The Folding@home project gets a Guinness World Records Title as the World’s Most Powerful Distributed Computing network. Mostly thanks to the powerful PLAYSTATION 3. In September the PS3 alone hit the one petaflop barrier, quite a achievement.

If you don’t know what the Folding@home project is, it’s a user-friendly application for the PS3, and pretty much every OS out there (Windows, Mac, Linux). You just choose a donor name and join a team if you wish. By the way our team number is 55054 Then just let the app run and that’s it.

Here is more info about Folding@home:

For those who are yet unfamiliar with the term, Folding@Home is a project which was started by researchers from Stanford University. The project involves the study of protein folding which has been thought to be the root of diseases such as Alzheimer s Disease, Parkinson s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, cystic fibrosis, and some types of cancer. The aim of the project is to help the researchers to build models and simulations of these proteins by lending them some CPU power and a bit of bandwidth.

Our Folding@home team is doing very well. We are currently at rank 376! Keep those PS3’s & PC’s folding!

Folding@home project nabs Guiness World Record title, thanks to the PS3

Also the PC side of Folding@home is getting a new GUI similar to the PS3. They don’t have a ETA on the release but they are trying to get it out ASAP.
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And here is another way the PS3 has helped science.

Gaurav Khanna is using a cluster of eight PS3 units as a supercomputer replacement (donated by Sony) for his space research. More details below.

PS3 GRAVITY GRID

This week we have a classic alien movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Some HD nature shows. For the anime fans we have Dragon Ball Z: Broly Double Feature.

* Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition (Sony Pictures)
* Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen Gift Set (Warner Bros.)
* Ocean’s Thirteen (Warner Bros.)
* Africa: The Serengeti (IMAX) (Razor Digital Entertainment)
* Australia: Land Beyond Time (IMAX) (Razor Digital Entertainment)
* Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (IMAX) (Razor Digital Entertainment)
* Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature (IMAX) (Razor Digital Entertainment)
* Dragon Ball Z: Broly Double Feature (FUNimation Entertainment)
* Ultimate Force (BCI Home Entertainment)
* Masters of Horror: Season One, Volume III (Starz Home Entertainment)
* Prison Break: Season One (20th Century Fox)

Blu-ray.com

Why does everyone complain that the current SIXAXIS is too light? I just don’t get it. What’s wrong with a light controller? I like having a light controller.

Bah anyway.

Some people give their impressions of the weight of the new DUALSHOCK 3, and they seem to think it’s heavier than the DUALSHOCK 2. Whatever. As long as it plays nice.

PS3: Ceramic White DUALSHOCK 3 Hands-on

[Edit: some more DUALSHOCK 3 impressions.]

IGN has some info on the the two new Maps that should be on the PSN some time this month. They are called Bracknell and Axbridge.

They have an interview with Ted price who goes into more detail about the Maps.

Personally, I’m fed up with Resistance. Having achieved 18,026 kills for 10,016 deaths, I have less motivation to carry on.

It has the best lobby and party system by far of any PS3 online game that I’ve played to date, which is why we keep going back to it. I haven’t tried CoD4 online yet so can’t comment on that but I have heard some worrying comments from Henning about that.

Some of the problems with Resistance comes from some of the absolute scum that play the game. I’m talking about spawn killers, laggers, glitchers and cowardly snipers who have no intention of capturing the flag or taking the nodes but just camp outside getting kills. They obviously aren’t good enough to play death matches so resort to boosting their precious K:D ratio by using dirty tactics in Team Objectives. Pathetic.

I also take issue with Insomniac’s absolutely terrible “moderating system”. My friends and I have reported loads of players for lagging, glitching or spawn killing during a game and not once has a player been kicked or removed from the game.

Then there’s the people that re-spawn behind you and proceed to shoot you in the back. What the hell Insomniac!!! Is it too much to ask that players don’t re-spawn right behind you in TO”s, in a neutral location???

Then there’s Map Pack 1, which took months before it was introduced into Team Objectives, meaning that the only time we tried the maps out was during a custom game or two.

I won’t be getting Map Pack 2 (unless it’s free) and despite Insomniac’s recent update, which has caused more problems than it’s fixed in my opinion (the Arc Charger is ruined now), I’m pretty much done with Resistance.

I’ve really enjoyed Resistance for the most part. Had some great times and some memorable matches despite the idiots.

I hope Resistance 2 fixes some of the problems that FoM has while keeping and enhancing upon the excellent lobby and party system.

Resistance Map Pack 2 Info

I now have this excellent Apple PS3 Theme (created by Ed Brown, nice work!) on my PS3:

It had to be re-hosted on YouSendIt as I couldn’t download it onto my PS3 using the PS3’s web browser.

Check out this PS3 Themes site for other PS3 themes. A friend of mine (Jiggly) did an excellent Vista PS3 Theme, which I was using along with the Nature theme that’s part of the Theme pack on the US Store.

Obviously those themes on YouSendIt will stop working after certain period of time.

Tosh made a great Tekken 6 PS3 Theme aswell, for all you Tekken fans.

I would make a Theme but I’m useless.

Anybody fancy making a DMC theme?

Review Overview

The Manhunt 2 experience is centered around the story. With most games, the player can dislike the story but enjoy the title on the merits of the gameplay mechanics alone. This game isn’t like that. If you don’t become immersed in the story, this game just won’t be fun. This doesn’t mean that the gameplay is bad, it works extremely well, but it just doesn’t work outside of the context of the story.

What this means is, if this story appeals to you, and you get sucked into it, you will love this game. Unfortunately, if you fall outside the audience that this type of thing appeals to, you won’t enjoy this game.

Final Score

If you like this style of fiction, black humor, and fantasy, I give this game a 9.5. I definitely got that level of enjoyment out of this, and I’m sure others will too. If you are like most people and this just isn’t your thing, then this is a terrible game and I give it a 1 out of 10.

Who Will Like It, Who Won’t

More helpful than a simple numeric rating, is answering the question, “Who will like this game and who won’t?” A quick and easy barometer of whether you like this game, is the movie “Hostel 2″. They have similar dark and horrific stories with a similar type of wit. Of course, Manhunt 2 is also creatively similar to the other Rockstar Games GTA and Bully. If you loved the humor and dialog in those titles, this is also likely to appeal to you.

Controversy And Censorship

As a game enthusiast, I don’t care. It’s best to leave the debate of all the tired socio-political implications to the lawyers, politicians, PTA groups, and junk news sites. Here, we can stick to discussing the product strictly on its own merits as a game.

The developers were forced to make cuts and changes before the game could make it through the ratings process, but fortunately, these cuts didn’t seriously damage the game, and the story and the overall experience seem to be generally intact.

Compared to the Original Manhunt

Better

- Better story and story telling. I enjoyed the “Running Man” type story of the first title, but this title had more of a puzzle story that unfolds as you progress through the game which fits the Manhunt experience better.
- Better pacing. Each level in this game unfolds more of the story and leaves you wanting more. I always felt a sense of purpose and was excited about moving the story forward, and never like I was merely clearing yet another roomful of enemies. There is not a single boring or overly repetitive level in the whole game.
- Daniel Lamb is a more interesting lead character. James Earl Cash was cool, but just a typical bad ass.
- More variety. The levels are more varied and the weapons and executions are more varied. In the first, I remember watching the exact same executions over and over, while in Manhunt 2, almost every level has new weapons and executions and new environment executions.

Worse

- Lacked the quantity and quality of hilarious hunter banter from the first title.
- Lacked some of the creative highlights from the first, such as Pigsy.
- The first had a better dirge-like musical score.
- The Headset. Hearing the sadistic Starkweather talk to you through a headset earpiece was a truly unique and intense experience in the first title. I didn’t have a headset available for Manhunt 2, but Leo’s dialog just isn’t the same.
- Originality. The gameplay elements are largely identical to the first title, so the first title wins on originality.

Mainstream Reviews and Conclusion

I’ve read a handful of the mainstream reviews on this title. Unfortunately, they completely missed the heart of this game and complained about dated technology, unrealistic AI, camera issues, and other pointless nitpicks.

Guys, here’s how it works: if you become immersed in the game, the technology is more than adequate, the camera is fine, your suspension of disbelief will make the AI seem lifelike, and the game is f’ing awesome!

If you don’t like the game, but force yourself to trudge through it anyway, you will get cranky and easily irritated by insignificant camera issues, last-gen texture resolutions, and other irrelevant quirks just as these reviewers did.

Bottom line: Don’t listen to the reviews. If you think you would enjoy this type of story, then definitely check it out; it’s a very unique title. If it doesn’t sound like your thing, then simply steer clear.

Many of us have had a chance to play through the demo for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Join the discussion and post your opinion in the comments.