Gaming for those who care to think.
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E3 2008: Sony press conference review
Jul 15th
There was a time when E3 was a really, really big deal. Now, it’s simply a really big deal. One of the biggest factors of its whole big dealness comes from the console manufacturers’ press conferences. They typically range from the epic (introduction of the Wii) to the horribly, horribly wrong (introduction of the PS3 and real-time weapon changing). So how did this year go for Sony?
New PlayStation Store in April based off customer feedback
Mar 4th
In a recent interview with Gamasutra, John Hight gave insight into a planned revamp of the current PlayStation Store. Hight, who runs the digital game publishing of Sony products, had this to say: “We give Sony’s interface team a lot of feedback based on how our customers are reacting to things, and I think you will see a pretty big change in the PlayStation Network in the early part of April, where we roll out some new interface stuff largely based on customer feedback.”
While the PlayStation Network is far from perfect, it’s definitely functional. Adding new features and categories to make it easier to navigate is always welcome. How Sony plans to incorporate this change is the key question. Will they deliver on their statement to make big changes in April? Or will they continue down their path of building anticipation for these “big” updates by releasing smaller, constant updates until the final product is in place? More >
Metal Gear of War bundles for PS3 and PSP
Feb 27th
Al De Leon, PR Manager of SCEA, posted on the official Playstation blog that a special PS3 bundle would be released to coincide with the release of MGS4 in North America. It will include one 80GB PS3, a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and the Dualshock 3 controller. You can get this bundle for the very reasonable price of $499.99. This could be a big move for Sony to move even more consoles with the release date upcoming, but it’s not clear why they announced it so early. Now, instead of consumers buying PS3′s up to MGS4′s release, they can just opt to wait for the bundle.
De Leon also posted that a new special edition PSP would be released in June. The fire truck red PSP will be released in June. It will feature the face of Kratos on the back of it to signify that it is, indeed, a God of War PSP. For $199.99, you will receive: The limited edition red PSP, God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP game, a voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops for free from the PS Store, and Superbad on UMD video. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Now you can get your God of War and McLovin fix all at once.
Harrison takes the money and runs to Atari
Feb 25th
Sony has announced that Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, is leaving the company at the end of February. While an executive departure isn’t usually that big of news, it is when it’s such a high level executive. Such departures can cause quite a shakeup within a company, especially one like Sony which has seen itself rattled a bit over the past few years. The weirdest part of this story? That Harrison might be leaving Sony to take over at Atari.
First, the weird news. If Harrison is to head to Atari after leaving Sony it would surely have to involve a truckload of money and some true power in running the company. At this point Atari as both a company and a brand are pretty bruised. Many assumed the company would not make it through another year unless someone else purchased it. But a big name hire like Harrison might show some confidence in the company’s survival. Certainly a story to watch. More >
Why Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone may be the future of handheld games
Jan 31st
Google’s Android is their new mobile phone platform. While it isn’t the gPhone many had wished for, it is an interesting shift for the cell phone industry. With most major carriers signed up to produce Android handsets, it was already a potentially interesting avenue for game development. Dell just made it more interesting.
Rumors are circulating that Dell will announce a new mobile device running on the Android platform. While Palm and Microsoft have fought it out between one another for the past few years, the last year alone ahs brought two major new competitors to the handheld market in Apple and now Google. What does this mean to gamers? More >
How Sony got their groove back
Jan 9th
The PlayStation 3 was an undeniable stumble upon launch. Its huge markup over other consoles, even if defendable considering what it packed in, made the system the undeniable leper at the party. Those who did adopt the console in the early days were met by a dearth of games, and even worse, those who didn’t were met by a confused Sony PR message. The focus of the PS3 message seemed to be everything but the games, a confused message similar to the one Sony tried with the launch of the PSP.
Still, much like with the PSP, given enough time Sony figured out what they were doing and got their message back on track with, “It’s the games, stupid,†simplicity. Fall 2007 brought several unique exclusives such as Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. Even missteps like Lair were forgivable in the face of a company who finally seemed to be getting it. However, all of these problems relate back in one way or another to the PS3’s Trojan horse—Blu-Ray.
Blu-Ray is Sony’s latest in a long line of attempts to establish their own proprietary format as the format of choice for consumers. From Betamax to Mini Disc to Memory Stick to UMD, Sony has a museum of its failed or at least semi-failed formats. Blu-Ray certainly could have ended up like the others, but Sony was cleverer, or perhaps just luckier, this time. None of this is to say Sony had no positives on its side. More >
Top ten games of 2007
Jan 7th
10) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Puzzle games are a dime a dozen these days, and while particularly addictive ones can still get attention, it usually takes something truly innovative that breaks the mold to make everyone sit up and take notice. That’s exactly what this title did.
9) Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Isn’t it just another romp through the world of Ratchet and Clank? Yes, but it’s also an incredibly polished game to be released in a console’s first year of life. The story might be lacking compared to past installments, but if ever there were a game that took us one step closer to controlling a Pixar cartoon, this is it.
8 ) Pac-Man: Championship Edition
The announcement of this game drew laughs from many, including much of the gaming press. Once they played the actual game, however, all opinions changed. It’s the most addictive arcade game in years, and with the minor caveat of the time limits, it’s one of the few “perfect” games released all year. More >
