Archive – Page 50 – The Recycle Bin

PS3 and PSPgo news and notes from IGN.

Over the last couple of days, IGN has run a couple of interesting articles. First, a general how does everyone on the IGN stuff feel about the PSPgo article. Second, an entertaining op-ed on the PS3.

PSPgo
The overall impressions for the PSPgo were heavily weighted on the negative side. Not that anyone said the new system sucked, but almost everyone questioned its price point.

Ergonomically it feels a bit wonky, but I’m sure I could get used to it. The nub feels smoother than my 2000, but I don’t know that I can get behind the d-pad—don’t think it’d work well for fighters. The go feels a ton more portable than the other PSP models, and that’s awesome. Just not $250 awesome.

I may pick up a PSPgo when the price drops or my PSP-1000 dies, but then again I may just pick up a PSP-3000 (or once it is released PSP-4000), which would be a better value for my money.

PS3
While I do not necessarily agree with all the points in the PS3 article, I think this clip sums it up pretty well:

Look, if Sony hammered out $300 Slims back in 2006, they would’ve taken a bite out of the Wii’s market share, never mind the 360. But in the cold light of 2009, all they can look forward to is a long, painful war of attrition against the Xbox. The “Everything Box” can’t even count on Blu-ray money anymore, since brand-name Blu-ray players retail under $200 nowadays. They might chip at Microsoft’s 7-8 million install lead, but eroding it completely could eat up the PS3’s entire 10-year life cycle at best.

Unless something major changes. Such as Sony breaking their ten-year plan to release the PlayStation 4. Or, at the risk of repeating myself, they actually meet the potential of the technology already in place. In the meantime, Sony’s going to stumble a bit more and, so sorry, some of that will be at the expense of You, The Gamer.

Sony cannot really wait a long time for the PS4. At the same time they cannot rush out a new system for fear of alienating their current fan base and all those new PS3 Slim owners. Kind of a piss poor position to be in, but in the end they brought this on themselves.

No news updates this Thursday.

I am not going to do much posting today. In fact, I have not done a whole heck of a lot of news, notes, and comments this week. My little guy is sick, and my wife does not fell well – hopefully all seasonal colds type stuff.

On top of that, I just do not have anything interesting to write about today. Sure, the PSPgo launched today, but to be honest, I have already shot my wad a couple of times on that topic. I guess Vick landing a Nike deal is somewhat interesting, but I am not in the mood to expand on that one today. Heck, I could have even gone for a T&A Thursday update with the Black Rain strip tease video that was “leaked” this week, but not enough time for that topic.

Friday is almost here. Enjoy!

Anti PSPgo sentiment mounts.

As we are on the eve of the North American launch of the PSPgo, I question how well this “upgraded” system well sell. As is often the case with game reviews, the negative aspects seem to garner a louder voice than the favorable reviews.

In the case of the PSPgo, as I looked on N4G last night and this morning, the negative sentiment seems to be mounting. For example,

It is apparent that much like the PS3, Sony believes that the PSPgo can be priced at a “premium” however, unlike the PS3, which at least offered Blu-ray and backwards compatibility across the entire PSX and PS2 library of games, the PSP has no such premium factors. The PSPgo does not even offered improved battery life, which to me seems to be a travesty.

Georgia should be ashamed of its 2010 non conference schedule.

Today the ajc posted an article about Georgia adding Idaho State to its 2010 schedule.

Located in Pocatello, Idaho, and a member of the Big Sky Conference, Idaho State will play in Athens on Nov. 6, 2010. The school is a member of the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA.

Georgia’s other non-conference opponents next year are Louisiana Lafayette (in Athens), Colorado (in Boulder) and Georgia Tech (in Athens).

Idaho State is winless this season (0-4), including a 50-3 loss to Arizona State, which Georgia beat 20-17 last weekend.

Embarrassing. I do not know what else to call it except embarrassing. You cannot convince me that Georgia could not find a more compelling and willing non conference opponent.

Why the polls suck Week 5.

When the newest polls were released, I was going to write another article on this topic, but came across this blog post on ESPN and decided that the author already addressed most of my points.

I don’t mind the coaches poll. The AFCA likes to see its name in print. I get it. I just mind that we have to take it seriously. Houston and Iowa win at Oklahoma State and at Penn State, respectively, yet trail the teams they beat. The coaches rate No. 19 Cal six spots ahead of Oregon. Why is Nebraska way down at No. 24? And these guys help pick the national champion. With every vote, there’s more evidence that the BCS should appoint a blue-ribbon panel to pick the teams.

As the seasons go by I get more and more disenchanted with the current system and the BCS. It is pretty simple to do the math. These days I spend my entertainment money on the NFL – Madden, Falcons Season Tickets, Falcons gear, etc. It all adds up, and when you consider that I actually did not purchase NCAA Football this year, you have to wonder how many other fans (and gamers) have decided that the current system is downright ridiculous.

Is it time to SHIFT?

Best Buy has Need for Speed SHIFT on sale for $39.99, which is a solid $20 off its normal price. I have been holding off on this one for a couple of reasons. First, I do not really have the time to just into another game right now. Second, I am not really sure this one is worth $60.

The time thing does not change, but $39.99 is an enticing price point. I am not sure if the game is on sale because the numbers have been poor, or because Best Buy needed a loss leader.

The metacritic scores have been decent; the game currently has an 83 rating (based on 39 reviews). The user score could be more telling at 7.8 (based on 23 votes). Honestly I am surprised that the user scores are not higher

The metacritic scores are an interesting tool in making a decision on a game, but they should always be taken with a grain of salt. For example, Ferrari Challenge ended up being an excellent purchase for me even though its average review (71%) and user scores (7.5) were not very stellar. In other words, you can use the scores as a starting point, but not as the final arbitrator of your purchasing decision. At least that is the way I do my homework.

I can see myself getting SHIFT just because of the price. It will be a game that I can enjoy over the next few months, and it will probably be a year or more until the game drops to a retail price that is this low, which means it is good eBay fodder if I happen to not enjoy the game.

Shhhhh. Here come the Braves.

It seems like every time I write about the Braves being in contention for the playoffs, something miserable happens to them, so it is with trepidation that I write this post. Keeping my fingers crossed … here we go …

According to ESPN, what the Braves are attempting to do has never been done before.

This team was 8½ games out in the wild-card race with 21 games left in the season. And now, with seven games to go, these same Braves are only two out in the loss column.

So if they can stampede back this week to overtake Colorado, the Braves will go down in history.

The Elias Sports Bureau reports that before this outfit came along, only one club in history — the 1964 Cardinals — had ever been 8½ games back in September and lived to make up that entire deficit and play a postseason game. So the Braves would tie that record if they win the wild card.

But the last date on which those ’64 Cardinals were 8½ back was Sept. 5, when they still had 27 games to play. So the Braves would be the first team to trail by that many games as late as Sept. 11 on the calendar, and with just 21 to play on the schedule. Oh, and one more thing: If they somehow blow by the Phillies and win the NL East, they’ll own all these records unto themselves, since they were a whopping nine games behind the Phillies after games of Sept. 9.

The Braves have made up this ground by going 14-2 over the past 2½ weeks, with both losses coming against Philadelphia last weekend. The Braves finish the season with three home games against Florida (the Marlins are 4-2 at Turner Field this season) and four at home against Washington, a team they’re 5-0 against in Atlanta and 9-4 against altogether.

The Braves are currently up 3-0 on the Marlines in the 5th. Assuming I do not jinx them, the Braves will be 2 games back of the Rockies.

Go Braves!

Atlanta struggles in New England.

The funny thing about the Falcons 26-10 loss to New England is that it did not seem that bad at the time, but when you look at the box score you realize that the Falcons lost in every facet of the game.

The fumble by Turner in the second quarter was a turning point. Instead of Atlanta driving for points, and perhaps a lead a half, the Patriots capitalized to take a 13-10 lead at the half.

I kept thinking the Falcons were in this one by forcing three field goals in a row; instead the game slowly slipped away.

Things to work on in the bye week …

Third Down conversions were horrid (2-9).
105 rushing yards by Fred Taylor.
0 sacks; not enough pressure on Brady.
58 rushing yards? What happened to the power rushing attack?

There are a lot of other places I could go, and I assume the Falcons coaching staff will go, but time of possession is perhaps the telling stat of the game. 20:11 for the Falcons to 39:49. Ouch.

I hope a week off allows Atlanta to get back on track before going to the Left Coast to visit the new and improved 49’ers.

Forza Motorsport 3 vs. Gran Turismo 5. Battle of the demos.

The battle between these two titles is heating up with plenty of trash talking between fans in each camp. Can’t we just all get along? I thought this was an interesting article at Destructoid that compared the demo setups on display at the Tokyo Game Show.

Here come the Minis?

It looks like there is fixing [how about that Southernism?] to be an onslaught of Minis titles for the PSP, mostly in the name of the about to be released PSPgo. I wonder how much these will cost and how well they will sell? If they sell like hotcakes it completely kills my theory about the PSP being a gamer’s platform. All of these seem more appropriate for something like the iTouch platform.

Falcons / Pats – Too much emphasis on a win.

I really do not like all the talk about the Falcons winning this weekend to gain “elite” status in the NFL. Yes, a 3-0 start would be worthy of saying the Falcons are a gash darn good team, but great? Not so much. We know that the Falcons can have an elite offense; no doubt about that one, but what about the defense? It is not even close to entering the top 10 in the NFL club.

According to ESPN’s Pat Yasinskas:

Big game: It’s only Week 3, but the Atlanta Falcons are playing their biggest game in five years Sunday at New England. I call it the biggest game the Falcons have played since they went to the NFC Championship Game in 2004, not because it’s a homecoming for Matt Ryan and Thomas Dimitroff. I say it because it’s a chance for the Falcons to show the world they’re an elite team. There’s no better way to do that than going into New England and winning.

I have to disagree. This is not the same New England team as we have come to appreciate.

Danny Sheridan (USA Today) is giving the Falcons 4.5 points, which means that Atlanta is getting some respect. Give the home team 3 points and then say they are only 1.5 better than the Falcons? This game will come down to defenses – how bad is the Patriots defense, and if Moss and Welker play, can Atlanta stop Brady’s boys?

In the same NFC South article:

Secondary opinion: A lot of people talk about Atlanta’s secondary and say Tom Brady’s going to carve it up Sunday. That could happen, but I think this secondary is getting a bad rap. Yes, it’s very true there is not a single stud in this secondary. But that also was the case last year and the Falcons made it to the playoffs. They did that because they hid their defensive weaknesses with the pass rush. That pass rush is better than it was a year ago, now that John Abraham is getting some help from Kroy Biermann. That’s why I’ll argue that Atlanta’s secondary, while still a concern, is better than it was a year ago.

Right, that is exactly what I am saying. The Falcons defense is suspect at best. Maybe it will improve as the young team gets more experience, but right now Falcons fans better keep their fingers crossed.

SEC Roundup (Week 4)

Going into this weekend’s SEC action I was 15-10. I did pretty good in Week 4 with three misses (Georgia – more on this one further down, Kentucky, LSU) to five wins (Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt) bringing my total on the early year to 20-13.

Big Picture Take 1 – Penn St goes down to Iowa
Much like Ohio St a few weeks ago, I am glad Penn St can be removed from National Championship consideration. This team gets way too much hype for a chump schedule. A 21-10 loss, at home mind you, to Iowa is pretty bad for a team that was supposedly elite.

Big Picture Take 2 – Cal stumbles badly
To me California’s #6 ranking was like Mississippi’s #4 ranking – premature and not at all earned, which continues to expose flaws in how current Poll system. Cal was mauled 42-3 on the road to Oregon. I have no idea what this means for the Pac-10; all their top teams are stumbling. BTW, newly anointed Pac-10 stalwart, dragon slayer (that would be USC for those of you keeping score at home), #24 Washington took one on the chin 34-14 from Stanford.

Big Picture Take 3 – What about Tebow?
Tim Tebow took a hell of a hit, and all of a sudden Texas and Alabama have a real shot to pass the Gators. Don’t think for a minute that Florida is not a good team without Tebow; they are and are better than most teams. The fact is that Tim Tebow is a leader; the heart and soul of Gator Nation. Florida gets a week off to rest up for LSU, but depending on Tebow’s status, the National Championship picture just opened up a little. With Tebow healthy the game features Florida and someone else. Without a healthy Tebow, it is anyone’s race.

WTF is wrong with Georgia?
A win is a win I guess. Years from now; hopefully weeks from now, Georgia’s 20-17 escape over visiting Arizona St will just be remembered as a win. Much like Georgia was ranked too high last year, maybe Arizona St was overrated last year. Maybe at the end of this year Arizona St will sit at the top the Pac-10, which would make my current contempt for this mediocre Georgia team a little more respectable.

I am not sure where to start, but what I do know is that last week’s game against Arkansas exposed Georgia for what it is – overrated, which is a bitter pill to swallow. How is a team overrated when they are only #21 in the land? Georgia’s 52-41 win over Arkansas made Cox look like a world beater, and continued to make Coach Richt look like a fool for not removing Defensive Coordinator Willie Martinez. So what happened when Alabama played host to Arizona yesterday? Alabama shut down Arkansas 35-7.

You have to assume that all the turnovers (2 INTs and 1 fumble) kept Arizona St in the game. The defensive is just too up and down – inconsistent. Arizona St only mustered 204 total yards, which by any measure makes a case for redemption by Martinez. The simple fact is that the game should have never been this close, and Georgia inexplicable put Arizona St in a position to steal a victory between the Hedges. Thank goodness for A.J. Green. Not only did he 8 receptions for 153 yards and a TD, he also blocked a potential go ahead FG by the Sun Devils.

At times the play calling by Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo was atrocious. Just keep going back to the FB since it was so ineffective the previous five times? Cox almost literally threw away the game. Bobo’s gaffs are a little more forgivable than Martinez. At least with Bobo you can say that he is still learning his craft, and he only has Cox to work with or some potential freshmen studs that many not be ready yet.

Make no mistake, the Bulldogs are plenty talented, but they are completely undisciplined, which spells poor coaching. Of course I have never been good at phonics, and do not spell very well, so your opinions may vary. In this “what have you done lately for me” SEC environment, I am not suggesting that Richt step down, be fired, etc. I am suggesting that it is time for Richt to seriously consider stepping into the offensive and defensive game planning sessions because I have to assume that Richt is too loyal to his staff to make any personnel changes.

Next week looms big – LSU comes calling and I have a feeling that it is not going to be pretty. Of course hope springs eternal. LSU almost lost to Mississippi St, and maybe Georgia overlooked the Sun Devils. Is it possible that the game winning field goal as time expired, and subsequent celebration is a turning point for this Bulldogs team? Hope springs eternal …

No incentive to upgrade to the PSPgo.

I just read this bit from TheSixthAxis:

Got a bunch of UMD-based PSP games in the bottom of your cupboard? Planning to upgrade your current PSP for one of the new-fangled PSPgos? Then you are going to be disappointed. You will not be able to transfer your games from your UMDs to your ‘go as Sony had suggested you would at E3.

An SCEA spokesman has told Kotaku, “We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time”.

So there you have it. One less reason to upgrade from your still-going-strong PSP-1/2/3000. Of course this news has less impact on those new to the PSP platform who will be picking up a ‘go when they are released next month.

That pretty much seals the deal for me. I was strongly leaning towards not upgrading on release day, but now that I know there will not be a UMD trade-in/conversion incentive, I am going to hold off. Yes, my PSP-1000 is as heavy as a brick, but it would be a financial sink if I attempted to dump the PSP and UMDs on eBay in order to upgrade to the PSP and then re-purchase some of my library at full retail price in digital format. What a travesty.

Pokemon Silver and Gold return after 10 years.

It is hard to believe that the Pokemon franchise is still going so incredible strong. According to Gamasutra, the remakes of these classic games are selling like hotcakes.

For the second week in a row, Pokemon Soul Silver and Pokemon Heart Gold led Japanese charts, as the new slim PlayStation 3 hardware experienced a mild decrease.

Sales for Pokemon Soul Silver were 222,000, topping the list for the week ended September 20, according to Media Create. Its counterpart, Pokemon Heart Gold, sold 220,000 units for the week.

The two Pokemon games are remakes of the 10-year-old Game Boy Color games, Pokemon Gold and Silver. Each of the new games has reached nearly 1 million units in sales after just two weeks on the market.

If (or maybe when) these come out in the US, I bet my kids will want to catch them some.

Will FIFA 10 be the best ever soccer game?

Or put it another way, will FIFA 10 rule the soccer world? I was looking for some FIFA 10 news, and came across this IGN UK review (9.3 out of 10).

FIFA 10 is a culmination of the efforts poured into the franchise since it made the leap to the current generation, efforts that have helped it leapfrog Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer and become the premier football game these past couple of years. If FIFA 08 and 09 were statements of intent, then this is the killing blow, and it’s going to take something extraordinary for anything to come close to this for some time to come.

The review is very favorable. I have not played a PS3 version of FIFA, so I am looking forward to this game. I wish it was out before CONCACAF World Cup qualifying resumes Oct 10 and Oct 14. I pre-orderd FIFA 10 from Amazon for 56.99 + free release-date delivery, which is really a good deal.

I am sure we are going to see several versions of FIFA 10 over the next 12 months: Road to the Cup and a World Cup edition are strong possibilities. If FIFA 10 really has a solid engine, I wonder if EA will opt for some sort of DLC instead. Maybe $14.99 for a Tournament Edition or some such instead of money grubbing wholly new games based on FIFA 10.