Gaming Blog

Playstation 3

Guitar Hero World Tour: Are You Getting One?

By

Though a lot of people didn’t think that the video game industry was going to be seriously affected by the economic crisis, it happened. The video game industry actually reported lower sales this quarter and I am not really surprised. After all, when it comes to the crunch, entertainment is usually the first thing to get cut off the list. At least this is the case for me. Still, video games are a good alternative to going out to watch movies and eating at restaurants. In the long run, staying at home and having video game parties will save you less.

But what about buying new video games? You would think that not many video games will be released at this point in time, knowing that majority of the people all over the world are cutting back on their spending. Still, the people at Activision have just released the fourth installment of the Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero World Tour, released today, does not come cheap.

The whole package is selling for $189.99 – almost $200. In an attempt to make it more marketable, Activision is also selling cheaper versions. The game only version comes at $49.99 while the game plus guitar controller comes at $90. If you already have the old guitar controller, then you can just get the standalone version. Still, is this a time to be spending hard earned dollars on video games?

Don’t get me wrong, I am actually trying to balance my checkbook and figuring out if I could get the game. I really want it but I am not sure that my finances will permit it. Perhaps this will be my Christmas gift to myself. How about you? Are you willing to get it as soon as it hits the shelf?

Little Big Planet Recalled Due To Offensive Words

By

How can they do this if they were able to approve games such as GTA IV? That’s as offensive as you can get! Well, it depends on your definition of offensive and what kind of offensive language you mean. In the case of Little Big Planet, it seems that there were words from the Koran that were used in a song. That fact spawned a lot of noise in the Muslim community in the United Kingdom.

Apparently, one of the songs used for background music in Little Big Planet mentions phrases from the Koran. Sang by Toumani Diabate, a Mali-born singer and himself a Muslim, the song was noticed by Yasser, a gaming enthusiast who promptly posted an entry on the official PlayStation Forum. He is quoted as saying “we Muslims consider the mixing of music and words from our Holy Qur’an deeply offending.”

In order to avoid further damage, Sony and Media Molecule, the game’s developers, have decided to recall the copies that have been released. According to the statement in Media Molecule’s web site:

As some of you may have noticed, LBP has been slightly delayed in some territories. At MM we were as shocked and dismayed by this as anyone – shellshocked and gutted. We can’t wait for you all to get playing and creating!

We learnt yesterday that there is a lyric in one of the licensed tracks which some people may find offensive, and which slipped through the usual screening processes. Obviously MM and Sony together took this very seriously. LBP should be enjoyable by all. So within 12 hours of hearing about this issue involving a lyric (in Somalian, I believe!), Media Molecule had prepared an automatic day 0 patch and had a new disk image ready; however a decision was made within Sony that the right thing to do for quality and support of people with no on-line was to replace existing disks. They assure us that they are doing everything in their power to get things straightened out as fast as possible, and will announce dates soon.

There you go. People in the UK, you just have to wait a little bit longer.

Discovering Guitar Hero

By

I know, I know, Guitar Hero has been around for a long time – the franchise has reached the third version. I have even featured it in this blog before. I didn’t really try it myself until this week, though, I guess that with all the games that I have been playing – on the PlayStation 3, the Wii, and the PC – plus the fact that I work day and night, I really don’t have much time to play everything.

In any case, we downloaded a demo of Guitar Hero, the Aerosmith edition from the PlayStation store the other day. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked. Perhaps one big factor is that I am a big Aerosmith fan. Listening to the songs while playing a video game is a different experience. Since I do not have any of the peripherals (instruments) used for Guitar Hero, I had to make do with the PS3 controller. It was still fun!

My thoughts on the game…the graphics are funky. I love Steven Tyler but I cannot deny the fact that he does not have the prettiest face in the music industry. Still, maybe they could have made his Guitar Hero persona a bit more aesthetically appealing? I guess that does not really matter much, though. I like how you can choose among 4 modes. I suck so bad that I can only do well on the Easy mode. I tried the harder modes for Dream On, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way but I could not even finish half of the songs!

I would really love to buy this game but $200 is a bit beyond me right now.

Disappointment Anew: Still No PSN Cards

By

To qualify that statement, yes, PSN cards are already available – mostly in military bases. What my title is referring to is the fact that Sony released an official statement late in August. Their announcement was that the PSN Cards will be released this September. Naturally, I assumed that this meant the first week of September. I have been scouring the mentioned stores in the Sony announcement to no avail.

Maybe I am looking at the wrong places. Maybe I am jumping the gun. After all, Sony did say September and there are still 3 weeks left in the month. Anyhow, I am disappointed that the PSN Cards are still not easily accessible.

Easily accessible is different from being available, though. Despite my whining, there are places that you can get the PSN Cards. E-bay for one, is a good place to check. I am actually laughing at myself for not thinking about this sooner. Would you believe that I never thought about checking on E-bay before? It was only the other day that it entered my mind.

So there I was looking for PSN Cards on E-bay and I found LOTS of them. Various people are selling the various amounts. I do not know where they got them – what is important is that they are selling them. The thing is that you have to pay a little over 10 dollars more than the card value. For example, I bought a $50 PSN card but I had to pay $62.50 for it. I really didn’t like that but at that point I had no choice.

The verdict? I am quite satisfied. I didn’t have any problems loading my wallet and buying the games online.

PSN Cards To Be Released In September?

By


Here we go again…we have new promises from Sony. This time, Sony has released a statement regarding the much awaited PlayStation Network Card. I mentioned this in another post some time ago because I have been waiting a long time to find a way to be able to purchase games from the PlayStation Store. Right now, the only way is to use a credit card issued in the United States. More so, it has to be a regular credit card and not one of the prepaid variety. The PSN cards have been out in select places for a while now, namely U.S. Military bases.

If the news is to be believed, we are going to be able to get our hands on some PSN cards this September. I kind of like the announcement because they are making it more accessible now. Reports say that PS3 fan boys will be able to buy PSN cards from 7-11, RiteAid, and Blockbuster stores. Here’s the announcement from the PlayStation site itself:

Use your PlayStation®Network card to purchase and download exclusive games, videos and more for your PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation® Portable systems!
Visit your local Pamida, Meijer and Speedway stores to pick up the PSN® card.
Retailers joining in September: Blockbuster, 7-Eleven and Riteaid
We’ll be adding more PLAYSTATION® Network Card retailers soon. Check here for the latest updates.

Only two more days and it will be September. Do you think we’ll actually get some PSN cards?

PlayStation Home Guaranteed THIS Year

By

I love guarantees. At the same time I hate them. I love them when they are met all the time but I hate hearing guarantees when I know that the track record of the party giving the guarantee is far from unblemished in this regard. Now, I love Sony, you know I do BUT I am not sure about their guarantees. Remember the PlayStation3 and how long it took them to actually get it out in the market?

Anyway, for what it’s worth, Sony has guaranteed the release of the PlayStation Home this year. The guarantee was made at the Games Convention in Liepzig. If you are an avid Sony fan, you would know that they are sending out invites to beta testers for Home. (No, I haven’t got mine.) So anyhow, we have all been waiting for the release of Home for about 2 years now, I think. Sony has finally said something definitive. According to Martin Van Der Meulen, a producer for Home, it should out by the end of the year. More than that, he said that Home will be free – forever.

Now these are pretty big promises. I am not complaining. As I said, I love guarantees. I just really hope that Sony will live up to these promises and not announce another delay later on this year.

Another thing about Home – they are going to have spaces integrated specially for games. For example, there will be a space for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. It will be really interesting to see how this will work out.

Madden NFL 09

By

The newest installment in the football video game franchise Madden seems to have impressed countless people. The Madden NFL Franchise has been around for a couple of decades and has sold 70 million copies worldwide. The newest addition to the franchise, Madden NFL 09, thus has a LOT to live up to. With all the hype and the great expectations of more discerning video gamers, Madden NFL 09 has to be all that everyone has hoped for. And is it?

Apparently, yes. Reviews from all over the Internet are pointing to one thing: Madden NFL 09 is a huge success. From the one who have only had the chance to play the demo from the PlayStation Store (that’s me!) to those who have actually played the full game, it seems that they all agree that the game is moving closer towards perfection.

The game is available for different gaming consoles and also comes in “normal” and “special edition.” The standalone video game can cost anywhere from $39.99 to $59.99, depending on the platform. The special edition version, dubbed the “Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” ships at $89.99. What do you get from the latter? “The latest pro football simulation, a copy of the all-new “NFL Head Coach 09” game (the only way to buy the game this year) and hours of DVD-like bonus materials for the ultimate fan.”

Naturally, I want a copy of the special edition but last time I checked – last night – I couldn’t find any copies. I am sure some will resurface soon enough but will the price be the same?

I Want To Be A PlayStation Home Beta Tester

By

Who does not? Ever since this news about Sony sending invites to people to participate in the testing program for the PlayStation Home came out, I have been on the edge of my seat. I first saw the announcement of the latest testing at the PlayStation Blog:

Later today, the PLAYSTATION Store will be updated with a PlayStation Home theme. By downloading the theme, users are submitting an application to join the PlayStation Home Beta test community. We will be using a variety of criteria including activity on the PLAYSTATION Network to determine eligibility for the Beta community. Existing beta testers have automatically qualified to be part of the expanded beta.

We’re really excited about this milestone and want our most loyal fans to be a part of the evolution of PlayStation Home.

In Europe, SCEE is also beginning their expanded closed beta, directly targeting consumers who have been most active on PLAYSTATION Network and PLAYSTATION Store. SCEE will be in email contact with their PSN audience very shortly.

Let us know what you think.

This was posted on the 7th of August. A lot of bloggers have already created a buzz around this piece of news and the first thing I did after finding out about it was to download the Home theme. This is how you send in an application to become a beta tester. Since then I have been waiting to receive an e-mail invite and I have been checking my e-mail A LOT – to no avail.

I am still hoping, though. Anyone out there who has received the e-mail?

Who Wants An Olympics Video Game?

By


I know a lot of people who scoff every time a new video game comes out which is based on a movie or something similar. They especially become skeptical if the game takes only a few months to create. More likely than not, they say, the game is going to suck – if only because they did not really put much importance on the game itself. The rationale is that these video game developers only want to take advantage of the popularity of and the hype surrounding the movie. The result is a poor or mediocre video gaming experience. And these people are actually right. Take The Transformers and The Sopranos. I don’t need to go into detail about how these games could have been much better.

Anyhow, here’s another of those video games that might just not meet our expectations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics is just around the corner and everyone and their moms have been jumping into the Olympics bandwagon. From souvenir sellers to travel agencies – we have all sorts of products relating to the event. Why not video games?

SEGA of America announced on Monday that Beijing 2008 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games is out. In fact, copies of the game – for both the Xbox360 and the PS3 have been shipped out to retailers in North America. PC gamers need not feel left out. Their version of the game will be out later this month.

I haven’t had the chance to try this game out and for some reason, I have no real desire to.

Economic Crisis Benefits Video Game Industry

By


When financial problems set in, the first thing to go is usually the non-essentials. For different people, the non-essential things may be different as well. To be honest, I always thought that for many families, entertainment (this include video games) would be the first to go.

Well, I couldn’t be more wrong – at least when it comes to the situation in the United Kingdom. The Telegraph reports:

Video games are experiencing a surge in popularity as families affected by the credit crunch shun
expensive trips to the cinema and restaurants in favour of staying in.

New figures show that the video industry is defying the economic downturn thanks to a host of best-selling titles, including Grand Theft Auto IV, the Wii Fit, Mario Kart and Metal Gear Solid IV.

Game Group, the video games specialist, reported that pre-tax profits for the six months to July 31 would be at least £33 million – 32 per cent ahead of the City’s most optimistic forecasts.

Now that makes sense, doesn’t it? I do not know much about the prices of movies over there but I am sure they are considerable as well. If you have 5 members in the family, movie ticket prices would be a lot to handle. Add to that the gas that you have to spend going to the movies and then the popcorn and then eating out. It is but understandable that families would just choose to stay home and have a good time in front of their favorite video game console. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the same trend in the United States pretty soon.