PS3 | The Recycle Bin

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Preorder Mess.

If you want to see preorders gone bad, or dare I say how to completely and utterly f’up a preorder program just take a look at the newest Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time preorder fiasco. The game’s bonus material is available with your preorder depending on which retailer you decide to give your hard earned dollars. Excuse me?

Discovery (GameStop/EBGames), Power ([edit: TBD] ~~where or where is this one~~), Bolt (Amazon), and Space Page ([edit: WTF is Game Crazy?] ~~no idea which store has this one~~). If one of these bonuses catches your fancy, you preorder from the appropriate retailer. What happens if two or more catch your eye? Sony is basically pissing in the river, telling Ratchet fans to f’off, or just give us your cash. Thanks.

The reality is that I expect all of the bonus materials to end up on PSN via DLC. Of course at a price. You would think $60 was plenty for a game, so why rape us over the coals for bonus materials that should be included in the game? It is one thing to make money, and I am all for that, but I am surprised that Insomniac would agree to alienate their long time fans. Then again this has the stench of a Sony blunder written all over it.

Epilogue
Edit: After reading all of the comments, I thought this one was worth quoting.

James Stevenson replied on July 2, 2009 at 10:52 am

How do you know that we would charge for this content, and how do you know that it’s not unlockable in other ways on the disc?

Keep in mind this is still INSOMNIAC. We’re still going to do you guys right – but we also have to work with our retail partners who are making bigger pushes for in-game content as pre-order bonuses.

The sniff of a trend that I failed to notice. Retailers are looking for exclusive goodies, Sony needs to market and push the heck out of their first party games, and all the extras are locked away in the game. Maybe. I still say some of this is going to be premium DLC.

Saying no to NCAA Football 10.

Color me brave, but for the first time in forever [seriously] I am skipping the yearly release of NCAA Football. Why? I suppose there are a few reasons in no particular order.

The NCAA Football franchise has grown stale and is going in the wrong direction. Last year was a far cry from the 2000 and 2001 glory days of the PSX, which was probably the last time I really enjoyed NCAA Football. Other than the inevitable eye candy that came with the PS2 and PS3 releases, the NCAA franchise is a non starter for me.
I am too damn old to master two football games. Unlike the olden days, before the family multiplied like rabbits, I just do not have the time or energy to dedicate to multiple football games.
I love college football and will write all day long about Georgia and Texas. I actually have Falcons Season Tickets so I am a little more connected to the NFL. More up front and personal, which means I can predict that in November I will still be playing Madden while NCAA will be collecting dust or worse.
I have to be more financially responsible with my game purchases. Gone are the days when I could give a shit about throwing $100-120 bones on the table for football games. I actually need to get value for my gaming dollar. Good Lord, I am your typical Joe Blow consumer. What have I come too?
I no longer live in the game reviewer space, so I can ignore and alienate a major gaming segment. Screw you! Yes, it feels good to be released from the shackles of review-dom.

I could probably come up with other reasons, but for the first time in the history of EA’s NCAA Football franchise, I am going to pass. No thanks. So there. Holding my breath. Have to be strong and brave the storm of first day reviews, forum rantings and ravings, and not being part of the “in crowd.” This year I am going to concentrate on Madden and live in peace with the decision. Of course there is the PSP version, but that is for another day.

Qore Episode 14 to be released today.

So the latest Qore episode is on the way, and according to the PlayStation Blog, day 1 subscribers from last June will get some sort of special renewal offer. Me? I think I subscribed last July, so it looks like nothing special is coming my way.

Initial subscribers from June 2008 can now take advantage of a special renewal offer. Please check your e-mail for details. You’ll need to visit the PlayStation Store and, under the Media category, find and select the special renewal ‘thumbnail’ to avoid missing an episode.

All annual subscribers and single episode purchasers will receive an exclusive Battlefield: 1943 theme this month, and don’t forget to look for a new mini-game in the Qore Arcade. Also, in celebration of Independence Day, check out your very own fireworks launcher…

Well holy f’ing crap! We get a freaking theme for free. Good grief! I know I have already discussed Qore and Remote Play capabilities ad nauseam, but give us a break already and do the needful. Set Qore free on the PSP!

I am going to think twice before plopping down my $24 renewal. Who am I kidding? I bet I re-up at the next available opportunity. Sucker born every minute and all that crap.

Over clocking your PS3 Blu-ray drive?

Something like over clocking. This article from ZKG seems too outlandish to be true, but if you can over clock a CPU, why not a Blu-ray drive? The premise of the article is that Call of Duty: World at War can destroy the PS3’s Blu-ray lens.

“They [a former employee of Infinity Ward] said that the way that Treyarch’s code is executed and organized causes the disc to spin too fast in the PS3 thus blowing the Blu Ray lens and that is what causes all those disc read errors.”

The article is well written, informative, and worth a read. For a few minutes I started to wonder if one of my PS3 games f’up my lens, but then I remember that the toddler stuffed in three discs. Same results, different article.

PS3 Coffin Arrives. Twice.

Last Thursday I finally broke down and put in a repair order to Sony to get my PS3 fixed. The undependability of the Blu-ray unit because too much to overcome. If you know me, you know I am on the straight and narrow. I like my ducks to lined up nice and tidy, and when I want to watch a Blu-ray or DVD movie, or play a game, be it PS3, PS2, or PSX, it damn well better work.

The “box” was scheduled to arrive on June 29th, but did not actually show up until yesterday. Imagine my surprise when my wife and two oldest boys excitedly came into the kitchen with two large, oversized boxes. They fixed something good was in hand, so they were awfully disappointed to learn the boxes were empty.

To be exact, they contain some foam-like packing materials, a UPS shipping label and instructions on packing and returning the PS3 system for repairs.

Why did I get two boxes? I hope I am not going to get double the repair price, but I think should be fairly safe since I used my AMEX card and the Sony site says they will not charge the card until the system is repaired.

Of course now the PS3 seems to be working fine. I am going to try to wing it through the three-day weekend before sending the system back to Sony.

Abysmal Sales for SCEA PS3 Exclusives

I am not even sure what to begin with this one. Over the weekend GameSetWatch published a fascinating article titles Analysis: Was Using Original IP The Best Idea For Sony’s PS3 Strategy?

The article points out that among the many different risks Sony took with the PS3, one of the primary risks was concentrating on new intellectual property instead of focusing on sequels. While the new titles have been well received (my opinion) none have been what I would call a system seller, at least not in the U.S. Even if Sony ends up with a must have title, the current price point is just too high to get further market penetration in the U.S. market. $299 is a “magical” price point for a system, and Sony must reach that mark by Christmas or they face the very real prospects that third party publishers will abandon the system or at the very least treat it as a nonstarter for the majority of their titles.

Looking at the data in the article, I was surprised to see that Resistance: Fall of Man is the only title to officially go over 1 million games sold [article uses NPD Group data]. It will be interesting to see if Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction will get a bump now that it is in Greatest Hits status. I am also curious to see if the new Uncharted does well, because unlike some of its other titles, I expect Sony to push the living daylights out of the sequel. All in all, I think the first party sales figures are downright abysmal.

This is the rare occasion where I do not quote an article. It is worth a read; highly recommended.

Another Qore update. December comments.

No jokes please about Christmas coming late. As I continue to slog my way through back episodes of Qore, I always come back to the same comment. Decent content, could be deeper, but should be Remote Play(able) on my PSP. If there was ever a game (or whatever you want to call Qore) that should support Remote Play, Qore is the one. I hope there is a change in direction sooner or later. Maybe with the advent of the PSPgo we will see better Remote Play support.

The funny thing about watching some of the Qore content after the fact is that I just learned about a game that seemed interesting. I figured that I would not pay full price, but if the game found its way to the Greatest Hits list or maybe the discount rack, it could be worth checking out. The game? Damnation.

Wow! What an absolute train wreck. The Qore content looked interesting, but the metacritic scores tell a completely different story.

On a positive note, Skate 2 looks really interesting, but this is another game that I may not purchase at full price. These days I am a selective bastard when it comes to dishing out full MSRP for a game. $60+ or more will cause you (or at least me) to think twice before making an impulse purchase. I am going to check out some of the reviews, and if Skate 2 has an open ended mode where you can just explore and skate around; it will probably merit a closer look. I suppose I can always fall back to Tony Hawk on the PSX, but these days I am such a candy-ass graphics whore that it hurts my tired old eyes to look at old PSX games on my HDTV.

Final thoughts. The PlayStation Network Flock! demo, which is listed as “exclusive” to Qore, looks like good clean fun, but this one is on the backburners of my current gaming rotation. The game is all over the map with metacritic scores, only averaging a mediocre 71%. Then again Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is also rated at 71%, but I absolutely love that game, so f#^k the critics. LOL

An “exclusive” demo is not that much incentive to purchase Qore, so I hope the bonus materials pick up steam. If I had my preference it would be for a code to pick a game of your choice at a set price (i.e. $7.99 or less), or maybe put a time limit on the full version of the game. Even a couple of days would be better than what is currently being offered.

PS3 owners love some pinball.

I thought this was an interesting article (via the PlayStation blog) on May 2009 PlayStation Network sales figures.

“Zen Studios’ Zen Pinball was the best selling game on the PlayStation Network for May, and from data we have picked from the game’s Leaderboards, we can see that the title has had well over 50,000 people playing for long enough to post a high score.”

I love pinball … on portable systems. Zen Pinball is the type of title that should have Remote Play capability on the PSP. Without being able to play this one on my PSP, I doubt I will try it unless it is free in an upcoming Qore episode, or is significantly discounted.

Racing for 10th.

I never thought that racing for 10th place would be fun, much less rewarding, but Ferrari Challenge changes everything. Ok, maybe not everything, but the game is about the best racing game that I have played in recent memory. For this gamer, Ferrari Challenge has three things going for it. First, the game offers realistic racing physics; or at least believable, immersive gaming engine. Second, Ferrari Challenge offers an appropriate level of difficulty, with an enjoyable learning curve. Finally, the game is fun, which is the reason we play games in the first place.

Realistic
Ferrari Challenge offers a realistic experience; at least it does to a certain point. Maybe I should rephrase this as the game offers up a semi-realistic experience. Since I have never driven a Ferrari, much less any other sort of racing car, it is hard for me to genuinely reflect on a game as realistic. With that said, from my vantage point, the Ferrari F430 behaves as I would expect one to behave. Is the actual racing realistic? Probably not but more on that later. From a balls out racing standpoint, I think Ferrari Challenge gets the job done. More often than not, I find myself at the front of the pack, challenging for a podium finish, only to make a mistake, which forces me to double my concentration as I go into an all out recovery mode racing for 10th place.

Approachable Challenge
Ferrari Challenge offers an approachable challenge. I hate games where the CPU does things that are seemingly out of my reach, but so far I do not think this is the case. As long as I do my part, and hold to the line, which is easier said than done, my lap times continue to improve, which is extremely rewarding. If I were fast right out of the game, of if I never showed signs of improvement, what would be the point? The challenge may have something to do with the Dynamic racing AI; I have not played around with the other modes (i.e. easy, hard, whatever).

Fun Factor
The final point in Ferrari Challenge’s favor is that the game offers a certain difficult to describe quality called fun factor. Now this is where reviewers tend to get into trouble. If you are looking for an arcade style racer, despite the arcade mode included in Ferrari Challenge, this game is just not going to be your cup of tea. Arcade fans typically want over the top physics, quick pick-up-and-playability, and tons of cars and options. This is not Ferrari Challenge. If you suppose that simulation fans shy away from console games, because they stick to PC simulations, then Ferrari Challenge may fall squarely into a hybrid racer that leans more towards simulation than fantasy style racing. For me, spending 15 minutes racing at Monza, always on the edge is almost the stuff of wet dreams.

No game is perfect …
Let’s don’t get too crazy. The game is not perfect. You can ram into the CPU cars with little to no consequences. When cars do trade paint, the physics get fairly squirrely. For every negative, I can think of another positive. I suppose that has something to do with my love for the game, but that is what keeps me coming back for more.

Monza in the wet
I am racing around Monza, in the wet. From the cockpit view, the wipers are doing a poor job of giving me better visibility. That and the three lead cars in front of me are spraying the crap out of my windshield. The conditions are treacherous at best; thank goodness I opted to stick with some drivers aids. The wet conditions require a tremendous amount of concentration, but I continue to gain on the car in front of me. Do I really have a shot at a podium finish? I am 13 minutes into the race, so I know that I am on the penultimate lap.

I find myself in a position to challenge for a clean pass, but I enter a turn to aggressively, misjudging the wet weather brake point, which is clearly different than a dry track would dictate. Son of a … ! I am off and just lost all chances for a podium because of a boneheaded mistake.

As I attempt to recover my composure I find myself in sixth place. It has a hell of a last lap doing everything I could to finish a respectable fifth place. Sure, it was not a podium finish, but it was fifth at Monza. In the wet. If I would have done my part, there would have been a happier finish, but as it stands, I am satisfied knowing that I should have done better.

Saturday morning gaming update.

This morning as I was slurping down a couple of cups of the black stuff, what I like to call the nectar of the gods, I put together a few nuggets of gaming goodness for your reading pleasure. I am going to start prepping for a morning run before the heat manages to reach sunstroke levels. Lots of family activities, household chores, and some work are on the radar for today, but I should have some time for gaming this afternoon. After all, it is too damn hot to do anything else.

Search for cheap soccer.
Recent CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifying action, the miraculous Confederations Cup run into the finals, and upcoming Gold Cup play has me jonesing for a decent soccer title. Over the last few months of complete gaming inactivity, I sold off my PSP and PS2 soccer titles (I never bothered to pick one up for the PS3). I think I have some sort of PES for the PS2 (maybe), but I think I may actually be soccer less for the first time in recent memory. I am not sure how I arrived at this low point, but I digress.

I thought about picking up FIFA 2009, but it is still selling for close to $50 for the PS3 and $30 for the PSP. That is too steep a hill to climb when the annual update is only four months away. The next versions of PES are due in November, but much like the FIFA games, the “current” versions of Pro Evolution Soccer are just not what I would consider reasonable. It is hard for me to stomach throwing down $40 for a game when the new version is due in November.

Of course that is the way it is with sports games. They seldom hold value, and while there are bargains to be found on the used market, the retail price holds because the manufactures and retails assume some unsuspecting mother or grandparent will decide to go with the “cheaper” version of the game.

I guess there is always Worldwide Soccer Manager. I have not tried one of those in a couple of years, but I think for now I am going to have to sit on this one and decide if my jones is going to force me into what I consider an overpriced purchase.

XPlay G4TV
A couple of nights ago I caught the tail end of the God of War III demo (or preview, advertisement propaganda) on G4TV. I only saw the final 10 minutes, but the game looked extremely impressive. I have never played a GoW title, but I have the first one tucked away somewhere. All the button manipulations and combos and specialized moves in these types of games are just too damn trying for this older gamer. Still, when March 2010 rolls around, given prosperity and continued good health, I may be inclined to give this one a go.

Qore (November)
I finally got around to installing and watching the November Qore episode. I only have a couple of comments about the actual episode. First, the Japanese content was much too brief. Just when it started getting interesting, it closed too quickly. I think the Japanese gaming scene is something that could have been greatly expanded, and is the type of content that most gamers would enjoy watching. My other comment is that when you actually know what Veronica Belmont is talking about when she holds up a PS3 version of Aquanaut’ Holiday, you are probably a little over the top. Dare I say a complete gaming nerd or geek? I was going to say hardcore, but I always hated that term, and I have no idea what it has been replaced with in this current generation of gamers.

Trophy Whore
I have never read anything from The VFLHP Blog, but I came across this article via N4G, and decided it was worth a reference. The author talks about some of the good points brought about by the advent of trophies, and then goes into the bad points. All that is well and good, but the writer never gets off the fence; comes across as rather wishy-washy.

The anti-Trophy brigade sees them as the worst thing to happen to gaming since the Wii (Yeah I said it!!!). Excuse my French but the phrase “Trophy Whore” has now entered the vocabulary of most gamers. This is a person who has basically become addicted to collecting Trophies. This is the main problem most people have with Trophies. There is no denying the fact that there are now people who only buy games in order to get the Trophies in them. One look at www.ps3trophies.co.uk gives us a clear example of how big this “Trophy Hoarding” has become. Right at the top of the Trophy Leaderboard is Killerxx from (Yeah you guessed it!) the USA, who has collected no less than 2683 trophies, including 44 platinum ones, which means he/she has bought and played at least 44 games to death! I don’t mean to insult this person but a certain “World Of Warcraft” inspired episode of South Park springs to mind!

I see no downside to trophies. They add value to games, and they make playing some older long forgotten game a little worthwhile. I would hazard a bet that gamers addicted to trophies were already addicted to gaming.

PS3 repairs.

I finally decided it was time to send in the PS3 for repairs. The inconsistency of the Blu-ray reader was driving me nuts. Sometimes games would work, sometimes they would not. When you want to watch a movie or play a game, you (or at least I) want to do it right away. I do not want to try to insert a disc five different times, trick the reader by holding on to the disc, or turning the PS3 on its sides. Enough already.

The bad part is that this repair will set me back $157.94 ($149.00 for the service plus $8.94 for taxes). It also looks like I am going to have to put my original HDD back into the system. According to Sony,

SCEA will send you a package via courier service that contains a customized shipping box for you to pack your system, a prepaid shipping label addressed to our service facility, and documents with detailed instructions on how to pack and return your system. When we receive your system and confirm that the service request matches the system’s condition, we will send you a factory certified replacement. The replacement system will be functionally equivalent to your system when new and will be free from cosmetic defects. Please be sure that all games and movie discs, media cards, and any other peripherals are removed. The service center will not be able to research any missing items we did not request. SCEA is not responsible for any systems that are lost, misdirected or damaged during the shipping process

I damn sure better get back another 60GB original model CECHA01 – the one with the emotion engine for PS2 emulation and full PSX backwards compatibility.

More updates to come.

PS3 HDD upgrade project update.

It did not take exactly 10 minutes by the time you add in the HDD backup and recover process time, but all in all, the HDD upgrade was smooth and painless.

The steps were simple:

I started off by using my new 350GB Passport USB drive to backup the PS3. I selected the full backup option, which too ~120 minutes. After that I start HDD removal process …
Remove HDD cover plate.
Remove blue screw securing the HDD.
Left HDD harness handle and slide to the right.
Remove HDD from the PS3 system.
Remove the four screws that secure the HDD to the HDD harness. Oops. I stripped one of the screws and had to use a pair of pliers to get it the rest of the way out.
Replace system original 60GB HDD with new improved Western Digital 250GB drive (5400 RPM SATA drive is a must).
Reverse the process.
When I powered on the PS3 it recognized that I had a new HDD. I selected the format option.
I started the recovery process, which took ~120 minutes.

Everything transferred correctly from the old HDD to the new HDD. All content, PSX and PS2 memory card save slots, game data, demos, installed games. Everything! Happy Days.

Wednesday night gaming update.

Because everyone needs a hump day dose of gaming goodness …

Slow go on PS3 HDD upgrad
I got my new 250GB HDD and the USB 350GB My Passport drive today, so I figured I would give the upgrade a go tonight. It turns out that the actual upgrade may only take 10 minutes, but the PS3 backup takes forever and a day. I am upgrading because my PS3 original system 60GB HDD is all but full. After plugging in the USB drive, I selected the backup option (full data; not selective files). As I write this, the PS3 progress bar shows 3% or about 1 hr and 20 minutes remaining. Good grief! I hope the backup program actually backs up everything; I would hate to have to re-download all my games, Qore episodes, and Shakira video.

Remote Play update
Remote Play, at least the connectivity part, is holding up well. No random start-ups and eventual disabling on internet mode. That is the good news. The bad news is that the lag makes menu navigation very much hit or miss. My PS3 also seems to be struggling to play PlayStation (PSX) games, which would make this feature rather worthless to me. The main reason I want Remote Play to work is to get some use out of some of my older PSX games.

The lag is probably due to not getting on a great wireless connection, but I still think my PS3 is slower in wireless mode compared to my laptop. The PSX game issues probably have nothing to do with Remote Play. Instead the issues are probably more repercussions of my two-year-old son inserting three games into the PS3.

In general Remote Play seems to be poorly conceived and under supported. Of the games I have, I can play PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Eden, and High Stakes Poker. That is pretty much it. Looking at The Unofficial PS3/PSP Remote Play Compatibility Thread Lego Batman may be my only hope at a decent Remote Play title. I am sure it would be too much to ask to make more games Remote Play compatible, but going forward, it is time for Sony to start supporting Remote Play or discontinue it as a supported option.

Pangya: Fantasy Golf a no show from Amazon
Unbelievable. Amazon is now showing Pangya as being available June 26. This may be the last time I preorder from Amazon.

Random PS3 and PSP links.

Before I get to the links, Amazon has not shipped my Pangya: Fantasy Golf yet, so I am not sure when I can start posting some impressions. Not getting a game out on time is a definite knock against Amazon. Prime shipping is all well and good, but please ship the game on or before release day already.

PlayStation Network vs. Live
Leave it to a PlayStation centric site to make a case for Sony’s network pulling ahead of Microsoft’s offering.

But now it’s time to reevaluate the situation and I have to say, based on the available software alone, the PSN has Live beat. I like to check both on a relatively frequent basis just to see if I can nab something cool for a great price. Well, the PSN library already has gems like flOw, Flower, Wipeout HD, echochrome, and others, and while I know you can find original Xbox classics on Live, the lineup really can’t compare to the PS1 classic selection on the PSN.

The article also compares some third party download content, and of course first party offerings. I think it really comes down to the games you like; personal choice … all that jazz.

PSPgo digitial game prices?
This Australian based site is concerned about the price of PSPgo games.

While trying to defend the UMD and insisting on it’s continued use he [Michael Ephraim] states that the digital PSP Go’s games will be based on the same price structure as the PSP 3000.

I have written about PSP content prices several lately; they are really too high. While this site is looking at AU dollars, I hope to see more than AUD $15 “discount” for digital vs. UMD games.

PS3 2.80 Firmware
There are lots of articles circulating about the newest PS3 firmware, but I like this one from joystiq best.

It’s deja vu time. Another firmware update which seemingly does nothing. Firmware 2.80 has, according to PlayStation Network’s Eric Lempel, a single feature. “The playback quality of some PLAYSTATION 3 format software has been improved.”

LMAO, but everyone has to post about the latest, greatest firmware update … including me.

Tekken 6 LE Bundle lands an ass kicking?
If I preorder this, my wife is going to kill me …

The premium bundle includes the Tekken 6 game, limited edition wireless fight stick crafted by Hori and collectible Art book.

Just say no to $150 bundles, but damn does this one look inviting.

Is inFAMOUS worth a full price purchase?

I am trying to establish a new cardinal rule of game purchases. I am still working out the details, but one no-no has to be instant gratification purchases of new games. As I have learned in the past, if I do not have time to play a game, or if I do not have the patience to work my way through a complicated control system, the game just sits around collecting dust.

Enter inFAMOUS. It looks really good. In fact, this Australian site rates this one a “steal” … as in, Microsoft should dig deep in their pockets to figure out how to get the game to the 360. Of course I do not see this happening anytime soon because Sucker Punch is too closely aligned with Sony, but stranger things have happened before.

While I personally don’t think it will be a Game of the Year-type title, it is without question a fantastic game, and all 360 owners who are bored of Prototype should be very jealous of this fantastic, superior game.

If some of you 360 owners are lucky enough to have a PS3 as well, definitely pick this one up and have a go.

Would we steal this title for the 360?
Steal It? YES!

I do not see me picking this one up unless I can get some sort of discount. I still have to pay off Pangya and my HDD/USB drive purchases.