Ben-DutkaIt's that time of the week again, so let's get right to it.
I'm sick of the excuses, EA
Oh, so that was your explanation as to why Madden NFL 08 was piss poor on the PS3? Yeah, I don't really care. All I know is there are plenty of developers out there who are in the process of effectively learning the PS3's complex architecture, and many are producing some pretty mind-boggling games for this year. EA, you're the biggest video game publisher in the world, and this game was also developed by one of your own branches. There is no excuse for not being "up to speed" with the PS3; there are plenty of other multiplatform games already out that are virtually identical on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Now, I'm really worried you won't have a "grasp" of the PS3 for Medal of Honor: Airborne , either. Seriously, what is the problem? I want to know. I'm aware that third-party developers have encountered their fair share of problems, but why not simply work closer with Sony? Why not do what Epic Games is doing with Unreal Tournament 3 , or what Free Radical is doing with Haze ?
Really, just put up and shut up, EA. You guys are getting to be like the Disney of the games industry; you're gonna have your hands in many, many games. And no matter what you say, I repeat- there is no excuse for slacking off and not keeping up with the new hardware.
Well, at least Sony will play "enforcer" with Home
And that's a very good thing, in my humble opinion. It appears Sony won't be tolerating that idiotic adolescent behavior that so often makes any online experience so annoying. I don't go online that much, but I will want to try out PlayStation Home, and I really don't want to deal with the socially inept teenagers with superiority complexes doing crazy crap in Home just to get attention. I was hoping Sony would have plenty of rules for this service, and while I figured they'd have them, I was also hoping Sony would actually enforce them. See, that's the key. I'll try Home, but I'll be gone in record time if I run into morons; plain and simple. Going online in this innovative new virtual web space won't exactly define my very existence, but at least I'm more likely to explore if the kiddies, cheaters, and lamers are promptly tossed.
The PS3 can't be killed!
I just thought this was hilarious. Do you have any idea what would happen if they tried this with the 360? Hell, it wouldn't survive the living room climate! I will freely admit I was very, very skeptical about the PS3 when it first launched; the previous two PlayStation consoles each had pretty horrendous launches. Furthermore, considering how complex the PS3 really is, I was actually anticipating a mini-reliability disaster in late 2006. But as it turns out, the PS3 is the most reliable Sony console right out of the gate – by a long shot – and it continues to boast a less than 1% defect rate among retailers. Now, the original Xbox was almost as bad as the 360, and I think this is the kind of thing that seriously affects a consumer's confidence…as indicated here . I really want Bioshock , for example, but I'm just worried it'll be the game that kills my 360. Everybody I know is at least on their 2nd or 3rd, and I'm still only on my 1st. And that means I'm overdue.
But I really do like the fact the PS3 is a well-built machine. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be so solid, but hey, I'll take any bonus I can get.
I'm officially in a bind
I didn't realize Bioshock was going to be quite this good, and now I'm relatively certain I must play it. But I've already got Warhawk pre-ordered and paid off, and I'll definitely pick that up on launch day (August 28). But I also want Heavenly Sword , which comes out on September 12…and I don't really wanna pay $190 for three games in the span of only a few weeks. One of them will have to get bumped into another month, or perhaps onto the Christmas list. But how the hell am I supposed to choose? I have a feeling Heavenly Sword won't be rated as high as Bioshock , and I really don't like the idea of waiting to play a legitimate Game of the Year candidate… But what if Ninja Theory's production is another GoY candidate? What then? Man, too many good games, so little time, and it's not even September yet!
I knew this would happen, I just knew it.