What are some good games you can pick up really cheap now for the Ps2? I saw that you mentioned Ico RC, I picked that up for $14 a while back and was blown away by the graphics esp. since it's from 01. Prince of Persia seems to be a pretty close copy of the game play (among other things).
So, apparently Sony is going to skirt the PSP battery life issue by dumping the blame on developers if things go badly. Way to piss off the people making your games. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=4667
I don't know why this news seems like news. This was pretty much well-known around E3, IIRC. I think they told developers then to not necessarily go all out graphically with the games since it would really kill the battery. In fact, this is part of the reason why the battery life is so disputed. For those developers that want to create a game that will stream right of the disc but look gorgeous, they'll be able to do that although players could only play it for like an hour or two. By getting the developers to use other less power consuming methods, the PSP will get games that look good and will get the 6-8 hours or so of life. Personally, I don't think it is all that bad. Basically, they're telling them that if they want to sell games, they should make sure how much drain it will be taking on the battery. It REALLY does depend more on the developers than Sony. AFAIK, the PSP will come with one or you could buy one later. Where did you read this? Did I miss it somewhere? And on the same subject of the PSP is the weekly PSP price rumor. This time, the rumor is good news...although just like every other rumor, it has been shot down...hard. Basically, the rumor said that in a Nov. Playstation magazine, the price of the PSP was revealed and it was quite a surprise. IIRC, it was like $149 for just the PSP; $199 for the PSP, a rechargeable battery with charger, and a small memory stick; $299 for basically an upgrade of the previous package along with a strap with headphones and a camera; and $349 for an even bigger upgrade along with a GPS device, aluminum alloy case, and translation software. Of course, all people had to do was check out that magazine and find no such thing. Then hopes went up again when realized this was a Nov. issue and not a Oct. issue, and this was aided by one person who posted a "scan" of the magazine with the info above. But then, after realizing that a majory magazine wouldn't have bad grammar and spelling, it was realized that the "scan" was doctored for the purpose of fooling others. So basically, this is all false, unfortunately, or at least it is in my eyes until I see more. If you're a big time optimist, you could take with you that the doctored image didn't have all the info from above, such as the price for the stand-alone PSP, but even that probably doesn't matter, especially since it doesn't make sense why Sony would tell a magazine about the price for the PSP when they were still conidering it at TGS just a week ago, which had to be after the magazine learned of the info so that it could put it into print. I wish Sony would just come out with it already and settle all the battery and price rumors. I hate being misled by stupid rumors.
it's ok. when i get my PSP, i will go to the drawing board to develop a solar powered power generator that i can conveniently strap to my back and/or car whilst i play gran turismo 4 on the road. in case of rain, i will have to crank the power by hand like the flashlights you can purchase at sharper image.
I just want to say that I hate everyone on G4TechTV except for those who came from TechTV. I was watching Pulse, basically a weekly 1 hour show that keeps you updated on the latest gaming news. I wanted to watch it since it had a little special on the TGS. Of course, they had a little bit on the PSP as well. During that clip, they were talking to one of Sony's officials. According to the translation of what he said, the PSP should be overseas by next autumn. Of course, the Pulse people took this as the release date for America, while I took it as the worldwide release. (I wonder how much different "worldwide" and "overseas" is in translation.) Considering that the Sony official said the PSP was just about done and would be out in Japan later this year, along with the near-finished games being developed that appear to be for American gamers, I think they made a big mistake. To make matters worse, they had to bring up the $350 rumor, saying it like it was all but confirmed. Also, they hate on GT4 for not being online despite the fact that they are still considering putting it out via as a patch or as a new game. Good job G4TechTV on misinforming you viewers. Now I will have to go to school and being asked, "Dude, did you know that the PSP is going to cost $350 and it won't be out until next autumn? That sucks!" Another thing that is making me angry is how many good games are out there, especially ones you don't hear much about. I could just narrow it down to PS2 RPG's that I need to play and that would include Star Ocean 3, Shadow Hearts 2, Shin Megami Tensei:Nocturne, and those tactical RPG's that are like Disgaea which I need to play once I finish Disgaea. All the games like MGS 3, GTA:SA, GT4, FF 12, DMC 3, and Killzone aren't even out yet, but I'm already having a difficult time trying to keep up with the great games available. Thank goodness the 2K games are only $20. Speaking of underrated games, I saw a clip for a very cool looking one the other day. It is called Berserk for the PS2. It looks like it is only for Japan, but it looks awesome. I only saw one clip, but it looked like a cool action slasher gameplay combined with a great RPG story, although I guess you can't really understand the story by watching a clip. Here are some clips to watch from Gametrailers ( I just saw the 1st one but am working on the rest) http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp2.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp3.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp4.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp5.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp6.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_jp7.html http://www.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_berserk_gi.html And now for some pretty looking CGI. Check out these pics: http://www.this-wonderful-life.com/various03.htm http://www.this-wonderful-life.com/close-ups06.htm http://www.this-wonderful-life.com/close-ups05.htm http://www.this-wonderful-life.com/close-ups03.htm This isn't really for games but probably movie CGI, but I thought it looked pretty awesome. You can check out more in that gallery at: http://www.this-wonderful-life.com/gallery.htm
RC...you do know you're a Sony fanboy, right? In all seriousness, I do agree...I liked TechTV a lot better before the merger. But methinks you put a little too much faith in Sony, my friend. It isn't all that unheard of that a video game/system hits Japan first. Particularly if its made by Sony or Nintendo.
Oh I know it will hit Japan sooner than other places, but that will probably happen pretty soon with the end of the year coming up on us. I would guess that they'd probably announce the price and battery in a week or 2, hopefully, and then it will probably be released in Japan in late November or December. I do not expect the US PSP to be released this year, but around spring of next year, pretty much like all the predictions place that release date at. Now when G4TechTV are telling everyone that it will basically be a year until the PSP hits America, I see something wrong considering that the PSP seems to be on schedule to release in Japan soon. If you also consider that the US would probably be the second place for the PSP to hit and that other places like Europe would have to wait a little longer for it like usual (a PSP in 2006?), something just seems wrong. By that time, they would have sold the DS for like a year worldwide and have tons of games before the PSP even got out of Japan. Also if they thought $150 was tought to compete with, I'm sure the DS would even be cheaper by then. I just wished the G4TechTV people would have thought that out some before saying all that. Considering no one else is reporting a delay of the PSP for the US, I definitly see that as a mistake. Yeah, I am a bit of a Sony fanboy, but I find it hard to talk good about the other systems. If anything, I'm glad I'm picking the company that is dominating the industry. I also am trying to learn about all the new things like Cell, XDR Ram, and Blu-ray which basically happen to be for Sony. This was basically how I got started into all this. I cared much more for this kind of stuff than what Microsoft was rumored to be putting into their next console and what Nintendo was rumored to be putting into theirs. (which is basically nothing except for an ATI card.)
I know that there is another one of those vendor show/conferences going on this week, and supposedly some info could be coming from Sony, so I'll be interested in seeing what kind of PSP stuff trickles down before the end of the week. But I'm not that dead certain that a Japan release by Christmas is all that set in stone. In fact, I'd be more surprised if that actually happens. Regarding the 'excited about other consoles' thing, though....you don't own any other systems, do you?
I really don't know how much more they could do to the PSP though. Obviously, it is up and running and they had like 100 of those things had the TGS. The only thing I could see setting back the release date is games not being ready, but there looked to be a good number of games that were at least playable at the TGS. Some of those games looked like they could easily be done soon, if they weren't nearing completion already. I guess I shouldn't bet 1 million dollars on it being out this year, but I haven't seen much to prove otherwise. I just have a PS2 and PC for gaming. I don't think I could afford to have another console, let alone all 3, AND have the games that I'd want for each. So I just stick with the PS2 since there are WAY more exclusive games I like for it than the others. However, I got friends that have one or all of them, so I have played some of the other games on their consoles, although that has been occurring less and less lately. Even my friend said that he's hardly played the Xbox much lately.
Just found out about this thread, some comments on the new game news (maybe old) 1) FF7C seems more like an ACT then RPG, maybe "Vincent may cry" in the making. 2) Burnout 3 is a great game, only problem is the crash get bit repetitive and the game seems too much depend on luck (of not get hit by some dumb incoming cars) in the later half of the game. 3) Fable is a good game, but too short, beat it in about 12 hours, most sidequest done. The amount of area and quests are lot less than those of Morrowind, but it does have some upside when compare to Morrowind (more variety in environments, better graphics etc). 4) Wining Eleven series finally catch onto the Xbox!
Oh no! It is the dreaded "big grin" face in place of the actual usage of a colon and capital D. That ticked me off when I was trying to refer to that earlier in this thread. It does seem to be more of an action type game than an RPG. In fact, that reminds me of a link I forgot to give of it from the TGS. The quality is kind of crappy, but it does seem to have some action in it. ftp://ftp.gamemeca.com/download/movie/ff7kelong.zip I had some problems downloading it a while back. It would probabyl be a good idea to use some sort of download resume thingy if you try to download the clip.
(Warning, long post ahead. ) So EB Games big vendor show/conference is going on right now, and today was the first day. I talked to a couple of managers who are there now; this is what they told me so far (I don't think you're gonna like it, RC): Today was the day a lot of vendors had mini 'classes' to tell about their products and give some information. It's also the first of the crapload of free stuff the managers get. Also various hands on playtests are set up (one of the managers I know got to play some Capture the Flag on Halo 2). So far: Halo 2 (of course) and Resident Evil 4 have blown away the group. Both looked incredible (apparently the level of detail on Halo's models is most impressive in action and RE4 was, as one of the guys put it, '****ing amazing). Halo 2 had great visuals, of course the dual wielding, semi-destructible environments and vehicles. Resident Evil 4, in action, gives a sense of AI like no other RE before it. The guy told me that he watched the guy demoing it run into a group of the 'zombielike villagers' and shoot one in the leg as he tried to get away. The Villager stumbled, not just falling over but actually moving as though he'd just suffered direct damage to one part of his leg. The player then ran into a building and blocked the door. The zombies started gathering against it, pounding it down. The player ran upstairs, grabbed a shotgun and looked out the window to see the zombies grabbbing ladders as they tried to reach the second floor windows. The guy got free, came up behind the group attacking the building, and watched as they turned away from the building once they saw he'd escaped. Then the guy turned around, only to get his head chopped off by a Villager with a chainsaw. The guy - who keep in mind works for EB and has played a lot of stuff - said he'd never seen anything look that good on any system. He didn't know the Gamecube was capable of it. I find it interesting that both the guys I talked to are rather anti-gamecube. And they both told me that this game has made them both decide to buy a Cube. Gran Turismo 4 looked as great as it has in screen shots, but unfortunately neither of them got to spend much time with it. They said that while it doesn't match any of the high resolution stills we've seen (which is as you would expect), the graphics are still top notch. Don't know about the gameplay yet. The Nintendo DS was on hand and playable. They even had that new version of The Sims on it, called Sims in the City. One of the guys said the touch screen is coming along great and was very responsive. Unfortunately they had the thing bolted down so they couldn't get one and walk around with it, but they liked what they saw. A couple other interesting notes...(don't hate me RC! ) Sony is looking rather cheap there at the show. Keep in mind the whole point of this is to educate the managers on upcoming products and get them excited about it. So of course this includes a load of free crap to make people happy. Sony has given away pretty much nothing. All the great stuff they are supposed to have out - MGS 3, GTA:SA, GT4, etc. - and they aren't promoting for crap. In comparison, the managers have already been given vouchers for *free* Nintendo DSs and Halo 2. They've also already received copies of Fable and even freakin' Leisure Suit Larry for the PC. There are still a couple of days left, but so far the group is underwhelmed by Sony. They did say the PS2 redesign was more impressive in person, however. One of the guys told me that you can't really convey how small the thing is with pictures; they don't do it justice. There was nothing on the PSP. No information really. Sony guys are, apparently, saying that there probably won't be much to tell the managers...supposedly they are looking at a March release. Again, this is just what I was told by a couple of the managers there. I'm hoping this turns out to be untrue (at least the info part), because I'd like to at least talk to somebody who's actually had hands on time with the PSP.
I don't get all the G4/TechTV hate. I met people from both channels at Madden Bowl and they were cool. They told me about the proposed merger and basically TechTV was about to go away all together until G4 saved them. G4 has a couple of few shows: Pulse, X-Play and Filter being the best. Arena is ok, but they need to tweak the format a bit. The channel shoes their strength when it comes to the specials. The making of X-Men Legends was a good show as was the Madden special. I think if they did more of those type of shows, the channel will be more liked. I never used to watch TechTV at all before the merger. I mean, everytime I turned it on there it was robot wars or some UFO show. I didn't really like the call-in show with problem solvers because I never shared any of the issues people were having and things were so out of left field, I knew there wasn't too much of a chance of things happening to my PC. As far as current games, I am still playing Madden regularly. I had Burnout 3, but grew tired of it pretty fast. I am loving NBA Live as well. I am looking forward to Halo 2, but I really never got into Halo. Maybe the changes/improvements will make me a believer. I had Fable, but the game was not too much of a challenge and I finished it pretty fast. I am thinking of getting Street Racing Syndicate as I have heard it was good. One of the best games this year for me was Full Spectrum Warrior, though it was painfully short as well. When it was over, I was like, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I guess that is a good sign for a game.
I didn't really have any problems with you post Rokkit. I know little about Sony and their promotional events but it looks like they need to do some work if they want to keep a strong impression on everyone. I don't know why the didn't give anything away. I know there are some pretty nice demos for MGS and Killzone out that "normal" people have gotten from magazines so I don't know why they couldn't have just made some copies of those to give away. Maybe they have some plan to surprise everyone at a later day of the event, but I have no idea how that show works, so that could be very unlikely. Either way, they do sound cheap. (I guess buying MGM and investing in Cell has made them stingy. I didn't really understand why you hoped the info about the PSP coming out in March was untrue, unless I misread the you somehow. I'm assuming it was meant that the March release was for the US PSP, which would be at about where they planned in anyways, correct? If that was the actual Japanese release, I'd get what you're saying then. (or if you meant that you hoped they'd give more info or something else I missed). About the event, it sounds pretty cool, especially the RE4 part in particular. That is definitly a game I'm keeping my eye on dispite the fact I don't have a GC, although I was considering it just like the people at the show you mentioned. It does look gorgeous, although I wonder if that one guy ever played Metroid since it got best graphics on one of the Filter shows, showing off how much the GC can handle. Speaking of G4TechTV I wouldn't doubt that TechTV was having problems. I wonder how their ownership has been over the years; given the amount of mergers and name changes, I'm thinking it has been pretty crappy. The only shows I REALLY like on the channel is X-Play (TechTV) and The Screen Savers (TechTV), followed by Unscrewed (TechTV) in a distand third. I don't really like Filter all that much. Some of the shows are ok, some suck. (so what really IS the best skateboarding game?) Pulse is so-so, only because I watch it to hear news I already know about. Arena sucks, G4TechTV.com for the most part sucks IMO, unless a TechTV person is on it. Sweat sucks, cheat sucks, and I prefer X-Play way over the G4 review shows. (aren't there like 2 of them that are basically the same but with 2 different names?) I do agree with you about the specials. Those I do like, although I hate watching the same ones over and over all week. If they did more of those and picked good topics to show, that would be nice. I don't know if you watch The Screen Savers, but it isn't really too much of a call for help show. It is more of a news, entertainment, call for help show all rolled into one. Plus, they tell you about a lot of cool things. I think I learned about Firefox through it as well as a few other cool programs. They also show a lot about hacking, such as modding Xbox's and PS2's. Yestersay, they showed how you could take a fingerprint by using gummy bears. One of the guys does a lot of good, but expensive mods, such as the X-Station(PS2+Xbox) that I think I mentioned once. Every once in a while, they'll have a Photoshop tip which I'll try to use if I can. Ever since they showed me how to make lightning, I've been trying to play around with Photoshop. The show has been a little more silly since the merger, especially with Alex and Kevin Rose constantly making jokes at each other, but I like that a little bit.
Wow, that mirrors my own thoughts on the G4/Tech TV merger. I think the thing about G4 is that it trys to appeal to the lowest common demoninator in order to have a broader audience with a lot lof their shows. Tech TV felt like it was really for people who were into games(x-play) or tech stuff in general(Screen Savers). They didn't try to put an ultra-hip and happening face on it to increase the audience.
No, I was just saying I hoped that there wouldn't be any PSP stuff at the vendor show was untrue. Being able to talk to someone who's personally had a hands-on with it would be cool. And you're both right about TechTV. A lot of their shows were based on information, and lots of cool things you could learn about both technology you didn't have and tech you did. I think G4 goes with more the louder, hype angle and tries to appeal to the demographic in a different way (if at all).
