PS3 – Page 21 – The Recycle Bin

NCAA Football 10: Reviews that suck.

I could not help myself; I had to go hunting for NCAA Football 10 reviews. Look on the bright side, you guys get a new, albeit short, blog entry.

I understand that gamedaily is not going to focus on a sports game, so it is expected that their NCAA Football 10 review would be rather short. Maybe even simple and to the point. I am not exactly expecting details on DB AI coverage patterns, QB accuracy rates, and how the AI performs in the closing minutes of the game. However, I was expecting just a little bit more than this …

Aside from those new features, this year’s NCAA offers the same gameplay and presentation from previous installments. Because of this, what could’ve been a five-star prospect quickly became a solid backup. Unless you’re a college football fanatic, we suggest waiting for Madden NFL 10.

For those keeping score at home, let’s recap this review. Opening paragraph about three new features: Coke Zero Season Showdown, Road To Glory and Team Builder modes. This is followed by a brief paragraph on each of the features. And the review finishes with the dribble I quoted above.

Seriously. That is the entire review, which awards the game a 7 out of 10. For what it is worth, their review from last year gave the game a 7 out of 10.

So nothing has changed? Are the bugs from last year still present? Does the CPU put up a decent challenge? Is the game fun? What is Madden 10 better? Good grief. Remind me not to go to gamedaily for sports game reviews.

Screwed up Amazon system. Or Madden 10 preorder adventure.

Last weekend I finally broke down and preordered Madden 10 (PS3) from Amazon. I figured I would crumble into the pressure sooner or later, but Amazon was running a special deal that would also give me a $10 Amazon gift card. OK, nothing really special, but I was game. Besides, they did this same deal last year, so it was expected. Call it tradition!

I wanted to make sure I got the game on release day (Friday, August 14) so I selected Next Day shipping [$3.99 for us Prime suckers]. Imagine my surprise when the order shows me that I will get the game on the 18th. F that noise! I emailed Amazon customer support and basically told them to F-Off; WTF happened to the “release day guarantee” offer/option?

Apparently this option was not available when I placed my order, because Amazon only makes this option available when they can confirm availability of an item. WTF? Madden. You have got to be kidding me. As if. There are going to be copies of Madden 10 sitting on shelves across the country for the next 18 months. Good grief!

I was told that I had to cancel my order and place a new one. Screw that; did not want to lose my $10 gift card. I attempted to place a new (or second) order, but the “release day” option was still not being offered. This sucks. So much for Amazon Prime shipping. I may as well break down and go to a … real … store. Scary.

Just for shits and giggles I was on Amazon a little while ago and noticed that the “release day guarantee” option was now available for Madden 10. I went to my order, updated the shipping option, and selected “release day” and much to my pleasure [something like that] I am now due to receive Madden 10 on August 14th. Plus I get the $10 gift card. Plus I now do not have any shipping charges.

Happy days!

Why not Intellivision?

If you are going to go old school, and release games for the PC Engine (or TurboGrafx-16), why not do this retro game thing justice and go for broke? Yes, we have all been there and done that with Intellivision Lives, but why not release a virtual Intellivision, Colecovision, or C-64 console? According to andriasang.com, PSN is now offering some old non Sony content.

Bomberman ’94, New Adventure Island (Takahashi Meijin no Shin Boukenjima), Sengoku Mahjong, and Devil Crush are available starting today, priced at the standard Game Archives going price of ¥600. The games are playable on both PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Not sure where Sony is going with this, but obviously they cannot call on Nintendo’s back library. Maybe they go for Sega next, but I still say go for the good stuff. Give me Seven Cities of Gold and Elite for the C-64 and Treasure of Tarmin for the Intellivision.

Going, going, gone. Or another story on how Sony sucks eggs.

The only reason I am posting a link to this story from the escapist is because their content is always well written, provoking thought, and of course entertaining. But really, do we need another “Sony lost, blah, blah, blah …” story?

Only the Game Boy kept Nintendo in the race, while Sony led two hardware generations. It seemed immovable.

Then, a series of events brought Sony crashing down to earth. Microsoft released the Xbox 360 at the end of 2005 and enjoyed a full year as the sole next-gen console. When the PS3 eventually arrived, it did so practically in tandem with the epoch-making, zillion-selling, game-changing Wii.

On the handheld front, Sony’s attempt to remove Nintendo from its portable stronghold was equally disastrous. The PSP went head to head with the DS and came off far worse, hitting 50 million unit sales earlier this year as its rival reached 100 million.

Then the iPhone came along, but we won’t talk about that.

The article then goes on to talk about how news of the PSP Go was leaked prior to E3 and explains that third parties could give a rats ass about Sony. All true? Probably.

I did a write-up on this many moon ago; will have to see if I can dig up the original article. If anyone wants to write about Sony’s struggles, just lament back to the days of 3DO. The hardware was ahead of its time, and the price point was into the stratosphere as far as the average Joe was concerned. Oops, Sony failed to learn from history.

Playing second fiddle to Nintendo’s DS variations probably sucks for Sony, but when you consider the number of PSPs sold is 50+ million, that is a lot of opportunity to make some money. Even if the PS3 stays in third place for the remainder of this hardware generation (however that is defined) at some point I assume that Sony wins the high-def format war. Sony gets a little slice of paradise every time you double dip and purchase a Blu-ray upgrade to your DVD library.

Monday news, notes, and recycling

Other than wanting to get a cold one I do not have a lot of junk to spew about tonight. Actually, before we get started I have to admit that I am a little bit pissed off that there is no update on the Sony site about the status of my PS3 repair. The site says to “please allow 1-2 business days for your unit to be assigned to a Service Agent once received.” Hmmm … I guess there must be some sort of backlog of broken PS3.

Price cuts by October?
This article from VG247 shows that the price cuts are coming, just in time for your holiday shopping pleasure.

Wedbush Morgan super-analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that Sony will cut PS3’s price before October 1 if US hardware sales continue to slide.

“It is likely both manufacturers [Sony and Nintendo] will cut by $50, with Sony making up any lack of increased demand with a software bundle.

The article basically states that hardware sales suck [stagnant is probably a more profession description] and that there will be price cuts all around. Everyone is looking for a $100 PS3 price cut from Sony, but I guess $50 is more reasonable. To be honest, once I saw the $249 price point for the PSP Go I figured Sony was going to go for a deep PS3 price cut and try to recoup PS3 losses on early PSP Go suckers [I mean adapters].

PSP Homebrew Stuffs
If I get a PSP Go, I am going to consider bricking my PSP-1000 into a homebrew system. In anticipation of this event, I have been looking at different homebrew options. QJ.net seems to be a decent news consolidation point for all things PSP homebrew related.

PSP-3000 vs. PSP Go
Click here is an interesting article comparing the PSP-3000 specs to the PSP Go.

NCAA Football 10
I have not budged. Have not started checking for the “I have it posts” or looking to see how much the game “rules or sucks.”

NCAA Football 10 – Prerelease post.

I am trying not to second guess myself about not preordering NCAA Football 10, and more importantly, abstaining for this year’s release. Since my PS3 is off in unknown parts of Texas getting repaired it is a lot easier to show will power. Or is it?

I keep trying to talk myself out of getting the PSP version. That one does not really count, does it? When I made my declaration of “no NCAA Football this year” I was really talking about the big brother version, right?

Oh well, just a day before the pending release, there are several things I am not doing …

I am not looking at the “I got it early” threads.
For that matter, I am not even visiting forums of any sort.
I am not looking for early reviews.
I am not looking for bloggers with hands-on day one type impressions.

When I think about it, I find it rather amazing that I am actually sitting on the sidelines waiting this one out. I almost do not know what to do with all this free time on my hands. With all that said, at the very least I am damn curious about the PSP version, and since my current PSP library is down to exactly zero sports games, I may have to take a couple of sneak peeks later in the week.

Spreading rumors …

What the hell? N4G has a 1000+ degree hot item from TheSixthAxis. By golly wow, it appears that the PS3 is going to pick up a 360 game, hot dog!

Whilst we can’t reveal any specifics right now, we can now reveal that the PlayStation 3 will play host to a popular 360 favourite. The title, which has to remain under wraps with us for the time being, will be released towards the end of the year. We’ve been promised more information in roughly a month’s time, at which point we’ll be able to share the specifics, first.

Our contact has also let us know that the studio will have other exciting news to share soon enough. Note that we can not talk about this further at this stage.

Holy shit Batman, this is serious news! I’ll play along too just to help spread rumors. Speaking of which …

Did you hear the one about Susan? Some say she’s much too loose. That came straight from a guy who claims he’s tastin’ her juice.

Did you hear the one about Michael? Some say he must be gay.
I tried to argue but they said if he were straight he would’nt move that way.

Did you hear the one about Tina? Some say she’s just a tease. In a camisole she’s six feet tall she’ll knock you to your knees.

Mmmm … love me some rumors. Happy Saturday!

PS3 repair update.

I received an email yesterday afternoon that Sony had received my PS3. The email indicated that turnaround time is typically 7-10 business days. If you tack on another 3-4 days for return shipping, it looks like I am going to be without a Blu-ray player (sorry, gaming system) until the end of July. As my grandmother would have said, that is a hell of a note.

When gamers, bloggers, and developers need a life.

This one from PlayStation Life Style is a silly little head scratcher. A CNET poll to vote for Forza or GT went horrible wrong. Ballet box stuffing. For shame!

We live in a very competitive world, and this is apparent in the video game industry where publishers and developers are constantly trying to get a leg up on their competition, whether it’s through clever marketing or brilliant feats of engineering. But what is NOT acceptable is when a publisher or developer uses bribes to gain an advantage. Che Chou, the community manager at Turn 10, has done exactly this, and we feel compelled to inform our readers about the dishonest tactics that the Forza Motorsport developer has chosen to carry out.

This is just classic. The CNET poll is now closed thanks to all the shenanigans.

Editor’s note: After numerous complaints of cheating and in-game content being offered as payment for votes, I’ve decided to close the poll. Way to ruin the fun for the rest of us, guys.

Wow. The competition between these games is serious business, and folks are playing for keeps (or at least votes).

PS3, Rumors, State of the Console Market, and more Eric Lepel

I love these quick sound bites. According to Reuters, Sony Corp Chief Executive Howard Stringer says no PS3 price cuts anytime soon.

Asked about the logic of not cutting prices, Stringer said, “I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make — how’s that for logic.”

Does that really mean no price cuts for the current PS3 models? There is that Slim thing we keep hearing about. Then you also have the silly rumors about the PS4 arriving in 2011/2012, which falls right in line with Activision saying that they may no longer support the PS3 in 2011.

JC’s Quick Take on the Console Market
I agree with most of the pundits that a price cut is really needed if Sony wants to make any sort of push with the PS3. A $299 price point in the U.S. in time for Christmas would make for a serious spike in sells, but these days I am not sure if Sony really knows their head from their ass. It is almost like there is no real focus or direction, and most of the time the Sony brass are in reactionary mode.

The good news is that I think the videogame market is fairly healthy. Consumers have their choice of the 360, Wii, and PS3. Competition is a good thing; I would hate to see one of the Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony drop out of the hardware arena (i.e. Sega). Just think, a few years ago we lost Sega, and many experts thought Nintendo was next. Sony was dominating the market, and everyone was speculating if Microsoft has the wherewithal to make another run at Sony with a second console. Time marches on.

Eric Lepel … again
Sony’s Eric Lepel is making the interview rounds; this time with PCWorld.

You’ll definitely see another firmware update this year, but it won’t be like what the rumors say. We’re working on some consumer features that consumers will definitely like, but it’s nothing like what you’re reading about, and at this time I don’t want to confirm any of those features because they’re not completely locked down yet. We’re looking pretty good, and timing is a little rough, but just in terms of that rumor, it’s not the case.

At least now the rumor writers have more room for rumor speculation and blogging. After all, just what is Sony hiding with the next major firmware revision? Whatever it takes to keep the bloggers blogging.

IndustryGamers interviews PSN’s Eric Lepel

IndustryGamers posted a very interesting interview with Sony’s Eric Lempel (Director, PlayStation Network). Most sites that are linking to this are focusing on Mr. Lempel’s comments comparing PSN to XBL – “I don’t think there’s a lot of “catch up” [with XBL] anymore.” but I thought the article (found via N4G) contained more interesting nuggets of information.

IG: I know Sony has said the PSP Go is not intended to replace the traditional PSP model, but it does sort of seem that with this digital push that is going to eventually happen. Don’t you think this will phase out UMD permanently?

EL: I think it really depends on the consumer and what they want. As Kaz [Hirai] mentioned it was really about going out there, talking to people and seeing what they wanted.

Kind of like everyone really wanted a second analog stick?

IG: And the pricing on the digital games will be identical to the UMD counterparts?

EL: Well, we don’t actually control pricing, so we can sell to retail at a wholesale price and then they set the resale price. On the PlayStation Store we do set the pricing for first-party titles, but on third-party they give us a wholesale price. On games where we do control pricing, what we’ll steer towards is having it cost the same; it won’t cost more [at retail or digitally] for the launch of a new title.

What? That was like a punch in the guts. At a minimum I expected the digital content to be $5-10 less to make up for no UMD, no case, manual, shelf space, etc. If this is correct … or rather if I understand this statement correctly, it looks like PSP Go owners are about to get screwed.

IG: With PSP Go being all digital and the fact that you can access the store on the PSP itself, do you feel it’s one step closer to competing with the iPhone?

EL: What’s a little bit different with us is that PSP is a game-centric device; it was built for gaming. A lot of this other stuff you see on other devices – lots of smaller games, not that deep – might not provide the best experience. The PSP Go has a lot more horsepower and there’s a lot more you can get out of this. I think the Go will open [the door] for more unique stuff that you probably wouldn’t find on another platform because they can’t run it or they just don’t have the controls.

I just wrote about this fascination with comparing the PSP Go to the iPhone (or iPod Touch). I really do not understand why this continues to come up, but now the hot rumors are that a PSP Phone is forthcoming. Oh well, gives me some more fodder for the blog.

And last, but not least …

IG: Some people may be worried about filling up the internal memory of the PSP Go, so what would you say the average size of a game file is going to be? How many games could a user fit onto the device?

EL: If you’re strictly talking games, and not movies or other stuff, with the average game being perhaps 800 MB you could probably get about 20 games onto the PSP Go.

I cannot even imagine trying to lug around 20 UMDs. At this point I think I am quoted out. Check out the article; it is a solid read.

Second Time Around Gamers

No PS3 – Day 2 begins. Not that I would have time to play anything this morning before work, but I would have enjoyed some quality time with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction last night. On the way to Laredo, TX, the PS3 was last seen in Montgomery, AL. Yes, it is a slow news day.

Gaming on the cheap
According to GamesIndustry (link via N4G) gamers are turning towards used games and rental services at an all time high rate. The article also cites that subscription services (I am sure they mean WoW) are also cutting into new game sales.

However, while claims of increased gaming is undeniably positive for the industry, there could be a flip side. That is, money-conscious gamers appear to be spending more of their disposable income on used games and rental services and less on new releases.

Indeed, the sales of used games are calculated to be at an all time high during 2009 when compared to historical data going back to 2006. Some groups showed increases in the average number of used games bought per month of 50 per cent. In May 2009, the average number of used games purchased in the last six months was 3.51, while the total games purchased was 9.75. That gives a used game ratio of 0.36.

More than ever I am inclined to wait on certain purchases like R&C Future: ToD, and it is why I am now considering LEGO Batman for $19.99. Quality gaming experiences for substantially less than the original $59.99 price points.

PS3 goes in for repairs.

I decided to break down and use one of the two coffins I received last week. The coffins come courtesy of UPS 2nd Day shipping, although I think mine took three days), and the return label is for UPS 3 Day shipping. My better half is going to take mine to a local UPS store later today.

Before packing up the system I had to replace my 250 GB HDD upgrade with the original 60 GB HDD, not because an upgrade would violate my warranty, but because I may not get mine back if Sony sends me a replacement or refurbished system. I did the needful and deactivated this system and formatted the HDD.

I am very curious to see if I get my original system back with a new Blu-ray drive (or controller … or whatever is out of whack) or if I get a different serial number. I am not even sure what steps I will take if I do not get another 60 GB model (CECHA01) because this is the best PS3 system on the market.

So begins life without a PS3 system. I went so long without even bothering to power the damn thing up that it feels sort of strange knowing that I will miss the little bastard. We have more or less reconnected over the last month, so it will be an interesting rid going without the PS3. I see lots of PSP and Wii articles in my immediate future.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Earlier this week I picked up Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for $29.99 from the local Best Buy. I had been waiting for this one to hit Greatest Hits status for a long time, and it is finally here. I actually scored the only copy in the store, sans the Greatest Hits label. Over the weekend I noticed that the local big box had several copies, also without the Greatest Hits label, but Toys R Us did not have any copies on the shelf. I guess that the Greatest Hits shipments have not started flowing in the Columbus market yet.

I had a blast with the R&C ToD demo; played it many times, but there is only so much you can do with a demo. I always knew that I would enjoy the game, but the discriminating gamer in me has turned into more or less a tight ass in my elder gaming years. These days I rarely throw down $60 on the table for a brand spanking new game. In the case of R&C ToD, I figured I could wait.

I looked at several stores for a discounted version of FIFA 2009 for the PS3, or maybe even the PSP, but the best I could find was $49.99 (PS3) and $29.99 (PSP). I want a soccer game, but unless I can find one discounted (maybe on eBay) I am just going to hold out for the October release of FIFA 10. I can see myself ending up with the PS3 version and maybe the digital version for the PSP Go (assuming I have a Go), but that brings me back to the “digital downloads will not allow me to sell on eBay” issue, so I need to consider this a littler further.

I found a surprise deal at Toys R Us – LEGO Batman (PS3) for $19.99, but I showed some restraint and did not pull the trigger on a purchase because I just picked up R&C ToD. Of course I keep thinking that I should get it for that price, and my wife agrees (have to love that lady!). I am going to spend some time checking out the reviews and then decide if I need to make a Sunday afternoon trip back to Toys R Us. The metacritic scores average 75%, which puts it squarely in that realm of “it is probably just Ok” so not really worth $20 unless I have nothing else to play, although it support PSP Remote Play, which may put it over the top. Toys R Us also had the PSP version for $19.99, but I will pass on that one for now.

Looking towards Madden 10.

I recently sold my Madden 2009 Collector’s Edition in preparation of the next yearly Madden installment. What is going to make this year different than any other? After all, with each Madden release I relive the “been there, done that” experience. Last year I completely wasted $90; never got into Head Coach 2009 and while Madden 2009 was a decent PS3 effort it was just not enough to capture me by the shorthairs and really get my attention.

Truth be told, this seems to be the story of the various Madden releases over the last few years. I get them on Day 1, play them for a few weeks, then real football starts and Madden gets put aside for NCAA Football or other activities.

GameShark has an excellent, in-depth interview with this year’s Madden team, and it gives me great hope that Madden 10 will be different. In a good way.

The experience out of the box (Pro mode) is tuned towards a more offensive style of play – longer time in the pocket, receivers get open more easily, more tackles are broken, etc., to make sure that everyone can have a really good time from the first time they boot up. Once you make the switch to All-Pro though, we really wanted to juice up the realism – accurate 40 times, accurate time in the pocket (3-5 seconds), etc. We want our All-Pro experience to really invoke another layer of strategy and planning – it shouldn’t only be about who has the best twitch skills. Football is much more of a chess match than any other sport…we can’t ignore that part of the game if we want to be the ultimate NFL simulation. I personally want Joe Cowboys Fan to be able to play Madden (and win) thanks to his knowledge of the game and strategy, and not be hampered if his “gaming skill” isn’t up to par.

These days my “gaming skill” sucks. If Madden 10 can pull off a decent simulation that makes football fans and joystick jockeys (does this term still apply) happy, then we could have a very interesting Madden on the way.

The comments about using the Dolphins Chad Pennington vs. Pat White to see the differences between QB ratings for arm strength and accuracy (short vs. mid vs. long distances) is extremely encouraging. In fact, the whole article in encouraging. Fans wanting some dose of reality with player attributes, something that separates one player from the next are going to be happy that the number of 90+ overall rating players has been dramatically reduced.

Take CB speed for example. I did a rating analysis on this to start out the Madden NFL 10 pre-production cycle and discovered that every CB in the game had between 87-99 SPD in Madden NFL 09. I looked further, nearly 80% of ALL CB’s fell between 4 ratings points (88-92)! It’s pretty obvious that you aren’t going to see or feel any major differences out there in gameplay with them being so similar. The range now starts at 75-99, with a far greater number of CBs now in the low to mid 80’s.

The Online Franchise mode is the “big” addition for this year. I am not sure if I will get into this or not, but there is promise of lots of different ways to play. The fact that I can actually do a single player online franchise is interesting because that will be so much easier than the old fashion Chronicles way from back in the day.

The only downside to franchise mode seems to be that it is limited to 10 seasons. I could not tell from the interview if this is specific to online franchises or offline as well; it was mentioned in the context of online franchises, but I bet it is a limitation for on or offline modes. Except for simulating a long run of seasons, these days I do not have time to actually play through multiple seasons so this is probably a non issue for me as well as most gamers.

Looks like in-game saves did not make the cut. I can only hope for a nice handy accelerated clock feature to speed the game along.

If you have not already seen the interview, take a few minutes to check it out. Plenty of info there to wet your appetite for Madden 10. I hope that we are not in for a serious letdown.

Heading to Amazon to preorder.