Author: jcalvert

Mario goes multiplayer.

IGN has posted a nice GamesCon 2009 New Super Mario Bros. hands-on impression article. Of particular interest is the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Which leads me to the single biggest improvement made to New Super Mario Bros. for Wii (over its DS predecessor, since let’s face it — these games are otherwise very similar): the four-player-compatible cooperative and competitive multiplayer mode. The title is frankly doubly engrossing when you play with a friend or two because you will find yourselves working against each other just as often as you team up to take on enemies and challenges from the Mushroom Kingdom. I played in Germany against Peer Schneider, former IGN Nintendo editor turned traitorous VP of content at our little network, and we were laughing and groaning as we both made like we were going to help each other out and then instead tried to sabotage one another’s characters. You can, of course, blast through levels as a comprehensive team, disposing of goombas simultaneously, planning jumps on the tops of each other’s heads to gain height, and so on. But if you play like Peer and I did, you will do just the opposite, picking each other up and trying to hurl one another off ledges, stealing away power-ups before the other can get at them, and even throwing koopa shells at each other on occasion.

Day one purchase for the kids, and of course dad needs to play with the kids. Nothing says fun like a new Mario game for the Wii.

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Favre’s Football Value.

There is always one in the room. Unfortunately, sometimes it is me. Someone always overrates a player such as Favre. As long as the love affair continues to roll on, how about this USAToday article warning fantasy football owners not pick up Favre as their starting QB.

With high-profile players such as Favre, at least one owner in most leagues usually is infatuated with the big name and drafts him way too early. True, the Vikings have an excellent rushing game, strong defense and run an offense similar to what Favre ran during most of his career with the Packers.

If anything, Favre will make RB Adrian Peterson a more obvious No. 1 pick. If Favre forces defenses to take some attention away from the run game, that can only help Peterson, who has been pretty good even when defenses were ganging up on him. Adding Favre might make a 2,000-yard season possible.

The article puts Favre somewhere in the Top 14, but you just know someone is going to take Favre way too early.

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What Forbes won’t tell you about the PS3.

Last night I said I thought I was spent on PS3 Slim info, but this article from Forbes (via N4G) hand me immediately look at one of the mass market news outlets – USAToday – to see their take.

According to Forbes, the new price point is too little, too late.

Now Sony’s latest move, slashing the PlayStation3’s price by $100 to $299 and offering a thinner version of the ginormous console, has almost no hope of making a difference. That’s because Sony’s technology-packed console will remain more expensive than either the Xbox 360, which starts at less than $20,0 [sic] and the Wii, which sells for $250.

Not a good place to be, with price cuts for those consoles almost surely on the way. And while Sony’s offering is packed with expensive technology, it’s the least mature where it matters most: motion-sensitive controllers and online gaming.

I guess that the motion-sensitive action on the 360 far surpasses the Wii? I guess Nintendo decided that their technology was so damn good that they better release the Wii Motion Plus accessory before Microsoft and Sony put out their new challengers? When was the last time that Nintendo’s online offerings were put in front of the PS3 or Xbox/360? Is Sony really that far behind Microsoft in the online arena?

Good grief! I am not trying to offer up fanboy reporting, but this kind of crap is ridiculous. Just report that the price cut will not matter because the dollar conscious consumer is going to go with the lower priced 360 or gravitate towards the family appeal of the Wii. I could buy that sentiment.

Now to USAToday which has a fairly long interview with Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. The article also features this nugget of info that you will not find in the Forbes article.

The price drop totally changes the PS3’s positioning in the marketplace, says Jesse Divnich, director of analyst services at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research. “The PS3 price drop finally puts the Sony home console on par with its main rival, the Xbox 360. In fact, in terms of value, the PS3 is a much superior product in comparison to the Xbox 360; however, this is not to suggest that hardware sales will suddenly shift into Sony’s favor. It would be safe to assume that this recent price cut will slowly begin to close the gap between the two consoles.”

Even though Sony priced the PS3 higher than competitors the $250 Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360, the electronics giant sold more than 8 million PS3s in the U.S., according to market tracking firm the NPD Group.

I too believe that the price cut will make a difference. The 360 may remain in front of the 360 in terms of overall numbers, but I think that the PS3’s new price positions Sony to capture the upcoming holiday sales cycle.

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PS3 Slim: IGN happy with $299 price point.

All-in-all a good news day for Sony. If IGN is happy, then the masses will follow in lock step. In fact, I would wager that folks sitting on the fence are going to move in the direction of the PS3 this Christmas season. After all, the Wii is already the non gamer’s console. Call it the Dallas Cowboys of videogames – America’s Team. While the 360 is going to be positioned as the value console. No facts. Just opinions.

IGN posted some PS3 Slim impressions; mostly favorable, but with a theme of it is about damn time Sony dropped the price.

And then there’s the price drop, which is really what this whole thing is all about, and is easily the most important aspect of it. If the redesign was necessitated for a price drop, then I’m glad it’s here today rather than a year from now (even though there maybe could have been a more significant size reduction). That $299 price tag is much, much more enticing for people than the previous $399 sticker (and certainly the original $499/$599 price as well). And now that games like Uncharted 2, God of War III and Gran Turismo 5 are all just over the horizon, lots and lots of people are finally at the point where it’s time to buy.

Not sure what else I can say about the story. It is not like I am about to run out and buy a PS3 Slim to rejoice in the moment.

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I do not get the Brett Favre love affair.

OK, so Favre signs with the Vikings. Now what? Part of me wants to say “Big f’ing deal.” The other part realizes that if (and this is a big if) Favre can perform above average he just may put the Vikings over the top. At the very least Vikings football will be interesting.

Reading today’s news of Favre signing with the Vikings was anticlimactic. I think everyone knew it was a matter of when, not if the Vikings were able to get Favre to change his mind again (and again, and again, and again).

I just wonder what it was that made Favre say that the time was right, but three weeks ago he was done.

Whatever. I have always liked Favre, and I wish him well, unless he meets up with the Falcons in the playoffs.

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Another what to do with your UMDs after you purchase a PSP Go article.

PSPWorld recently posted an article about the problem Sony faces with current PSP owners that want to upgrade to a PSP Go. How does a gamer that invested many duckets in UMDs get the games transferred to a PSP Go?

How will users who already own an older model of PSP transfer their UMD games to the 16GB internal storage of the PSP Go? Surely, Sony can’t expect us to buy all of our old games again in digital form, so they must be considering various options to placate those gamers with a big pile of UMDs.

The problem for Sony is that there might not be all that many new customers out there who have been on the fence about the PSP all this time simply because of the presence of the optical disk format. Undoubtedly, the real target customer for Sony’s new PSP model is pre-existing PSP owners like you and I, who wouldn’t mind upgrading to a new model if it contained the right features. In order to get some of us on board, Sony needs a system for transferring old UMD games to the PSP Go.

The article then goes on to offer three suggestions. An external UMD drive – this is almost ridiculous. A code redemption program – plausible, but I do not think this route will be offered as a solution. And finally, a mail-in program – this is very likely for two reasons. First, Sony controls who gets a digital version of a UMD game. Second, Sony can turn around and dump the UMDs in the 2600 ET grave.

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Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune gets Greatest Hits Status.

Good news for those of you that have not given Uncharted a spin; the official PlayStation Blog announced that the original Uncharted is now available in the Greatest Hits format.

Last week, we announced the availability of two new “Greatest Hits” titles . U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune are the latest best-selling titles to enter into the elite world of “Greatest Hits.”

I am all for any game getting the $29.99 treatment, and in the case of the original Uncharted, it is a great experience that should not be missed. Now consider that the sequel is on the way, so the timing of this newest edition to the PS3 Greatest Hits library could not be better.

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Consoles break; often.

First thing this morning I checked N4G to see what sort of PS3 price drop announcement was afoot, but right now we are getting silence. I am not sure why I care; it is not as if I am going to buy another PS3 just because they are cheaper. Maybe because mine dies again, which brings me to the point of this post from The Consumerist.

The poorly manufactured, red ring of death-prone console has a 54.2 percent failure rate, compared to 10.6 percent for the PS3 and the Wii’s 6.8 percent.

The magazine surveyed nearly 5,000 readers to get the data. And while the 360’s rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it’s still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken. Also, Microsoft’s numbers are inflated because 360s are used the most of the three consoles. Results said 40.3 percent of 360 owners use the console three to five hours a day, compared to 37 percent of PS3 owners. Meanwhile, the plurality of Wii owners (41.4 percent) play their consoles less than an hour a day.

Console failure rates in general are abysmal. I am not sure how they compare to computers, iPods, or other consumer electronics, but the numbers from this article are baffling.

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UK gets PS3 price drop. What about the U.S.?

So here come the PS3 price drops. At least in the UK. According to MCV (via N4G)

As of today the retailer [Asda] is offering what is described as a ‘limited promotion’ on 80GB machines, which offers the hardware plus two games for just £250 – that’s £50 less than the current UK RRP.

I am sure this is just an inventory clearance move, but it should be a sign of what to expect tomorrow. I bet gaming sites are going to crash and burn tomorrow with a glut of traffic. No matter what happens, I am sure that there will be a large contingent of anti Sony media pissing a river complaining that the price cuts are not deep enough, or that the price cuts will not stop the bleeding. Oh well, more fodder for the RB.

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Slow news Monday returns.

Except for a glut (and I mean a serious run) of PS3 price cut and PS3 slim rumors, there is just not all that much going on today.

So far I have enjoyed my brief time with Madden 10. Two important points. First, the game is improved over last year. Second, the sliders do appear to work and provide noticeable differences when tweaked. At least when I upped the penalty sliders, I started getting more penalties called. This is still a work in progress, and it is much too soon to call a final review score (as if I did those any more).

I have stayed away from Madden message boards, sites, and searches. If there is something glaring that has been found, for now I want to be clueless. I think it is better that way.

I ordered Madden 10 for the Wii for my son’s b-day. I am not expecting any major enhancements, but the kids like Madden, so they should be happy.

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Net Yaroze for Sale – Fund my Marauder

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.

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Thinking about my next airgun purchase.

Airgun purchase cannot be a casual affair. At least not for me. Quality adult airguns are expensive, and by the time you add on the expense of a quality scope and scope mount, you have some serious cash invested in a purchase. My inventory (probably better stated as my collection) is currently fairly simple – Beeman R7 .177, Beeman R1 .22, and Beeman R1 .20 Carbine.

Beeman is doing something a little unusual (at least to me) with their 2009 options. Option 1 is a Double Gold, which includes a mounted scope and muzzle brake, but does include open sights or drill-outs for open sights. Option 2 includes a scope mount and muzzle brake, but once again no open sights or the option to mount sights at a future date. In other words, the first two options are for airgunners that are always going to use scopes – with these two options it is not possible to add on open sights at a later date. Option 2 is the HW equivalent of the Beeman gun (i.e. a Beeman R1 is a HW80).

I have been looking at several different guns for my next purchase, but my top two are just not available. I would like an R7 in .20 caliber, but I want it with open sights for the flexibility of going scope or sights. 99% of my shooting will always be with scopes, so I probably just need to get over myself, but I am a picky SOB. As I said, adult airguns are expensive, so prudence with purchases is in order. Unfortunately it does not look like the HW30S (R7 = HW30S) is offered by Beeman in the .20 caliber.

The other airgun that I have my eyes on is an R1 .177 Carbine, but much like the HW30S, Beeman does not offer the HW80 .177 as a Carbine, which is really a damn shame because I love the size of a Carbine.

So where does that leave me? I am currently looking at several different options for my next airgun purchase.

Option 1: HW50S .22
I have had my eye on an HW50S for a long time, and a .22 would bridge the gap nicely between my R7 and R1s. A .22 version of the HW50S may not be the best power plant for the HW50S, but I like the larger calibers. I think this would be a great addition for backyard plinking and pest control.

Option 2: HW80 .177
I may go this route and pursue a Carbine barrel directly from Beeman or as an aftermarket add on (i.e. second-hand; used; yellow forum classifieds).

Option 3: Chrony and Scope Upgrade for the R1 .20 Carbine
If I cannot get what I really want, I may just go in a completely different direction and hold off on a purchase. I do not have a Chrony, a quality shooting bench and bags, and then some. I could also use a better scope on my R1 .20 Carbine

Instead of buying a new airgun, I could just invest that money in some quality items that would help me further enjoy my current collection.

Option 4: HW97 or HW77
I think either gun would be a good way to get into field target, plus both would be great for paper punching. I have three problems with this option. First, which airgun would I get; they both seem so similar. Second, how do I decide between a .20 HW97 and .177 HW97? Finally, I do not shoot field target, so this is probably just an overly optimistic purchase.

Option 5: Go PCP
I am not going to go into a lot of detail here. I just do not think I am ready to take the PCP plunge (what some airgunners call going to the “dark side”). It is in the back of my mind, and I keep reading reviews, and am strongly considering a .22 Benjamin Sheridan Marauder, which would be the perfect way for me to enjoy backyard shooting without disturbing the neighbors.

So there you have it. Five different options, but none are convincing enough to make me move one way or the other. It is always therapeutic getting this on “paper” but I just cannot make up my mind. More to come later.

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