Ben-DutkaThe Next Generation Portable (NGP) doesn't even have an official name yet, and we don't have a price or a launch date.
But we have plenty of info and media, and it has been more than enough to make an impression. In our latest poll, we wanted to know what sort of impact Sony made with the NGP unveiling and as it turns out, the consumers like what they see. The vast majority think it's pretty damn sweet, and a large chunk say they're nabbing it the instant it arrives. Of course, price and available software will have a significant impact on our eventual purchase decisions but for now, it's fair to say the PSP2 (or whatever they end up calling it) has made a very positive impression. With those dual micro analog sticks, front and rear touch pads, wide OLED screen, optional 3G support, and what should be a healthy supply of software, the unit is bound to appeal to a great many portable aficionados.
This week, we'd like to know what you think about the ongoing Killzone 3 controversy. As we near the game's release on the 22nd, we have several conflicting reviews; although most all say the game is pretty darn good, some of the major sources weren't willing to give Guerrilla's latest an elite score. Based on the beta – and the demo that drops on the 15th – we'll be able to form an opinion. And you can always read those reviews, and see if they are listing out viable complaints. Let us know.
well considering how most sites who said that the story of the campain was confusing yet those sites gave black ops high scores and said its fragmented confusing rediculous story was good. I call bullshit
No kidding, I can't connect with a story if it's just a bunch of random people. In MW2 I only liked ghost, the rest of the story was too dull.
The Sony NGP is definitely a day on purchase for me. I already have my list of wanted games:
-Resistance
-Killzone
-Uncharted
-LittleBigPlanet
As for the new poll, I remain in my stance that these reviews are inaccurate; and that Killzone 3 is going to be one of PS3's finest exclusives.
I voted for "Dumb; it's obviously … "
Let's line up some of these critics choice words in their "professional" highly reputable-HA!-career.
"Guerrilla has forgotten to focus on what really matters in the solo game: making it fun." –Joystiq
The generic ambiguous one liner that doesn't even try to articulate anything substantive but is always found weighing down scores at the drop of a critic's discretion.
***
"Unfortunately, Killzone 3 delivers a campaign that's nothing more than a series of poorly constructed story sequences and characters that change from being bad-ass comrades to a couple of BFF's caught in the middle of a war against a bickering Helghast." –1up
Nothing more? There's a false statement straight from sentence 2 of the review that attempts to undermine everything else the campaign is doing.
***
"Killzone 3, by contrast, attempts to wage a more varied war. It succeeds, just, by offering a tour of locations both more visually interesting and diverse than its forebears, but it all still depends heavily on the brutal impact of the shooting at its core. [7] "–EDGE
Here's the grand daddy; the one that talks smart but is meaningless–rhetoric is the way of any good politician. This reviewer talks smart throughout, nearly eloquently, but when you start trying to interpret what's being said, you find little substance that looks a lot like circular reasoning.
Let's examine his closing points in detail.
{KZ3 succeeds in offering a more varied war… } Good, I follow…
{but it all still depends heavily on the brutal impact of shooting at it's core…} okay, um, a bad thing? a FPS being a shooter at it's core? ya' drunk?
All I hear between the lines is: "It is technically a fantastic game that is very fun and full of epic battles and levels, but we don't want to score it very high so here are a few nitpicks that bothered the guy who usually plays CoD for us."
I touched upon this topic before. Some reviewers attempt to cover their asses with words then punish the achievement with the actual score. Nonsense. For those who are easily fooled by the as you said ELOQUENT words the damage is done. Most people will just look at the score and bypass the game. Sales are the true award for the developers. What is the incentive for this behavior?
I wish the gaming industry came to a general consensus of how games should be scored. Based of facts and actual measurements of graphics, sound and other technical achievements. A system which that reviewers can not escape from when applying a score. A games story can be measured to a certain extent given the proper parameters. Story being the most sensitive portion of course. A story is always subjective. I may love a story while someone else despises it. I wonder many websites would agree to something of this nature. What do you guys think?
Last edited by FatherSun on 2/7/2011 1:05:34 AM
Did I miss somthin? U siad the ngp has optional 3d… for real? That'd be the only way I could try 3d outside the 3ds. I thot sony said it wouldn't be 3d.. I think kz3 will do fine, psxextreme will give it a fair score and it'll be above 9. Ill borrow it and it'll be good. How can they call the campaign bad when cod is the definition of bad story line. So take that cod, killzone is for real ppl, cod is for the fps' drones, or xbots.
I must have missed something too. I clearly read no 3D.
Just a typo; that was supposed to be 3G.
Fixed now.
If Sony wanted to, could they add 3D support?
Obviously I don't have KZ3 but going by what I've read I have to call BS as well. By all accounts it is even better than KZ2, KZ2 still outperforms the FPS games that have released since it did, and KZ3 gets lower scores than both KZ2 and current FPS games that focus on more or less modern military warfare.
The problems I see are simply that the reviewers don't much like the sci fi setting, have absolutely no regard or interest for or in superior AI, and have no attention span. Let's be honest, the people who love the Cod style games can barely be bothered to play the 4-5 hour campaigns in those so of course an 8-10 hour one is going to seem long and tedious to them. As such they are relying heavily on the multiplayer aspect, and while they say that is fantastic, the only way they can achieve their ultimate end of playing down the significance of a technical achievement is to rag on the story when, let's face it, all FPS stories are pretty thin. Add to this the fact that trying to humanize the characters is no fun to them and you get an ugly bias that somehow says that the FPS series this gen which basically defines the difference between a last gen experience and a next gen experience couldn't possibly be as good as your Halos and Cods because it is PS3 exclusive.
Your theory doesn't pass muster when you factor in the universal aclaim for games like Half-Life 2, Portal(NO shooting), Metroid Prime 3, and Bioshock. So, back to the drawing board?
"the people who love the Cod style games" -> Those people don't *care* much about the solo campaign because they treat it as the multiplayer game that it is. That's an important difference.
I never played through the World At War campaign, still it's one of the games I spent most hours playing that year.
No, none of those are PS3 exclusives.
Regarding KZ3, I have a feeling that this is simply another in a string of great games from Sony that get trashed by some sites because it's still apparently fashionable to trash Sony. Honestly, there are times when I want to ask these people what it was that Sony did to them, personally. Truly, they act like they have a grudge against Sony, I'd just like to know what it is, because from where I sit, it looks like petty bias.
As for NGP or PSP2 or whatever it get's called. I'll be there on Day 1 getting hold of one. I want to know more about their plans for 3G capability, but 3G or wifi only, I'll be there.
Fashionable and possibly profitable. A lot of sites receive funding from places for their reviews. Perhaps they are being paid a bit extra to give certain games less favorable reviews as well.
M$ was quoted once for saying they would buy their way into our homes if they had to. Wouldn't surprise me in the least.
Fashionable indeed. Lately I have noticed that some are trying to disguise their bias behind seemingly positive remarks but sneak in a few shanks of negatives. Considering that the PS brand is in a resurgence they try to stay somewhat in between.
Monetary incentives! I have entertained this thought so many times. Besides blatant fanboyism (which has no business in reviews) what other explanation can there be? If this is a factor then there in absolutely no integrity in whoever accepts payment for favorable reviews.
We still don't know enough about it to say anything yet. but from the beta, I gotta say most of the changes have been good. I have few, very few things I don't like. One being, and maybe it's just luck for me, but I hate how the melee are all one hit. I understand the very awesome ones, but even the gun butts are, I don't want it to be a COD knife fest.
Psyched about NGP, not so much for it being the most powerful handheld/non-laptop portable platform to date, but more so because of even more Sony exclusive goodness. I'm sure they're going to keep the price more viable than laptops, and even cheaper than ipad/iphones sans service plans. How they price it compared to the ps3 will be interesting because they won't want to replace the ps3 demand, nor be eclipsed by it and other platforms. My guess: between 350 and 400, initially. I also think they'll be doing wifi w/3G and wifi-only skus, so we may see an additional price range due to that.
My thoughts about KZ3? Although IMO KZ2 wasn't quite at the level of U2 as an overall polished production, it still was top of it's class. Same is true with the 3rd, but in addition to that, GG pushed new things like Move support and 3D support while setting the FPS benchmark in visuals, yet, again, and even better MP, more variety and locales in the SP, and all of that in less than 2 years. I'll wait to see for myself, but in light of all that, I'm expecting that any lower score really is just a reflection of a reviewer's poor and slanted attitude.
I dislike FPS, play only 10-15 hours of FPS action in about a year. However I have tried the beta, read some of these reviews, my only conclusion, there are a lot of reviewers smoking crack.
They use a lot of double talk, it's amazing graphics don't help overlook the fact that it's a shooter. What? How can you give a game a bad score for having good graphics in a specific genre? Nonsense.
Double talk! Trouble talk.
If someone doesn't like Killzone 3 or it doesn't resonate with them as the absolute greatest thing they ever had the pleasure of playing, that's okay.
For the story gripes, the story trailer wasn't that great, IMO. The only moment I thought was great acting was when Sev tiredly says, "We have to keep moving." So, I didn't have high hopes for the story. I think the knock come when you have 70 minutes of cutscenes. If it's not good, you're putting it out there to be judged. I think in terms of action and war atmosphere, it will be second to none.
KZ2 has a 91 avergage, higher than Black Ops so I don't see why people are running into the streets, tearing their hair out, crying, dropping to theirs knees, and screaming to the heavens about a conspiracy against Sony. Especially, considering the respect Heavy Rain and God of War 3 received last year, Uncharted 2 the year previous, and MGS4 the year before that. Fact is, some people are going to like things than less others. I thought Resistance 2 was a better, more fullfilling experience than Killzone 2. I personally think Resistance 3 will be the same.
Finally some sober talk around here. What Pork said.
Everything is a conspiracy! Companies conspire to get that almighty dollar out of our pockets. I would not put it past Sony of Microsoft to delve to such depths. I do find it strange how most of this so called bias seems to resonate with the US. I could be wrong.
Can you imagine if Gears 3 gets just .1 higher than Uncharted 3 on a site? My goodness. People will be bombarding their congressperson with calls for video game review regulation. Caourt battles going all the way to The Supreme Court. Protests at the White House. Bloody clashes between Gears and Uncharted fanboys. Cliff, Evan, and Christophe pleading for a return to sanity. Cliff is assassinated by some guy who was told once that he kind of looked like Nolan North. Evan and Christophe go into hiding, fearing reprisal. The President signing Executive Order 13592 calling for the immediate cessastion of video game reviews. The order is followed by nearly every other country on Earth. Renegade reviewers flee to Liechtenstein, as it is the only country that allows reviews. So once a year, those gamers who can't decide to buy without being told to by 60 or so people they've never met, make that long, arduous trek to Liechenstein.
LOL!
You aren't supposed to review games based on if you liked it or not.
Everything in a review is subjective, depending on if reviewer likes it or not. People see the same thing differently which is why some game sites/mags have second opinion reviews or multiple reviewers at Famitsu and EGM, why there were a Siskel AND Ebert, why boxing has three judges, why figure skating has four judges, why there are three American Idol Judges. Because nothing is black and white. Yes, some games transcend but even Uncharted 2 doesn't have a 100% review average.
There are reasons why there aren't clear cut ways to review. Look at Flower. If there were certain strict guidelines of what is necessary for a game to be a great game then that game should be a 3 because it's almost a tech demo. But to most who have played it, myself included, it's a fantastic emotional game, worthy of 9's and 10's.
Last edited by PorkChopGamer on 2/7/2011 8:56:59 AM
not really interested in the NGP yet, sonys going to have to offer a hell of allot more than better graphics to make me drop 400+ bucks on one!
as for KZ3, looks exactly the same as KZ2 except with snow and jetpacks.
no thanks!
played the beta 2 hours on release, and 4 hours last night and dont really like it.
far too many bugs, if i had a nickle for every time i went to brutal melee someone and somehow instantly died just before id be a multi billionaire by now!
hit detections way out of wack, a few times i have snuck up one enemies with there back towards me, i fill 30 clips into them than have to reload and once im done reloading than they die like 5 seconds after i stopped shooting them.
massive lag too, not to mention out of the 6 hours i have played i have only finished 10 games!
all the other times i keep getting the server host is not available message than signed out to the home screen!
sorry, but i got better things to do than spend 30+ minutes ranking up kills than to have them lost in the last minute or 2!
nice to see they have not fixed that problem, heaps of people were having it days, weeks, MONTHS after KZ2 released with the 5021 errors……. now this?
im really disappointed with KZ3s 3D effects too.
what the hell?
honestly playing through the beta i had to take my glasses off several times to check if it was still in 3D, i thought my TV broke or something.
if it was not for the blury screen with my glasses off i honestly would of rang sony and said my tvs broken!
thats how bad the 3D effects are, there not even noticeable!!!!!
whats the point of having 3D effects if you cant notice them?
i thought black ops was crap, but at least that had a added sense of depth you really felt like you could dive into the TV, also it had the cursor pop out of the TV and a few other things.
KZ3 has neither of those!
i hope the SP 3Ds better!
so far ps3 3D completley sucks, the best its given me is a little mud oozing out of the screen, not flying out like at the movies but coming out of the bottom of the TV maybe 5cms.
whats the point of having 3D if its not even noticeable?
Not really interested in NGP? On the day it was announced you seemed awfully positive about it. seems like your likes and dislikes change with the wind, as does the tone of your comments, and even the size of the TV you claim to have. In fact, I'm definitely of the opinion that you're not a you, you're a them, more than on poster sharing an account. Far be it for me to question your motives, but I do have to wonder.
"question your motives", or their employer? Is this one of those "guerilla marketing" accounts I've read so much about?
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/7/2011 2:22:47 AM
Ben, is it possible to not allow blanks as names? Coz we're not sure if we 're only thankfully dealing with a single insane person here, or if he's part of a cult or something…
Personal comment on KZ3 MP Beta. It's good. But I won't lie that I don't think its great. Last night, I started off with CoD:BO to try if i get a good connection. 4/4 games were all poor, so I played the KZ3 Beta. Granted, server issues abound, but in terms of the core MP progression (i.e. unlocks) I got to try them our in Bot Zone and wasn't really impressed. The main differentiator is that its a much heavier FPS, with jumps really messing your vision (like KZ2, the screen quakes like crazy!) and there is a definite (albeit at a much lesser extent) feel of weight.After about 20mins, I popped in MAG until I was ready to sleep. The potential is there (liked the MP Coop similar to Uncharted 2) but they have to offer more.
hey _________ line guy. I dont mind you at all but my impression is that you hate everything. Either that or anything the masses like. I guess it could be your genuine opinion but u seem to hate on whatever the discussions about, I remember one time u said uncharted 2 sucked or somethin. Idk seems ur always negative. Ngp is good, kz3 is good, basically anything sony is good imo, but mainly gaming, and there 1st party especially.
so loving everything is fine, but hating most things is not?
i was excited to see the NGP announced because i thought it would be adding in all new features, but ATM it looks like the PSP with better graphics and thats about it.
ok it has a gyroscope and touch screen but big whoop phones have had those for donkeys years!
i dunno, there is just not enough substance to this.
i think sony went overboard with this, the iphone 4 is not even half what this is and look at the graphics that can produce!
i think sony made a massive mistake putting in such powerful hardware, thats just going to push the price through the roof and suck the battery life.
nothing so far has made me think OMG i have to get this!
will be interesting to see if PSP games downloaded off the PSN will work on this.
dont see why they wont.
Anon Cowherd.
The NGP isn't a bloody phone, so why you compare it against that POS the iPhone 4 I'll never know. PSP with better features? Well, there's a shocker eh? What did you expect the PSP2 to be? It has to fit the same basic form factor and it's a hand held gaming console, of course it's basically an upgraded PSP (vastly upgraded). That's like whining about an HDTV being nothing more than an SDTV with better features.
The reason for the criticism of you, is that you are almost entirely inconsistent. The only thing you are relatively consistent with is your negativity, but even then that is part of the inconsistency because you pepper in days when you have praise for things and then within 48 hours you slate them again.
Regarding PSP games downloaded off PSN it's already been confirmed that anything that you can download from PSN that runs on the PSP will run on NGP.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 2/7/2011 9:50:03 AM
@Highlander, You got the "THEM" part right but my impression is the the "THEM" is not multiple persons but multiple personalities. What with all the inconsistent comments and all. I always give the benefit if the doubt but find myself doubting that benefit in the blanks case.
why do i bother?
trying to reason with you people is like trying to talk a old granny out of her old habits!
The trouble is, you don't use reason. Your posts vary so much that it really seems that there is more than one personality behind them.
I will be getting the NGP day one. Of course price is always a factor. I am expecting $350-$400. Wishing for $200-$250. Only because at that price it would be irresistible and the more successful it is the more support and great games will be developed for it.
The Killzone Konflict as it shall be named is simple acts of desperation from the Green Eyed camp. Has anyone noticed that the "console war sales" argument is diminishing and now the opposition is attempting to detract by focusing the games themselves. Last year I noticed it was quiet and some Sony loyalists were saying " What you got to say now?" This year they will have plenty to say. I highly expect most of Sony's exclusives to get this kind of heat.
For Gods sake please just enjoy what you have and let others live. Or, If you can't beat em, Join em.
Last edited by FatherSun on 2/7/2011 1:41:37 AM
Whatever is behind the low reviews for Killzone 3, I'm sure the fans are getting it anyway. At this day and age when reviews can be bought in terms of advertisement placements, the only opinion that matters are by those who actually played the game and took it for what it is supposed to be.
And yeah, most FPS games have poor story anyway, so why harp on KZ3 about that? What a load of crap.
I'll get the NGP with the first interesting game released for it.
Regarding KZ3 I've only tried the multiplayer beta so I know nothing about the story, but my first impressions are generally good, with interesting class selection. It's a good fps, no doubt about that. However, the problem is that in this particular genre the level of the games are remarkably high. If you go for the best sellers there's no way you can miss. The Battlefields are good, The CODs are good (yes!), the MoHs are good, they are all very good. So the real question is: Is kz3 *better*? And the answer to that, in my opinion, is "no". But that doesn't mean you'll be disappointed with kz3 if you are looking for a fps. It only means that the competition is incredibly stiff.
Good stuff, Beamboom.
From a technical standpoint the competition is mostly multiplat and mostly laughable by comparison. Those games haven't changed significantly since Halo 3 and Cod 4.
Oh c'mon to use the multiplat fact against a title is just as wrong or irrational as using platform exclusiveness against a title (as some claim is done against kz3). You can't seriously mean that modern warfare 2 looks *that* much worse than kz3? If so, where/what do I look (at) to see that obvious difference?
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/7/2011 8:15:58 AM
@World
It really depends on what you are comparing. Some do things alot better than Killzone. Sorry that doesn't gel with the Sony mantra, but it is what it is.
Last edited by PorkChopGamer on 2/7/2011 9:39:12 AM
Play an hour of KZ2 or 3, then go look at any CoD game, it looks like it belongs on Dreamcast by comparison.
It isn't irrational at all. Exclusives for all consoles continuously pull down higher scores than multiplats.
Alright, I'll do that test someday, World. I'll play an hour of kz2 then jump to mw2 and see if I get the sensation you claim. I shall not deny that I doubt it, but I'll give it an honest go.
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/8/2011 12:44:20 AM
"Exclusives for all consoles continuously pull down higher scores than multiplats" -> Considering the amount of multiplat vs exclusives that's a statistically obvious statement. Still, a game should be judged by it's own merits, not if it's also available on other platforms or not.
I went over to gamerankings and pulled out the top-25 highest ranked titles ever for the ps3, and that gave 17/15 titles being multiplat, with 3 of top5 being multiplat. So your claim just don't hold water I'm afraid. The exclusive superiority is a local phenomenon on this site…!
Last edited by Beamboom on 2/8/2011 3:52:33 AM