jcalvert

Amazon Gold Box Deals (6PM)

Dinner time finally offers up the penultimate deal of the day. Nice word, but without meaning if I count wrong as in my last deal post!

Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition
Gold Box Price: $45.98 (Amazon $59.99). I am sorely tempted to pick this one up. Temptation is calling. Only two things are holding me back. First, I have already spent a ton of money today between my seven year-old’s birthday festivities, and a couple of other video game projects (teaser for check back here tomorrow). Second, I don’t think I really need the collector’s edition. If I look at it that way, this is not that much of a discount.

I am going to think about it and check back later.

Amazon Gold Box Deals (3PM)

Tea time gives us the penultimate [oops; there are still two more offerings in front of us] another deal of the day. Of the offerings so far, this one is by far the most expensive, but it also looks like it is selling very quickly. Not sure if that has to do with the time of day, the quality of the game, or the popularity of the Guitar Hero franchise.

Guitar Hero Metallica
Gold Box Price: $39.98 (Amazon $46.99). If I had any sort of musical talent, this would probably be a great snag. Then again, I probably would have already had the game in my library. As it stands, I am looking towards the last release to see if my Gold Box blogging day scores me a new addition to my PS3 library at a nicely discounted price.

Amazon Gold Box Deals (1PM)

Just in time for desert, Amazon offers us another deal, which affords me the opportunity for yet another blog update. Too bad the game is not at all something that I would consider purchasing, even at a steep discount.

Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Gold Box Price: $29.98 (Amazon $56.99). It has been a while since I touched an Air Combat game; HAWX seems to be of that mold. I think I would have pulled the trigger if this one came in a little cheaper, but as it is, I am now 0-3 on the day. I did have one “super secret” purchase for a PSP title that will be released tomorrow, but that has nothing to do with the Gold Box Lightning deals.

Amazon Gold Box Deals (9AM)

Another deal; another blog update …

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition
Gold Box Price: $39.98 (Amazon $49.99). Metacritic has this one at a so-so 73, but users rate it an 8.8. Me? I probably would not attempt this one unless it was under $20. I am just not that into super hero based platformers.

Amazon Gold Box Deals (6AM)

Yesterday I read somewhere (I think n4g) that Amazon would be running PS3 Gold Box Deals all day long. My middle son is 7 today (happy b-day Nathan!), so I am going to be around and about all today, which gives me a rare opportunity to do some serious blogging.

I am going to do some play by play for the deals …

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3
Gold Box Price: $28.98 (List $49.99). Great price, but this type of thing is just not my cup of tea. I know it is not the same, but the original Resistance game was my last attempt at any sort of military shooter. I don’t have the manual dexterity to manipulate the controller to get the most out of the games. I would have made a below average AD&D thief.

Digital Distribution Comes Calling

Over the weekend, the SixAxis posted an interesting article titled Digital Distribution: Is It The Future?. Sony, Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, and others are already making a ton of coin off of download purchases, but Sony is taking it to a whole new level with the PSPgo.

Whilst the progression of digital downloads seems positive there’s no doubt in my mind that this won’t signify the death of high street retail. Cutting out the shops with the PSP Go is a risky move but one that is eased by the continuation of the standard PSP 3000. Committing to a download only service on a full console will amplify that risk tenfold. Regardless of the benefits, all the major players in the industry need the Games and the Argos’ for those street level sales and the ever important route to market.

For years I have purchased games, and turned around and sold the games on eBay after I was decided I was finished, decided a game was rubbish, or maybe the game sat on a shelf too long collecting dust. Digital downloads eliminate any chance for some sort of recovery, even an insignificant $5 for a really old and under played game. I suppose this is the reason why digital media is so important to the big publishers.

I do not see how consoles can go all digital. As the article points out, a whole industry would collapse. I can see micro transactions becoming increasing popular. You buy the base game, and then pay to download extras. That is sort of the best of both worlds for retail stores and the major publishers. Maybe annual subscriptions for certain games, but I do not see this as a well received option for console gamers.

I would not be that opposed to digital downloads if the prices were decent; say $9.99 for a game. Right now, PSP downloads are off the chart in terms of price, so it will be interesting to watch PSPgo sales numbers, and which PlayStation Network Store games prove to be the most popular.

Racing games radar update.

Thanks to Ferrari Challenge, and the blazing summer heat, my racing jones is back on in full force. I have spent a little time with Ferrari Challenge over the last couple of days, and I have to say that this is one of the best $18 purchases I can remember making. With that said, it is time to start window shopping for some upcoming racing game purchases …

SuperCar Challenge
First up on the list has to be the upcoming sequel to Ferrari Challenge. These videos from UK chequeredpad look fantastic.

With no confirmed US release, I suppose this one will just go to the back burner. Hopefully a US publisher will pick this one up because it looks balls out fun.

F1 2010
I would like an updated F1 game. Nothing confirmed; these screens from The SixAxis will have to do.

It looks like there is an upcoming F1 2009 release for the Wii and the PSP; at least in the UK. I am not sure why Codemasters chose handhelds and the Wii for F1, but I suppose they know their market segments that they are trying to reach.

Need for Speed: SHIFT
Is the NFS series really going to get a reboot? Will the series return to its roots from the early days? By early days, I mean 3DO (remember that one?) and the first PSX release? Last week PlayStation Life posted a brief E3 hands on impression of the upcoming game.

Despite how different it is from past NFS title, fans of the series will definitely appreciate the advances that SM Studios and EA are bringing to the racing genre. The game will have an extensive customization feature that will cover everything from the car body to the tires, and has a dynamic reward system that keeps track of, for example, how many cars the play passes, how many vehicles they take out, and how good their driving performance was. The demo was a lot of fun, and we can’t wait to see how the final product turns out.

I still do not have a firm grip on how the game balances simulation and arcade aspects of the game. For racing titles, I lean much more in the simulation direction, but fun factor is a must. This one merits close tracking on the radar.

End notes and wish list …
What else? Of course the PSP release of Gran Turismo and big bother Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3. On my wish list, I would like to seen an updated IRL game, or at least a game that comes close to simulating stock and open wheel cars in the mode of the now classic Andretti Racing for the PSX. I would also love a Le Mans type racing game; an updated 24 Hours of Le Mans would be lovely. I am sure there are others, but we have just taken the checkered flag, so all for now.

Miracle in Rustenburgo.

A 3 – nil victory over Egypt is hardly a miracle, but man does this one feel good! At the start of the Confederations Cup I said I was expecting a 1-1-1 record; anything else was a bonus. I figured that the US would end up with a tie and a loss in the first two games. I really did not expect the U.S. to advance, and as I wrote this morning, today I was just looking for the National Team to show some pride. They did that and more as they kicked the crap out of Egypt on the way to advancing to the semis this Wednesday against Spain.

Today Team USA was not altogether pretty. The defense continued to be exposed, and the good side turned the ball over too much in the middle of the pitch. The U.S. pounded the ball, and had plenty of quality shots. In the end, the results could have been even better. But why complain about the score?

Thanks to Brazil’s 3-0 spanking of Italy, the US, and their 1-2-0 record advance on tie breakers, despite losing to Italy at the start of the tournament. Who would have guessed?

USA! USA! USA!

Activision kicks Sony in the shin.

A flurry of blog postings, fanboy ranting and rambling was came to a head over the last 48 hours after Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s statement that Activision would cut bait on the PS3 if something did not change soon. EndSights gets straight to the point on this one:

“As you can see, the PlayStation 3 in 2008 did provide the least amount of revenue for the company in the console segment — but $241 million in revenue on a $1.294 billion in revenue still represents 18.6 percent of Activision’s console business. That might not seem extremely significant to everyone reading, but in the corporate and financial world, the PlayStation 3 inhabits a chunk of revenue and profit that provides growth potential to prospective investors. In short, dropping PlayStation 3 support would be akin to committing stock price suicide.”

In other words, the tempest in a teapot was for naught. Yes, the PS3 needs another price cut. A reduced price will help Sony, its third party publishers, and of course would help the PS3 from losing more traction to the 360. Activision is not moving away from the PS3 anytime soon.

Sunday is sports day.

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there, strolling through the virtual goodness of the internet. What better way to kick off Sunday morning than a cup of coffee, and a hefty portion of Sunday sports.

U.S. vs. Egypt – Confederations Cup
Team USA takes on Egypt this afternoon in Confederations Cup action. Forget about the U.S. advancing to the next round and all that jazz. While it is mathematically possible for the U.S. to advance, I do not see Team USA clearing on goal differential; the U.S. is just not that creative, lacks a serious attacking striker. Besides, the defense will let us down at some point in the game with a boneheaded mistake.

At this point I just want to see Team USA not completely embarrass itself against Egypt. I known Italy and Brazil are the best of the best (FIFA #4 and #5 respectively as of June 3), but we should not be out of our league against top competition. Egypt is ranked #40, so this afternoon is a good chance to show if we are going make a decent recovery or if we just want to pack up and go home with our tails tucked between our legs.

Silverstone no more?
I thought watching the British GP this morning would be a nice Father’s Day treat, but no, Fox has to start their annual 3-4 mid season delayed broadcasts. In this day and age of “I want everything now” I really do not care much for trying to avoid results until after lunch, and then watching a race that ended several hours ago. Instead I will probably watch the IRL Iowa Car IndyCar 250 (I shit you not; that is the name), but back to F1. Silverstone seems to get no respect, at a delayed broadcast is a fitting end to this historic track.

Infineon – NASCAR style
It is always fun watching the circle boys race at Sonoma. Going into qualifying I would have picked Jeff Gordon, JPM, Kyle Bush, Sam Hornish Jr., and Tony Stewart – in that order. After qualifying, I think these guys have a decent shot, but it is just as likely the checker will go to someone else. Who? Not sure, but Gordon has not had much luck this year, Montoya is too far back, Bush will be too aggressive and make a mistake, and Stewart will not have a strong road race project. Of course Stewart has been defying such predictions all year.

I would love to see Montoya make the Chase, but I think this is almost a must win for Gordon. He needs more bonus points; one race victory is going to leave him as at disadvantage to everyone else in the Chase.

Going with hired gun Boris Said would be the easy pick for a Chase buster, so I am going to go back to Gordon, Stewart, and JPM.

Finally! Remote Play Success!

As my last article went to press, I was doing a final once over, making sure the links worked, and on the “unofficial” Remote Play thread the following text jumped off the screen and slapped me in the face:

** For users experiencing their PS3 turning on by itself, try placing your PS3’s static IP outside of the DHCP range of your router and also try disabling UPnP on your router **

To be honest, I have done everything; setting adjustments after setting adjustment. It all plays out like a bunch of black magic, and while I would occasionally get Remote Play to work over the Internet, I could never prevent the random PS3 start up, which made it all but impossible to use my PS3 in Remote Play mode.

Well, I never tried turning off UPnP. I thought that was the one setting that was an absolute must, but after turning off UPnP, my PlayStation never false started. A short while ago I made a preemptive Father’s Day run for some Modelo especial, and stopped in the parking lot of a local Bar and Grill that had a wifi hotspot. I turned on the PSP, scanned for a connection, and then started Remote Play. After a few seconds, I was connected to my PS3! Holy Toledo Batman! We have a winner …

Serious lag was an issue as I navigated the menu, making navigation a complete chore. I watched a couple of video clips, and while the lag was not horrible, it was noticeable. I think I could probably best describe the video streaming as a little lag and slight stutter, but not enough to distract from the experience. If I was not looking for issues, I am not sure if I would have noticed. Next I jumped into PixelJunk Eden, it too suffered from lag, but overall it played OK. Let’s score this one as decent, but from time to time there were some noticeable performance issues.

I am not going to declare victory until Remote Play works again tomorrow, but I think I finally have this tough nut cracked. What a major pain in the ass this has been, and the sad part was I was about to give up. Actually, I think I have given up three or four other times; I am a persistent SOB, so it was only a matter of time.

PS3 Remote Play woes continue.

I spent some more time earlier today attempting some voodoo to get Remote Play to work correctly, and while I am almost there, I have not found the right settings to get this feature working correctly. The main trouble point is that my PS3 decides to turn itself on, which in turn means that it will eventually turn itself off if a PSP does not establish Remote Play connectivity within a short period of time. Of course, if I am not initiating the connection, then the time out will occur, and the PS3 will turn off the ability to Remote Play via the internet.

I have attempted almost every conceivable combination of router settings, such as UPnP:

*If the router in use supports UPnP, enable the router’s UPnP function.

*If the router in use does not support UPnP, you must set the router’s port forwarding to allow communication to the PS3™ system from the Internet. The port number that is used by remote play is TCP: 9293. For information about setting this option, refer to the instructions supplied with the router.

I have also set up a static IP address, port forwarding, and then some. You name it, I have tried it. DMZ, VPN, DHCP. Nothing seems to stop the PS3 from receiving random garbage pings or packets or what not, which turns my PS3 on, and ultimately disables internet Remote Play capabilities.

Of all the topics, threads, and sites I have researched, this “unofficial” Remote Play setup thread has the best general info. Linksys WRT54GSV4 port forwarding settings for a whole slew of games can be found at the portforward.com.

What it all comes down to is that I think I am now at the point where I need to admit defeat. My router is just not compatible with the PS3’s Remote Play capabilities. Bummer, but time to move along.

Ferrari Challenge update. NFS Shifts?

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli safely arrived Wednesday; however I did not get a chance to fire it up until last night. Before jumping into the game, I had to wait, and wait, and wait for the 2.02 patch to download and install. The download took a solid 5 minutes, which pretty much sucks since you cannot run it in background mode. After that nasty little inconvenience, I spent about thirty of so minutes with the game. I ran a couple of arcade races and time trials at Monza, and then several turns with the surprisingly fun Tutorial mode.

No real impressions yet, because such quick ticks would not be fair to the game. For $18, I am feeling rather happy with the game. Hope to get more time with it this weekend.

While waiting for the game, I learned that SuperCar Challenge is waiting in the wings, but it does not look like an American release is imminent. It also looks like another Need For Speed is coming our way, this time Shift. I really wish that the NFS series would return to its roots and get back to some more serious racing. I would love to see an updated version of the first PSX NFS, but I doubt that is going to happen anytime soon. At least Shift, complete with power ups, looks better than the recent street racing crap that has been plaguing the series.

PSP Remote Play Black Magic Redux.

I started off writing this from my PSP via my PS3, but quickly switched over to the more traditional laptop/Word combination. I started off on the PSP, but for some reason the PSP browser could not display this site’s admin page. So I figured I could try to post from my PSP via the PS3; if only I could connect.

I attempted to start Remote Play via the Internet option, but no dice. The Internet option did not work. I am not about to change my router connections again to get this mother to work. Been there, and played those stupid games. Next up was the Private Network option, which worked straight away.

Now that I was connected to the PS3, I decided to check on some background downloads (still downloading the big ass E3 videos), and then decided to see how well PixelJunk Eden played in Remote Play mode. The game worked fine; some lag, but controlled OK. Remote Play in general seems final, but sometimes the key presses get stuck, or lost, which makes navigation a royal pain. Maybe this all comes down to my wireless network connection. I keep debating if I should run some cable, and give my PS3 some juice straight from the wired router, instead of going wireless.

After a little while, I jumped into the PS3 web browser, headed to this site, and started typing this article. As I mentioned above, I gave up rather quickly. I put in the title and decided enough was enough. Typing with the PSP via the PS3 works, but pretty much sucks for anything more than a user name and password. I guess that goes for browsing with the actual PSP; the keypad interface works fine, but not for any serious work.

Browsing from the PSP is kind of cool, but it seems like more often than not it is too much of a hassle to navigate some of the more content rich sites such as ESPN. At least the Fox News site noticed right away that I was a mobile user, and directed me to their nifty little mobile site.

So back to Remote Play. I am not sure what gives, but it still seems like it is too damn difficult to get this feature working correctly. I should be able to access my PS3 via the Internet, but it looks like I am doomed to continue on with the Private Network option.

PS3 HDD full, but not satisfied.

So as I slowly creep back into a semi disordered gaming jones, I started downloading some E3 content from the PS3 store plus some back issues of Qore that I have not bothered to grab. Imagine my surprise to see that I do not have enough space on my HDD! WTF is up with that? It is not like I have purchased that many games, movies, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no downloaded porn (not that I would look), so how the heck was my HDD already full?

This is sad, but I was not even sure what size HDD was in my PS3 – 40GB or 60GB? I purchased my PS3 June 1, 2007, and while I remembered that I did not have the 20GB HDD model, I could not remember what else was being produced at the time. At any rate, I remembered that it was the 60GB version.

I am still not sure why all my storage space is completely full, but I figure it must have something to do with having 10-12 Qore episodes, a few miscellaneous gaming footage videos. I deleted some 2008 E3 videos to recover a little space, but I am not sure that is going to help.

Demos? This is probably not a complete list, but I think Heavenly Sword (because every boy enjoys a little T&A), Conan (more T&A), Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, DiRT, Sega Rally, maybe a couple of others. Good grief! Do the demos really take up that much space? It is not like I am going to get rid of my paid for downloaded games, so I think my only immediate option is to back up some of the Qore downloads and remove them from my PS3.

The only problem I have is that the memory cards for the various digital cameras in the house are only 2GB, which is hardly enough to backup much of anything. I thought about picking up a new PSP memory stick pro duo, but the prices suck. 4GB will set me back $34.99, and 8GB versions are twice as much. I do not think a new memory stick is worth the price of 1-2 PSP games. Sony and their damn priority formats.

I guess that means I will have to get a portable USB HDD; I probably need one anyway for media backup. Or maybe a regular larger 8GB memory card, which I can actually use for my wife’s digital camera. The memory card would be a slower, but cheaper and useful backup option.

Of course it all begs the question on why would I even want to keep older Qore episodes? Damned if I know, but I guess since I paid for them, I want to keep them. If I can get them to my computer, I can at least burn them to DVD for future reference.