Archive for September, 2007
Activision acquires Bizarre Creations
Posted by Blackstaffer in Talk on September 26th, 2007
My favourite racing game of all time has got to be Project Gotham Racing 2. Yup, 2. As in two or II or deuce. The one on the original Xbox. PGR3 on the Xbox 360 was a mess. Starting with a really bad menu system it continued down hill with a tiny tiny selection of tracks and the mistake of choosing only superfast cars to drive. (In theory that sounds cool but in practice, not so much.) So I’m hoping that with the upcoming PGR4, Bizarre will make up for past mistakes and release a game cut from the same factory as PGR2.
The only problem I had with PGR2 was that it was only available for the Xbox. I would have liked to play the game on my PS2, but them’s the brakes. (Groan, I know.)
Do we have hope for the PGR franchise on a PS3 someday? Maybe. Activision announced today that they’ve bought Bizarre Creations, the makers of the PGR games as well as Geometry Wars. Activision may want Bizarre to be a bit more platform agnostic, so we may indeed be queuing up for our copies of PGR5 one day.
I can hope!
No UT3 PC-to-PS3 Online
Posted by Blackstaffer in PS3 software, U on September 26th, 2007
UT3 is probably the most anticipated game among folks who don’t know how good Call of Duty 4 is. (Like that?) One of the coolest things about UT3 on the PS3 is that it seems to be taking all the benefits of PC gaming, and combining it with all the benefits of platform gaming. You have the stability of a single platform – the PS3 – mixed together with the flexibility of a PC. So you have keyboard and mouse support, mods, and the theoretical capability of letting PC gamers and PS3 gamers duke it out.
Unfortunately or not – I personally don’t care – Epic has decided not to enable PS3 versus PC play. They say that console releases take time, while updates can be released a lot quicker on the PC side. So it’s unfair to hold up PC gamers, making them wait for the certification process on the console to complete, before releasing patches.
Makes sense to me. For me, UT3 isn’t about being able to play PS3 versus PC anyway. I just want to get into a fast shooter and start the destruction. I don’t care if they’re using a PC or PS3 on the other end, as long as the playing field is fair.
Epic Confirms No Unreal Tournament 3 PC-to-PS3 Online; Other UT3 Details Shared
Guitar Hero III by Eurogamer
Posted by Blackstaffer in G, PS3 software on September 26th, 2007
Are you looking forward to Guitar Hero III next month? So am I. If you’d like get get some first impressions of the 360 version of the game from Eurogamer, follow the link below. I don’t think the PS3 experience will be much different.
It looks like Activision’s new Guitar Hero development team, Neversoft, is aquitting itself well. Considering that Harmonix had several music/rhythm games under its belt before tackling the original Guitar Hero, that’s quite an accomplishment.
I’ll probably pick up Guitar Hero III pretty soon after launch. And then I can use the GH3 guitar with Rock Band once that is released.
That’s my plan, anyway. Any other Guitar Hero fans around here?
Templar Assassin’s Creed Trailer
Posted by Blackstaffer in A, PS3 software on September 25th, 2007
We haven’t heard much about Assassin’s Creed recently, so here’s a cool new trailer to keep us satiated for a while.
Sales Numbers Armchair Analysis
I’m reading Level Up’s Armchair Analysis of August’s US NPD numbers, and I can’t help but think: they discuss the US NPD numbers quite extensively. Why is there no mention of any of the readily available Japanese sales figures or even Canada’s NPD numbers? Europe is also significant, but I’m not aware of any Internet sites where one can get reliable European sales numbers, so that can be understandable.
I’m not trying to “spin” sales numbers as many are critical of, but doesn’t it seem quite skewed that so many sites focus exclusively on U.S. numbers which is where the PS3′s performance is weakest relative to it’s competition, and avoid mention of the readily available Japanese or Canadian numbers which change the overall picture quite a bit when accounted for.
Back to the core discussion: they mention that PS3 has no *big* exclusive title this year. What do you think?
They are kind of right: As much as I’m excited about Ratchet or Drake or Singstar or UT3 (timed exclusive) or Echochrome or the PS Eye or the ton of non-exclusives, I doubt that any one of these will single-handedly flip the sales charts or even match the impact of a Bioshock or Halo 3. However, I don’t think that is necessary. First, some of those titles *ARE* system sellers for certain audiences. The review scores suggest otherwise, but in reality, people do have different tastes; not everyone wants another Halo. Some people will definitely buy a PS3 primarily for Singstar, for example. But another point, is that many will choose a system not for a single blockbuster title, but for the overall content library and value. No one is going to run out and buy a PS3 for LocoRoco or Echochrome, but when you add up lots of diverse quality content like that, it does win over consumers.
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