Category: Playstation 3

Uncharted Movie Wishlist

unchartedLately, there’s been a lot of buzz about an upcoming Uncharted movie, which is apparently in the works. Personally, after playing this game, it’s one of the few games that could easily make a silver screen transition, mainly due to its completely cinematic presentation.

In response to all this rumor-mongering, MTV has posted its wishlist for an Uncharted movie, filling out the cast with talents such as Nathan Fillion, Emily Rose, Powers Boothe and then some. I think they all seem to be a pretty decent fit, but it got me thinking about what other game movies need an actor wishlist.

I would for real pee myself over a Metal Gear Solid movie with Josh Holloway from Lost or Hugh Jackman as Snake. Or maybe a Super Mario Bros movie with Dennis Hopper as Koopa. Oh wait… All joking aside, what would be your dream cast for some of your favorite video game movies?

Source- MTV

Alpha Protocol Demonstration

So, I’m not quite sold on Alpha Protocol yet. I feel like I flip-flop a little on the game each time I see it. Sometimes it looks like the cool parts of Mass Effect mixed with some Splinter Cell, and other times it just looks like a bad mashup of both of those games. This developer walkthrough has a couple of cool points to it, but I’m still not sure how I feel. All in all, I’m wondering if the game will be a slightly decent substitute while I wait for Mass Effect 2 to come out. Thoughts?

GamerSushi Asks: Frustrating Tasks?

ghostbustersSo over the weekend, I played and finished the Ghostbusters video game. Overall, it wasn’t the best game ever, but it certainly had its decent portions. And heck, it was essentially Ghostbusters 3, so how can you not love it? I’ve been waiting years for more Ghostbusters content, and this provided it.

Anywho, Anthony played the game on easy, so he wouldn’t understand, but one of the game’s biggest issues for me was its “cheap death” mechanic, where it would constantly kill you just out of the blue and with no real way to prevent it. There’s not a very friendly dodge function in the game, so really you just run around and circles and take punishment from bad guys and hope to not get whacked.

Well, one particular part of the game proved to be one of the hardest things I’ve done in a video game. And it kind of sucked.
Continue reading GamerSushi Asks: Frustrating Tasks?

A Little Reason Goes A Long Way

sinkingTake a look at any video game news site and you will be sure to find a story about how the PS3 is in third place in the Console Wars and how Sony should just give up and go the way of Sega and make games and not consoles. Yeah, cause that worked out so well for Sega. But I digress. The Playstation brand has seen rough days but it would foolish to count Sony out just yet.

Now, I understand that costs are very high to make video games and that making games on the PS3 is very complex and probably more expensive. I also understand that 360 has a higher install base, but I have news for you: it’s not that much higher. The 360 has sold about 30 million worldwide compared to the 22 million sold for the PS3. Consider the fact that the PS3 launched a year later and around the same time as the Wii. Factor in the admittely high cost of the PS3 and an 8 million unit lead is nice, but not nearly as big as everyone makes it out to be. From the way people fanboys talk, you would think the 360 has a 112 million unit lead or something. Oh wait…112 million units is the amount that the PS2 outsold the original Xbox by. But you didn’t hear this kind of doomsday talk for the Xbox then, did you? I know I didn’t. And the PS3 has already sold as many units as the original Xbox, which is not a mark of success by any means, but it sure does make you stop and wonder where all this negativity is coming from.

Let’s face it: the PS3 has had a rough launch. The high price and lack of killer games really hurt for a long time. But that time is over. With LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2, Infamous and God of War III all out or soon to be out, the future for the PS3 is looking very bright. This article is not meant to prop up the PS3 or bring down the Wii or 360. I am merely trying to point out some facts that seem to fall by the wayside in these debates. Sony is not going anywhere and neither is Microsoft or Nintendo. Sony thumped everyone in the last round of consoles, so losing this one isn’t going to be end of the world for them.

Besides, these consoles are just getting going. Nintendo has jumped out to a seemingly insurmountable lead, but Wii sales have already slowed down and while mining the casual market seems to have done them a great service, the loss of the hardcore market might mean that the Wii’s days of ruling the sales charts are over. The 360 and PS3 will only get stronger, so we have a long way to go before this battle in the Console War is over.

Just relax and enjoy the games and try to let the guys who get paid tons of money worry about the business side of things. You want to support your console? Buy new, not used games. Other than that, it’s out of our hands. Except for the controller, of course. Until the Natal comes out.

Your System Sucks: A Rant About Fanboys

fanboy-3A few months ago, I wrote a feature about the things that are wrong with the gaming industry on the whole. Some of that had to do with the games themselves, some of it had to with the journalists that covered and reviewed them, and some of it had to do with the gamers that played them. In terms of gamers that are hurting gaming and its culture unknowingly, console and even PC fanboys rank right at the top.

What is a fanboy? A fanboy used to be someone that just played and loved their system or machine exclusively. I think we’ve all done this at some point in our lives. I remember loving the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo 64 and being just fine with not owning the rival systems.
Continue reading Your System Sucks: A Rant About Fanboys

Does Metal Gear Solid Need Better Writing?

mgs4-lolFor the last decade, Metal Gear Solid has been one of the staple franchises for the Playstation brand. It made its mark on home consoles with incredible action, awesome 3D gameplay, cinematic presentation and also, its twisty story. However, how has the writing held up over the years?

A recent CNET article blasted Kojima productions for saying that they’re going to be building a new graphical engine for the next MGS game. The author asserts that what is needed is better writing, rather than better graphics. While some Sony fanboys have jumped into the fracas, I can’t help but wonder if the author has a point. Sure, MGS has a pretty cool story. But writing and story are two different animals. You can tell a good story but still be an awful writer, and vice versa.

Personally, I found some of the writing in the latest MGS game to be ridiculously heavy handed, preachy and nonsensical at its worst. However, the story still stands among gaming’s greats, easily. So what do you guys think? Does MGS need better writing? Do video games need better writing in general?

Source- CNET

Uncharted 2 Rooftop Sequence

If you were hiding under some huge rock-like structure during E3, you might have missed some pretty cool videos. One of the coolest ones, and perhaps the video of the show, was the Uncharted 2 rooftop sequence that pitted Drake against a helicopter, some dudes with guns, and awesome platforming. This video really took my breath away during the Sony conference, so if you missed it, here’s your chance to check it out.

Who else thinks this game looks incredible?

Why Motion Control Can’t Truly Work in Hardcore Games

natalMotion control. Everybody’s doing it, I’m told. For months, some of us have bemoaned the coming tidal wave of motion control and what it could mean for the gaming industry and games as a whole. On the positive, it could bring more casual folk into gaming and on the negative, it could just dumb down games as we know it.

GamesRadar has written a particularly convincing argument against motion control after their time with the PS3 and 360’s new motion hardware at E3. They pretty much assert that the demos at E3 have proven that motion control can’t work for hardcore gaming, and this is why the Wii is so full of minigame collections. When you think about it, even the hardcore games on the Wii just use the motion controls as kind of a bonus, while relying on traditional movement with the nunchuck and buttons. Typically, the only way to really eliminate the pain of movement with motion control is to stick the game on rails (a la Wii Sports). Here’s a tidbit from the article about our traditional analog sticks and face buttons:

As much as Molyneux and Iwata might bemoan the evils of the button fascia and dual analogue set-up, both elements evolved into the cultural landscape of gaming for a reason. They seriously bloody work for controlling modern games.

So what do you guys think? Can motion control work for hardcore games? Or will they inhibit the movement we’ve come to enjoy from our normal controllers?

Source- GamesRadar

New Releases: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

red-factionOver the last month or so some new games have started to hit that I’ve been interested in, but I can’t seem to nail down whether or not I want to play them because of some mixed reviews. The main games in question are Red Faction: Guerrilla, Prototype and InFamous.

The main complaint about Red Faction is that it’s fun to destroy things, but the game is too red. This is a funny complaint considering the game takes place on, I dunno, Mars. The quintessential Red Planet. In addition, I’ve heard that Prototype is fun but nothing special, with similar digs leveled against InFamous as well.

So who’s played these games, and what do you think of them? Go!

Review: The Godfather II

godfather-2I love The Godfather. I have practially memorized the movies, especially the first one and have been known to watch the first two back to back. I enjoyed the first game in this series back on the PS2, so I was looking forward to playing the sequel, especially with the Don’s View I had read so much about.
Continue reading Review: The Godfather II

Compare the Final Fantasy 13 Voices

One thing that shocks me about the video game industry is that to this day, voiceovers for Japanese games ported to America are generally awful. I’m playing through Star Ocean: The Last Hope right now and it is guilty of said sin. However, I must say that Final Fantasy XII for the PS2 offered one of the best voiceover dubs I had heard in years. If this video is indication, it looks like we’ll be able to say the same about Final Fantasy XIII. So what do you guys think?

Review: Sacred 2

sacred2Several years ago, I played two great titles in a unique genre back-to-back. Over the course of a couple of months, I enjoyed these two gems in a co-op setting with friends back before co-op was the new kool-aid. These two discs were known as Baldur’s Gate 2: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath. They were hack-n-slash games. And they were brilliant.

Since that time, there haven’t been many hack-n-slash games that graced us with their hacking presence. Sure, there was Marvel Ultimate Alliance, but true RPG dorks really wanted a full on fantasy experience complete with leveling, grinding, slashing and most of all, loot. I feel that we may have finally found that game in Sacred 2.
Continue reading Review: Sacred 2

Bioshock 2 Multiplayer Interview

The dudes behind the upcoming sequel to Bioshock have been hard at work. Recently, they gave an interview about some of the features in BioShock 2 multiplayer, including gametypes and the variety of plasmids available to combatants. While I’m still not super stoked about multiplayer in a game that I feel doesn’t need it, some of the clips they’ve got here are pretty sweet. What do you guys think?

GamerSushi Asks: Guilty Pleasure Gaming

50centOk, that post title sounded much more dirty than I intended it to. Oh well. Anywho, every now and then there’s that game that comes along and surprises us with how fun it is. This isn’t exactly extraordinary, however, sometimes it’s a game that you might not be too particularly fond of admitting that you like.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has been that game for me this weekend. I know, I know, but hear me out. After a few weeks of hearing that this ridiculous game was actually kind of fun, I had to satisfy my curiosity and check it out, and lo and behold, it really is an enjoyable game. Ridiculous plot aside (50 Cent is hunting down Iraqi gangsters to find a diamond studded skull- yes, in Iraq- and yes, seriously), the game has some refreshing mechanics and plays like an arcade version of Gears of War. I was surprised by just how much I’ve been getting into it. I ended up playing it for about four hours yesterday.

So what about you guys? Have you ever had that guilty pleasure game that you weren’t too excited to come clean about to others? Go!

Top 3 Hottest New Releases For June

proto1All my complaining about a sparse summer season for games has fallen by the wayside, as now I simply am struggling to keep up with it all. We just had Infamous drop and now here comes a few more potential blockbusters to soak up the summer hours:
Continue reading Top 3 Hottest New Releases For June

GamerSushi Asks: Favorite Game of E3?

e3As I’ve said before in other places, E3 really is the pinnacle of the gaming year. It’s a magical time where gamers get to find out what they can expect for the next year and a half or so, gaming-wise. We’re able to speculate, drool and generally get excited about all the things we love.

The week saw a lot of crazy things. There’s Project Natal from Microsoft which actually looks to show some promise despite my earlier misgivings about it. There’s also the Team Ninja Metroid and Final Fantasy XIV for the PS3. Halo: Reach was a pretty big announcement, as well. On top of that, we got to see some gameplay for things coming out soon, like Assassin’s Creed 2, Mass Effect 2 and Modern Warfare 2.

My favorite game of the show though was probably Uncharted 2 or Splinter Cell: Conviction. I wasn’t expecting much from the next Splinter Cell at all, but they’ve really overhauled the gameplay since the last time we saw the game, and for the better.

So what about you guys? What was the most impressive E3 thing you saw this week?

Modern Warfare 2 Interview

So far, Modern Warfare 2 is one of the more impressive titles I’ve seen at E3. The cliffhanger demo from the Microsoft presser was a joy to watch, particularly the snowmobile ride as well as the sneaking gameplay. Here’s a video interview with the community director at Infinity Ward, with some neat details about the gameplay as well as the story. Who else is even more pumped for this game after E3?

Heavy Rain E3 Gameplay

Not a whole lot of people played Indigo Prophecy, the cinematic mystery thriller from Quantic Dream that turned out to be one of my favorite games of last generation. It played like a movie and a point and click adventure, with quick time events for the action-heavy segments. It was Myst, a noir film, and Dragon’s Lair all rolled into one.

Well, the next Quantic Dream game, Heavy Rain, looks even more impressive than that one. Coming for the PS3, the game has some incredible graphics, and really seems to have unique gameplay that we don’t always find. This E3 demonstration has some of the first glimpses we’ve seen, and I’m really intrigued now. I know not everyone will love the QTE action sequences, but personally, I’m ok playing those since it’s such a unique game. What do you guys think?

Sony E3 Presentation Highlights

playstationAfter Microsoft’s Shock and Awe campaign yesterday, I think we were all anxious to see if Sony would even show up for their 2-hour presentation today. Here are the highlights:

  • Sony dude Jack Tretton opened with a joke about how nobody in the industry can keep secrets, a total reference to the leak of the PSP Go from the other day. I think it’s pretty classy that they can make fun of themselves like that.
  • 364 new games coming to Sony systems this year, 35 of which are exclusive. Considering the dearth of PS3 games for a while, this is welcome news.
  • Uncharted 2 Multiplayer beta goes live tonight. Single-player looks very impressive. Really seem to have meshed the shooting and platforming elements. Also, the graphics are incredible.
  • Gameplay footage of MAG. 256 players in one battle. For so many players, it looked kind of lonely. Would have liked to have seen more action.
  • Hannah Montana lilac colored PSP announcement for this Fall is met with cheers. I don’t know if that’s funny or scary.
  • PSP Go! announced officially. Will not replace UMD or other PSPs. 16MB of memory. Can download from PSN with built in Wi-Fi. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP. The price will be $249.99, available on 10/01/09. Too rich for my blood.
  • Gran Turismo for the PSP. Over 800 cars and 35 tracks. You can trade cars with your friends. Cool, but where is the PS3 version???
  • Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for the PSP. Kojima announced it himself. Set in the Seventies, 10 years after MGS 3. Might show the origin of Outer Heaven. Looks like a full on MGS game, with the possibility of 4 player co-op in the form of Snake clones.
  • New Resident Evil for the PSP. Also, LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Soul Caliber, Fat Princess, Guitar Hero and Star Wars: Battlefront.
  • Final Fantasy VII on PSN TODAY! Also, over 50 PS1 classics by the end of the year.
  • More content coming to Home. Meh.
  • Video of various games, including DC Universe Online, an MMO and also a PS3 exclusive.
  • Rockstar PS3 exclusive: Agent. Spies and assassins in the late 1970s. They claim this will have the same must-have value that GTA did. No footage shown.
  • Assassin’s Creed 2 footage. Looks pretty cool, might have solved the problems of the first game. Out before Christmas along with the PSP version. PS3 version will have 6 exclusive weapons.
  • More Final Fantasy XIII footage. Gorgeous, just like you would expect.
  • Final Fantasy 14 in 2010 for PS3 ONLY! It’s an online game! Awesome footage! This is the megaton announcement!
  • Motion control time: True 1:1 tracking. All of it was a tech demo, looks cool. Coming in 2010.
  • LittleBigPlanet is getting Disney themes. That is kinda awesome.
  • Mod Nation Racers announced. Part of the Play Create Share theme that Nintendo ripped off earlier. Drivers can be customized like in LittleBigPlanet. Think Mario Kart meets Sackboy. Custom tracks! That is pretty neat. Better than making Wario Ware games! The track builder seems easy to use as well, they built one on stage in just a few minutes.
  • The new Team Ico game is called The Last Guardian. The trailer from last week was indeed leaked, but it doesn’t change that this game looks incredible. Interestingly enough, the leaked footage is about a year old apparently, and this stuff looks way better.
  • God of War 3 will be the last game in the series, and it’s going to have some crazy brutal quick time kills. The ones on the centaur and the chimera are stinking insane. Creatures are going to get owned, for sure. The game drops March 2010.

Overall, a pretty solid showing with really no wtf moments to speak of. Not a whole lot of new stuff coming, but when you have this many exclusives coming over the next year, why do you need to drop a lot of new information?

What do you guys think? What’s the most exciting piece of Sony news?

Assassin’s Creed 2 E3 2009 Trailer

Assassin’s Creed is one of those games that seemed to polarize gamers. Either you got into it or you didn’t. I for one loved the game, but I could see how others could find it repetitive and boring. However, while I played it, I knew that if Ubisoft could just tweak a few things, they’d have a great sequel and franchise on their hands.

Well, after a few months of teases, we’ve finally been given a proper (and long) Assassin’s Creed 2 trailer. It is mega sweet. And it also comes out in November. Something tells me this Fall is going to be a good time.