Ben-DutkaNext week is a big week. Both LittleBigPlanet 2 and Mass Effect 2 for the PlayStation 3 hit store shelves.
And if you didn't already know, BioWare's excellent title will also hit the PlayStation Network. As announced at the PlayStation Blog , ME2 will be downloadable through the PSN if you'd rather not travel down to the store. The price will be the same but of course, you won't get the box for your collection if you download it (if you care). The Blog entry also reminds us once again that ME2 is a heck of a lot more than a port; it features the engine BioWare is currently using for Mass Effect 3 , and it also boasts all the current downloadable content for the game. Role-playing fans will also get Dragon Age II in March and ME3 should drop before the end of the year, so this could be a memorable year for the RPG. Let's also not forget a few JRPGs that could satisfy the fans; both Hyperdimension Neptunia and a couple new Ar Tonelico titles are scheduled, too. We didn't have much in the way of quality role-playing in 2010 but that most certainly isn't the case in 2011.
We know a lot of PS3 owners aren't all that interested in Mass Effect 2 but we urge you to give it a shot. From what we hear, it's too good to flat out dismiss.
Related Game(s): Mass Effect 2
Downloadable? I looked it up, the PC version is 17GB. The console version might be closer to 13GB, and there will be all that extra content.
Thats a pretty big file. Well, for me at least. I never upgraded my HDD.
I didn't enjoy the demo for ME2 at first, but something brought me back to try it again. I still have yet to finish that second part (where you run around aimlessly shooting things) but the only thing that interested me was the story. The shooting and gameplay was same-old, nothing new. Take cover, shoot stuff, pause and use abilities. If anything, it'll be the story that gets me involved in the world of Mass Effect. We'll see…
If you liked that little portion of the plot dat much to overcome the so so gameplay, you gonna luv the full game I'd say get it.
Didn't expect to hit the store.
I'll get to ME2, but probably not until ME3 comes and the price hits the floor. I may have a 500 gig hard drive but I'd still rather have my box and save myself the space.
It's all about Dragon Age II and (pending reviews) Two Worlds II. Don't forget about that RPG Ben.
Same here world. Im waiting to get Mass Affect as well, when its closer to 3's release. In the meantime i will be getting two worlds two. Pre-ordered it awhile ago.
I seen some gameplay and it looks pretty solid. I like what i seen with the combat and it being more fluid and "combo-ish", hah, than say oblivion for instance. Anyways really looking forward to it!
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/12/2011 2:53:09 PM
Sounds like a plan World… I like it…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
I hope Two Worlds II is good. I didn't like the first one. So I'm really skeptical about this one.
Yeah, when it's cheap I'm on board.
Ben,
it cracks me up how much you encourage us all to check it out, when you yourself have said that to you it's just a glorified 3rd person shooter with some minor rpg elements. If memory serves me right, you've played the first but not ME2, so are you getting it when it comes out on ps3?
Just saying ME2 is less of a rpg than ME1.
Yes, to clarify, that's how I felt about the first ME. But as I didn't play ME2, I can't really form an opinion on it, and I encourage people to try it based on the amazing critical reception.
You'll see my review; don't worry. And even if it's not my thing, if it's a great game, it'll get a great score. I don't let personal opinion impact what I believe to be the inherent quality of a product.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 1/12/2011 1:12:53 PM
Yeah that's what I thought. Personally it doesn't seem like it's for me either. It's Bioware so I'm sure it's top notch, but I'm just really tired of all this "rpg lite" crap.
If every game to come out now has to have some rpg elements, maybe that should tell devs that people want some rpgs.
I never had an interest in Mass Effect when it was in development and even after it came out. It wasn't until I heard about PS3 Mass Effect 2 rumor that I figured I would give the original a try. That and some recurring favorable mentions from an online publication that will remain unnamed *cough*psxe*cough*.
The first time I tried ME, it felt dry and clunky. Controls didn't feel very tight and the menus were absolute crap. It was a chore to go through character inventory and equipment. I let my frustration outweigh any positives the game may have had.
A few weeks went by and I was itching for something different. I was thirsty for an RPG with an engaging story. I decided to give ME another shot. To my amazement, I actually found enjoyment in the game.
Mass Effect has an excellent story to be heard and extremely tough choices to make along the way.
I wasn't a believer at first, but I am now. Can't wait for this game.
Last edited by Nynja on 1/12/2011 2:32:42 PM
still dont see why they would charge the same the retail and downloadable version. If you have a downloadable version you cant borrow it to a friend, or even resell it if you need the extra cash or summin, your stuck with it? unless you live in the middle of nowhere, or are physicaly challanged, you would need your head examining if you bought downloadable version instead of the retail version.
My cousin has my PSN account on his PS3, he can download all the games I have and play them under his account.
If they're charging the same for both versions, that is ridiculous.
But game sharing can be done on PS3, although I'd only do it with people I trust. Of course, I only loan games to people I trust as well.
didnt think you could do that with full games? i remember trying to do it with warhawk, might be wrong though, i know ive done it with my mates with DLC.
well the one good thing about having the downloaded version is that the disk will never go bad, I mean alot of my older ps1 disks are starting to deteriorate or I simply loose them. However if you have the downloaded version even if your ps3 eats it you can download it again
You're right, I remember hearing that about warhawk. Maybe full retail games aren't share-able. I'm gonna have to dig deeper on this one.
I'll most likely get Venetica first. Not only does it sound pretty good, but I like to support devs who release 40 dollar games.
For me, ME2 will get the same treatment Bioshock got.
3D Dot Game Heros released at $40 and it is a fantastic game. More of an RPG and more enjoyable than ME2. IMO of course.
Venetica looks pretty cool. I just heard about it for the first time yesterday. Think I'll wait for a review or two first, though.
It's called a budget title but from the review I read today it's a lot like Morrowind. Open world rpg with good character customization. The graphics might not be the best but they certainly look pretty good.
The only reviews I've seen for Venetica have made it sound terrible. I think it's averaging between a 3 and a 4.
Venetica looks last gen.
"Venetica looks last gen."
Not to mention some of the quests actually break the game and items disappearing from your inventory. Quest items included. In spite of this and other issues, I'll wait until it's been patched up a bit before I dive into it. And last gen graphics doesn't bother me. Graphical quality has little to no effect on the gameplay itself. It's just a bonus.
Yeah, I'm just not sold on the whole network distribution route for gaming. If you follow the concept down the road, it just doesn't seem very feasible, as a standard, to house content for the future of premium gaming content.
When looking at the generational over generational increase of data storage on Sony's Playstation consoles, there's roughly a 5-10x increase in media capacity. This could mean a PS4 would have 250GB+ storage ROMs.
If games were to ship on 250GB+ discs in the coming generation there would be several obstacles to overcome.
A) A storage medium that couldn't facilitate a generation's worth of gaming content.
B) Broadband speeds that would allow a gamer to download a game in a reasonable amount of time.
And the argument that music via digital distribution to gaming is a flawed one.
Music with a good encoder at a 256kb bit-rate can deliver near CD quality audio. Songs are also typically limited to a 3-5min span. The technology and storage capacity that's necessary to deliver music is already in an ideal and very marketable position. This is an attractive medium for consumers and businesses alike.
Also, concerning this generation. I'd rather have longer story based games on a disc. Where I'd preference having quicker pickup and play games, like an online fighter, available instantly. It was nice playing Tekken 5:DR on the fly, without having to switch discs.
Agreed, Sensei Temjin. Eating up precious hdd space defeats the purpose and advantage of having Bluray.
However, on a curious note, you reminded me something by bringing up Tekken 5:DR. We know that it performs much better than Tekken 6, sporting a higher resolution (1080p vs sub 720p), and much shorter load times. I wonder if this has anything to do with running off of hdd, thereby eliminating the latency of the bluray disc read times. I guess one would have to compare the 360 version, and the arcade version, with the ps3's to get an idea of that. Could it be that some games would actually perform better if fully installed on an HDD?
Either way, I'd still go for Bluray. Except for a handful of Sony exclusives (GOW3, Uncharted 2, MGS4, R&C's, maybe LBP) and even fewer multiplatformers (FFxiii to an extent, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Mass Effect 2), game development still hasn't taken advantage of bluray. But having the option to swap games with friends, and to save HDD space for games saves and game installs are reasons enough for me getting games on discs.
HI Master Shams, the HDD is simply the storage area that a program fetches data from and then stores into the RAM. Once the data has been loaded in the RAM the processing of that data is handled by processing units. So whether a game is read from a Blu Ray or an HDD doesn't have too much bearing on what's actually being seen on the screen. WHere it does have an impact is with texture/data streaming. Games like Uncharted 2 and GoW3 most definitely stream data from the BD and then caches it in the HDD and then push it into the RAM as a player traverses the levels. But seeing that Tekken and like games are confined within small areas, I have yet to observe a fighting game that streams data while in play. And btw, T6 lets you install the dame data resources to the HDD, effectively speeding up load times. T6 could've ran at 720p (like the T6 arcade) but Harada wanted to show off his motion blurring technique. Unfortunately, this technique saps a lot of memory bandwidth, effectively forcing the resolution lower. If a person opts to turn off Motion Blur, they instead get 2xMSAA (PS3) and 720p (360). I've done the comparison the PS3 version still looks better at sub-HD with 2xMSAA because the 360 version doesn't scale the textures right, causing a slight texture blur.
Heh, I don't call you "Sensei" for nothing. Thanks a bunch for enlightening me in regards to T6. Will definitely go to turn off the motion blur (a lot of resource for nuttin' imho), now that I know it's just an option.
Regarding HDD vs Bluray, it's understood these are only persistent storage, where as the processing happens on the RAM, which is temporary storage, however, there certainly is a difference in latency (disc read time) between bluray disc drive, DVD drive, and hard drive disc.
This affects how fast one can load data to the RAM. To reduce the disparity between bluray, dvd, and HD reads, limiting the data to be read will further reduce the load times… Hence the drop in resolution in Tekken 6 (both ps3 and 360 versions) as compared to the 1080p Tekken 5:DR becomes obvious. Of course, motion-blur takes up a resource, but even with that turned off, even the 360 version still maxes out at 720p as you said.
Yeah, T5's load times are nearly non-existant and are faster then they would be if the data had been loaded from the BD. And yeah, because the GPU was pushing around a lot smaller textures there was a fill-rate reservoir freed up to render the game at a higher resolution.
This is actually pretty important in game design. I've read in an interview that game designers have to determine early on if their game should run at 60fps or 30fps because the detail of textures need to be scaled accordingly. The role of the GPU (bare with me it's been a while since I've studied this stuff) was primarily introduced to draw textures and polygons, and still is today. Later "Hardware Transform and Lighting" was introduced where the GPU took on extra graphical tasks. GPU's have also been utilized to handle physics processing in multi-card configurations for PCs. There's a total memory bandwidth that a GPU has where it must funnel all of the information…
But anyway, I'm probably preaching to the choir here; I'm sure you understand all of this well enough already. I think you said you were a software developer, if I'm not mistaken.
I always enjoy your insight, Sensei Temjin, and yes, you remember correctly, but I'm never too aloof for discussion.
Nice point about T6 sporting more texture work than T5:DR. It's been a while since I played T5, but I noticed a whole lot of vascularity, and skin lighting in T6 that I didn't seem to remember being in T5:DR. Facial detail seemed worse, but as you mentioned, I'm sure that's due to the drop in resolution, and not the textures.
hehe, well, I'm no expert. Years ago I was a PC gamer and I stayed on top of all the cutting edge graphics cards. Sights like Tom's Hardware, Firing Squad, and HardOCP would break down all of the engineering specifics and put up performance charts. Sometimes they'd have interviews with hardware engineers who described in detail the features and benefits of the respective GPU/VPU
Like, back then, one of them had a great interview with an ATI guy who helped engineer the 360 VPU (this happened before 360 launched). It was pretty awesome stuff back then, that Xenos chip was designed ahead of it's time in some ways, even relative to the PC market. It boasted a unified shader architecture, new memory system, and hardware tessellation that I don't believe were present on other products anywhere at the time. The RSX was actually a bit dated by the time the PS3 released. And unfortunately, within that year of lag between PS3 and 360, the RSX wasn't updated to the much more sophisticated G84 that was already proliferating computers across the globe. It was high performance and cost effective… oh well, that's where the CELL comes in =)
But as for T5. It was essentially our first taste at a PS2 HD remake. T6 showed us how far a generation's of effects and details have come. =)
What happens with the after market value of physical games is highly attractive with bargain shoppers. Gamers have access to freely exchanging and selling games based on perceived value. Whereas, digital distributers have total control of pricing and availability, where DRMs are in place to control free distribution. As an example of the crap side of digital, Super Street FIghter 4 just released on 360 via download for a ridiculous price of $39.99. The same game can be had used for $20, or less, on disc.
"The Blog entry also reminds us once again that ME2 is a heck of a lot more than a port"
It sure walks like a port and quacks like a port though.
I'd give it a little more credit Jawknee. PS3 users are treated to better lighting and some subtle texture refinements. Effort went into trying to optimize the UE3 for the PS3 more so than we usually experience from the average UE3 multi-plat. And we've seen from past examples, demos aren't always an absolute indicator of what the actual shipping game quality will be.
I think it's fair to be apprehensive nonetheless seeing that the FMV was very poorly delivered judging from the demo. I EXPECT that to be fixed for the release. If not, well, someone should slap the somebody who didn't do their job very well at Bioware.
Yea Wreckless, based on a demo. A demo made available so people can try it before deciding to buy it. The demo was crap. Stuttering cut scenes and massive screen tearing is NOT something gamers should put up with. Especially when the developer is asking for $60 bucks.
I see what you're saying Temjin, though it's not something I am willing to risk $60 bucks on. The story is cheese, the graphics are ugly and the fact this game is deemed a "great RPG" by many who seem to forget what an RPG is says it all for me.
So…Pass. 🙂
Well Jawks the home of ME was always Pc, 360 version has a bunch of problems too, just because this got TON of 10 on metacritic doesn't means is a polished game, is good for the history and that's it.
And yes they ask for 60 bucks but again it comes with the dlc, but I can see why you don't want to have it with a bunch of great exclusives this year.
Last edited by Oxvial on 1/12/2011 2:48:10 PM
Some of the most interesting and engaging characters I've encountered in all my years of gaming are found in Mass Effect. I can't in no way consider ME's story cheesy or lackluster. Bioware has a knack at making good stories and interesting character developments, this was evidenced right from their console debut with Star Wars: KotoR. Some of the character and relationship developments from Bioware's games tend to be more fleshed out than the majority of the game's on the market today and have continued to evolve in this regard as the company has grown more experienced with the angle they take on the market.
And this opinion comes from a person who actually has played ample amounts of ME and ME2
Wreckless, the game is just more Unreal ugliness. I hate that engine.
I never said every game had to be like God of War III so I kindly ask you NOT to put words in my mouth. With that said, the game hardly looks as good as some or most multiplats. Castlevania LoS is a much prettier game and has NO screen tearing. Hell, Resident Evil 5 gives it a run for its money and that game is old.
Last edited by Jawknee on 1/12/2011 3:01:46 PM
To each his own.
I also don't understand you on ME2 Jawknee. Weren't you the one who was excited about ME2 when IGN first broke the feature that ME2 is "better" on PS3?
Now, because the game has a handful of shortcomings, you've been singing gloom and doom about the game. It just doesn't make sense.
It was surprising to me that IGN claimed it to be better. The video they showed clearly showed it to be better but the demo says otherwise. I don't care what extra goodies the self appointed "guru's of game developement" over at DF say PS3 owners get. The game is a technical nightmare with a bad scifi story and stolen lines from the Matrix.
I was never excited for this game. I've said before, space operas are not my thing. Couple that with the horrendous Unreal engine and all the technical flaws that come with this game, it's not hard to understand why this game doesn't interest me at all. I think I have been very clear and consistent for those who have been paying attention.
Last edited by Jawknee on 1/12/2011 3:56:32 PM
Jawk, have you played this series all the way thru before? im just asking because you say the story is cheese, so i only assume thats a statement from someone who spent time playing the series
Last edited by aaronisbla on 1/12/2011 5:33:51 PM
I retract my "it has a bad scifi story" and replace it with I just didn't dig it from what I have played.
My statement does imply I spent a great deal of time with the story, apologies. I haven't spent the amount of time you have Aaron. Though from the synopsis I have read and the one given in the PS3 demo, the story just seems very meh to me. I understand people dig it and I don't mean to be a Debbie downer. 😉
Last edited by Jawknee on 1/12/2011 6:03:27 PM
Wow… Bioware must be on steroids! Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 plus Dragon Age II AND Mass Effect 3 all in 2011? That's just insane!!!
Personally, I couldn't get into the ME2 demo at all so I think it'll ultimately be a pass for me. I just don't have the time or money right now to put into a game that didn't really impress me with the demo. Dragon Age II, on the other hand… I am SO there! Signature Edition pre-ordered!!! 😀
Same price for the dd as for the bd version. That's a laugh. It's bd over dd any day of the week for me.
Same here.
I think the downloadable would have be like half the price for me not to add a game I really want to my collection.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 1/12/2011 2:59:24 PM
Since we're not getting all the disc perks(art, disc, paper manual, case, etc),DL's should be only 1/2 the price of disc(2/3's at the very most) right from the Jump Street!
That's just a blatant rip-off!
Especially since almost all of their usual disc associated overhead is now nil.
I'll probably pick this up when it's cheaper as I already have the 360 version. Will be interesting to see how the interactive comic, or whatever the thing is, works that simulates player choices, etc. from the original. I started a second playthrough on ME2 a bit ago with a character that wasn't imported and it just didn't feel the same as playing through the first time with my ME-created character. I'm hoping what BioWare does with the PS3 version has the same kind of effect as playing a character through ME1.
After playing the demo, I think I'll most-likely pick this up. There are so many great games coming out this year that I have to really limit myself to one game a month. So I guess January is Mass Effect 2. lol
Does anyone know if there are pre-order incentives for Mass Effect 2? Or Killzone 3?