Ps3 — Tag

A game to check out on the US PlayStation Store right now is the Pixel Junk Eden demo. The game is set to be released later this year. When I first saw it, I wondered what on Earth it was, there were just plants growing? How is that a game?

Then I got the demo that was out on Thursday, and I must say it was quite something. There are three levels in the demo, and if the total Spectra count is anything to go by (Spectra are the things you must collect in each level) there will be 25 levels in total. It took me about 11 minutes just to get two Spectra in one level, so there would be lots of gameplay to waste on this one.

The aim of the game is to create your own Eden, by tapping into other gardens and stealing their Spectra, which grows new plants. In the levels, you leap from plant to plant, destroying enemies to release pollen and activate seeds to go further in the level. When leaping from plants you get silk to spin from, which can destroy enemies, collect pollen and also fetch synchronisation crystals (run out of crystals, you get ejected from the garden).

Well worth a look, and from the looks of it, it will support 1080p visuals natively. Not a common feature.

The FreeView Consortium has announced some details about the PVR system they have approved for use with FreeView|HD.

Of interest,

It will run a system with features like American TiVo, which suggests similar content for viewers and features series link technology similar to that employed by Sky’s new HDi decoders.

and

Browning explained that - using Shortland Street as an example, if the receiver has a programming clash for a weeknight episode, it will look forward and choose between rescreenings on other digital channels, or pick the episode out of the weekend ‘Omnibus’.

The device will include two tuners, but an unspecified hard drive size.

Meanwhile, the Sony PlayTV for PlayStation 3 has been dated for Europe, to be released on September 10th this year. Major technical challenges were to blame for the delay, as the device was supposed to be released around March… at least, that’s what the SCENZ chief had said late last year. They snuck in some PlayTV-required code in the latest firmware update, 2.41. New Zealand and Australia are looking at a January/February release next year, “because on their digital terrestrial they haven’t actually set the standards yet.” Ummm, Australia hasn’t, but New Zealand has.

While on the topic of FreeView, I got a FV|HD box the other week and was somewhat impressed by the quality. You wouldn’t of thought that upscaled content would look better, but it certainly does.

Eagle eyed GPForum users were quick to point out a PlayStation 3 scam, due to the very poor presentation. If anything, this post should go into a “How not to scam people” book or something.

User meeekael posted a link to this TradeMe auction. Clearly set out to catch someone out who did not know much about the PlayStation 3, it was advertised as an 80gb PAL PlayStation 3, of which none exists (unless you change the hard drive yourself) and out of the list of games, one is a Wii exclusive and three aren’t even out yet.

After plenty of quizzes from TradeMe members, he quickly pulled it down, just to come back with a 60gb PS3 for sale. This time he wasn’t going to bother with any games, clearly he can’t do research and is out for a quick buck, so thought not to include a list of anything. Just a 60gb PS3. He even provided a picture, with his face blurred and a crudely cropped photo of a recent paper.

THIS IS FOR ALL THOSE WHO DID NOT BELIEVE ME WITH MY 80GIG. I HAVE TAKEN THE GAMES AWAY. TAKEN THE 80GIG CONSOLE AWAY AND GIVING YOU A 60GIG. YOU CAN THANK ALL THOSE WHO DOUTED ME. OH YEH THATS ME IN THE PICTURE THIS HAS BEEN SENT TO TRADEME HEAD OFFICE SO DONT BUG ME

After some hairy questions from GP members, someone commented,

Personally I think stuff him! If he wants a “legit” one from someone in NZ that he can go and see, then let him, or report him to TM for ruining yr auctions?

After getting the question answered, the same person asks,

Are they sealed in their boxes, sorry for many q’s but was scammed $665 outta some guy and no PS3 to show for it. Trying to not get caught again ya know….

Oh dear.

What is interesting is he says that “the console is brand new in the box” and “i have six units in possesion.” But, the picture?

Why does he have them out of the boxes, and why are there eight in the picture when he only has six?

Member farenheit,

Why is there a badly composited newspaper in that photo? If these are brand new, what are they doing out of their boxes?…Scam much? BAM!

The BAM!?

Hmmm, that looks familiar.

The person in that picture is actually Dr Frank Mueller, one of the people behind the PlayStation 3 cluster at North Carolina State University. Original find.

• GPForums thread

So, thanks to GPForum members meeekael and farenheit, TradeMe is a safer place. And watch out for seller naturallyforyou, apparently who’s selling things that are “good for you.”

This might be an interesting idea. Already on the PlayStation 3 you can record your singing performances and upload them to the My SingStar community (and there are some rather funny videos on there too). Now this video uploading is taking a new step, with the YouTube API being added to the PS3 SDK (Software Development Kit).

Now you can upload your in-game moves and upload directly to YouTube. That would be rather awesome in GTA IV (a recent time filler for me).

The first game to feature this will be Japanese game Mainichi Issho. Who knows what exactly you can upload in that game (looks rather crazy to me).

There is a website dedicated entirely to video game videos, GameVee.com, but I think they miss out due to the lack of upload API.

Sony had earlier announced plans to drop the price of the 60GB model of the PS3 to $499 in the US, and release an 80GB model with a copy of Motorstorm (from what I hear is crap) at the $599 price. There was a huge buzz about the price drop, with people saying that this is the quickest price drop of a console ever (false, Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox one month after release in Europe).

Then, after the buzz, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe dropped another bombshell – this price drop has a “while stocks last” condition.

But wait, there’s more. SCE America later reported that those claims were false, and that the two configurations were going to sit side-by-side one shelves:

Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate. He said that if they had lowered the price in Europe, that territory would have run out of their current inventory by the end of July… As announced this week, SCEA’s product offering in North America consists of a 80GB PS3 available in August at US$599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for US$499. We have will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future.

After having a stellar E3 press conference (after last years headache of one liners), this is certainly not what Sony needed.

New Zealand, Australia and Europe customers won’t see this price drop however. SCEE will be releasing a bundle version, with an extra SIXAXIS and two games – Resistance: Fall of Man (want) and Motorstorm (don’t want), for the same price. Why don’t they just give us the price drop too to spur growth as has already happened in the US?

In fact, why can’t we get a new price more closely aligned with our (better) US exchange rate, even if our console price is tethered to the UK’s price? When the PS3 price was confirmed, our dollar to the US was wavering at $1NZD = ~$0.45USD. These days it is $1NZD = $0.78USD. Current PS3 price is at $1200. Using the power of Google Calculator, the $599 price would make it closer to $770 here, and the new $499 price would make it ~$630 here. While it doesn’t include shipping over here or anything, it still makes us wonder why we are getting the raw end of the stick. We are getting charged double that with conversion – it’d be cheaper for us to buy from the US! Stupid SCEE.

The guys at Insomniac have been busy working hard on the next chapter of Ratchet and Clank, exclusively for the PS3. This game perhaps has some of the most detailed graphics out there yet, and looks like a must have and a console seller – exactly what Sony needs for its platform.

• Watch the trailers and footage at GameTrailers (make sure you pick the HD versions!)
• Especially the one demonstrating the Groovitron (HD)

Yes, it has been rumored for a very, very long time. However, the cat is finally out of the bag. The Xbox 360 Elite is a black console with HDMI output and a 120GB hard drive. This ups on the premium console which had no HDMI output and a 20GB hard drive.

1UP did a value comparison with the PS3.

This is quite interesting. Does this have something to do with the PS3 being global? As we know, Microsoft had been acting quite weirdly at the European launch. But then, the PS3 isn’t doing so well in America as it is everywhere else.

Meanwhile, Mexico is going to try a guns-for-fun campaign to swap your small gun for an Xbox 360, or a more powerful one for a computer in an effort to take guns off streets. What an idea! And then the people with the guns can hold up the people who just got their Xbox 360’s, and have both! At least it’s a start though.

Yes, these Playstation 3 posts will stop soon. However an interesting piece of news I spotted was that the Playstation 3 was the best selling console over it’s launch weekend than the other two in the UK.

Chart-Track reports that 165,000 PS3’s were sold. This compares to the Wii’s 105,000 units, and the Xbox 360’s 70,000 units.

The record is 185,000 units and that goes to… the PSP.

This is quite interesting seeing as the launch in some places in Europe, i.e. Paris, was considered a disaster.

Yesterday, in the evening before the launch (March 22) more than 200 journos gathered underneath the Eiffel Tower, but soon realized something was wrong: the streets around the tower were empty, and, as the time passed by, Sony officials began to worry. A little late, I might add…

Yes, indeed.

I don’t know where I picked this up from but seemed appropriate for the time.

I’ve also heard a lot of “the PS3 controller is very expensive.” Yeah, a PS3 SIXAXIS is $99.99 (note, I’m using NZ$ here). The Xbox 360’s is $89.95 plus if you want to charge the thing while being able to play it you have to get a Play & Charge kit for $39.95 (the SIXAXIS uses a standard USB→USB-mini cable you can pick up for about $10 or you have with many peripherals). A Wii Remote on the other hand costs $99.99 itself and if you want the nun-chuck or a classic gamepad an extra $49.95 each.

A comparative video of Oblivion on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 has surfaced. It can be hard to compare high-definition with a web video, but there were some pretty clear differences including loading times, pop-ups and textures. In some cases the textures looked better on the Xbox 360, but in others they looked better on the PS3. And there was also a disturbing amount of stuttering. However, in all fairness, the two versions have had a years difference, so it’s whether or not Bethesda changed things or not.

Also, Microsoft has been showing some bizarre behavior since the release of the PS3 in Europe/Australasia. In some places they converted the price difference into beer. (Winning comment: So it takes that many beers to match the enjoyment of a PS3?). Also at the launch they had a boat saying “Xbox 360 *hearts* you” sailing past, and even gave out chairs which had an address to a message saying Sony is late.

I remember the original Xbox being released up to two years after the rest of the other consoles… hmmm.

Yes that’s right. The Playstation 3 is finally going to be here in New Zealand tomorrow. It’s so exciting.

I myself won’t be getting one at launch (although somewhat tempted to thanks to the 18 months interest free deal Dick Smiths have on), I know someone that will be (oh, but it’s only for his University assignments — pfft, what ever).

But, why am I excited? I actually didn’t think I would until I saw the latest PS3 story on Playstation Europes website showing Heavenly Sword. The games digital effects are being developed at Weta Digital in Wellington, with Gollum’s Andy Sirkus doing his motion capture stuff again.

I then got digging and found out that another sequal to the Ratchet and Clank series is coming from Insomniac. See the HD trailer at GameVideos.com. Not to mention, Naughty Dog has a trademark for another Jak and Daxter game in the works.

There is also another couple of games I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on. But, I think I might wait a year. Maybe, if I can survive. Or I could just rent one out for $20 overnight with a game.