playstationdisorder

So, that one was obviously the wrong picture. But that...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:05:00 +0200

So, that one was obviously the wrong picture. But that doesn’t mean the other one is much better? If Nintendo thinks people are using the iPad as a gaming device because it is perfect for that job, that’s not what it is. It’s because folks are owning this device anyhow and what’s wrong about playing some cheap games.

Welcome PlayStation Vita - Sony’s answer to all the...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:17:00 +0200

Welcome PlayStation Vita - Sony’s answer to all the smartphones out there which are slowly taking away some of the market share from classic gaming devices.

With a price tag of $249 for the Wifi and $299 for the 3G version, Sony provides a competitive yet not too cheap and fully featured device, that is for sure still ahead of all the tablets and phones out there when it comes to controls and performance.

Can’t wait until end of the year when this new product shows up worldwide, at the same time …

My next monitor

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:58:20 +0200

Thinking myself about getting a 3D capable monitor for quite some time, Sony’s new PlayStation 3D 24” screen actually comes right on time for me.

Not being perceived as a big thing during and after the press conference I guess this is a great enabler for Sony’s 3D move across all product lines. How many people can or will replace their almost brand new flat screen for a new 3D capable TV set? So why not getting a second unit that can do the trick? In my case, this will also replace my computer monitor which I use with my Mac …

P.S. The thing has 2 HDMI and a component input and comes as a bundle for $499 with a pair glasses and Resistance 3 …

Nintendo must be kidding to actually introduce a controller like...

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:35:42 +0200

Nintendo must be kidding to actually introduce a controller like this. Too bulky, pricy and ugly if you ask me. The few cases where the touch screen makes real sense and draws the attention from the big screen to the small screen don’t justify such a device.

P.S. Sony can simply use its new PSVITA as an alternative controller in such cases …

Welcome Back, PSN

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:50:00 +0200

After the being hacked by some retards pretending doing that for the better of all of us, Sony had to do something in order to pay its customer a little back from what they have been suffering over the last couple of weeks. So the Welcome Back program was born.

But can you actually complain about something that is free? Well, I think yes, if it doesn’t satisfy the original intention. So what is wrong with the Welcome Back program? Simply put it is to little for those hardcore players out there suffering the most from this data security disaster.

Let’s take a look a the package that has been offered on a worldwide basis to those more than 70 million PSN users.

Two PS3 games from the following list:

LittleBigPlanet
Infamous
Wipeout HD/Fury
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
Dead Nation

We are talking about games that have been out there for a while and for sure are owned by most of the PS3 core gamers. For me the only benefit was to get a downloadable version of LBP and inFamous that I can run directly from my HDD.

For those with PSP accounts, you will also be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list:

LittleBigPlanet PSP
ModNation PSP
Pursuit Force
Killzone Liberation

Well, the same here: old games which most of the PSP owners most probably already own. If you own them on UMD, this is your chance to get a downloadable version that eventually can be used with the new NGP aka PSVITA

- 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PS Plus subscribers

Actually a nice deal for all PSN members

- Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will be given 60 days free subscription.

I would say that this is the minimum for all Plus subscribers

- For existing Music Unlimited subscribers, you will be given 30 days free subscription.

This is actually something I don’t understand. Sony is basically extending your membership by the time the network was down. What is the benefit of that. It should have been 60 days at least.

All in all, there is nothing wrong with the Welcome Back package at all, but the games they’ve selected and the extended membership especially in the case of Qriocity is just not compelling enough for those folks that paid some good money in the past.

The NGP sorry, the PSVITA is going to be a killer machine. Just...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:31:26 +0200

The NGP sorry, the PSVITA is going to be a killer machine. Just watch this little teaser and you know what you’ve been waiting for since you are trying to play games on the iPhone or the iPad …

Remember the KoalaPad?

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:03:00 +0200

Remember the KoalaPad?

PSP2 = NGP = PSVITA?

Sun, 29 May 2011 19:05:34 +0200

Right before this years E3 a website called Games Pundit disclosed what seems to be the final name of the NGP aka. PSP2: PSVITA or PlayStation Vita.

Like with most changes it takes some time to get used to it, but if this is actually true, it is at least more intelligent than just doing the usual 2.0 thing. Given the fact that the PSP has had a tough time during the last month mostly due to the presence of smart phones, it might be as well another good move from Sony to actually start an all new brand and eco system.

Anyway, whatever the name is, we are of course more interested in the device itself …

PSN is finally getting back on track ...

Sun, 15 May 2011 07:27:37 +0200

Find more details on the official PlayStation blog …

Amazon Servers Used in Sony Playstation Hack

Sat, 14 May 2011 18:56:13 +0200

Amazon Servers Used in Sony Playstation Hack :

I just hope they will catch all of those nerds soon …

Are we chasing the wrong guys?

Sun, 08 May 2011 11:27:00 +0200

It’s been more than 2 weeks now since Sony took the PSN offline after a major security incident has been detected. The news about more then 77 million accounts being stolen went through the mainstream media, even beyond gaming sites, and it looks like Sony got really hit big time, not only by the incident and it’s technical and commercial impacts. What’s even more important at this time is the impact on the company image, the Playstation brand and the product itself. It’s hard to tell at the moment how much of a damage has caused by this and if the Playstation brand can finally recover from this.

But the thing that confuses me most after following all the stories that went through the ether these days is what the overall perception of this is. Let me make this a little more concrete.

When you follow the coverage of this incident it is obviously not about some criminals breaking into a private infrastructure using all kinds of illegal measures to steal millions of data sets that are not owning to do whatever they want to do with it. I guess 99% of the coverage is all about Sony being responsible for this.

Sure, Sony is 100% in charge of the data they collected, to protect this data and make sure that nobody gets an illegal hold of the data in the first place. And yes, it is questionable if Sony did all they could to achieve this in terms of security infrastructure, encryption and last but not least forensic to finally come to the conclusions they were drawing.

But shouldn’t we and shouldn’t the media as well as officials actually focus on the criminals that actually stole the customer data in the first place? How weird is that? To my understanding this is just mixing up the facts. That’s like putting the house owner on the spot instead of the thief that actually broke into the house.

Is it because Sony has already a bad reputation in the geek world due to the rootkit incident a couple of years back? Is it because people look at the hackers (be it Anonymous or some other jerks) as the guys disclosing the security breaches that Sony has obviously in their infrastructure resp. within its organization?

I looks like we are chasing the wrong guys …

Too sad, but true …

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:13:35 +0200

Too sad, but true …

Sony stops PSPgo production, but I got mine already :)

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:24:00 +0200

Sony stops PSPgo production, but I got mine already :)

My Game Music Collection

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:34:11 +0200

Sometimes the game is just half of the fun …

I Want More ...

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:27:36 +0200

Even though I own one of the first PS2-capable PS3 I really love those remastered PS2 classics that have been released over the last couple of month. It’s amazing how beautiful games like God of War or Sly Cooper could look like by just rendering them in HD.

Not that there are no good PS3 games in the pipeline, but there are definitely a couple more PS2 classics out there waiting for an HD brush-up.

Here are my personal favorites:

Primal / Ghosthunter Collection
Ratchet & Clank Series
Jack & Daxter Series
Timesplitter Series
Burnout Series
Black

Anybody listening?

Bozos at work

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:50:07 +0200

If you wanna read something really funny, then check out the bozos from Anonymous.

Congratulations! You are now receiving the attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal actions against fellow internet citizens, GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo have been deemed an unforgivable offense against free speech and internet freedom, primary sources of free lulz (and you know how we feel about lulz.)

You have abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information about how your products work. You have victimized your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information, and continue to target those who seek this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands of innocent people who only sought the free distribution of information. Your suppression of this information is motivated by corporate greed and the desire for complete control over the actions of individuals who purchase and use your products, at least when those actions threaten to undermine the corrupt stranglehold you seek to maintain over copywrong, oops, “copyright”.

Continue …

Remember those Atari VCS 2600 game packs? Roll your own now...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:39:00 +0200

Remember those Atari VCS 2600 game packs? Roll your own now …

In the cloud ...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:37:17 +0200

Isn’t that great: we finally get something for our money when it comes to the PSN Plus membership. Since the firmware 3.60 update, the PS3 features a so-called cloud or online storage feature which allows for transfer or backup of games saves between different PS3 units using your PSN Plus enabled member ID.

Within the game saves folder of your PS3 you can find a new storage device which is called Online Storage, that has a capacity of unbelievable 150 MB, which is of course nothing compared to a cheap 2GB SD card or the 8GB you will normally find on your Gmail account.

But let’s not complain too much, this cloud storage device actually enables a couple of cool features which where either very cumbersome or impossible in the past. First of all instead of physically moving game saves from one unit to another unit, you can simply copy them from your units HDD to the online storage and copy them back to another unit after you have logged in with your PSN ID. Very straight forward.

What is actually possible now that wasn’t possible before is the transfer of copy protected game saves from one unit to another unit. You can actually copy those game saves like regular game saves to the online storage. There is just one simple limitation compared to those regular game saves: you can only download those game saves from the online storage to your HDD after 24h. Given the fact that a transfer was impossible before, this is a rather small caveat of the new service.

But there is another issue that actually limits the usefulness of the service quite a bit: you can not use the online storage as the default storage device for game saves. This is still your PS3 HDD. So you have to remember to regulary backup your game saves to the cloud and copy them back to the PS3 before actually starting your game. How many times did I actually start the game already before finding out that I didn’t copy the game save before. I guess it would be very easy for Sony to actually allow for such a feature.

I hope this is not requiring a Platinum membership in the end …

Best of Motorstorm

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 19:13:00 +0200

Being one of the PS3 launch titles, Motorstorm is one of the original franchises that you can only play on PS3. With the first two installments of the game, Motorstorm became famous for its action oriented racing based on totally unreal tracks, using a multitude of different vehicles.

But to be honest with you, as much as I like the style of the game, I usually didn’t finish the game leaving most of the game aside after a few days. This is more or less due to the fact that most race results are based on luck and there is only so much you can do about it. The multiplayer I was never a big fan of.

Motorstorm Apocalypse actually had a rough start. With the Japanese earthquake being just a couple of days over, Motorstorm game release couldn’t have a worse timing. Not that Motorstorm has anything to do with it, earthquakes are obviously not a good theme right now. Anyway, Sony Entertainment released the game on time on Europe at least and this is were this review starts.

So far every Motorstorm had its own theme, be it the jungle, the arctic, etc. Motorstorm is no different in this regard. But instead of focusing on a certain climate zone, Motorstorm covers various locations from dense urban areas up to beaches with a lot of water. But no matter where you are driving, earthquakes are just around the corner. What reminds me largely on Split/Second, a game I like as well, is actually a nice twist of the franchise that makes the game less predictable. Even though tracks are covering a fixed set of locations, every race is different by being able to reach new areas, not being available before.

The overall game structure is very straight forward: you can play 3 different difficulty levels with about a dozen of games in each difficulty level. Every difficulty level features two days starting with a prologue and and ending with an epilogue and cut scenes between races. Not that there is a real story behind the game, but Sony somehow tries to tie all racers together, what isn’t really necessary nor actually well done. But that doesn’t really matter as the rest of the game is actually some of the best races I have seen on PS3.

All together, I consider Motorstorm Apocalypse to be the best game of the franchise mostly due to its motivating gameplay and simple game structure.

Pro:

Interesting setting
Nice and fast graphics
Straight forward gameplay
Custom soundtrack

Cons:

Unmotivated storyline using boring cutscenes
Kind of boring soundtrack

Going back, but actually movin forward ...

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:20:00 +0200

Well, the guys of EA Vancouver haven’t disclosed much yet of what the new SSX is all about, but as a restart of the franchise I would like them to really go way back to the first episode of the game, which was by all means the best game of the whole line of games so far.

Since then, EA tried to “improve” the game in all aspects but the relevant ones. Instead of getting bigger and bigger all the time, I would like to see EA going back to SSX roots, which basically means, weird/unreal tracks, cool racer profiles, awesome soundtrack, arcade style audio, and super easy controls.

After watching the trailer and seeing all those folks being on board who were there in these early days, I just hope that EA is able to bring back the real legacy of SSX that everybody loved when it was one of the launch titles for the PS2 around 2KY.

But let’s see what the next trailers will show off …