Category: Games

Playstation Network?

Semi-interesting article discussing potential Xbox Live killer from Sony. It plods through the potential weapons that Sony has at it’s disposal if it builds it’s own internet service for the PS3.

Sony needs to do this. Despite the lead MS has had on a developing a gaming service it has only just brought out the marketplace functionality which when used is clunky and not thought out properly. PS3 will sell more than the 360 and hence a network service that connects Sony’s platform – video, music, photo’s and games would be adopted by a lot more people than Xbox Live. I guess the key is at what price and when? The hardware is all still rumours and it could be this time next year before us in the UK get to play with the new toys.

MS also need a challenger in this field. Many games still only support 8 players as they use peer to peer hosting. Increased broadband speeds haven’t seen the jump in the number of users that can be hosted but that’s more to do with latency (ping times) being the key to a good host – not 10Meg download & 500k upload speeds. Server based hosting (even paid) is required so we can see the numbers that PC games can support on consoles. Sony having a similar service would also see a lot more development from Japan where originality can be found more often than the sequel fueled USA & European markets. MS also dropped their XSN sports network which had so much potential. It sorted out leagues and scoring and meant that joining online tournaments was easy and the admin work zero for all competitors. Sony would win a lot of friends if this type of functionality was added to Pro Evo 6 for example.

So many hardware vendors are chasing the all in one media player but very few have come near or have the infrastructure to do it. I would have said Sony a year ago wouldn’t stand a chance as they still didn’t support mp3 playback on their devices. They’ve changed a lot though in a short time. Looking at all the different parts of the puzzle surely a unifying network/service on the PS3 would deliver PS3 users a killer app without even buying a game. I can dream…especially as I’ve got all the other Sony hardware to make up the jigsaw.

Not convinced by PGR3?

Have a look at this gaming forum – http://www.xbox360-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=593 – one of the guys was visiting Japan and took some shots of the places he recognised from PGR3. He then set up the same shots in the game. It’s amazing how accurate the game is – it’s a shame it all moves so fast as you rarely get chance to see the detail unless you watch a replay. Stunning.

Best beat em up coming to Xbox Live Arcade

The features…

Online game modes
o “Quarter Match� – entirely new mode specifically created for Xbox Live Arcade
• This spectator-based system is a tribute to the title’s arcade roots, allowing online competitors to use a “virtual quarterâ€? to “buy intoâ€? heated two player matches
• “Quarters� are used to virtually represent players and pays homage to the arcade tradition of claiming the right to play the next game
• Recapturing the spirit of swarming crowds at arcades, onlookers can watch the current brawl in a game lobby as they wait to battle the victor
• Voice chat support allows players to discuss the battleand even trash talk the current fighters
• Competitors can highlight each other’s “quartersâ€? to check out their gamer tag data or add them as friends
• Before entering the game lobby, users can choose either the competitive or casual option which determines whether stats are tracked or not
o Quick Match – jump into a match quickly for instant action
o Optimatch – the best possible match is determined by sorting through a set of filters including number of rounds, turbo speed, chat on or off and friends only
o Create Game – the most popular method for coordinating invite-only matches among friends which allows you to choose among several settings and host games
• Offline game options
o Arcade Mode – simulates the single-player Street Fighter experience where gamers must work their way through a ladder of opponents until they face off against the final boss
o Vs. Mode – allows two friends to select characters and battle it out
o Training Mode – lets gamers practice their fighting skills against a CPU character
o CPU Battle – duke it out against a CPU opponent
• Comprehensive leaderboards
o Overall – the most coveted leaderboard showcases the best overall players from around the globe as determined by a simple point-based system
o Monthly – uses the point-based system to designate the best players in the past 30 days
o Best Character – rankings based on who is the best at using each game character
o Consecutive Wins – tracks winning streaks to see who has won the most matches in a row
• Achievements – complete more than 10 offline and online objectives
• Fully customizable control options – players can map attacks to any of the main buttons and have the choice to map all three punches and/or all three kicks to a single button which simplifies complex moves
• Updated menu screens provide easier navigation
• 5.1 surround sound
• Sound options control the volume of the music and sound effects

The game….Streetfighter 2 – this March. The features that Capcom have added sound amazing except for the lame map all kicks to one button nonsense. Can’t wait to play this and get royally humped. If this is lag free this will set the bar for future Live Arcade games.

360 – The Games

The most important aspect of any console is the games themselves. Launch titles are notorious for being short on gameplay while focusing on visuals knowing that second generation titles on the same platform should look a lot better. I picked up three games for the 360 that returned mixed results.

Project Gotham Racing 3Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3) is the follow up to PGR & PGR2 which in turn were the follow up to Metropolis Street Racing on the Dreamcast. You know what to expect from this – fast city based arcade/sim racing with exotic cars. I loved the last three versions and this is no exception.

Graphics are lovely and show what to expect from the 360 in the future. Special mention to the actual cities themselves as the detail they contain is amazing. The cars themselves look great especially when you switch to in-car view – the level of detail is amazing but I find the game feels a bit sluggish in this view so I always race from the bumper view. The sound of the engines also gets special mention as it’s a real step up from previous games.

Importantly, handling feels just right with a great solid feel. You really can feel your way around the track and know after a few turns exactly how the car behaves. Like previous versions PGR3 concentrates on Kudos points – not just winning, but winning with style. I would have also liked to have seen lap times and other time based stats as well but they are missing unless you specifically race time trials.

Online works really well – little to no lag and most cars and all tracks are available from the outset meaning you don’t have to spend ours offline to unlock the fast cars. Niggles – no anti-aliasing for starters means the graphics can look ‘jaggy’ from time to time. Also the game is true hi-def but to be honest it’s hardly noticeable. There was a lot of fuss pre-release that the game ran at 30 frames per second and that this was an outrageous decision. Since release I’ve not heard one person complain.

Couple of gameplay flaws. There’s an online career mode that is enjoyable except for the cheats that ram into your car at every corner. Learn to brake people. At the same time learn to use manual gears as it makes for a far more enjoyable game. There is also a track build mode which allows you to design your own tracks within the 4 cities rendered in the game. Nice idea except the barriers placed by the game are transparent unlike the ones used in the real tracks – a fatal flaw which makes custom track racing difficult – patch please!

For a first day release this is an astounding game and well worth a purchase for any 360 owner.
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360 – Software and Connectivity

Live BladeSo the hardware’s good – what about the software and also the claim that this is really a digital hub which can play ‘everything’. The 360 has the concept of ‘blades’ – basically a screen for Live, Games, Media and Settings. This works well and there really is a lot you can do from each screen.

Live screen lets you see and customise your Gamercard, see who’s online and manage any messages or invites you might have. It’s also easy to launch whatever is in the DVD drive from here. You can also jump into the Marketplace which is Microsoft’s media version of iTunes Music Store. From here you can download (not free) gamer tiles, extra levels, themes for the 360 and arcade games. For free you can get promotional videos and movie trailers and also game demo’s. The trailers are mostly in high def and also there are different marketplaces for each region as the USA has a high def trailer of X-Men 3 available unlike the UK. The downloads are slow though and with the demo’s peaking at 500Meg it can take a while – pity you couldn’t download in the background while listening to music or playing a game.

The arcade games also feature in the Game blade. You can demo the games but most need to be bought using marketplace points. The games are a mixture of old arcade classics like Gauntlet and Smash TV and new games like Geometry Wars 2 from Bizarre (makers of PGR). Geometry Wars features in PGR2 if you walked around the garage – this is a follow up and for a simple arcade game it’s amazingly good. The nice thing about these ‘simple’ games is that they are live aware. Geometry Wars has an online scoreboard. You can play 4 player Gauntlet over Live or 2 player Smash TV. Very smart.

The Media blade is at the heart of the ‘digital hub’ Microsoft have hyped about.
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360 – The Hardware

Front of the 360After just two days of play it’s obvious that despite the doubters this is a next gen platform that will be a serious competitor to Sony. In some ways the hardware is really just an enabler for the great services that Microsoft have added to the Xbox platform but it’s where I’m going to start my ramblings.

The console itself is big. The design certainly helps to hide the size and standing the console up masks it slightly more than when it’s on it’s side. The console is also heavy which you notice as soon as you lift the box. The biggest shock despite the press coverage is the power supply – it’s HUGE at over eight inches in length. The cables are also very thick which exudes quality. Connections are also chunky which gives you some reassurance that you have a beast of a machine in your possession.

The premium pack contains a 20Gb hard disk – the core comes without. To take advantage of the 360 you MUST use a hard disk. You can download demo’s, smaller arcade games, videos and music to the disk. You can also get downloadable content for games (new maps for instance) and it’s the only way to play you old Xbox games. It is essential and one of Microsoft’s poorer decisions was to have a Core pack that didn’t contain the hard disk.

Switching on (in standard definition with RGB scart) and you can see instantly that it is graphically ahead of any current gen console. At first the console didn’t seem to noisy but that all changed once I put in a game and a second (maybe even third?) fan kicked in. I thought the Xbox would have floated harrier like there was that much noise. Once the sound from the game kicked in you didn’t notice it but it certainly noisy.

Inserting the game highlighted what I think is the weakest part of the console. The DVD tray is flimsy and does not inspire much confidence – you definitely do not want to hit it with any force. The eject button is also of poor quality. However the remote control should help.
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