Archive for June, 2009
80GB PS3 Available for $349
Posted by Tosh in Gaming Deals, QuickNews on June 11th, 2009
In case you missed out getting the PS3 for $349 it’s available again from Amazon for a limited time. It’s for the 80GB model.
New Killzone 2 Maps Available Today
Posted by Tosh in Killzone 2, PS3 on June 11th, 2009
Great video, lol. Effects look pretty good. The new maps include Southern Hills and Beachhead, which is from Killzone 1 but reworked with the Killzone 2 engine. And it seems like you’ll have to keep on eye on exploding nukes and find cover before the blast kills you. I like that idea 
Here are some survival tips taken from the PlayStation.Blog
Helghast Field Manual 15: Surviving the Southern Hills
1. When you hear the siren, drop whatever you are doing. Just run like heck. A live soldier is a lot more useful to the Helghan Empire than a scorched, smoking one. You’ll only have a couple of seconds to get to cover, so don’t waste any time.
2. Science be damned! Just Duck & Cover! If you see the nuke going off the in the distance, simply ensure that you have a roof above your head. You don’t even have to close the windows or anything. Anyone caught outside will be turned into a something resembling jerky.
3. If you spawn in your base and hear the sirens going off, just stay where you are and the let the folks outside deal with the problems. You’ll be much quicker off the mark once the dust settles.
4. Sentry Bots and Sentry Turrets are not immune to the devastating power of the nuke. Don’t leave them sitting outside, or they will turn into burning chunks like anything else. Place Sentry turrets inside to ensure their safety and they will cut off the enemies path to shelter.
5. If you are inside, watch the doorways for enemies ducking inside to safety. Or even better, mow them down with an emplaced machine gun before they get anywhere near. That’ll teach ‘em to run like dogs!
6. Out in the open? Any base can be a safe spot from the impending nuclear annihilation. If you find yourself far from home, just go duck into the enemies’ base. Your chances of survival will be higher than out in the open.
7. The Bots in Killzone 2 do have a sense of self-preservation and when that siren sounds, they will try to save themselves as much as any living player. Follow them for the closest safe-spot, but make sure no sneaky ISA scum are hiding in there in the first place.
8. Repaired ammo boxes and Emplaced MG’s will not be destroyed by the blast, so you won’t have to repair them again.
9. Assassination targets! If the siren goes off, get to cover. I repeat, run like hell. Nothing worse than successfully defending the target and having it turned into smithereens before your very eyes and not being able to do anything about it.
10. If all else fails, climb up the ladder to the roof of the central base to get a good view of the explosion in the east. It might cause you a fiery death, but damn it the explosion is too sexy not to look at in all of its splendor.
So will you be picking this map pack for Killzone 2? I know I will.
Killzone 2 “Flash & Thunder” Pack Out Today – How to Survive a Nuclear Attack
PlayStation Store Update 6.11.09 [Update]
Posted by Tosh in PlayStation Store Global Update on June 11th, 2009
Not a bad week, plenty to pick from. I’ll probably pick up the new Killzone 2 DLC after the Uncharted 2 Beta is over. Anything for you this week?
[Update: What the hell at all the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 "DLC"]
North America
DEMOS
► Bomberman Ultra (71 MB)
► Heavy Weapon (48 MB)
GAMES
► Bomberman Ultra ($9.99)
► Heavy Weapon ($9.99)
► Gunstar Heroes ($4.99)
► Medal of Honor Underground (PSone) ($5.99)
► Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 (PSP) ($22.99)
ADD-ONS
► Burnout Paradise
○ Big Surf Island ($12.99)
► Call of Duty: World at War
○ Map Pack 2 ($9.99)
► Cuboid
○ Bundle Pack ($4.99)
- Booster Pack ($2.99)
- Level Editor ($3.99)
► Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2
○ Pack 7 (free)
○ Pack 8 (free)
○ Pack 9 (free)
○ Pack 10 (free)
► Guitar Hero World Tour
○ European Track Pack 06 ($5.49 | $1.99)
♪ “The Bitter End” – Placebo
♪ “Cadillac Solitario” – Placebo
♪ “Adrenalina” – Finley
► Killzone 2
○ Flash & Thunder Map Pack ($5.99)
► LittleBigPlanet
○ Team Ico Pack ($5.99 | $1.99 for separate costumes)
- Costume Ico
- Costume Yorda
- Costume Wander
- Costume Gaius
- Costume Quadratus
► MotorStorm Pacific Rift
○ Atlas Signature Livery Pack (free)
► Rock Band
○ Iron Maiden Pack ($19.99 | $1.99)
♪ Aces High (live) – Flight 666 (2009)
♪ 2 Minutes to Midnight – Powerslave (1984)
♪ The Trooper – Piece of Mind (1983)
♪ Wasted Years – Somewhere in Time (1986)
♪ The Number of the Beast – The Number of the Beast (1982)
♪ Run to the Hills – The Number of the Beast (1982)
♪ Can I Play With Madness – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
♪ The Clairvoyant – Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
♪ Powerslave – Powerslave (1984)
♪ Fear of the Dark (live) – Flight 666 (2009)
♪ Hallowed Be Thy Name (live) – Flight 666 (2009)
♪ Iron Maiden (live) – Flight 666 (2009)
► Saints Row 2
○ The Unkut Pack (free)
► Sonic Unleashed
○ Empire City & Adabat Adventure Pack ($2.99)
► The Last Guy
○ Add-on ($1.99)
► Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
○ Spyglass Hill Golf Course ($7.50)
○ Course Pass ($2.25)
○ Max Stats Costumes ($3.75)
○ +0.5 Accuracy Apparel ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Accurary Equipment ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Power Apparel ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Power Equipment ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Putting Apparel ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Putting Equipment ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Short Game Apparel ($1.50)
○ +0.5 Short Game Equipment ($1.50)
○ +1 Accuracy Apparel ($1.75)
○ +1 Accurary Equipment ($1.50)
○ +1 Power Apparel ($1.75)
○ +1 Power Equipment ($1.75)
○ +1 Putting Apparel ($1.50)
○ +1 Putting Equipment ($1.50)
○ +1 Short Game Apparel ($1.50)
○ +1 Short Game Equipment ($1.75)
○ +1.5 Accuracy Apparel ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Accurary Equipment ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Power Apparel ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Power Equipment ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Putting Apparel ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Putting Equipment ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Short Game Apparel ($1.99)
○ +1.5 Short Game Equipment ($1.99)
○ +2 Accuracy Apparel ($2.25)
○ +2 Accurary Equipment ($1.99)
○ +2 Power Apparel ($2.25)
○ +2 Power Equipment ($2.25)
○ +2 Putting Apparel ($2.25)
○ +2 Putting Equipment ($1.99)
○ +2 Short Game Apparel ($1.99)
○ +2 Short Game Equipment ($2.25)
○ Intermediate Drivers ($1.50)
○ Intermediate Fairway Woods ($1.50)
○ Intermediate Irons ($1.50)
○ Intermediate Putters ($1.50)
○ Intermediate Wedges ($1.50)
○ Advanced Drivers ($1.99)
○ Advanced Fairway Woods ($1.99)
○ Advanced Irons ($1.99)
○ Advanced Putters ($1.50)
○ Advanced Wedges ($1.99)
○ Expert Drivers ($1.99)
○ Expert Fairway Woods ($1.99)
○ Expert Irons ($1.99)
○ Expert Putters ($1.50)
○ Expert Wedges ($1.99)
► Tom Clancy’s HAWX
○ Supremacy Pack ($9.99)
► Rock Band Unplugged (PSP)
♪ “Constant Motion” – Dream Theater ($1.99)
♪ “Sex Type Thing” – Stone Temple Pilots ($1.99)
VIDEOS
► PAIN
○ PAINalympics Trailer
► Fat Princess
○ Developer Diary Video 2
► Burnout Paradise
○ Big Surf Island Trailer
► Cell Factor
○ Launch Trailer
THEMES & WALLPAPERS
► Bomberman ULTRA – Theme
► Final Fantasy XIII – E3 Wallpaper
Insightful interview with Kaz Hirai.
Posted by Trev in Interviews, PS3, Talk on June 11th, 2009
An interesting article with Kaz Hirai has been conducted by UK newspaper The Guardian. It also contains one of the best quotes i have ever heard from a video game company executive;
The PS3 is only a quarter way through a 10-year life cycle. So we want to make sure that we are supporting and exciting the core gamers. [...] If you go mainstream too quickly and don’t support the core gaming audience then you lack the pillar to support your platform. Without this pillar you end up with a fickle audience that might be big but will probably move on. This is fine if you’re looking at a 5 year life cycle like all of our competitors, even looking back in history, have always done. The new console comes out and the old one is immediately disregarded. We tend to take a longer term view of how we manage the platform and the software titles that come out at any given time.
It seems logical that the Nintendo players could leave the Wii just as quickly as they arrived and that Sony has planned well for the long term.
a good read and i reccommend you take the time out to read it.
Sucker Punch explains why they develop exclusively on the PS3
Obviously, going cross platform enables a game to sell to a larger user base. Why has Sucker Punch, an independent studio, chosen to stick with PlayStation exclusive development? Joystiq explains:
While the exec notes without reservation that the studio is in this business to make money, he adds that you “have to be careful about being greedy.” He adds that the pursuit of dollars has to be weighed against other things, like enjoying what you do for a living, publisher relations and game quality.
So partly because of the simplicity of focusing on one hardware platform, and partly because of improved publisher relations, but also, a big part of their choice is plain personal preference. They enjoy working with the PS3 and they are probably PlayStation fans on their own time as gamers, not just as developers.
Notice that they did NOT spew venom and bash the 360 or the PC, or fabricate technical reasons to rationalize their preference (we are too small a developer, the other technology is difficult to use, we have a hatred of their architecture, etc).
BTW, there are plenty of very respectful 360-exclusive developers as well. Remedy is a high-quality developer that’s been very respectful on these topics. Epic, the studio behind the 360 mega-exclusive Gears of War, has extensively and graciously complimented the PS3 and competing titles like Resistance.
PS3 VidZone Launches Today in Europe
The free to use and ad supported Music Video service for PS3 launches today in Europe territories with 10,000 videos at launch. I really hope they bring this to NA or I can at least gain access via my European account. I’d really like to check this out. You can create playlists, stream videos and stream concerts.
Why no Valve games on PS3?
Valve’s Tom Leonard explains why there have been no Valve games on PS3 since The Orange Box;
The PC and the 360 are just more straightforward. We can focus on what we want to do, which is make game experiences, instead of sweating bullets over obscure architectural decisions they make with their platform. [...] I didn’t come into this business in the 90s because of some technical fetish. I came in because I wanted to give people experiences that made them have fun.
So is the PS3′s architecture is too complicated to program for? Yes but with the quality titles like uncharted and Killzone 2 on the platform is obvious it can produce quality results. This strikes me more that the developers are too lazy to learn it rather than it being too difficult for them to handle. Valve are a hugely talented company and I just wish they would put the effort into porting their games to PS3. Maybe it isn’t profitable for them as they are not the biggest company out there but surely the PS3 audience is big enough to warrant the risk? Either way as a PS3 and Mac owner this really leaves me in the dark in terms of being able to play any future Valve titles let alone Left 4 Dead.
http://loot-ninja.com/2009/06/09/valve-shuts-out-too-complicated-ps3/
Anecdote: Why Do Women Hate Games?
While my wife was chatting with her other married friends, she mentioned that I play video games to relax. The other wives were shocked and appalled
Oh my! If my husband dared play video games, I wouldn’t have it!
This is a common reaction among women, and it’s really puzzling, annoying, and unreasonable to me. I can completely understand if I was shirking some other responsibility in favor of playing video games all day, but that’s not the issue.
This women’s husband watches sports which is every bit as lazy and unproductive and at least as mentally passive. But for some reason, the leisure activity of playing video games is actually offensive, while watching sports is perfectly acceptable.
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