Well, if you listened to the podcast, you’ll of heard me talk about the massive failure of my long serving PS3. It’s weak spot got attacked for massive damage… Basically it had a hardware failure, similar to the 360′s red ring of death. Now I was in two minds over whether to change to a 360 as a primary console and sell my PS3 games, but it would of left me even more out of pocket.
So, after dwelling on getting a pre-owned or new version, I finally decided it was time to get one, less than a week after the death of the last one… I picked up a new 80gb version and after a bit of a deal, got Red Faction: Guerrilla and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift as part of a deal. Not bad considering the cost of the original console and it is clear to tell that Sony has done some work since the 60GB and 20GB launched round the world.
To state the obvious, they have reduced costs by taking out two USB ports and the media card ports, though I only even used one of the card ports (very rarely at that) and use my laptop to stream any media to the PS3 and it does support USB adapaters, meaning I could make five ports. There are a few minor asthetic changes, although whilst the removal of the intake vents on the front and underneath of the side of the unit seem like they would tempt the overheating issue back, there is a major improvment in the amount of heat the unit kicks out. After playing for an hour or so, it was still only blowing lukewarm air out, fans remained quiet (the system as a whole is a lot quieter) and the vents which usually got really hot at certain times, remaining cool.
Other changes, such as the lack of a chromed effect on the front, so whilst it doesn’t look as snazzy, does stop the fingerprints marking it when you slide a disc in. The ports on the back of the units have also being moved, not entirely sure why, but they have.
Anything else? Well, obviously the lack of PS2 BC is a major down for those who like the older games. It’s a bit confusing really, as there is a virtual memory card system, even on this model, that says “PS/PS2″, which could entail emulation in the future, as is still possible through the PS3′s singstar system. You also get a bit less in the box, so no ethernet cable, but thats about it. So, I’m soon going to be taking the HDD out and putting my 250GB one back in. Just got to find somewhere put the 80GB… Any questions I’ll be happy to answer, from existing PS3 owners or anybody.
It’s probably the video most of you have been waiting for. Infinity Ward have finally shown us a glimpse or two of Modern Warfare 2′s multiplayer and it looks from the video to be more of the same, and then some. Not only does the game look a lot more franetic, with everything from paper to plantpots been blown all over the place during a battle, but shows how custom killstreak loadouts work.
Unlike the original, MW2 will allow you to have a custom loadout for when you have a killstreak. So whilst having the Radar/airstrike and helicopter added a uniformity, it could get a bit predictable. IW have solved this by allowing you, by the looks of things, to pick and choose what you can call in. Whilst the video simply shows you calling in an AC130, no doubt these will be staggered into how many kills you get detirmines what you can call in. One of the most exciting aspects of this is that you can now control what you call in, with the AC130 being able to shoot guys from the sky, just as in that level in COD4. Nevermind the fact you get your hands on some heavy firepower, shots of using the rifle’s add on to see troops and also being able to shoot down killstreak bonuses a lot easier than you ever could with the chopper. As well as this, there are more rewards for actually preventing people getting killstreaks, which could make matches even more franetic.
Watch the video below
It’s not changed that much since launch, but here is what the XMB originally looked like
Everytime any firmware update for any console is released, there is always a geeky optimism that it will do something awesome that will rejuvinate the console. For the Xbox 360, there was a series of smaller updates untill of course, the big dashboard update “changed everything”. The Wii has seen the inclusion of new channels and all that jazz, but it has been the PS3 that has been the butt of the hilarious “firmware jokes”, with updates to “improve compatibilty with existing Playstation 3 titles” and add the equivilent of a very limited IRC server. But apparently, firmware updates are not just for the users anymore.
Although many are still waiting for the fabled PS2 compatibilty update, including me after the spectacluar death of my original 60GB model and cross game, party voice chat, Sony are still attempting to support developers through there firmware updates.
2.80, the latest update, appeared to do very little, with the people at PS3Attitude discovering that there was now a character limit on chat and TheSixthAxis found that the update was primarily for Vidzone, the music video application that you can download from the PSN. Nothing exciting there really, just adds a bit more stability. However, according to an interview by TQcast over the Uncharted 2 Beta and the improvements following it, the producer for UC2: Among Thieves Sam Thompson said:
“Naughty Dog is constantly working to improve every aspect of the gameplay; be it animation, lighting, sound, texture fidelity. You know if you look at the game itself with the 2.80 engine update, you know we’re adding more memory, so we get a lot more utilisation of the SPUs, so we increase our optimisation of the Cell processor as well. So we’ve got from the engineering side all the way up to texture fidelity, artists adding in even more…I mean there’s really not a singular aspect that’s not been improved in the game,”
Now, the XMB has always been a bit heavy on the old RAM, causing a major software headache when the in-game XMB was introduced. The good news for you users is that with the increase in RAM for software, it not only should be more stable, but allow existing and new games to take advantage of it. Whilst the PS3′s “dashboard” is still using around 70mb compared to the 40mb of the Xbox dash. Either way, PS3 users are still probably after more user features, but maybe this “lighter” XMB will pave the way for more features. What do you guys think, tell us by commenting!
On Ignition this week: Josh discusses all his latest game purchases as well as how he now cant play them thanks to his PS3 dieing; Matt reveals that he has played a game that isn’t GTA IV; Stevie talks about DEFCON and Rob (as well as trying to steal the job of host from Matt) talks about the upcoming Game Engine Challenge video.
Duration: 59:14
In one of the most important releases for the Wii, not counting Wii Sports Resort, which actually looks really good, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is being held up as an example of why the Hardcore games should not abandon the Wii. Here is some screens from the latest preview that has been shown to press, with a gallery linked at the the bottom. Enjoy the colour and see how many new features you can spot, mind you, with Super Mario Galaxy, more of the same would be awesome.
More Screens Here
This is C and C 3, but it’s likely be similar to this
Quite a few game related gubbins coming out of Comic-con, an event that traditionally, we didn’t need to cover. Well, Game Trailers have put up a video of some Command and Conquer 4 footage, and in addition to that, after browsing round a C&C fansite, I found some more facts about the game, coutersy of some magazine scans, in which they found that:
Depending on who you speak to or get shouted at by, Xbox Live avatars are either the best thing since access to the Halo 3 beta or the worst thing since those red rings showed their face. Well, if you don’t like people, you may soon have the oppitunity to have pets! Siliconera are reporting on a few Microsoft patent applications that give us some ideas to where the online system is heading.
Rather than simply using normla banner ads etc, MS appear to be proposing a system of Advertisement Generated Avatars or as I’m going to call them from now on, AGA’s. Now, this will work by opting into a system where your avatar becomes a walking billboard and as compensation for this, Microsoft will be offering you something. Now this is no way concrete evidence, Patent applications are made for everything, but this will be essentially MS paying a popular person to pretend to like what they are actually advertising. Well, morally sound anyway. If this “popular person” is doing well, they could be paid virtual/real currency, or avatar items etc.
Now onto the Pets question, one of the statements in this application with regards to compensation goes something like this:
“For example example [sic], the compensation may include virtual food to keep a virtual pet, such as a virtual dog…alive and functioning,”
Erm, yeah, poor pet. So MS is essentially pointing a loaded gun at your possible avatar’s pet’s head and saying “sell some stuff…*click* or else”. Here is an example of how these AGA’s would work:
“In one example, to advertise the movie TRANSFORMERS, an advertiser may provide the robot BUMBLEBEE, which is a popular character in the movie, as the advertiser-generated avatar. The BUMBLEBEE avatar may include functionality to “transform” between the robot and the CHEVROLET CAMARO depicted in the movie. In another example, to advertise the cereal TRIX, an advertiser may provide the TRIX RABBIT as the advertiser-generated avatar. The TRIX RABBIT avatar may include functionality to say the popular catchphrase “SILLY RABBIT, TRIX ARE FOR KIDS.” In yet another example, to advertiser the ZUNE digital media player from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, an advertiser may provide an image of the ZUNE digital media player as the advertiser-generated avatar. The ZUNE digital media player avatar may include functionality to change colors, change models, and play various digital media.”
The second method that compensation could be availible for users will be through participating in an advertisement, with the questions suggested based on what you have been up to, from what you buy, your age and other demographic information.
Whilst this system is no way near set in stone and may not even appear, but what are your views on this crazy advertising system. Here are some flow charts of how the systems could work.
You often have an idea of what to expect when a game claims to have a massive world with a variety of vehicles and “mud effects”. My original thoughts about FUEL, developed by the relatively unknown French developer AsoboStudio (I think they may of made WallE…So good pedigree there) and published by Codemasters was going to be essentially Motorstorm, the PS3′s off road racer, crossed with a bit of Burnout openworldness. Unfortunatly, if I base my views on the preview I played, the game falls short on the “racing” and “open world” counts, which is a bit of a big deal.
FUEL contains a variety of vehicles which you would expect to see in an offroad racer. From dirt bikes, to buggies, to crazy rally cars, although I only had the oppitunity to play as a buggy and bike. Probably my favourite out of the two was the motorcross bike, perhaps because it gave me the ability to go between trees and other obstacles in the environment, as well as hitting jumps which don’t really make any difference, apart from of course, doing a “Crazy Ass Stunt”, which as far as I’m aware, you have no control over it.
The world of FUEL is what supposedly took up so much of it’s development time and in one way or another, I can see why. It is one of those large and madly varied worlds, based on various areas of the USA, which according to the “story” was a result of some apocolyptic act, which may go some way to explain to randomly burning trees and drained rivers etc, but there is a conspiculous lack of rad-scorpions, which would of instantly made the game 1000% more enjoyable. Rivers, which when you go down to them, you fall through them like the water doesn’t exist and it’s a bottomless pit, is pretty funny for the first few times. There are parts of the world which I was allowed to access which looked pretty good, but the main problem that I found, again, I can’t vouch for the rest of the game, that the world does not aid the racing at all.
By that I mean that whilst there are the traditional ramps and stuff, you can’t really take any short cuts as the nearly militant GPS system forces you a specific route. When it doesn’t, I found that in the few of the races I played, I could basically go a straight route from what checkpoint to another in a straight line, whilst the AI refused to go from the roughly drawn route it has set for itself. The races are structured in such a way that for most of them you go in one long lap, from checkpoint to checkpoint. The system isn’t necesserily flawed just doesn’t feel refined enough to promote good and intense racing.
There is also online mulitplayer included in the game, essentially acting kind of like a Burnout system, but with less speed and more vehicles. There will be 16 players online and various mulitplayer challenges and race modes. My fear for the mulitplayer is that, unlike with Burnout: Paradise, there is no built up crazy areas to jump out of, no dynamic crash system, so will it actually draw users in, who may not be paticulary happy with the single player anyway?
Another factor that my preview didn’t really promote was racing difficulty. I probably touched the brake once or twice round a very sharp corner, but there wasn’t really an oppitunity to drift around on the muddy apocolyptic land. I pretty much could hold the accelerator and cruise through the preview races. The upside of this that I felt damn good going straight into the game and winning by miles, even on the higher difficulty. And of course, you do get dropped off at a race (you can warp to them if you don’t want to drive across the barren wasteland) by a Chinook helicopter. Slightly random, but not a bad choice of vehicle transport.
Comparing this to Pure, the ATV game which I kinda harboured a secret affection for, with all it’s pre-loading, super high jumping madness, and very inventive tracks, I feel that, even from this preview of FUEL, they should of translated some of Pure over to Fuel (PureFUEL, Now that’s a title), give it a bit more “shazam” rather than being uninspiring. Whilst it may be unfair claiming that an open world game should have elements of a single vehicle track based title, it set the bar pretty high. The full game does have a massive world and plenty of activities, including challenges and lots of vehicles, but the jury is out still on whether a massive world and lots of races means that you can get away with fairly bland environmental choices and unchallenging race AI. So Codemasters, you have lots of good racing, both on road and off road games, and if your’re reading this and stuck on which series to carry on, don’t let it be FUEL.
FUEL is an offroad, post-apocolyptic, open world racing game with a variety of vehicles and is availible on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.
