Archive for the 'PlayStation 3' Category

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Arriving this month!

Midway will be releasing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe on XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 this month! The game will feature super heroes from the DC Universe such as Superman, Batman, The Flash while the Mortal Kombat team will have all the classic characters like Subzero, Scorpion, Rayden, Lui Kang etc.

The game looks very impressive in the trailer and the moves are really smooth and glossy. Partly because it is using the Unreal 3 Engine. Some really innovative features have been added to the game, such as power balancing and multi-platform fights, reversals and close combat fights. After looking at the video I have to say, the sound is amazing and the effects are too good for anyone to miss this game! Check out the video after the jump!

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GTA, GTA, GTA!

GTA is everywhere. Grand Theft Auto 4 has to be the most anticipated game at the moment. About a week away from release, this game has already doing lots of rounds in the media and stirring up it’s own pre-release hype and paranoia. Here is a list of articles that are rapidly being shared on social bookmarking websites:

• Shacknews.com posted a video that shows off the graphics and physics engine for the game. Euphoria as they call the engine has been developed by NaturalMotion.

• The Variety.com runs a short story about how the critics have already started decrying the violence in the game. While the violence in the game sells to a targeted market, there is choice people have and it is there’s to make. No one is forcing the game down their throats.

• IGN.com reviewed the game for us, and has given it an astounding 10/10. Read the review here.

• GamesRadar.com has an interesting article about how kids can still play GTA 4 and list all the 6 reasons they think make the game so playable. They also take subtle jabs at politicians, critics and parents in the process.

• I don’t really know who does this, but almost all of the time a major game is about to be released, there happens to be a major leak of the game into black market. BlooDLusT shared with us a link that mentioned one such online leak, last week. A publicity stunt? May-be…

• Kotaku’s news story deals with how Microsoft is reconfiguring XBLive servers to avoid massive spikes like the ones they faced on CoD4 and Halo 3 releases.

The is due to be released on April 29th of this year, on PS3 and XBox360, and after a not so popular San Andreas, it is hoped that this game, a recreation of the darker Manhattan, is worth it’s salt. The game will feature multiplay-ability over online services like Microsoft’s XBoxLive. Saddly, this service is unavailable in Pakistan.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Release Date released!

Metal Gear Solid fans in Pakistan rejoice! Kojima Productions finally announced that they will release the game for PlayStation 3 on the 12th of June, 2008. This comes from Kotaku,

Word from Destination PlayStation, a retailers-only conference for all things PlayStation related, is that Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming to the PlayStation 3 on June 12, 2008.

Which has another interesting twist to it. Sony will bundle the game with the 80gb PlayStation 3 and Dual-Shock 3.

Even more interesting is that we’re hearing word that Sony will be offering a hardware bundle that features MGS4, an 80GB PlayStation 3 and a Dual-Shock 3 packed-in.

MGS4 will be the last in the series of game where Solid Snake would play a role. He is getting old, and needs to retire.
[Via Kotaku]

Fabio to England: “No videogames for you… bad boy!”

Sorry but this has what has become of England’s ‘gifted’ Football team that their new manager has to spell it out for them. Fabio Capello, the newly appointed England coach, has banned all his players from playing their PlayStations 3’s. The heresy!

Fabio Capello’s first game in charge was against Switzerland, which they won 2:1 in a rather pragmatic fashion, typical of the Capello play style. As the team was ‘boo-ed’ on for slow play, Capello has also asked the players to stop playing their PS3’s, walk around in shorts and flip-flops, and have visitors or friends during practices, and have them eat on the same table. What is this? A prison cell? The writer on himself states,

‘If Fabio Capello is that concerned about winning with England, he may have missed a trick by banning PlayStations. What happened to playing to your strengths? PlayStation was never the problem for England’s footballers anyway. (Martin Samuel / The Times Online)

A witty comment on SK asks,

Perhaps it was the Football that needed the banning!

LOL! Oh, Fabio! Oh, Fabio! Not a good move at all…

Controller battery life comparison at GamePro

Wireless controllers are the way to go. With BlueTooth connectivity, today’s gaming consoles rely heavily on this wireless protocol to deliver an experience without any strings attached. But it is often seen that if not charged for the recommended duration, the controllers die out on you and you end up losing a game. Not if you are careful, but has happened many a times to gamers who have been using wireless mice or keyboards.

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StarCraft 2 port to PS3 with a Keyboard Mouse bundle!?

Playing games on a console’s joystick is painstaking as it is, playing games designed for the personal computer that use a keyboard and a mouse is even more ugly. The other day I saw one of my friends play Command and Conquer on his XBox360 using a joypad…! And you can very well imagine the amount of complexity the game had thanks to that.

He was merely pointing the courser with the direction buttons and hitting the others to execute commands. Not only was it lacking in any sense of involvement in strategy from the player’s point of view, the gamer did not have any choice other than just walk his troops through a pre-defined path. Objectives, as in the previous versions of Real Time Strategy (RTS) games, were met by walking over way points. Fun? Yeah, right?

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A pre-Gamer’s Algo to buying a Gaming Machine!

Check this image out. It’s about how and what type of gaming that one needs to do.

Image Thanks to Talha Masood.

After a long, long time, I return to blogging here. A good long vacation had me gaming more than ever. But before we get to that, let me discuss how one should go about buying a gaming machine.

As this algorithm says, one should buy a gaming machine initially based upon what kind of company one has. By-and-large that is true. Additionally, ff you don’t have the time to spend playing every level of difficulty with a pinpoint accuracy of a laser guided missile, it is better to stick to a gaming-console. Otherwise, an investment in a gaming-pc would be rather meaningful.

The broadband has now become ubiquitous in the world of gaming machines. Some manufacturers have their own online match-up service, while some rely on third party software to connect multiple gamers. So it rarely happens if one cannot find a game online. Except for the fact that you live in a country that does not have a specific service. Pakistan for one does not have XBox Live service for XBox360, unlike our neighboring India.

From my personal experience, I have seen that gaming-consoles are really good for small gatherings at a friends place. Most of them allow up to 4 player’s in a head-to-head game enhancing the competition of any pick-up game. Whilst the pc still requires you to buy extra gear and different sort of games to make that possible.

Finally, from a marketing strategy perspective, Nintendo Wii has targeted hardcore Nintendo fans, young gamers and people of the older age. Playstation 3, although expensive has it’s fans in the form of people who love nitty-gritty, blood-gore, action and effect sort of games. While XBox360 tries to bridge the gap between the middle-aged hardcore gamer and a teenage lot of the same taste.

One things for sure, a gaming-console will out last a pc for at least 3 years without any major enhancement spendings. But after that 3 year period, the difference of quality in the games of a pc and console will be very, very clear. So here are a few things to consider when you are buying a new gaming machine in the order of importance:

1. Budget
2. Purpose
3. Dedication
4. Post Purchase Budget
5. Affinity

The vaguest of these terms is ‘Affinity’. When you have friends that own a gaming system A, and you going to buy a gaming system X, then it’s kinda like being a party pooper, since you won’t be able to enjoy the same games with your friends that they are playing and enjoying, and you would seriously be left out at any gathering, or competition. Moreover, exchanging games becomes harder.

Secondly, if you don’t have a taste for a certain type of games and your console ends up getting those same titles, then you will again be left in the lurch to find a good game and pass a good time. Find a console that has your type of games on it before hand, and reading a few reviews won’t hurt either (since some reviews are really helpful in uncovering the facade before a poor title from a promising publisher). Otherwise your gaming-console will become nothing more than a mantle piece.

In the end of it all, keep gaming.