Move With Updated Impressions

It seems everyday, some new information about the PlayStation Move is unveiled and it all appears to be positive.

PlayStation LifeStyle reports the reasons why Sony passed on a standalone 3-D camera interface and their own impressions about the Move.

"...We worked closely with our game teams at what it would enable, and it enabled making the things we already did with EyeToy more robust, but it didn’t really enable as many new experiences as what we were hoping it would enable, so it made the things we were already able to do a little bit more robust — which is good — but it adds a lot of cost and it didn’t enable some of the other experiences we wanted to achieve." - Dr. Richard Marks, Engadget Show via PlayStation LifeStyle

Interesting. I was curious why Sony passed on this chance, especially with their experience with the EyeToy last generation. The Engadget show demonstration was sick. It really shows off the tech positively. Reading impressions and thoughts about the new controller online from various sources, the one thing they keep forgeting about is...

It literally is a Wiimote and Nunchuck attachment. Yes. We get that. However unlike the Wii, there is also a camera and microphone directed to the user like Natal which adds new dimensions of interactivity and creativity.

Exciting times indeed! I can't wait for E3 2010!

The PS Move Faq

The Official PlayStation Twitter has revealed that the fine folks over at Kotaku have a great article with Sony senior researcher Dr. Richard Mark. They discuss all the amazing tech behind the Move.

It sure gets me all pumped up for Fall 2010! Enjoy!

Happy 5th Birthday PSP!

The original UMD spinnin', beautifully glossy, phat PSP-1001 launched in North America on March 24th, 2005. Wow! 5 years? Has it already been 5 years!?!?!? Time sure flies.

Here's to all them good times, great memories and awesome games!

This morning, I about fell off my chair when I checked the PlayStation Blog. They posted a wonderful article about the 5th Anniversary of their portable video game console. I couldn't believe they actually acknowledged it's existence, considering all their attention is focused on the PlayStation 3 and ignoring the PSP Go.

Cheers!

MOVE With Content

The wonderful folks at PS3center.NET have compiled a list of the current launch titles for the PlayStation Move this Fall.

Third Party:

EA Sports Active 2.0
Tiger Woods 2011
LOTR Aragorn's Quest
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition

First Party:

LittleBigPlanet
SOCOM 4
The Shoot
Move Party
Motion Fighter
Sports Champion
TV SuperStars
Eccentric Slider
Ape Escape
Brunswick Pro Bowling
Under Siege
Flower
Eye Pet
Pain
High Velocity Bowling
Hustle Kings
Echochrome 2

I can't wait for SOCOM 4. I am so pumped up for that one along with Tiger Woods 2011.

Also, 1UP.COM is reporting that SONY has announced that Gran Turismo 5, Split/Second and ModNation Racers are compatible with the MOVE as well.

I love the fact that people already own a few of these titles and they're compatible with the new controller. It's like a secret surprise gift. ;)

Kevin Butler To Host Sony E3 2010? Plus Move Tech!

It was suggested on the PlayStation.Blog Share that Kevin Butler should host Sony's E3 2010 press conference. That would be awesome. Honestly, if it was co-hosted by both Butler and Jack Tretton it'd be gold. Who knows what will happen? Keep you fingers crossed.

Just recently, Endgadget had a look at the PlayStation Move and it's very impressive tech. Check out the video bellow to view the magic. It is very, very cool!

Kratos! Rarrr!! GOWIII Complete!!!

I'm a sucker for special edition sets. So when it was time to purchase God of War III, I had to pick up "The Ultimate Edition". It's contents are epic. It includes, described from The PlayStation Blog -

Exclusive Collectibles
• High-End Sculpted Replica of Pandora’s Box
• Limited-Edition God of War Art Book featuring exclusive art, content and interviews

Exclusive Digital Content (Available via PlayStation Network voucher codes on day of launch)
• God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges
• Premium Kratos Skin – Dominus
• God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise
• God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game (mp3 digital download).
• God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War (mp3 digital download).

Yes! All those extra goodies are sweet. Heck, the complete soundtracks collection, Blood & Metal album download and Unearthing The Legend Franchise Documentary are worth it alone. Great stuff!

Yesterday, I finally had time to tackle Kratos final adventure. So a marathon run was initiated. At midnight, the adventure was complete. Once again the franchise returned with epic gameplay and awesome storytelling.



The tech behind GOWIII is very, very impressive. Also impressive is the fact that game developer Sony Santa Monica Studios have mentioned that they have only tapped into 50% of the PS3's power. Wow! Really?

If God of War III is only pumping out half of the PS3's power, I can't wait to see what future titles look like!

Kevin Butler From The FUTURE!

A special message has been left from Kevin via YouTube from the FFUUUTTUUURREEE!!!! OMG! Check out his important announcement bellow entitled:

Kevin Butler "Moves" from the FUTURE

Snake Provides Another Nail In The PSP GO's Coffin

Here we go again. Instead of pumping up consumers for the awesomeness that is the PSP GO, Sony would rather have you purchase PSP-3000's and continue to support their aging UMD format. Yesterday, it was announced that a gorgeous new PSP-3000 bundle will be available June 8th. What could it be? Why it's a Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Entertainment Pack! The beauty includes...

* “Spirited Green” PSP-3000 system
* METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER game on UMD
* PlayStation Network downloadable voucher for special in-game content which will be unlocked at the start of the game
* PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (US residents only); title TBD
* 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

Canadian residents like me, shouldn't be too disappointed with the whole "US residents only" downloadable movie voucher. The film will likely be included as a UMD title much like the "Assassin's Creed Entertainment Pack". It included the Ron Howard flick Angels & Demons in Sony's mini-disc format. BTW, I recommend watching Angels & Demons. I thought it was a great flick!

Once again, why the hell would you even bother purchasing a PSP GO? If you don't own a PSP and wanna get into the whole awesome game experience, just get yourself ready for June 8th cause Snake is going to get your game face on.

A quick note to Sony... You really should start considering dropping the price of the GO or offer a Metal Gear Solid GO bundle as well.

HD Casual Meets HD Hardcore

Remember when you purchased a Nintendo Wii and it was the greatest thing ever. Wii Sports was the perfect packed in title. It's still worth owning the console alone just for that game.

Then the honeymoon ended. After closer examination, the Wii added "waggle" to games. Instead of an extra button on a controller, you'd waggle the hell outta your wrists. They'd tire instantaneously and generously provide people with early symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Motion games started to suck, especially when half the time your waggle wouldn't register. Causal games started to suck with the controls and the unlimited release of crap shovel-ware.

Poor Sega would attempt to capture the hardcore Wii market with the awesome House of The Dead: Overkill. Next, MadWorld entered the arena with mixed results, thanks to the imprecise Wii technology. Finally, after a good year of pumped up marketing, The Conduit came out with disappointing results. It put the final nail in the mature hardcore Wii market.

Also, don't get me started on the Wii's visuals. On my gorgeous 42 inch, 1080p, Sony Bravia television the Wii looks tiresome. Another reason why my PlayStation 3 works overtime.

Yesterday at GDC 2010, Sony had a press conference unveiling their PlayStation Move "casual" controller. A number of original and current titles were also demoed that can be control with the new controller. So let's see what has been brought to the table.

You have your HD visuals... Thank God! CHECK.

You have your casual titles from EyePet to their Wii Sports compilation, Sports Champions. CHECK.



You will have your hardcore titles from SOCOM 4 to a new brawler from developer Dukes entitled Slider. CHECK.

The PlayStation Move has a sub-controller, much like the Wii's nun-chuck. Both are blue-tooth enabled and do not require a cable to connect the two. This finally ends the days when you'd smack your face or trip over the damn cord. CHECK.



You have to give credit were it is due. Nintendo's console was revolutionary. Back to Wii Sports, it brought back a heck of a lot of fun that was missing from gaming for a long time. It showed the industry that casual fare is important. However, the Wii also showed everyone that the hardcore audience was just a important and that imprecise hardware controls to poor software development can not be tolerated. The PlayStation Move has the potential to bridge the gap. We'll see what the future holds when it launches this fall.

I am very excited about Sony's new controller. Early previews have been very positive. More information will be unveiled at E3 2010. Sony's official press release can be read here

Below, is Sony's Press Conference from GDC 2010. Enjoy.

Tron's Legacy

The first trailer for Tron Legacy just hit the net and it looks amazing. I love the original film and believe its an absolute Disney classic. Sadly, it doesn't receive the recognition it deserves. The amazing technical achievement and just pure popcorn glory the film is, it was ahead of it's time. Now, Tron Legacy appears to be arriving at the right moment. I can't wait for this flick and I know everyone else is just as excited.

Enjoy!

FINAL FANTASY XIII! FIGHT! *Techno Dance Music Explodes*

We are literally only days away from the launch of Final Fantasy XIII and I am pumped up!

A millennium in development! HD! Trophies! The most gorgeous visuals ever!

Digital Foundry just recently did a battle between the PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360 versions of the mega RPG. They compared which one was visually more impressive. Guess who won? Guess?

The PS3! Kaboom!

Check out the article HERE and enjoy the war.

The PlayStation 2 Turns 10 Today

Happy Birthday PlayStation 2! Today markes the 10th anniversary of the PS2 when it launched in Japan on March 4th, 2000. Wow! Time flies by! All the great games and memories.

God of War I & II
Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3
Persona 4
Phantasy Star Universe
Gran Turismo 3 & 4

The list goes on and on.

Have a celebration! Bust out some of those classics and party on!

Surving The ApocalyPS3

Last  weekend, my wife purchased Singstar for our PS3. The package included Singstar Volume 2 and two microphones cooperative and competitive play. She also purchased the Queen add on disc as well. My sister is a huge Queen fan and on Sunday night she was over visting and we decided to play Singstar Queen and rock out. Sadly my PS3 wasn't working too well, alongside millions of other "phat" PS3 consoles. For 24 hours, we shared the experience of what is being called the "ApocalyPS3".

Games refused to load. Trophies wouldn't sync. The PSN Store was unaccessible. I felt lost and concerned for the centre piece of my living room. How would Sony resolve the problem? How costly would it be when millions were affected? 8 outta 11 original "phat" PS3's were plagued. My buddy Paul has a gorgeous 250 gig slim and I'm sure he was giggling in delight when his PS3 was working beautifully. Oh noes! ^_^

After 24 hours, magic happened. PS3's around the world self resurrected without a patch or firmware update from Sony. I was relieved.

It appears the ARM CPU chip has a problem dealing with leap years. From The Official PlayStation Blog -

"We are aware that the internal clock functionality in the PS3 units other than the slim model, recognized the year 2010 as a leap year. Having the internal clock date change from February 29 to March 1 (both GMT), we have verified that the symptoms are now resolved and that users are able to use their PS3 normally.".

Hopefully all will be resolved via a firmware before 2012, the next leap year...

2012! Only John Cusack can save us now! BTW, it was a great flick and fun stuff.