to select something on the screen. On the internet browser, user can see a cursor when this mode is set on.
• Dedicated short cut keys provide instant access to text-based communication applications on the PlayStation^®Network.
• Automatic pairing with the PS3™ system via a USB cable.
• Charges by connecting it directly to the PS3™ system using a USB cable.Technical Specifications
• Bluetooth^® 2.0
• Up to 33 feet (10 meters) operating range
• USB 2.0 full speed (for battery charging and Bluetooth^® pairing only)
• Rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery (Capacity – 610mAh)

It sells for about R443,60-R466.95 on Kalahari and R438 on Take2

The Crytek boss is back praising the PC. Cevat Yerli said this time round that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 developers are holding back on game quality for the PC. Yerli firmly believes that PC is a generation ahead of consoles.

Yerli admits that his own studio, Crytek, is being limited by Sony and Microsoft and that’s why they are developing games with mediocrity for the PC.

“As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both,” said Yerli.

“PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won’t be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks.”

According to Yerli, games which do not reach full potential on PC can be blamed on consoles.

“I generally think it’s still developers’ mentality [that is to blame],” he said. “A lot nowadays don’t consider PC a big issue any more; their [sales] expectations are nowhere near what they are for the console versions. Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game.”

Earlier this year Yerli said that PC games will soon be king as they will be available for free with players having to buy in-game features and extras. Essentially, monetizing of PC games will change completely and the market will once again be popular.

Obviously PC vs Console is a hot topic, and there are loads of reads as to why PC is being neglected. For one, people wouldn’t like to upgrade all the time to play new games – a problem which many have whenever something impressive is released. This problem doesn’t concern consoles.

To be honest, PC technology surpasses that of console however it’s pointless to upgrade because nothing needs so much power.

Is it fair for PC to suffer?

VUDU, a popular HD movie Streaming service, is coming to the PlayStation 3 next week.

VUDU is pay-as-you-go HD streaming service, and it is one of the few services to offer full 1080p HD films with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. It contains over 4,000 HD movies and it’s Cloud based, so users do not have to download or wait for lengthy buffering times.

Users can rent or buy the movies they wish to watch, where the availability of the movies will sync with the Blu-Ray release date.

PlayStation 3 users will be able to download the movie streaming service through the PlayStation Stone, after which they can access the service on their XMB. If the user has a PlayStation Move, they can use it as a pointer.

Sony is gearing up to launch a new Bluetooth headset for the PlayStation 3 “soon”.

It will be made available at US retailers this month for $49.99, which is approximately R340.37, and this is round about the same price as 2008′s original headset. Details regarding a UK and South African launch for this headset have not been revealed yet, but the packaging for the headset has European writing on it, so we might hear more about that soon.

Naturally, the identical price means that there should be some changes, as buying the same thing again wouldn’t be all that appealing.

“New features include a redesign, making it sleeker, high-gloss and more compact – 30% smaller than the original model,” says Sony.

“In addition, the Bluetooth Headset now has built-in noise cancellation for filtering out ambient noise when used with the PS3 system as well as your mobile phone.

“Gadget fiends take note – the new Bluetooth Headset isn’t just for gaming. The improved mobile phone feature support allows you to use features such as three-way calling and call waiting. And with nearly six hours of talk time, you can easily take the Bluetooth Headset with you straight from the living room to the streets.”

The new headset will be compatible with devices that feature Bluetooth 1.1 and above.