What's This AdHoc Party Thing?

I recently just found out about this free download on the PSN that came out November of last year in the US. In Japan, it came out way back in 2008, however, that was just the beta version. I was a bit confused as to what it was at first, but let me say right away that this is probobly the coolest thing I have ever downloaded from PSN, and it was absolutely FREE!

Basically, the AdHoc Party lets you take your PSP, load up a game that supports "AdHoc Multiplayer" (Which is the local kind) and connect to your Internet-enabled PS3. The Adhoc Party Program (which you install on your PS3) then goes on to search for other people playing the same AdHoc Game, and lets you get into a party with them, turning that local multiplayer into completely global online multiplayer, complete with voice chat and everything.

It also allows for private lobbies with a password system, so you can simply invite your friends and don't have to worry about anybody else interrupting your game.

Honestly, the best way to use this program is with friends, or with popular PSP games. Cause it might be slightly hard to find somebody else randomly playing a game of "Lumberjack Challenge" in "WTF: Work Time Fun". In fact, I'd be surprised if anybody was. Find somebody who's playing "Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite" is a much more likely scenario.

Playstation Home has been updated!

I suppose it may be a bit trivial to talk about Playstation Home, seeing as how most people I've talked to has said that it blows. The fact that it's still in beta makes it a bit trivial to talk about any sort of updates, but also makes people's complaints with the "game" a lot less grounded. So with that, I feel like we should take a look at some of the new stuff they've added to this Version 1.3 update.

The original idea for Home was to be a big open world to meet new people, and eventually get into various games, and with this latest update we get new worlds and features, and that idea is increasingly becoming closer to being realized.

First, let's talk about some of the new features. There are now Leaderboards for all of the little games that appear as holographic images in front of whatever game you're playing, you can zoom into them, much like the advertisements laid out in the shopping mall. This makes those games seem somewhat better, as there's more competition, and I'm not sure if this was there before but they've added multiplayer to a few of them. they've also added in a bunch of new clothes that you can buy in the mall, and while I haven't bought any of them, I have looked through the list and have seen a lot of people running around with various gear on. The movie theater has now been expanded and includes a lobby, complete with ticket purchasing machines, that currently just have free Dethklok t-shirts and in-game PSP gos to give away. The different theater doors vary from streaming music videos, to advertisements, to streaming full episodes of Naruto Shippuden. This seems like a better set-up then last time, but you still find a lot of people just standing around in front of any given theater.

Probably the most significant update is the ability to start up a party, in order to launch a game. Pretty much, you're able to set up a party for a specific game, and then choose anywhere between 2-32 slots for players to join in. You're then able to target somebody and send them an invite to your party. They'll join, and you'll launch the game, straight from Home, provided you have the disc in your system. The launching aspect is slightly wonky, in that you can set up a party of 32 players for any game, even ones that don't support that many, you can even set up a party for single-player-only games, even including demos. I could essentially set up a 32 player party to play the infamous demo, but once we got there, we'd just play the single player. After launching a game, there will be an option on the Xross Media Bar to "Return to Home" which will send you back to the same place you left off in Home. While there's still some kinks to be worked out, I think this makes Home work much better as an extended game lobby than it has before.

There's a bunch of new areas in the game as well, and while I didn't check them all out, the ones I did were pretty cool. There's a new area for Uncharted 2, which has a cool new turn-based strategy game, that I actually had quite a bit of fun with, especially since it let you create and join rooms instead of waiting in line. There was the Gamer's Lounge, which was just a club with nothing to do except lounge around and talk, which was kind of lame. There's a Ratchet & Clank area that's kind of weird, since the art style clashes with the realistic human avatars, besides that, there's a kind of cool turret command mini-game. There's a Siren: Blood Curse area with a survival horror minigame that let's you do 4-player co-op, however, it's about as hard to get into a match as a game of Pool at the bowling alley. I'm not sure if it was there before, but there's also a Socom area that lets you get a team together and set up some strategy. This is really cool, cause I can picture a clan meeting up here and discussing some strategy before launching a game, and now with the built-in game launcher, they make this easier to do than ever!

One of the worst things about this new update is that they've completely removed public voice chat. The only way you can chat with somebody in Home is if you add them as a friend and call them up using the in-game menu. This is restrictive, and cumbersome, and I feel like it's just the result of a lot of whiners complaining about standard online gaming voice chat. It's a part of any online community, and people should just learn to deal with it or realize that there's a mute feature for a reason.

Besides that last part, I feel like Home has come a long way since it's inception, and while there's still a few kinks to work out, and maybe a few things they could streamline, I feel like it's on it's way to becoming a viable option of something to do when you boot up your PS3. Here's hoping they keep improving it, and patch the voice chat back in.

Heavy Rain DLC

When it rains DLC it pours

DLC for heavy rain would be cool, the game is already an exciting release for many PS3 owners, and DLC is mostly free on PSN so its a nice perk. Quantam Dream stresses the need for the game to sell well for DLC to be a possibility.

However, since DLC is more of a free perk on PSN, Quantam Dream should guarantee DLC in order to promote the shelf life and replayability of the game. It's also a no brainer that DLC will likely happen for Heavy Rain, they pushed the game back to 2010 to avoid competition. But the 1UP article stipulates that even the pushback is threatened due to all the other games being delayed to 2010. Well, DLC will certainly encourage people who look for value to look to Heavy Rain. Covering all bases is good for Quantam Dream to do.

DLC for heavy rain could cost money, but I imagine if given the space and the incentive it would we well worth every penny.

GC 09: Dead Nation

Video Games | Dead Nation | GC 09: Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

The look of this game really doesn't make me want to buy it, I can't since I don't have a PS3..yet. But really, an overhead view for a zombie game, theres no satisfaction if you can't be level with the insane creatures and watch them go down. In my opinion, if your even CONSIDERING buying a zombie game, wait for Left 4 Dead 2, because I would be frustrated with the shooting in this game. It's one thing to have an overhead view but its another that you could miss lone zombies running at you. Theres no targeting reticle, and the overhead view might warrant occassional misfires where you shoot PAST the zombie.

Dead Nation and Left 4 Dead are different games in terms of gameplay execution, and I haven't had hands on experience, but where is the thrill if your watching from overhead instead of being down at the level of your player having half dead people running at you.

GC 09: Heavy Rain Trailer Impressions

Heavy Rain has recently released a new trailer at GC 2009, you guys can check it out below:

Video Games | Heavy Rain | GC 09: For Love Trailer HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Heavy Rain seems to be looking better and better every time I see it, and the last time we saw the game, at E3, it looked incredibly innovative. Is it just me, though, or do the graphics look even a little more crisp than they did then?

Either way, in the trailer, they reveal a new character that hasn't been shown before. Now, my first thought was that this was one of the four main characters the developer has talked about. However, after getting deeper into the trailer, I'm starting to think that maybe this guy is the killer? He's running from the police, saying how far he'll go for love, looking at the origami killer headlines on the newspaper in disgust... It all seems to make him look like the killer.

If that's so, and he IS the killer, I'm a little confused as to why they're showing his face this early, and then it hit me. What if one of the four main characters WAS the killer?! This would be ingenious! You could view the story from multiple character's perspectives, it would make a deep contrast between the characters, and possibly blur the line between right and wrong. Not only that, but it would definitely give the story even more depth than what people are already expecting.

Look for Heavy Rain when it's released for the PS3, Early 2010.

MAG release date announced

in case you don't believe me

I know what your thinking, didn't we already talk about the anticipated MAG release date period? Well that was true before the depression began, and good games started being delayed so the publishers could make more money among other reasons. Well now we get the new release date.

January 26th 2010

several months later than the original release date, and personally it was pointless to delay it. But look forward to MAG, because its shaping up to be the most chaotic game in the PS3 exclusive library. If you have the humor to ask why, let me rephrase this (again) for you.

256 PLAYER GAMES!

That is all XD

Heavy Rain pushed back to 2010

“Purely from my perspective, most publishers today realise that it’s not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas,” he said.

I remember seeing footage from E3 2008 and boy has the hype died down, since people are upset from having to wait for the game. Then again there is some truth to Guillaume de Fondaumiere's words.

This christmas will be the year when single console owners like myself will likely buy a second console, with price cuts abound, even for the Wii. Since Heavy Rain is an exclusive, putting it in Christmas territory seems ideal for selling a lot of copies. But these days it may not be the case, since now those other consoles for PS3 owners are tempting to get with the price cuts. Of course you're going to need to buy games to enjoy it, being the bundles and included games don't really make the cut >_>

Also it's good that they wait a while, because the recent news of faulty Blu Ray movies in Netflix makes me worry about the Blu Ray disc games for PS3. I think Sony made a mistake in changing the way they made them lately, I do not know if its an issue now.

PS3 copies of Blazblue selling fast

Blazblue, a game made for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is having more success on the PS3. Even going as far in this article by selling out on Amazon and demanding 20 bucks over sticker for a new or used one not directly from Amazon.

That's alot of excitement over one version of the game, and you have to wonder why. Well apparently people who have this game for PS3 can Remote Play. Remote Play for Blazblue allows PS3 users to play your PS3 on your PSP while mobile.

There apparently hasn't been a game that utilized that since Lair, good stuff.

PS3 to be backward compatible again?

Interesting

So apparently software news has brought to light a cheaper and cost effective way to make the PS3's of the future be backwards compatible. I'm sorry but this makes no sense, PS3 fans have their PS3 already. Why didn't they do this when they removed backwards compatibility, I'm guessing they hoped it would just make PS2 owners go out and get a PS3.

But I really don't see the sense in doing this now, especially since now PS3 owners will feel deprived that they didn't keep backwards compatibility. I know a lot of PS3 owners are hounding down the original units that have the backwards compatibility, I mean it was great the PS3 was 400 bucks finally. But this news of essentially putting back the backwards compatibility but having to wait until they release the firmware is kind of lame.

Could it be an exclusive PS3 Slim addition? Hard to say.

Look I like that they are offering backwards compatibility again in the future, but I really don't see them offering you the chance to send yours in for backwards compatibility. And i'd laugh if somebody buys another PS3 for backwards compatibility, I don't have many games I want to play on the next console.

Killzone 2 Review

Killzone 2 had some big shoes to fill when it came out. Between all of the trailers we've seen up til then, and the infamous pre-rendered trailer from 2005, people were expecting that world and more from the game. Putting all that aside, let's take a look at the game as it is, for what it is, and put aside all of the hype surrounding it.

Graphically, the game is amazing, if you go back and take a close look at the 2005 trailer then you'll most likely agree with me when I say the final game looks even better! Not only are the textures insanely high-res, not only do the models have near perfect bump mapping, not only is the lighting amazing, but we also have great animation. Characters move realistically, flags blow and sway in the wind, facial expressions are done with such pristine quality that you can see the ripples of flesh moving on their face. If there is ever a prettier game than this, then let that game be called the best looking game, but for now, Killzone 2 holds the title.

In terms of gameplay, it's pretty much your standard First-Person shooter fare, you run, take cover, pop out, shoot someone in the head, go back in cover, rinse, repeat. The controls seemed a little awkward at first, and they definitely take some getting used to, but once you do, it's all good. The gameplay is really amplified just by how nice everything looks, it creates a great sense of atmosphere, and the game does a great job of making you feel like you're actually there.

The story is pretty basic, you go here, shoot some dudes, go there, shoot some bigger dudes, go somewhere else, blow up a tank, get on a turret, shoot some more dudes... basically, it's your standard First-Person shooter fare. However, it definitely benefits from the well done presentation and the intoxicating atmosphere of the game. They do try and make the story as compelling as possible, but the characters are pretty forgettable. Later on in the game, some big events happen that they want you to care about, but you end up just being like "whatever, I'm just gonna shoot some more dudes". Overall, though, I enjoyed the single player for what it was, and it definitely didn't come off as a bad story, and it even had a solid ending to it, but the best part of it wasn't the cutscenes, it was the action. When your commander radios in and tells you some Helghast are coming your way, and then they all come out after you, it's always really cool, and pretty intense.

The multiplayer component is no slacker either, and is probobly my favorite part of the game. Each room can support up to 32 players, and all of the maps are just the right size so you feel not too close to each other, but not too spaced out either. After each match, you rank up. Staring at the lowest rank and working your way up, earning different badges for doing specific things, like a certain number of melee kills, or a certain number of headshots. The whole thing feels very much like Call of Duty 4's online play, but there's more to it than that. Each multiplayer game has a few different modes that it will switch through, and depending on what happens in one mode, it will tie it in with what the next mode will be... for example, both sides are trying to place propaganda speakers on the other team's side, depending on who wins the round, the mode will switch to seek and destroy, and one team will destroy the propaganda speakers that were placed in the last game. This all happens in a single game, without taking any round breaks or anything like that. Also, after ranking up enough you begin to unlock new abilities, like a medic gun, or a cloaking device, or even a saboteur ability, allowing you to disguise yourself as the other team. This gives the online some more depth, and makes it feel a little bit like Team Fortress. This is all topped off by a complete lack of lag, and graphics that match the single-player campaign.

Overall, Killzone 2 is an amazing game with stunning visuals, intense action, compelling multiplayer, and is definitely something any PS3 owner should pick up.

I give Killzone 2, a 5 out of 5.

Activision pressures Sony

Price cut or we cut

Sony's got a huge hurtle to jump if it wants to go above Microsoft, I thought they managed to do so with all the beautiful exclusive games like Uncharted 2, God of War III, MAG etc. but it seems thats going to be softened with Activision's threat to cut loose on Sony.

The consensus is that the PS3 is harder to develop for, but the system itself is respected for the richer gaming experience. The exclusives for the PS3 unveiled at E3 show us the potential STILL not topped in the PS3.

The problem is, Microsoft ate away at exclusives on the PS3. This year they managed to get in line for the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and losing Activision's support entirely would be a big blow. It would take quite a few games out of the yearly release for PS3 and ESSENTIALLY become exclusives for the Xbox 360. Sure it's made for Nintendo as well, but Nintendo has 1999 graphics, not exactly utilized as the 360 does.

It's a hard future for Sony, but in the position they face. I tip my hat off to them for trying hard, and I sometimes want a PS3 of my own. But as I said, i'm waiting for a price drop, so I can have a game with my PS3.

Hang in there Sony

Sony Home impressions

So, Home has been out for a little while now, and since I've just recently got a PS3, I've never got a chance to try it beforehand. However, while waiting for Killzone 2 to come in the mail, I decided to download Home and check it out.

Really, I'm not super-thrilled. Home is a good concept, but it's just executed badly. There aren't nearly enough worlds to explore yet, and the ones that are there are all fairly generic.

The worlds based on games aren't much better. They all have a distinct style, which is good, but there's never really much to do. Each world usually has one game, and the rest is just in-game advertisements, and just chatting to random people.

I suppose Home works best as a chat room, to meet fellow gamers, but wouldn't you rather just play a game to meet other gamers?!?! The most enjoyment I found out of Home was using it to mess with other people. Going up to random people and giving them the "thumbs down" expression and running away is much more fun than waiting on line to play an in-game arcade machine.

Overall, Home is a good idea, but it's executed very poorly. It'd probobly work better if they waited, made it more refined, and released it alongside the release of the PS4 as it's main dashboard. This is still pretty possible, and Sony might just be testing the waters, remember, Home is technically still in "Beta."

So, I bought a PS3.

Well, that title tells you basically all you need to know, but let me just re-iterate. I, Robert Battersby, a long-time Xbox user, and somebody who has never owned a Sony console until just a month ago when I bought a PS2, has now done the unthinkable and purchaced a PS3!

This may seem crazy to many long-time listeners of the podcast, or fans of my youtube videos, and some of you may not even believe me. Well, if the above photo isn't proof enough, I've also made an unboxing video for your viewing pleasure.

With the PS3, I also ordered Killzone 2, which has yet to come in the mail. Also, I realized that the PS3 doesn't come with any HD wires... Let me just say something to all console manufacturers, if you're going to make an HD console, have it come with some damn HD cables!! If not HDMI, at least RGB component!

Putting that aside, a lot of you may be wondering why I bought one. Well, after E3, I was so impressed by the lineup of games they had coming out, and thinking back to all of the exclusive titles that had already came out, it seemed like a no brainer. Exclusive titles like Killzone 2, Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, MGS4, Valkyria Chronicles, and you can't forget about all of the great downloadable games!

Overall, I'm really excited for the future of the PS3, and I'm glad that I finally own all of the consoles for this generation.

E3 2009: Heavy Rain Impressions

So, I've been in love with Heavy rain for a while now, everything about the game just screams perfection. The story, the presentation, the graphics, just everything. So, it's no surprise that when they showed the game at E3, I was going to be excited. What I didn't expect was for them to show a full scene from the game!

After watching this five part developer walkthrough of the game, I feel like they are making this game amazing. The whole thing seems a lot like Indigo Prophecy, Quantum Dream's last game on the original Xbox. However, they took some of the things in Indigo Prophecy that didn't work, and changed them or improved them for Heavy Rain.

In the walkthrough, they show one of your main characters. In the actual game you'll have 4 different main characters you can play as at different times in the story. Here you're playing as an FBI agent named Norman Jayden, and he's going to the junkyard to interrogate a man nicknamed Mad Jack. The demo starts out just walking around the junkyard. The interesting thing about these walking sections of the game is that instead of just using the left analog stick to move, you instead use the left analog stick to look around, and use the R2 button to move forwards. I personally think this is a very intuitive control scheme and helps give the character a much more lifelike and much more fluid animation.

So, Norman goes up, and talks to Mad Jack, and asks him a few questions. Jack says he doesn't know anything. So, then you begin searching around the warehouse using your special sunglasses that can scan things in the environment, and eventually, Norman stumbles upon a Skull in a pool of acid. At this point, Mad Jack comes back, with a gun, and puts it to the back of Norman's head. Now, we have a nice QTE sequence much like in Shenmue or God of War, But instead of losing if you miss one button press, you just go to a different string of events. Of course, if you miss too many button presses, then you'll die.

Norman ends up getting the upper hand on Mad Jack, getting the gun from him and pointing it at him. Mad Jack doesn't believe he'll actually use it, so you have a few different options now, to prove it to him. Of course, Norman starts having withdrawals from his drug addiction, making him fall over and pass out. Letting Mad Jack take his gun back.

After you wake up, you're handcuffed to the inside of your car, heading towards a giant trash compactor. There's a bunch of different actions you can take to try and escape. Also, the screen has now split in two, much like it does in 24. The bottom screen acts as a visual timer, while you control the gameplay in the top screen. It's this part that really sets the QTE system apart from other games, because in order to find the different actions you can take, you have to look around your environment. This looks like it'll create a much more frantic experience than your standard QTE system.

So, Norman ends up being able to escape from the car, at the last second, and now has to fight off Mad Jack, who isn't the happiest person in the world right now. This involves another short QTE sequence, in which Norman comes out on top. There's another possible way to do that part where you die, however, the developer has said the story would continue, even if all of the 4 main characters die, creating a ton of replay value with a very different, very varied branching storyline. I think this kind of emergent gameplay is exactly what the industry needs to keep moving forward, and this game is definitely a very good reason to get a PS3. Look for it when it's released early 2010.

E3 2009: 'Scratch: The Ultimate DJ' Impressions

So, after Ed said just how horrible DJ Hero looks, I'd like to bring up another DJ simulator game that will be coming out soon that was also shown at E3, entitled "Scratch: The Ultimate DJ".

Unlike how DJ Hero is loosely based off of the Guitar Hero name, and has the same sort of structure as it, Scratch is a totally unique IP, and looks like the method of control is a lot smoother. I have to admite, though, that when I first saw their turntable controller I was a bit underwhelmed. However, since then, I got to see a gameplay demo, and all of that changed!

This game looks to not only have a smooth flowing control layout, but also a lot of originality in mixing and re-mixing the tracks. You have five different buttons on the controller, which are used much like guitar hero at first, to simply follow the song's beats. but there's a certain amount of originality at some points, where you can use the buttons to make different sort of sound effects. You also have a fader switch, and a record wheel. You can control the intensity, the speed, or the craziness of all of these effects using the record part of the controller, pretty much doing actual re-mixing, simply, and easily.

The game is looking great, not to mention the amazing tracklist that they've announced so far. Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Mixmaster Mike, Gorillaz, 2Pac, and tons more.

I kind of feel like this game is taking a different approach than DJ Hero, and a much more exciting and creative one, and it'll definitely be on my radar in the months leading up to it's release. Scratch: The Ultimate DJ is due out September 30, 2009 for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii.

E3 2009: Ed's Thoughts on Day 2

Reuploaded due to technical issues, Ed's thoughts on Sony and Nintendo.

PSP Go: Will It gain momentum?

The PSP Go was the worst kept secret of E3, Sony's conference even acknowledged that, even though some details were kept secret.

For one thing, we knew the PSP Go would have a slide out controller for a better "handling", kinda liked the design myself. I want one, just like everyone else. And i'm considering buying it as an entry level PS3 alternative, but the release had issues.

For one thing, it only downloads games. There is no CD drive for the games, hence the fact that the PSP GO is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter. I LIKE THAT. But others like Rob, fellow blogger :), would rather have a physical copy or get a digital copy with a physical copy as T.J. would want. I'm more easygoing (hence the favorite blogger :D) and I just like the fact that the digital copy will cost less than the physical copy. 

Although when it came to price, the retail is to be $250. $250 dollars for that? Seriously, the high end PSP 3000 with more hardware on it having the drive for physical copies is $170. There was no miniaturization of technology for the PSP, just a slid out keyboard. Yes I know the games will cost less, but it's kind of a pricey entry fee into the PSP world. 

Also, for me, having an exposed screen on a handheld unlike the DS makes me hesitate. 

Sony Press Conference Impressions

Sony was definitely the high point for the second day of E3, or at least the more packed conference. Many predicted Sony would be the best of the three conferences, we will discuss this later tonight but for now how did Sony do as a whole?

First they had a countdown showing they would be delayed a half hour, but yet they started on time anyway? Go Figure. Jack Tretton put alot of effort into showing that PS3 was bringing us the next stage in gaming, kinda pointing to its game lineup frequently. 

Multiplatform games like Beatles Rockband and Arkham Asylum were briefly mentioned. 

Uncharted 2 was brought out, the multiplayer beta starts tonight. Then they showed a Demo, the traversing of the buildings, the conflict with airborne threats while scaling the numerous buildings had me drooling. You can't just run away from enemies either, because the helicopter kept following you on the outside while you engaged enemies inside a building they went in. It looked fun, so fun the Naughty Dog label proves this is not a dream. It's a sweet PS3 exclusive.

Then came the MAG demo, live 256 player gameplay. It was sweet to look at, especially being it had to support that many players. It didn't perfect everything but was very satisfying, the map view system, the objective system had the enemies respawning further inside their bunker the closer you got. That makes alot of sense, and the offensive team is set up that on time intervals helicopters came in and thats when friends could respawn. Sweet, the game will be awesome. 

Then after some audio difficulties they got into PSP bundles, rock band was one and hannah montana was another. hahaha. Then they had Kaz Hirai come out to show us the PSP Go, only uses downloaded games so no game slot on PSP Go. That was cool and the full controls slides out of the PSP Go, but it costs $250 to buy. I'll consider buying it if the games are cheaper when you consider the lack of something to physically buy with your game purchase. None of the current PSP's will be phased out but its the lightest and easiest PSP to carry around. 

Then they announced PSP titles like Gran Turismo. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will be on PSP, which is a sequel title, not a spinoff. Gameplay of Peace Walker was good looking and is coming in 2010. Resident Evil title coming for PSP, Little Big Planet and Fat Princess as well. Some of those will sell extremely well. 

Moving onto PS3, we got to finally see Assasin's Creed 2 gameplay. It looks slightly better than the first but now you can use a multiple amount of weapons or take them from guards. At one point your flying on a hangliding device which perked my interest for a moment, smoke bombs are also available. Ironically they didn't have a release date but we know its November 11th. 

Then we got Final Fantasy 13 with more footage, looked GREAT. Then they showed Final Fantasy 14...the MMO! Graphics are good for an MMO, although MMO's haven't been my thing. I'm sure Masin (Charlie) will be more talkative about it. Then they brought the Motion Controller Wand out, I really don't have much to say about it. But Sony realizes it's casual and gimmicky, so comparing it to Xbox's motion controller is kind of unfair for both parties. This Wand will be available in Spring 2010.

New Franchaise called ModNation Racers brought out that let you race with online players and create your own maps with a good amount of choices and very easy building controls. Looks fun to me although I heard T.J. comment it really took the graphics ability of the PS3 down a notch. They also showed Project Trico, now named The Last Guardian. OMG it looks even better in alot of areas and less good in a few areas, you play as the boy we finally know. But not really any gameplay.

Then they showed an actual sequel of Gran Turismo 5 for PSP. But the biggest game release was the presentation of the God of War III Demo. It looked flat out amazing, combat was amazing with typical sword slashing, Chimaeras where you could rip their horns off. And if i'm not mistaken did the main character grow wings at one point? Whatever, the game looks crazy good. There was 20 more minutes of the Demo we sadly didn't get to see, and the game will come out 3/10/10. 

Sony threw together a pretty good press conference, Unlike Nintendo it didn't have alot of issues they were a fault of. As to whether it was the best conference of E3, that will very likely be a subject to talk about on the podcast tonight. Sony and Microsoft really fought against eachother here, and Nintendo didn't really but once again. Geeksquisite needs to have some feedback before we can officially broadcast our views. 

PS3 slim version at E3?

On Spike the Pre-E3 show was teasing us with several upcoming games, never really giving us anything interesting on games we cared about. One thing people spoke about at one point is the price cut for the PS3, or basically a slimming of the PS3 to justify a price decrease. 

Where did they get the idea of a PS3 slim down? It doesn't even make sense considering the slimmed down PS2 is enough of a smaller console alternative, and I don't think alot of people want the Blu Ray player. Let's face it, the PS2 is outselling the PS3 and its probably making truckloads of profit. But to cut down the PS3 even more and make the PS2 sell less. Doubt it. 

Let's face it, I don't have a PS3. I want a PS3. I don't have the money for it right now, and their library is growing, E3 holds alot of promise for their gaming lineup. I'd like Microsoft to wow us but Sony is already wowing with it's library. Having said that, the new library of games would be enough to make people buy a PS3. So a price cut of the PS3 is unlikely, maybe Holiday 2009 but not now. 

There is alot of news circulating about this, but nothing is definite. So i'm gonna say this will likely be a rumor, and if they indeed make a slimmed PS3. I'm going on the waiting list and say goodbye to the PS2 with a move like that.