The Recycle Bin

I decided to subscribe to the new PlayStation Plus service last Tuesday. I opted for a year subscription ($49.99) which includes three “free” bonus months, bringing the final price from $4.17 (12 months) to $3.33 (15 months) per month. One of the very first things I noticed was that the T&Cs committed me to an automatic renewal once my subscription expires – I did not see or notice an easy way to cancel the service.

This PCWorld article describes the new PlayStation Plus service as not worth the cost of entry. At least not yet.

What do you get for $50 a year? At this point, not much. I counted nine total PP options, including a trial version of inFAMOUS, free full versions of Rally Cross ($5.99), Age of Zombies ($4.99), a Warhawk Fallen Star content pack ($1.99), a Fat Princess: Fat Roles expansion pack ($4.99), and Wipeout HD (19.99), a lone sci-fi theme, and–wait for it–two Fat Princess avatars.

Additionally, Midway and TikGames-Creat Studios were offering a handful of specially priced items, including stuff like Midway’s Mortal Kombat II (regularly $4.99, discounted to $2.50) and TiKGames-Create Studios’ Wakeboarding HD (regularly $14.99, discounted to $11.99).

But that’s it. All told, it’s more like a sampler platter of what to expect–trial versions, freebies, and discounts–when the service finally ramps up. I though that’d be now, but alas, we’re left to hypotheticals and unofficial conjecture about a holiday content fulfillment period.

Facebook
The writer also limited the fact that the PlayStation Store has some stupid, undefined, non intuitive errors. In one case, not being able to directly publish PSN purchases directly to his Facebook page. I do not do the Facebook thing; I know … maybe one of these days I will get with it … probably. I digress.

I am trying to think if Facebook integration is a cool feature or downright silly. No idea, but I doubt the vast majority of my friends would care that I just picked up two free premium bonus Plus Fat Princes avatars. Actually, they would probably say I was a wanker.

Free Games
I downloaded Wipeout HD, Rally Cross (PSOne Classic), Age of Zombies (minis), and the free avatars and theme. I am not really sure what to do with the “free” expansion content – over the weekend I am going to download it to see if there is any possibility of “keeping it around” for later in case Warhawk or Fat Princess become “free” Plus content or maybe discounted content.

Was the first month of Plus worth it to me? Probably not, although I did get Wipeout HD, which is a game I would have never purchased. Based on the reviews I can find, the Zombie minis is considered one of the better made minis. Too bad, because I thought it pretty much sucked.

Back in the day I loved Rally Cross, but I doubt it has aged well. I consider this bonus content for my PSP because I doubt I will play it on the PS3. I am going to look to see if I can find a game save on one of my old PSX memory cards, but even if I do, while I can transfer it to my PS3, I doubt there is a way to transfer saves between the PS3 and PSP.

The rest is well, not worth much to me. What am I going to do with a couple of avatars and a theme? I doubt that I will purchase any of the discounted games and content, although I will give them a look over the weekend; maybe I am missing out on a hidden gem.

Finally, inFamous was included in my PS3 Slim bundle purchase. Since I have not opened the game, I may give the free 60 minute trial a go. If do not like the game, maybe I get some eBay value out of an unopened copy of inFamous.

Automatic Downloads
This was one of the features that sold me on the Plus service. I love the concept of my PS3 pulling down patches and firmware updates in the middle of the night, so I can just install the next time I fire up my PS3 or patched game.

Right now I have no clue how this works. When I started Wipeout HD for the first time, I was greeted with a message that I needed to download the latest version. Strange since I downloaded and installed (but did not play) Wipeout HD Tuesday night, and played it for the first time Wednesday night. My PS3 is set to auto download between 4-6AM.

It is worth watching to see how this feature plays out, and what sort of message or info is provided when I turn on my PS3. It would be lovely if I was informed that a new firmware update, game patch, or demo was downloaded for my gaming pleasure. Or maybe that is too much to ask.

Qore?
At one point I read that Qore would be part of the service. I was an initial subscriber, however I did not think it was worth the money and did not renew my subscription. The only reason I would like to see it is included is for more Plus content. Seems like it would be a nice perk for Plus subscribers, but no real loss if it remains a “paid for” download; I just will not pay for it again.

PSN Future Purchases?
This is where things could get interesting for Sony. Will the Plus service cannibalize other potential sales? Now that I have paid $50 for Plus, I am not sure that I will purchase minis and other PSN titles. At least not right away because sooner or later they could (hopefully will) end up as part of the Plus service, which in turn would devalue my subscription. Of course we are only talking $3.33/month, but in general I am cheap.

Let’s see what happens next month.

I know that this is somewhat older news, but I figured I would touch on GT5 for a minute after reading the Nürburgring news at the Official-ish PS Blog.

Nürburgring is definitely a favorite among GT fans, and I’m excited to share with you that Gran Turismo 5 will feature its three courses: the Grand Prix course, the Nordschleife, and the Nürburgring 24 Hours course.

Who doesn’t want to do some GT style racing at Nürburgring? The problem is more along the lines of who is waiting for GT5? I guess most of the PS3 user base, but good grief, what a wait. GT5 better be something special or I have a feeling that it will get killed in the mass market gaming site reviews.

Some good news for simulation style racing fans is that GT5 should have a nice damage model since a NASCAR license is included. Then again, it’s the GT series we are talking about, so I have my doubts. I am sure I will jump in like I always do … I just think the GT series has lost some luster.

GT1 was ahead of its time. GT2 was a great sequel; more of the same, only better. GT3 was a nice PS2 graphical upgrade over its PlayStation counter parts; however it was really nothing special. I enjoyed GT4 and spent countless hours with it, including a boatload of playing time in my PS3. In my opinion, GT4 is the best game in the GT series. Too bad my youngest son cracked the game disk. GT HD Concept? What was the point? It was just a throw away demo to let us know that GT5 was in the works. I have gotten almost no value from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue; I cannot think of the last time I have given it a go. Maybe I will in the next few weeks just to remind myself why it goes unplayed.

More than anything else, I would like to see a GT/Daytona Prototype type game similar to Le Mans 24 Hours - great sense of speed, extremely long races (seriously, you could go 24 real life hours), and a grid of 18-24 cars (do not remember the specific number). I bet that is too much to ask, and is something better left for PC simulation racing. If it could be done on the Dreamcast and PS2 … well, it would seem like some publisher would be able to pick up a license on the cheap.

Before my PS3 died, I was getting some quality time with Ferrari Challenge. I know it is not a great game, but it provides me with a decent simulation experience and a decent racing challenge.

Over the last couple of days I spent some time with F1 Championship Edition. The Turkish GP inspired me, so I ran some Time Trail hot laps at Istanbul, and then Montreal in anticipation of next week’s Canadian GP. This game is great fun for me running hot laps.  It is hard for me that this 2007 release is still the only US F1 release. What a waste of a great license.

I missed out on the qualifying session yesterday, but I thought it was interesting that Vettel took the poll, Massa and Alonso showed well for Ferrari landing the second and third spots, and finally Nico out qualified Schumacher (5th vs. 7th). I wonder if that is what Schume had in mind when he decided to come back at 41?

All things considered, Schumacher securing the seventh position is respectable considering a three year layoff, and the various changes to the cars, rules, and regulations.

In typical American fashion (at least I think it is typical) I am a Ferrari boy, and I always have a few favorite drivers. In the past 14 or so years that I have been following F1, I have cheered for Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Scott Speed, and of course Schumacher and the drama of putting the Scuderia back on top.

This year things are different. I anticipated a US entry, but alas, I was thwarted in my bid to cheer for the Red, White, and Blue. Disappointing. This year I hope for a remarkable comeback for Schumacher and I expect to see Massa and Alonso splitting race wins. Hopefully there will be good racing all around, with a few surprises to boot!

On the videogame front, maybe we will finally see a worthy successor to the Formula One Championship Edition (PS3). After all, I got my “racing” love back in 1996 by playing Psygnosis’ Formula 1 for the PSX.  It is very disappointing that we have not seen some sort of new F1 game – this is a far cry from the PSX heyday when we would see yearly releases, often with competing developers in the same year with semi-licensed games.

I want to flip my Net Yaroze into a Benjamin Sheridan Marauder. Well, I at least want to sell my Net Yaroze to fund a Marauder. If you are interested, go to the eBay listing and bid. The Net Yaroze is complete, in box, and in great shape!

I have also added a near mint (like new) Namco neGcon controller for the original PlayStation. Yes, I am whoring myself out to get the Marauder.

Probably more to come. I really want to go PCP, so hopefully some of my older videogame stuff will help fund this purchase.

I ran across this article via N4G and thought it was a bit ridiculous. The author is claiming that the PS3 is really not doing that bad. Huh?

In their lifetimes, the Gamecube sold 21.74 million units, and the original Xbox 24 million. With the PS3 at 23 million, that means that it has sold the same amount as the Gamecube and Xbox in about half the time.

Ooh! Ooh! I know the answer to this one. Dreamcast! I am sure Sony never saw the day coming where their shiny new Blu-ray of wonder would get compared to the Gamecube. Good grief. There are silver linings and then there are dark clouds of mumbo-jumbo.

Lastly, there’s the issue of cost. Sony lose money on every PS3 sold. In 2006 when the PS3 launched, Sony were losing approximately $250 on every PS3 sold. But now with Blu-Ray development costs dropping (as well as Sony taking a few features out of the console), the development costs are (as of January last year) about $450. 80 GB PS3s currently cost about $400, which means that Sony is now only losing $50 per PS3. The development costs of Blu-Ray will continue to drop, which means eventually Sony will start making money off of the PS3. Until then, though, they still have sales from the PS2, PSP, and other electronics (such as TVs and standalone Blu-Ray players) to help recover their losses.

But mom! I am only a little pregnant. Something like that. The author can spin the numbers any which way they darn well please, but the simple fact of the matter is that Sony has had it handed to them the last few years.

How is this current generation going to play out? Will a $50 price cut [you know we all want to see $100, but predictably Sony will do the wrong thing] actually salvage things for Sony? Will Sony attempt to keep the PS3 on a 10 year cycle similar to the PSX and PS2? Will Sony abandon the PS3 in hopes of competing with Microsoft by simultaneously launching the next PlayStation with the next Xbox?

There are lots of questions to ponder, but no real answers right now. Maybe I will start a rumor or two later. Until then, happy Sunday!

On a hunch I decided to pick up Katamari Damacy. I knew it would be a wacky Japanese game, but I figured I was up to the task since I am fan of other obscure goodness: Tale of the Sun, Aquanauts Holiday, and Motor Toon GrandPrix. Yes, add Katamari Damacy to the list.

What the hell am I talking about? Namco just published Katamari Damacy for the PS2 – only $19.99 for extreme goodness, lots of fun, and plenty of replay value.

The premise of the game is simple. You roll around your katamari and try to grow it to a specified size (within an allotted amount of time) by collecting all manner of objects. And when I say all manner, I really mean all manner starting off with fairly small mundane items such as candy, tacks, matchsticks, lipstick, crackers, and so on. Eventually as your katamari gets bigger, you can pick up bigger object. I have not made it far enough along yet, but you can pick up all manner of living things including people.

Sound crazy? Well it is, but it is unbelievably addictive and fun. The backdrop story is stupid – I will not go there. Your goal is to grow your katamari to a certain size within a specific amount of time. Simple? Yes and no, but it is a flashback to the glory days of gaming against the clock.

Making things more interesting is the simplistic controls, which are so freaking ingenious that the developers should be granted awards for innovation in simplicity. What is so great about the controls you ask? You just use the analog sticks to move around and about each level. No buttons to press, no rapid sequences to tap, no nothing except for wonderfully fun controls. OK, not entirely true. You have to use one shoulder button to look around and change your view, another to jump, and you have to press down on both sticks to rapidly turn. Still, that is it. Straight and to the point.

Everything about Katamari Damacy is simple, but deep and complex at the same time. The graphics are extremely stylistic, the much is catchy and perfect for the game, and the interface is perfect for the game (and silly little backdrop story). On the surface the gameplay is simple, but at the same time is very deep. You actually have to plan how you build your katamari; as your katamari gets bigger you can open up areas that you could not previously enter and you pickup items that you could not previous collect. You also have to avoid certain obstacles for fear the items coming off your katamari (thus making it smaller). It is all good clean wholesome family fun, and I am not coming anywhere near doing Katamari Damacy justice. You just have to give it a chance to see what I am talking about.

I will certainly write more later because I have a feeling that I am going to be playing the living crap out of this one. At this point I can say without reservation that Katamari Damacy is a sure fire purchase and an instant classic. If you want something a little different, if you like old school gaming, or if you want an easy pick up and play game, start rolling your katamari now.

Thank you Namco. Thank you!

This is ridiculous. In a span of eight days we have NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup (due Aug 31), Street Racing Syndicate (Aug 31), Burnout 3 (due Sep 7), and Juiced (due Sep 7). The NASCAR game makes sense – it is timed around the new playoff format, but what about Juiced and SRS? They are coming out so damn close to each other that they are sure to stunt to the other game, not to mention that Burnout 3 has more “buzz” behind it, plus the EA marketing arm (and $$$).

The second wave of racing games starts in October with TOCA Race Driver 2 (due Oct 5), which is a surprise release. I thought it was going to remain an Xbox exclusive. I have no idea how well the first title did, but the PSX TOCA titles never did that well. I do not have actual sales data to back up that claim, but I just do not remember any of those titles being chart toppers, despite being solid racing games. TOCA 2 and 3 were way ahead of their time, complete with great racing AI and visible damage.

November will see the release of the heavy hitters – Gran Turismo 4 (due Nov 14), Need For Speed Underground 2 (Nov 15), and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (Nov 23). I have preorderd GT4 and NFS:U2, but I have no interest in Midnight Club 3, which is going to be completely lost in the wake of the other two games.

What is the deal with all the copycat underground games? Yes, I know NFS:Underground was late to the party, but EA does this type of game so well that I do not see SRS, Juiced, and Midnight Club 3 standing a chance. Oh well, I have a feeling that 2005 will be a great year for bargain bin racing.

Today I was slogging through mounds of email, and I noticed that I was sent an invitation from the PlayStation Underground to apply for a beta test position for Eidos’ Crash ‘N’ Burn. Two things come to mind. First, I have never received an invite to be a beta tester before, so that was fairly cool. Second, I am so far out of the loop that I have no idea what this game is about. Still, the email said, “you meet all of the requirements and have been invited to participate in the online public beta test…”

Kind of interesting since I am not a big online fan, and it is a little disconcerting that I am completely out of it when it comes to release lists. There was a time in my life when I could recite (in great detail) tons of games that were on my radar and even complete lists of games that I figured would be lame, or discount rack material. I assume this game is kind of like Destruction Derby, and all good readers (and I suspense Sony too) know that the rolling demo for DD convinced me that I needed this new shiny known as the PlayStation months before Sony took over the world of video gaming.

Alas, this said tale ended with a message that stated that the enrollment period was over and all beta tester positions have been filled. At least I know that there is still some hope for me. After all, I did get the email saying that I was cool enough to be a beta testing. Then again, I am sure 1000s of others received the same letter. Still being invited to beta test is something to hang my hat on … I guess.