Tag: PS3

on the shelves

Nothing! It’s like summer’s back, except it’s a little colder outside. There’s only one game coming out next week, as well. If you’re the desperate for new stuff, the ATV/MX demo is fun enough for a five minute game.

in the store

Downloadable Games:
* Pain {$10} – includes mini game called Spank the Monkey. The link is associate producer failing at explaining the game, but showing a video of gameplay. As a downloadable game, it’s barely reviewed – gamezone.com is the only one I can find. Bascially, your character is loaded into a slingshot and you fire him into targets/objects. The more damage you do, the more points you get.

Add On Game Content:
* Resistance: FOM Map Pack #2 – 2 more maps for multiplayer. This pack is $5, or pick up the first map pack at the same time for $8

* MotorStorm: Vehicle/Skin Pack {$2} – two more vehicles and more paintjobs

* Guitar Hero III: Boss Battles Track Pack: {FREE!} – Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band and untitled songs from Slash and Tom Morello.

* Rock Band: three David Bowie songs (Heroes, Monnage Daydream, Queen Bitch) for $2, or all three for $5.50

* Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles PSN: instead of buying a disc for the expansion, you can download it for $30.

Game videos
* Ratchet & Clank (Behind the scenes)
* Timeshift (gameplay)

Movie/Blue Ray Trailers
* Stop Loss
* Resident Evil: Extinction
* Memoirs of a Geisha

Wallpaper
* Aquatopia
* Pain
* Resistance: Fall of Man

over the horizon
(card subject to change)
12/04: Golden Compass
12/13: the Orange Box
12/18: NCAA March Madness ’08
01/10: NFL Tour
02/08: Turok
02/20: FIFA Street 3
02/21: Dynasty Warriors 6
02/28: Lost
03/05: Grand Theft Auto IV
03/31: Hail to the Chimp
04/08: Star Wars: the Force Unleashed
06/30: LEGO Indiana Jones

(I’m working on getting FirePro. It’s on the Things To Buy At Amazon When I’m Bored And Need Another Baseball Book list)

Happy PS3 Birthday. It’s gonna get better, right?

This might not be a good week to wait ’til Friday. PS3Fanboy notes the best places to get sales on PS3 stuff this post-Thanksgiving. If you’re a buying a new PS3, I’d say to go Meijer, pick up an second controller while you’re at it, and get whatever game you want for free. KB Toys is doing a buy one/get one free deal, which might actually get me in the mall on Friday.

on the shelves

* Rock Band [reviews] The only noted downside is only 45 songs to play, which you’ll overplay by the end of the Tour. You can buy more songs off the PS3 Store, naturally. There’s no many reviews out, and less comparisons between this and Guitar Hero. From what I can read, Rock Band has a better presentation and is the better cooperative game. And everyone will want to play the drums.

The box set, with a microphone, drums, and a guitar is $170 for those who have way too much money. You’ll need to have one more guitar than is sold in that pack if you want someone to play bass – the thought was the Guitar Hero guitar would work, but that’s apparently not the case. The Rock Band people are blaming the Guitar Hero for not programming their Guitar correct, but this basically means you have to buy two copies of the game. This could be resolved, but these companies don’t seem on friendly terms.

* Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune [reviews] Fun good looking third person shooter, even if the story’s cliched (Indiana Jones) and the puzzles are quiet easy. Very favorably reviewed.

* Time Crisis 4 [reviews] First person arcade style shooter. Game comes with gun, which is oddly not wireless. (You’ll have to use a USB cord.) It’s got more replay value than you’d expect for an arcade game and sounds fun enough.

* College Hoops 2K8 [reviews] So I have a friend who went to Best Buy on Monday to get the PS2 version of this, and despite listing it as being released on Monday, it wasn’t there. So he went back Tuesday, and was told they had it in stock, but they didn’t want to put it out yet. On a Tuesday. DUMB. I think he’s going back for it on Wednesday, but not to Best Buy. Looks like they’ve been adding features here, and I like the idea of a High School Tournament for recruiting purposes. However, this is yet another sports game having frame rate issues that aren’t on the 360.

If you haven’t checked it out, the free demo is pretty fun for a 3 minute game.

* Medal of Honor: Airborne [reviews] Another World War II. The gun battles can be fun, but the AI can be stupid.

* Soldier of Fortune: Payback [reviews] Like the previous games in this series, but the story is bland and corny. Everyone notes Call of Duty 4 just came out and is significantly better.

* Timeshift [reviews] FPS. The gimmick to slow, stop, or reverse time is interesting, but the story is lacking and the AI is worse. Game gets quite repetitive as you move on.

in the store

Downloadble Games (both requiring the Playstation Eye)
– Operation Creature Feature {$5} – Sony tries to describe it.
– Aquatopia {$2} – a virtual fish tank

Also, Calling All Cards, flOw, Pixel Junk Races and Everyday Shooter are on sale at $5 till 11/29.

Demo
MX vs ATV

Add On Content
– fLOw Expansion Pack – new campaign and playable creature {$3}
– Need For Speed ProStreet – more cars, longer career {$10}
– Rock Band Songs – all $2 each, and some in three packs for $5.50
** “3’s and 7’s”, “Little Sister”, “Sick Sick Sick” by Queens of the Stone Age
** “And Justice for All”, “Blackened”, “Ride the Lightning” by Metalica
** “Can’t Stand Losing You” , “Roxanne”, “Synchronicity II” by the Police
** “Cherry Bomb” by the Runaways
** “Fortunate Son” by Credence Clearwater Revival
** “Joker and the Thief” by Wolfmother
** “Juke Box Hero” by Foreigner
** “My Sharona” by the Knack
** “Bang A Gong” by T. Rex

Game Video
– Battlefield: Bad Company (trailer)
– Snakeball (trailer)
– Ratcher & Clank Future (2, behind the scenes)

Movie Trailer
– Superbad

over the horizon
12/11: the Orange Box
12/18: NCAA March Madness ’08
(perhaps more games here as people start nailing down their 2008 1Q release dates)

on the shelves

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (The W at Amazon) (gs, avg 9.5) “Fantastic mutliplayer game” seems to be consensus. If you want a FPS for the PS3, you can’t do better than this.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (gs, 7.8 but lightly reviewed) – not much new to offer those who’ve played the previous game, but it’s still solid.

Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War (gs, 5.6) Real Time Strategy game that doesn’t really take advantage of being on a PS3. Not deep enough to make up for it.

Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII (gs, 6.0 based on one review) – a flying game that came out weeks ago on the other next gen systems. Much the same as the original.

in the store

Demos:

Unchated: Drake’s Fortune
College Hoops 2K8

ADD ON
* MotorStorm: Devil’s Weekend (new track, new vehicles, 9 new races) [$6] – there’s also a video of this to preview
* Guitar Hero III: Foo Fighters (The Pretender, All My Life, This is a Call) [$6.25]
* Guitar Hero III: Velvet Revolver (She Builds Quick Machines, Slither, Messages) [$6.25]

Game Trailers
* Rachet & Clank Future
* Devil May Cry 4
* WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2008
* Burnout Paradise (Carson GT & Manhattan)

Movie/Blue Ray Trailers
* One Missed Call
* Sweeny Todd
* Hostel II

Wallpaper
Call of Duty 4 (5 different, all free)

over the horizon

11/13: WWE 2008
11/19: College Hoops 2K8
11/20: Rock Band
12/11: the Orange Box
12/18: NCAA March Madness ’08
——-

I’ll be downloading the Hoops demo tonight. I’m not into Guitar Hero, but that’s an interesting way to open a new revenue stream.

on the shelves (if you can find it)

– 40 GB Playstation 3 with SpiderMan 3 (The W at Amazon)

– Guitar Hero II [stat] – the wii has the best guitar, XBOX 360 has the best sound and online capabilities, PS3 has…uh…

– Strangehold [stat] –
This is a John Woo produced third party shooter as a sequel to a movie. The Collector’s version includes Blue Ray of the original movie, Hard-Boiled. Lots and lots of shooting. The single player mode is short but fun, and the multiplayer is fun for one time but not something you can expect to be playing over and over again.

– The Simpsons Game [stats – a game including the Simpsons has middling reviews, please don’t be shocked. This is too bad, it looks great in the commercials. It sounds like a mixed bag – it captures the show better then most of their games, but some of the gameplay isn’t as fun. 1up’s review notes that most of the fun levels are closer to the end of the game. Everyone notes there’s a lot of amusing things walking around Springfield (the in between point for all the levels/mini games) but walking itself is much slower than is should be. This sounds like a definite “rent, don’t buy”

– Cars: Mater-National Championship [stats] no one’s reviewed this game. Previews read like the original Cars games, but with more Cars. Aimed at people who are still watching the DVD.

in the store

Demos:
– TimeShift
– Need for Speed ProStreet

Game Videos/Trailers
– Uncharted
– Burnout (3)
– Beowulf
– Need for Speed ProStreet
– Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
– Playstation Eye

PS1 Classic
– Twisted Metal 2 [$6]

Add-on
– a bunch of different stuff for The Godfather: Don’s Edition. Some free, some pay, and you can get it all for [$7.50]

Movie/Blue Ray
– The Bucket List
– Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I spent too much time on a friend’s PS playing Twisted Metal 2. I might have to get that.

on the shelves

*Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction – IGN: “Best Ratchet and Clank game – best PS3 game yet.”. PS-3 Advanced: “There should be a law saying you have to play this game.” Gamespot gives it a 7.5, the only review I can find that’s not gushing over the game. They, and others, point out the game’s too easy, which only few moments of real difficulty.
*The Eye of Judgment – your playing a card game against the PS3 while using the PS Eye Camera. I dunno.
*Clive Barker’s Jericho – gore gore gore
*Conan – shallow and short
*Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights – can’t find many PS3 reviews, but the XBOX 360 reviews said it was an average racer
*Ratatouille – a bad game taking advantage of a movie license; not so innovative

in the store

Add on:
– EyeCreate (create pictures with the PS Eye)
– Piyotama: Halloween Skin
– Ninja Gaiden DLC [$3] (play as Rachel)

PS1 Games: Spyro the Dragon [$6]

Game Video
– Bionic Commando (Trailer)
– Time Crisis 4 (Trailer)

Movie/Blue Ray
– The Water Horse
– P.S. I Love You Trailer
– AC/DC Live at Donington
– Reign Over Me

Wallpaper
– Eye of Judgment (3 more)

Spider-Man 3’s Goblin Add-on drops to $3.

If you rely on this post and only this post for all of your PS3 news each week, you don’t know they’re introducing a 40GB model with no backwards capability and slashing the price on the 80GB model. But you’re not doing that, so I just wasted a link there.

on the shelves
– Oblivion (Game of the Year Edition) [gamestats] – a bundle of Oblivion, the expansion pack (which isn’t otherwise available), and downloadable stuff. Maybe I’m understanding it wrong, but it sounds like they’re tricking you into buying another copy of the whole game to get the expansion. $$$$$$$$! Almost every review of the original game, an immense RPG released in March, gives it 9/10 or better and it’s the best rated PS3 game on Gamestats.
– Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground [gamestats] – this is Tony Hawk 9, if you’re counting them out and arranging them numerically. I will not judge you. Reviews vary on this one – IGN accuses it of Maddenitis, a solid game that’s not much new or improved from last year. PGNx Media very much likes the new ideas added. They highlight the video editor feature, but I tend to think anyone who posts video highlights of their video game play is a tremendous dork.*

in the PS Store

Demo:
Folklore (RPG-ish)
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (racing)

Game Video
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Action Adventure; making of)
Burnout (racing; trailer)
Turok (dinosaur hunting; trailer)
Devil May Cry 4 (hack and slash; trailer)

Movie/Blue Ray Trailers
Rails & Ties
Incubus – Alive at Red Rocks
Underworld

Wallpaper
Eye of Judgement (2)

They’re also dropping the price of Calling All Cars to $4.99 till next Thursday.

NEXT WEEK: Games based on cartoon movies, games based on movies based on books, games featuring characters you figured would be a cartoon by now but apparently aren’t, and more

* – exceptions made for RBI Baseball and playing thru Mario all the way on one life.