No, no, don't worry: I enjoyed Blade Runner. It was exciting all the way through to the end, and it even got better throughout the middle. I have to say I was a bit confused at the end. Some of the results were just too damn sudden, and there was something I would have never figured out should a walkthrough never have been made.
As of now it's tricky getting some of the older games I'm itching to play. You see, I'm a Canadian, which means getting imports from places like the United States means I'll have to worry about customs. Hopefully it isn't something to worry about. This also means using Amazon.com will be slightly trickier; choosing the merchant will have the added obstacle of shipping.
So what's next on the list, then? I plan to continue my 2006 Adventure Game spree (as of now featuring a whopping one game finished) with Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. It would seem that the first installments of these two series would seem to be great starting spots (and apparently, or at least accoring to Adventuregamers.com) would seem to be the best in the series.
Then with the RPG festival, I'd like to play through Fallout 2 and acquire Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. I'd also like to fit in some time with System Shock 2, but that may be tricky. I've also got Xenogears and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes to play, and they're not just going to finish themselves.
Summer droughts...pfft, until the day where there are games to fill this void, I'll delve into the older games thank you very much. We do have Gothic 3 and Double Agent to greet us at the ending anyways.
Cycloptis Blog
Blade Runner First Impressions
by Cycloptis on Comments
I've yet to see the movie (yes, shoot me, I'm going to see it within the week) but for ages I've been wanting to try Blade Runner. Way back when in 1997, when my brother lent me his copy of PC Gamer, I flipped through and read a couple of adventure game reviews, most notably The Curse of Monkey Island (which I have finished several times and love to death) and Blade Runner. CoMI got a 95%, and Blade Runner got a 90%, and with it being Monkey Island, I was more deadset on that. Fortunately, as the years went by, my brother happened to acquire Blade Runner, and now it has made its way into my hands. Months later, I've finally started playing it. So what do I think of it? Read on!
First of all, the idea of a detective thriller has always been fascinating to me. I loved the Sherlock Holmes books I've read, I'll tell you that right now. Blade Runner isn't anything like those of course. The whole premise is that you are a Blade Runner, a specialized police officer tasked with hunting down androids known as Replicants which are near-perfect replicas of humans, and which are known to be violent. Do they deserve to be recognized as equals? That is one of the questions that is asked by not just this game, but the popular cult movie. All that matters is that you find the perpetrators and hunt them down. Now, I haven't gotten very far (I'm only on Act II) but you do get tasked with several investigations at once, and I have a hunch that they're all connected. You play Ray McCoy, a newly recruited Blade Runner (and significantly lamer than Rick Deckard from the five minutes of the movie I managed to see). Okay, he's not terribly lame, but it's really a shame that Westwood couldn't get Harrison Ford to reprise his role in the game (although this is sort of explained since the game runs parallel with the events of the movie). McCoy's character does seem to be written well, especially with the sharp wit and dialogue he was given. Sometimes his sarcastic personality doesn't quite fit in with the setting. I haven't learned too much about him yet, and I hope that changes soon.
The gameplay is fairly straightforward. There aren't puzzles in the traditional sense, since the puzzles are really the mysteries you have to solve. It's a great point and click interface, with nothing cluttering the screen except for the cursor of course. Press escape or click on McCoy, however, and you get to KIA - your information databank which stores all the information you've uncovered so far, and it also details some of your possessions. It's quite well designed, and you can get from menu to menu using the convenient tabs located at the top of the screen. Click on the KIA logo and you're forwarded to the options, which are fairly typical and don't feature anything special to be talked about here.
I remember the game touting a real-time flow of events, but I can't really comment since I'm only on my first playthrough and I won't know what I'm missing until I've read a walkthrough. Unfortunately, due to this being a nine year old game, my processor is much too fast to run through the firing range course. Firing range you say? Yep, this game has combat, but it works well and there isn't a whole lot of it so far, so its implementation is sublime...to say the least.
The game uses pre-rendered backdrops, and my God they're gorgeous. They accurately capture the atmosphere of the movie...the desolate, dystopic, cyberpunk world of Earth in the future. The characters...haven't aged well. They're hard to make out since they're so grainy. I don't know if there's an option or a mod to fix this, but you won't be playing the game for the character models (then again, what game would you play for that?)
The voice acting and dialogue is very down to Earth, and is generally good. Apparently many of the secondary characters are voiced by their movie counterparts, but again I can't confirm or deny that since I haven't seen the movie. The dialogue system is fairly basic, and by default it's automatically calibrated to a certain "mood." You can change this in the menu either to another mood, or to user-choice. I picked user-choice to retain the feel of other adventure games that I've played. This way I can choose topics to talk about, when I'm prompted. Unfortunately, I haven't really been given a choice to select how to advance the dialogue trees, and I assume that's automatic.
The score is quite good, when it actually decides to appear. It, like the backdrops, captures the sombre mood of the subject matter. It is somewhat strange though, and it takes a while before you really start to enjoy it.
Overall I've been having plenty of fun so far. Alas, some of the adventure game mechanics seem somewhat shallow compared with other adventure games, but I'll have to keep playing to see if this changes or not.
First of all, the idea of a detective thriller has always been fascinating to me. I loved the Sherlock Holmes books I've read, I'll tell you that right now. Blade Runner isn't anything like those of course. The whole premise is that you are a Blade Runner, a specialized police officer tasked with hunting down androids known as Replicants which are near-perfect replicas of humans, and which are known to be violent. Do they deserve to be recognized as equals? That is one of the questions that is asked by not just this game, but the popular cult movie. All that matters is that you find the perpetrators and hunt them down. Now, I haven't gotten very far (I'm only on Act II) but you do get tasked with several investigations at once, and I have a hunch that they're all connected. You play Ray McCoy, a newly recruited Blade Runner (and significantly lamer than Rick Deckard from the five minutes of the movie I managed to see). Okay, he's not terribly lame, but it's really a shame that Westwood couldn't get Harrison Ford to reprise his role in the game (although this is sort of explained since the game runs parallel with the events of the movie). McCoy's character does seem to be written well, especially with the sharp wit and dialogue he was given. Sometimes his sarcastic personality doesn't quite fit in with the setting. I haven't learned too much about him yet, and I hope that changes soon.
The gameplay is fairly straightforward. There aren't puzzles in the traditional sense, since the puzzles are really the mysteries you have to solve. It's a great point and click interface, with nothing cluttering the screen except for the cursor of course. Press escape or click on McCoy, however, and you get to KIA - your information databank which stores all the information you've uncovered so far, and it also details some of your possessions. It's quite well designed, and you can get from menu to menu using the convenient tabs located at the top of the screen. Click on the KIA logo and you're forwarded to the options, which are fairly typical and don't feature anything special to be talked about here.
I remember the game touting a real-time flow of events, but I can't really comment since I'm only on my first playthrough and I won't know what I'm missing until I've read a walkthrough. Unfortunately, due to this being a nine year old game, my processor is much too fast to run through the firing range course. Firing range you say? Yep, this game has combat, but it works well and there isn't a whole lot of it so far, so its implementation is sublime...to say the least.
The game uses pre-rendered backdrops, and my God they're gorgeous. They accurately capture the atmosphere of the movie...the desolate, dystopic, cyberpunk world of Earth in the future. The characters...haven't aged well. They're hard to make out since they're so grainy. I don't know if there's an option or a mod to fix this, but you won't be playing the game for the character models (then again, what game would you play for that?)
The voice acting and dialogue is very down to Earth, and is generally good. Apparently many of the secondary characters are voiced by their movie counterparts, but again I can't confirm or deny that since I haven't seen the movie. The dialogue system is fairly basic, and by default it's automatically calibrated to a certain "mood." You can change this in the menu either to another mood, or to user-choice. I picked user-choice to retain the feel of other adventure games that I've played. This way I can choose topics to talk about, when I'm prompted. Unfortunately, I haven't really been given a choice to select how to advance the dialogue trees, and I assume that's automatic.
The score is quite good, when it actually decides to appear. It, like the backdrops, captures the sombre mood of the subject matter. It is somewhat strange though, and it takes a while before you really start to enjoy it.
Overall I've been having plenty of fun so far. Alas, some of the adventure game mechanics seem somewhat shallow compared with other adventure games, but I'll have to keep playing to see if this changes or not.
SWAT 4 Full Game First Impressions
by Cycloptis on Comments
Special Weapons and Tactics...the name strikes fear into the criminals of the modern world. Here I am to witness it, and even deliver cold hard justice, all thanks to SWAT 4. The first thing I notice is that the level design and artificial intelligence is way above par, and among the best stuff I've seen to date. In the first three missions I've already been to a restaurant, a psychopath's residence, and a gas station! Next up is a night club, but as you can clearly see, I've not yet delved into said mission, on account of this piece of writing you're reading at this very moment.
But enough of my banter, how is the action? Well, first and foremost, SWAT 4 portrays the tension involved in tactical situations with precision. Corners and doors are your new worst enemies, even on multiple playthroughs since suspects are randomly positioned throughout the level. You move slowly and silently, although one small quibble I have with this is that your character orders the squad around with his "outside" voice even when preceding a surprise attack where enemies may easily be within earshot. Perhaps in future installments, the developers can implement sound into how the suspects react. While they'll hear the most obvious of sounds - gunshots and shouting, it would be interesting to see them pre-emptively prepare if they accidentally pick up on a whispered command.
The artificial intelligence is actually quite good, which is surprising given today's rather AI-starved market. The suspects will take cover, surprise attack you, warn each other of threats, run away, and low and behold they even close doors to shield themselves! It's all good for the suspects, and this more or less holds true for your squad and civilians as well. Your squad follows orders precisely and promptly, and will inform each other, and you as to how they're proceeding. A finger countdown before blowing off a pack of C2 isn't uncommon. The civilians will react to firefights, most often ducking to get away from the flying munitions. Unfortunately, your squad sometimes fails to react to surprise attacks from suspects, and I have yet to see civilians actually run from firefights or take proper cover. This should be improved on, although at the moment it is quite good. Perhaps in future installments, you should be able to order or warn civilians. In addition, the already excellent squad ordering system should be expanded on.
The graphics are fairly standard fare. They're not particularly impressive, but they're still good. What really surprised me was the music. There's an excellent score here that works in unison with the mood of the game. You won't be alerted as to when enemies are nearby through the music, as is common in some games. The tracks fit the tense moods, the exciting moods, and the down-right disgusting moods enough so that you'll feel like you're right there in the action.
SWAT 4 controls well. The animation feels rather choppy, but that's probably because the game has a distinct sense of realism. The voice acting is awesome, and there's no arcadey feats here: your team can be wiped out very quickly if taken by surprise, or if you walk into a room without preparing. It doesn't feel quite as responsive as I want it to be, but that may be attributed more to my lack of powerful hardware more than anything. In addition, you've got a wide variety of commands for your squad, that range from deploying door blocks to flashbanging a room. You control only one officer, but you can order around your other squadmates from afar, using helmet-mounted cameras. In the future, they should make this a bit easier to use. Obviously you won't be able to order people during a firefight, but perhaps fewer awkward key combos could be used to accomplish the process so that it goes by quicker. This is only a slight problem.
Weapons all follow the rules of reality. You don't have plenty of ammunition with you, and you've got clips of ammunition, not a "pool" of bullets that is common in other supposed tactical shooters involving recon and ghosts. There's plenty of recoil to go around, which reacts properly to your stance. If you enjoy using gadgets, then SWAT 4 will not disappoint. You've got your door explosives and jammers, cameras on sticks, and a whole assortment of grenades. I don't know if it's even done in real life, but if it is, then weapons modifications would be an interesting addition to future games in the series.
Another thing I'd like to suggest is a tactical map. You've got photos of what you're infiltrating, but it always struck me as weird that you and your snipers were pre-placed. Maybe it's not so much the tactical map I'd like as much as it is just being able to select entry points and sniper nests. Tactical maps like Rainbow Six seem unrealistic when involved in dynamic situations like those faced by SWAT.
Also, it would be interesting to see a communication system implemented between SWAT and the suspects. I don't really know how to go about this, but I think an all-purpose shouting button seems a bit limited, given your situation.
I haven't checked out multiplayer as of yet, but I am eager to test out the co-op mode with friends and voice chat. I do have the expansion, where this was implemented, so don't worry about that. So far the entire package amounts to a deep, tactical shooter that works properly. I wouldn't ballpark a score just yet, but it'll be high.
Oh, and why do I have to handcuff the hostages?
But enough of my banter, how is the action? Well, first and foremost, SWAT 4 portrays the tension involved in tactical situations with precision. Corners and doors are your new worst enemies, even on multiple playthroughs since suspects are randomly positioned throughout the level. You move slowly and silently, although one small quibble I have with this is that your character orders the squad around with his "outside" voice even when preceding a surprise attack where enemies may easily be within earshot. Perhaps in future installments, the developers can implement sound into how the suspects react. While they'll hear the most obvious of sounds - gunshots and shouting, it would be interesting to see them pre-emptively prepare if they accidentally pick up on a whispered command.
The artificial intelligence is actually quite good, which is surprising given today's rather AI-starved market. The suspects will take cover, surprise attack you, warn each other of threats, run away, and low and behold they even close doors to shield themselves! It's all good for the suspects, and this more or less holds true for your squad and civilians as well. Your squad follows orders precisely and promptly, and will inform each other, and you as to how they're proceeding. A finger countdown before blowing off a pack of C2 isn't uncommon. The civilians will react to firefights, most often ducking to get away from the flying munitions. Unfortunately, your squad sometimes fails to react to surprise attacks from suspects, and I have yet to see civilians actually run from firefights or take proper cover. This should be improved on, although at the moment it is quite good. Perhaps in future installments, you should be able to order or warn civilians. In addition, the already excellent squad ordering system should be expanded on.
The graphics are fairly standard fare. They're not particularly impressive, but they're still good. What really surprised me was the music. There's an excellent score here that works in unison with the mood of the game. You won't be alerted as to when enemies are nearby through the music, as is common in some games. The tracks fit the tense moods, the exciting moods, and the down-right disgusting moods enough so that you'll feel like you're right there in the action.
SWAT 4 controls well. The animation feels rather choppy, but that's probably because the game has a distinct sense of realism. The voice acting is awesome, and there's no arcadey feats here: your team can be wiped out very quickly if taken by surprise, or if you walk into a room without preparing. It doesn't feel quite as responsive as I want it to be, but that may be attributed more to my lack of powerful hardware more than anything. In addition, you've got a wide variety of commands for your squad, that range from deploying door blocks to flashbanging a room. You control only one officer, but you can order around your other squadmates from afar, using helmet-mounted cameras. In the future, they should make this a bit easier to use. Obviously you won't be able to order people during a firefight, but perhaps fewer awkward key combos could be used to accomplish the process so that it goes by quicker. This is only a slight problem.
Weapons all follow the rules of reality. You don't have plenty of ammunition with you, and you've got clips of ammunition, not a "pool" of bullets that is common in other supposed tactical shooters involving recon and ghosts. There's plenty of recoil to go around, which reacts properly to your stance. If you enjoy using gadgets, then SWAT 4 will not disappoint. You've got your door explosives and jammers, cameras on sticks, and a whole assortment of grenades. I don't know if it's even done in real life, but if it is, then weapons modifications would be an interesting addition to future games in the series.
Another thing I'd like to suggest is a tactical map. You've got photos of what you're infiltrating, but it always struck me as weird that you and your snipers were pre-placed. Maybe it's not so much the tactical map I'd like as much as it is just being able to select entry points and sniper nests. Tactical maps like Rainbow Six seem unrealistic when involved in dynamic situations like those faced by SWAT.
Also, it would be interesting to see a communication system implemented between SWAT and the suspects. I don't really know how to go about this, but I think an all-purpose shouting button seems a bit limited, given your situation.
I haven't checked out multiplayer as of yet, but I am eager to test out the co-op mode with friends and voice chat. I do have the expansion, where this was implemented, so don't worry about that. So far the entire package amounts to a deep, tactical shooter that works properly. I wouldn't ballpark a score just yet, but it'll be high.
Oh, and why do I have to handcuff the hostages?
Post Sony Conference Impressions
by Cycloptis on Comments
Well, here we are, one day after Sony's E3 press conference and I can't help but feel a slight disappointment with it. Actually, it was flat out boring, but at least we did learn some juicy details on the PlayStation 3.
Of course, I have no reason to list them clearly here, since that's what GameSpot is for. That said, I am thoroughly impressed by the standardized HDD in every PS3. However, I'm not happy about two SKUs. I'm fine if Sony copies other companies with good ideas and when they're competent about it (DualShock). Just as Microsoft did, they copied the core/premium idea. That wasn't too bad, since the only difference they mentioned during the conference was the HDD size (20GB vs 60GB) and the price ($549 vs $649 CAN) until today when I learned that the core package will be having some slight "tweaks".
No Wi-Fi and no HDMI. Okay, so perhaps HDMI isn't all that necessary for me since I don't own an HD display, but the Wi-Fi feature could have been incredibly useful and would have been a huge slap in the face to the 360. The Xbox had a standard modem and HDD over the PS2. The 360 didn't really take that one step forward: as we all know, they eliminated the standard HDD and featured, once again, a wired modem. I was hoping Sony would take advantage of that and include a standard HDD and Wi-Fi. I'll have to cough up $649 for that one.
My disappointment was further elevated when I saw the same fridge PS3 case design. Okay, so perhaps aesthetics isn't a big deal, and I agree; though, after the PS2/PS1 Slimline and the PSP, you would expect something a little better. By the end of the conference, it got even worse.
Yes, worse, and it had to do with the controller. No, it had little to do with Ken Kutaragi, since he did bring us the excellent PlayStation line up. It had to do with the wholeheartedly unnecessary inclusion of motion sensitivity in the new controller. That wouldn't have been so bad if they had designed the shape of the controller around it. It's the original, uncomfortable DualShock shape, with the same junky analogs, but with the motion sensors. At least the Revmote is split so one hand moves the Revmote for looking and the other uses the Nunchuku expansion. This...is just half-assed. Worst of all was those executives seemed like they were championing its inclusion into games. It's like they refused to improve their old controller, and then bolted some good aspects of the other two new controllers onto that. All of that being said, I was happy to see a guide button and triggers, although those two do little to alleviate anything. That, and the controller is wireless, with a mini-USB port on the top. Rumble isn't too important to me, so I wasn't too shocked to see it go.
Now, onto the good part of the conference: the anticipated games. Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4 had STUNNING trailers (though we can't say for sure whether FFXIII will look like that, and the MGS4 framerate drops weren't too pleasant either). Heavenly Sword lived up to the graphical standards of last year's trailer, thankfully, and it looked like oodles of fun to boot. Aside from that, I wasn't too impressed with the non-gameplay trailers or the other games that were demonstrated, but I was glad to see how good the playable games looked. I hope Assassin's Creed ends up being good, too.
The price is a bit much. I suppose you could consider it a bargain, but these will be fairly low quality parts. My anticipated PS3 games do look great (gameplay, and graphics wise) but that $649 barrier is not pleasing me in the least. I'll be waiting quite a while for this one, as painful as it will be to miss out on MGS4, DMC4, FFXIII and the likes.
Next up, the Nintendo Conference!
Of course, I have no reason to list them clearly here, since that's what GameSpot is for. That said, I am thoroughly impressed by the standardized HDD in every PS3. However, I'm not happy about two SKUs. I'm fine if Sony copies other companies with good ideas and when they're competent about it (DualShock). Just as Microsoft did, they copied the core/premium idea. That wasn't too bad, since the only difference they mentioned during the conference was the HDD size (20GB vs 60GB) and the price ($549 vs $649 CAN) until today when I learned that the core package will be having some slight "tweaks".
No Wi-Fi and no HDMI. Okay, so perhaps HDMI isn't all that necessary for me since I don't own an HD display, but the Wi-Fi feature could have been incredibly useful and would have been a huge slap in the face to the 360. The Xbox had a standard modem and HDD over the PS2. The 360 didn't really take that one step forward: as we all know, they eliminated the standard HDD and featured, once again, a wired modem. I was hoping Sony would take advantage of that and include a standard HDD and Wi-Fi. I'll have to cough up $649 for that one.
My disappointment was further elevated when I saw the same fridge PS3 case design. Okay, so perhaps aesthetics isn't a big deal, and I agree; though, after the PS2/PS1 Slimline and the PSP, you would expect something a little better. By the end of the conference, it got even worse.
Yes, worse, and it had to do with the controller. No, it had little to do with Ken Kutaragi, since he did bring us the excellent PlayStation line up. It had to do with the wholeheartedly unnecessary inclusion of motion sensitivity in the new controller. That wouldn't have been so bad if they had designed the shape of the controller around it. It's the original, uncomfortable DualShock shape, with the same junky analogs, but with the motion sensors. At least the Revmote is split so one hand moves the Revmote for looking and the other uses the Nunchuku expansion. This...is just half-assed. Worst of all was those executives seemed like they were championing its inclusion into games. It's like they refused to improve their old controller, and then bolted some good aspects of the other two new controllers onto that. All of that being said, I was happy to see a guide button and triggers, although those two do little to alleviate anything. That, and the controller is wireless, with a mini-USB port on the top. Rumble isn't too important to me, so I wasn't too shocked to see it go.
Now, onto the good part of the conference: the anticipated games. Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4 had STUNNING trailers (though we can't say for sure whether FFXIII will look like that, and the MGS4 framerate drops weren't too pleasant either). Heavenly Sword lived up to the graphical standards of last year's trailer, thankfully, and it looked like oodles of fun to boot. Aside from that, I wasn't too impressed with the non-gameplay trailers or the other games that were demonstrated, but I was glad to see how good the playable games looked. I hope Assassin's Creed ends up being good, too.
The price is a bit much. I suppose you could consider it a bargain, but these will be fairly low quality parts. My anticipated PS3 games do look great (gameplay, and graphics wise) but that $649 barrier is not pleasing me in the least. I'll be waiting quite a while for this one, as painful as it will be to miss out on MGS4, DMC4, FFXIII and the likes.
Next up, the Nintendo Conference!
Signature Bank v1.0
by Cycloptis on Comments
I'm going to make this "blog" post a place to put some of my signatures, particularly my recent favourites.
Thanks to the artists who made these so that I could slightly edit and crop them! In particular, thanks to:
Nanaki - Neverwinter Nights II Signature
Nanaki - King's Quest VI Signature
John_Adkins - Planescape: Torment Signature
Clearacell - For letting me blatantly rip off your Quake Wars Signature.
Nitric - For letting me take your Resident Evil 4 Signature and then replace Leon with Krauser.
Thanks to the artists who made these so that I could slightly edit and crop them! In particular, thanks to:
Nanaki - Neverwinter Nights II Signature
Nanaki - King's Quest VI Signature
John_Adkins - Planescape: Torment Signature
Clearacell - For letting me blatantly rip off your Quake Wars Signature.
Nitric - For letting me take your Resident Evil 4 Signature and then replace Leon with Krauser.
Wicked Sick!
by Cycloptis on Comments
Finally I've hit level 30. I guess that's about all I have to say on the subject.
Flawless Victory...unless it's a lie
by Cycloptis on Comments
Standard 60GB HDD
PlayStation Network Platform
PS1/PS2 Games Upscaled to 1080p
100% B/C
PS1 Emulator for PSP (Digital Distribution)
That's quite the repertoire Sony has going for it at this point. I'm hoping all of this will happen now that Sony has some real competition in Microsoft, compared to the dazed Nintendo and bankrupt SEGA at the beginning of the last generation.
Kutaragi did mention that all developers have been told to design their games with the HDD in mind. Assuming this is true, the HDD will have to be standard, or else we're in for minute-long load times when the PS3 launches, unless of course they're going to use this extra time to put in a 4x BD-ROM drive. If it does end up happening, we'll see Sony taking the advantage the Xbox had last generation, meaning even faster load times and lots of room for content storage. Goodbye to mandatory memory cards? Let's hope.
PlayStation Network Platform....I'm not big on console online play mainly because I'm too cheap to cough up the money for online console FPS' and racing games. However, Kutaragi did mention this would be a two-tiered system like with Xbox Live Silver and Gold. Whether or not that allows us to play online for free has yet to be revealed, but if we can't play online for free then I suppose I couldn't care less about this feature. If Sony one-ups Microsoft's XBL Silver, then all the better! If that means online 2D fighters much like the Xbox had, then you'll see me on that for quite a bit.
Backwards compatibility...100% for both the PS1 and PS2. Like the PS2's B/C, I don't expect full 100% B/C, at least out of the box, though they seem to be committed to this feature, which makes me glad. I suspect if they do hardware emulation then they can fill in the gaps through downloadable patches like with Xbox Live...and that's where the HDD will be useful.
Now the upscaling to 1080p is what really interests me. I don't own any screen that can go that high, but for the people who do this will be completely awesome. You'll be able to play previously jag-filled games like Metal Gear Solid at super-crisp resolutions, eliminating much of the need for AA! Again, I'll remain skeptical on this one, but if Sony pulls through it'll be another fantastic bonus.
The one feature that really got me excited that was announced was the PS1 emulator Sony is developing for the PSP. I fully expect this one to actually happen, since Sony has had a pretty good track record with their PSP announcements. With the added DS competition, there's a very low chance this won't happen. Again, we've got digital distribution to worry about and with no standard storage on the PSP this won't be particularly easy. However, the prospect of being able to play old games I missed out on...on the go, is really cool. Symphony of the Night? Final Fantasy VII? Metal Gear Solid? Amazing. We'll see just how much support Sony gets for this service, but I'm sure they'll get a good amount.
That PSP price drop is really nice too, I must say.
I'm really hoping Sony follows through on most of these. Of course a few questions remain, in particular the pricing. I'd gladly pay more than usual for the PS3 if all of these features were included. Not to mention the main goodness, the GAMES! MGS, DMC, FF, SMT, in addition to the many other series Sony usually gets. With the added benefit of more up to date hardware compared to its competitors, multi-platform titles should also be just as good on the PS3 as they are on the 360 aside from controls.
As well, there's the question of the PS3 design. Are they going to change it? Because if I recall correctly, a developer once mentioned that there's no way that Sony can fit all the hardware effectively into the PS3 case they showed. So that begs the question, is there a new design in the works? And how is the PSThree going to look? Are they also making the boomerang into something a bit less repulsive?
I guess we'll have to wait until E3.
PlayStation Network Platform
PS1/PS2 Games Upscaled to 1080p
100% B/C
PS1 Emulator for PSP (Digital Distribution)
That's quite the repertoire Sony has going for it at this point. I'm hoping all of this will happen now that Sony has some real competition in Microsoft, compared to the dazed Nintendo and bankrupt SEGA at the beginning of the last generation.
Kutaragi did mention that all developers have been told to design their games with the HDD in mind. Assuming this is true, the HDD will have to be standard, or else we're in for minute-long load times when the PS3 launches, unless of course they're going to use this extra time to put in a 4x BD-ROM drive. If it does end up happening, we'll see Sony taking the advantage the Xbox had last generation, meaning even faster load times and lots of room for content storage. Goodbye to mandatory memory cards? Let's hope.
PlayStation Network Platform....I'm not big on console online play mainly because I'm too cheap to cough up the money for online console FPS' and racing games. However, Kutaragi did mention this would be a two-tiered system like with Xbox Live Silver and Gold. Whether or not that allows us to play online for free has yet to be revealed, but if we can't play online for free then I suppose I couldn't care less about this feature. If Sony one-ups Microsoft's XBL Silver, then all the better! If that means online 2D fighters much like the Xbox had, then you'll see me on that for quite a bit.
Backwards compatibility...100% for both the PS1 and PS2. Like the PS2's B/C, I don't expect full 100% B/C, at least out of the box, though they seem to be committed to this feature, which makes me glad. I suspect if they do hardware emulation then they can fill in the gaps through downloadable patches like with Xbox Live...and that's where the HDD will be useful.
Now the upscaling to 1080p is what really interests me. I don't own any screen that can go that high, but for the people who do this will be completely awesome. You'll be able to play previously jag-filled games like Metal Gear Solid at super-crisp resolutions, eliminating much of the need for AA! Again, I'll remain skeptical on this one, but if Sony pulls through it'll be another fantastic bonus.
The one feature that really got me excited that was announced was the PS1 emulator Sony is developing for the PSP. I fully expect this one to actually happen, since Sony has had a pretty good track record with their PSP announcements. With the added DS competition, there's a very low chance this won't happen. Again, we've got digital distribution to worry about and with no standard storage on the PSP this won't be particularly easy. However, the prospect of being able to play old games I missed out on...on the go, is really cool. Symphony of the Night? Final Fantasy VII? Metal Gear Solid? Amazing. We'll see just how much support Sony gets for this service, but I'm sure they'll get a good amount.
That PSP price drop is really nice too, I must say.
I'm really hoping Sony follows through on most of these. Of course a few questions remain, in particular the pricing. I'd gladly pay more than usual for the PS3 if all of these features were included. Not to mention the main goodness, the GAMES! MGS, DMC, FF, SMT, in addition to the many other series Sony usually gets. With the added benefit of more up to date hardware compared to its competitors, multi-platform titles should also be just as good on the PS3 as they are on the 360 aside from controls.
As well, there's the question of the PS3 design. Are they going to change it? Because if I recall correctly, a developer once mentioned that there's no way that Sony can fit all the hardware effectively into the PS3 case they showed. So that begs the question, is there a new design in the works? And how is the PSThree going to look? Are they also making the boomerang into something a bit less repulsive?
I guess we'll have to wait until E3.
The First of Few Goodbyes
by Cycloptis on Comments
My time for leaving GameSpot's System Wars is near. In fact, I think it's about time I cut myself off GameSpot Forums completely. It was annoying before I joined on October the 9th of 2004, when I saw now legendary trolls bashing favourite games or systems of mine. It was fun when I joined up and had a say against them. Since then, GameSpot has gone through about one and a half redesigns, completely alienating most of the other cool forumites here. It's no secret that they now "reside" at SystemWars.com.
That wasn't fine by me up until the most recent redesign, which for some odd reason introduced some extradimensional influx of noob into GS System Wars. Basically it came down to the same arguements being recycled every ten days, and that was when sw.com became acceptable. Tending to two forums was a new thing for me, but I quickly got used to it. A lot of the old were there, but there were few limits unlike GameSpot. That was fine by me, but it quickly began to enact some sort of slow metamorphasis on the other oldies, giving them generic, clone attitudes derived from other more popular posters.
I don't know, maybe I'll get used to it and this whole thing will just blow over, but I just don't see myself fitting into a community loaded with this incredibly goonish, overlaying personality. The ones who managed to maintain a shred of their personality rarely post at SystemWars.com anymore, much less at GameSpot's System Wars. System Wars II is just now barely getting off its feet again after the redesign crippled it. I want to talk about video games, and neither sw.com nor SW2 offer that. If I go to SW1, it's an endless loop of the following arguements:
-PlayStation 3 is better than Xbox 360
-Xbox 360 is better than PlayStation 3
-Revolution is better than both
-Console Gaming is better than PC Gaming
Obviously, those aren't the sort of subjects I want to talk about.
On top of all this, I waste just way too much of my time on forums. I might just leave everywhere, although I may stick around sw.com since there's a group of people there that actually play games. Most likely, I'll just find somewhere else to reside in. Perhaps Anandtech, where people get all technical on hardware, or GameSpy, where some really thrilling discussions are held (although the site has been crippled since early 2004).
By the time my new computer arrives, I should be able to get into some more games, instead of suffering being stuck in this limbo where I can play favourites at low settings and low framerates. In addition I've just fell in love with Metroid Prime 1 & 2, so I should be occupied by those for the time being.
I'm not leaving yet, so don't worry. I plan to get to at least level 30, and show up every once in a while. I'll probably keep using the actual site itself, but I'll be leaving hopefully by the time summer rolls around. When I do leave, I'll make sure to keep in touch with the cool people through Xfire or the occasional post in SW2 or SW.com. When I do leave, that'll be The Last of Few Goodbyes, but this entry is just kicking off that transferral process from talking to living.
That wasn't fine by me up until the most recent redesign, which for some odd reason introduced some extradimensional influx of noob into GS System Wars. Basically it came down to the same arguements being recycled every ten days, and that was when sw.com became acceptable. Tending to two forums was a new thing for me, but I quickly got used to it. A lot of the old were there, but there were few limits unlike GameSpot. That was fine by me, but it quickly began to enact some sort of slow metamorphasis on the other oldies, giving them generic, clone attitudes derived from other more popular posters.
I don't know, maybe I'll get used to it and this whole thing will just blow over, but I just don't see myself fitting into a community loaded with this incredibly goonish, overlaying personality. The ones who managed to maintain a shred of their personality rarely post at SystemWars.com anymore, much less at GameSpot's System Wars. System Wars II is just now barely getting off its feet again after the redesign crippled it. I want to talk about video games, and neither sw.com nor SW2 offer that. If I go to SW1, it's an endless loop of the following arguements:
-PlayStation 3 is better than Xbox 360
-Xbox 360 is better than PlayStation 3
-Revolution is better than both
-Console Gaming is better than PC Gaming
Obviously, those aren't the sort of subjects I want to talk about.
On top of all this, I waste just way too much of my time on forums. I might just leave everywhere, although I may stick around sw.com since there's a group of people there that actually play games. Most likely, I'll just find somewhere else to reside in. Perhaps Anandtech, where people get all technical on hardware, or GameSpy, where some really thrilling discussions are held (although the site has been crippled since early 2004).
By the time my new computer arrives, I should be able to get into some more games, instead of suffering being stuck in this limbo where I can play favourites at low settings and low framerates. In addition I've just fell in love with Metroid Prime 1 & 2, so I should be occupied by those for the time being.
I'm not leaving yet, so don't worry. I plan to get to at least level 30, and show up every once in a while. I'll probably keep using the actual site itself, but I'll be leaving hopefully by the time summer rolls around. When I do leave, I'll make sure to keep in touch with the cool people through Xfire or the occasional post in SW2 or SW.com. When I do leave, that'll be The Last of Few Goodbyes, but this entry is just kicking off that transferral process from talking to living.
Xbox 360...no longer a threat to my wallet
by Cycloptis on Comments
Well, the instinct in me to get new technology has finally subsided for the Xbox 360, and perhaps that was a good thing. I honestly don't see too many games I want at the moment. If I wanted any, they would probably be Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo: Elements of Power, and Project Gotham Racing 3. When I look at those, I see one must-have, and the other two just tag along great games but that's about it. In the meantime, while I pile up money, I can purchase the much cheaper games for my last-generation systems and believe me I have much catching up to do. I fear I've completely neglected these consoles and focused almost entirely on my PC over these last few years. Though next year I have an arse-load of PC games to get, I still have to get these games for my sorely neglected PS2 and GC:
-The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
-Dragon Quest VIII
-Final Fantasy XII
-Grandia 3
-Katamari Demacy
-We Love Katamari
-Shadow of the Colossus
-Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga II
And there are these games which I certainly wouldn't mind aquiring which are from the generation before last:
-Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
-Xenogears
-Vagrant Story
-Metal Gear Solid
-Final Fantasy VIII
At best, it looks like I'll be following the same order of purchase as I did last generation. That is: Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft. The PlayStation 3 has Blu-Ray and the usual JRPGs which I really enjoy playing, along with more power and a ton of other genres or niche games like Ico or Shadow of the Colossus. The Revolution will be mine simply because of the Nintendo franchises with the new controller and the downloadable games...though I suspect the third parties will offer something (finally) on it that will be worth paying for. The Xbox 360 has a nice future ahead of it, and looks like it'll be a fair competitor to the PlayStation 3. That said, it has a lot of catching up to do, and by the time I do get it probably a year or two down the road it'll have dropped in price significantly. I'll be getting that for Xbox Live and some of the games in the genres Xbox does best like Action games.
Though it'll probably be a while before I enter this current-generation, I'll have a lot of fun finishing last generation. If anyone has any other suggestions for games to play, I implore you to please post them in the comments. Thank you in advance.
-The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
-Dragon Quest VIII
-Final Fantasy XII
-Grandia 3
-Katamari Demacy
-We Love Katamari
-Shadow of the Colossus
-Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
-Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga II
And there are these games which I certainly wouldn't mind aquiring which are from the generation before last:
-Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
-Xenogears
-Vagrant Story
-Metal Gear Solid
-Final Fantasy VIII
At best, it looks like I'll be following the same order of purchase as I did last generation. That is: Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft. The PlayStation 3 has Blu-Ray and the usual JRPGs which I really enjoy playing, along with more power and a ton of other genres or niche games like Ico or Shadow of the Colossus. The Revolution will be mine simply because of the Nintendo franchises with the new controller and the downloadable games...though I suspect the third parties will offer something (finally) on it that will be worth paying for. The Xbox 360 has a nice future ahead of it, and looks like it'll be a fair competitor to the PlayStation 3. That said, it has a lot of catching up to do, and by the time I do get it probably a year or two down the road it'll have dropped in price significantly. I'll be getting that for Xbox Live and some of the games in the genres Xbox does best like Action games.
Though it'll probably be a while before I enter this current-generation, I'll have a lot of fun finishing last generation. If anyone has any other suggestions for games to play, I implore you to please post them in the comments. Thank you in advance.
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