This new Gamespot website is a total disaster.

It's super slow, I can't find my tracked game's list, I can't sort my game's collection list the way I want, it's difficult to navigate through this new website and find the stuff I want.

There should be an option to use the old website for people like me who hated this new website, or at the very least an option to turn useless crap off (things like flash animations on top of pages and such, which take ages to load and make the webpage heavy and slow).

Also, how about have a tracked game stack? There's game collection stack, wanted game stack, both of which were carried over from the old website but for some weird reason my tracked game list didn't carry over to this new website, and I can't find my tracked game list anywhere.

Another really awful thing in this new website is that I can't sort my game collection stack the way I want, games are listed in random order and there's no option to sort games alphabetically by title, sort games by platform, genre, etc. Those basic options were available in the old website, GS needs to put those back in, otherwise it's nearly impossible to find specific games.

Search is also messed up. I almost always get error messages, in the results pages it only shows the game titles, no review scores, or any other details. Another step back GS made with this new website.

So far navigating through GS new website has been a slow, painful & frustrating experience. The layout is totally horrible, it's hard to find the stuff I'm looking for, and the website is super slow. I hope GS will rethink some of the changes they've made to the site and try to fix things so that the website is more user-friendly, faster & easier to navigate.

So, there have been all these rumors about the Nextbox requiring internet connection to function, even when playing single player game modes or using any applications. Terrible idea if you ask me.

Personally, if I'm playing single player modes I prefer not to connect the console to the internet. Some games run faster when offline (eg: GT5, Shift 2, Forza 4, NFSMW) since the game doesn't have to check for updates, new DLC, recommendations, update leaderboards, etc. Also, I don't like being bothered by recommendations, messages, friend requests, etc, while I'm playing single player.

There are a few benefits from being connected, like being able to compare career stats with friends, and upload scores/laptimes to the leaderboards, but it isn't enough to justify a console requiring constant internet connection to function. Imo the annoyances are bigger than the benefits so that's why I generally don't connect to the internet while playing single player modes.

The main reason developers want always-on internet connection in their games/consoles is because it would allow them to track gamers down. They would have access to valuable information such as days/times the person plays, which games they're playing, which game modes they're playing, how much time they spend with non-gaming stuff (movies, music, etc), and so forth. That would allow them to supposedly improve their games, but it would also allow them to do the same crap that some websites like email sites and social networks do: flood people with advertising and try to make you buy stuff you don't need/want (btw, whoever comes up with a software that blocks ALL internet advertising will become a billionare). That sounds like privacy invasion to me.

People always wonder what would happen if you have a video game console that requires internet to function and the internet goes down. A former Microsoft employee said something along the lines of "what if the power goes out" which was a pretty stupid comparison imo. Consoles have always worked without the need of internent connection. The more recent ones make good use of internet by adding DLC (another controversial issue that I'd have to talk about in another blog entry) and fixing problems with the games through patches & updates. They bring some benefits but a person that doesn't connect their PS3/Xbox360 to the internet can still play games and have fun.

Let's look this way: TV's don't need internet to function, DVD players don't need internet to function, home theaters don't need internet to function, cell phones don't need internet to function (although it's a nice feature to have), microwaves don't need internet to function, fridges don't need internet to function, cars don't need internet to function. Why try to force always-on internet on gamers? Leave as it is, as an option, having options is good, removing options is always a bad idea.

Hopefully all the rumors about consoles requiring always-on internet are false. Otherwise I might have to stick with my older consoles.

I've been trying to learn to play F1 games using manual transmission in the past few months. Here's a playlist with me doing laps on all the tracks in F1 2011 (dry & wet):

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL78A29BBA94492CE2

I've been trying to learn to play F1 games using manual transmission in the past few months. Here's a playlist with me doing laps on all the tracks in F1 2010:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3A09A62C0F3C9544

I've been trying to learn to play F1 games using manual transmission in the past few months. Here's a playlist with me doing laps on all the tracks in F1 Championship Edition:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL86EC19AECCF0A952

One of my favorite cars at some of my favorite tracks.

-Pagani Zonda R at Nurburgring :

Gran Turismo 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMUHUAFaJYE

Forza 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JZsHDj59es

Shift 2 Unleashed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brlZe0vnMgM

-Pagani Zonda R at Suzuka

Gran Turismo 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skGuvTJV2p8

Forza 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dovKrfGJdlI

Shift 2 Unleashed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfVhiYhW1l4

-Pagani Zonda R at Laguna Seca

Gran Turismo 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30uQBRi6HSo

Forza 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rhaB_6x-68

Shift 2 Unleashed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmRbJ4oimPo

The driving isn't great but it's possible to see some differences, like too many ads in Shift 2, and the lighting in Forza 4.
I probably need to get equipment to record direct feed some day.

Videos of Massa at Istanbul in the 3 PS3 F1 games:

F1CE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9VClf5D4LI

F1 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4fEJTjaU1w

F1 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSoDi7wx3yI

Joke video showing how to overtake in NFS Shift:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4595KPaBD6A

Short video showing difference between PS3 & Xbox 360 version of the game F1 2011:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5XOqySFnjc

So, what happened to the good-old split-screen multiplayer that every good game used to have?

Nowadays with an console online multiplayer mode that works well game developers seem to have forgotten that some of us gamers have real life friends, and that many of us actually prefer to play against them rather than playing some stranger online that will do everything to ruin the game and piss everybody off. Or maybe that's their way of forcing everybody to have a copy of their game in order to play multiplayer (which increases their profit), who knows.

Don't get me wrong, I do think online gaming is a great achievement from a technological point of view, it allows us to have larger groups of people in a game session, as well as being able to play against a greater variety of players in terms of skill.

However, I don't think that's an excuse for removing my beloved split-screen multiplayer. And don't give me that stupid HD graphics excuse. We're in the 21st century, the current consoles are very advanced pieces of electronic equipment, they should be able to handle split-screen play with decent graphics at least.
Look at Gran Turismo 5, 2-player split-screen and it looks quite nice. Call of Duty: Black Ops, 4-player split-screen and it looks very nice. BTW, COD:BO is a great example of a well designed multiplayer game: 4-player split-screen (w/ the option to add bots), lan & online multiplayer. In other words, it's got the full multiplayer package with all 3 options available, leaving to the players to choose which mode they like best. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is an other example of a good multiplayer game, it has got all the multiplayer options mentioned above (this is my favorite shooter BTW).

Now look at the other side, most of the racing games & shooters on PS3 don't have split-screen for some reason. All Need for Speed games, Burnout Paradise, Grid, F1 2010, Dirt 1 & 2, Killzone 2 & 3, Far Cry 2, Bioshock 1 & 2, etc. Some of them have lan & online, some of them are online only. Is there a good reason for leaving split-screen out of those games? I don't think so.
* BTW, I mentioned Dirt 1/2 & F1 2010 but I should give Codemasters a thumbs because they included split-screen in Dirt 3 and they promised they'll include it in F1 2011.

If older consoles like PS2, PS1, DC, N64, etc, can handle split-screen just fine current consoles should be able to.
Again, I'm not saying game developers should go back to the past and simply ditch online multiplayer, all I'm saying is they should give us options; include split-screen, lan & online, the full package. I can guarantee you people will still play online multiplayer even if lan and split-screen are also included, just look at all the people that play GT5 & COD:BO online.

So, just a little rant. If they continue this stupid trend of online only multiplayer I guess I'll have to stick to older games whenever I invite friends over to my place for a gaming party.