Capcom Is Thrilled Adhoc Party Is Coming November 19th

By Paul Munn | November 16, 2009

ps3_adhocparty_us Last week the PS Blog mentioned that Adhoc Party was finally coming to the USA, and IGN notes they’ve gotten a press release that says this Thursday the 19th is the big day for its release. This is very welcome news, and Capcom immediately blurted out a very hastily written email right after Friday’s announcement that couldn’t contain their excitement at never having to add online modes to their PSP games:

Did you hear the news? Sony’s Ad-hoc Party feature for the PSP is coming to North America this month! This awesome new service allows you to play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite ONLINE by enabling your PSP to play through your PS3. This is HUGE news for Monster Hunter fans as now they can play MHFU with their Monster Hunter buddies around the country! The new feature also allows you to use text or voice chat to communicate with friends, which is critical for coordinating those 4 player hunts and taking out those tougher Monsters.

Granted that Adhoc Party will actually bring lots and lots of OLD PSP games online, going back literally years with no patching needed, but it’s also letting developers off the hook to a certain extent. Keep in mind that your PS3 will have to be dedicated to this to work — no DVD, Blu-ray or Netflix use by someone else in your household while you’re online with the PSP — and that you need a hard-line ethernet connection to it so the PSP can talk to it via the built-in Wi-Fi chipset. It’s a great deal for existing PS3 owners at zero dollars and zero cents and no ongoing online service fee.

All of that said, the technical triumphs of things like the two excellent Syphon Filter PSP games from the Sony Bend Studio that included not just online play for a first-person shooter but also had voice chat proved years ago that it could be done, and done well, without having to fall back to another service. Yes, this is just like having Xbox Live to fall back on if you think about it, and yes, this might help boost sales, but there are side benefits to running your own servers.
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Hands On: PS3 Netflix Instant Streaming

By Joe Haygood | November 6, 2009

Well, after seeing their Xbox 360 breathern enjoy the fruits of Netflix Instant Streaming, PS3 owners are starting to see the joys of watching Netflix via their own consoles. Everything you have seen on the Xbox 360 service is available here, albeit in a very plain interface, but Netflix works as advertised, and very quickly. Hit the jump for a quick look at the new service along with its all of its ups and downs. We also have screen captures of the complete interface, with the exception of adding a movie to your queue.

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Ones To Watch on PS3, PSP for November 2009

By Paul Munn | November 1, 2009

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Ok here’s the thing: I don’t care about the huge military-themed, cross-platform shooter coming to the PS3 this month. It’ll get its spot of ink below, don’t worry, but I’m highlighting the three exclusive franchises returning to PlayStation platforms this month first.

The God of War Collection lands on November 17th as a new experiment: a reissue of two PlayStation 2 games in high definition on a single Blu-ray PlayStation 3 disc. The remastering of the top-selling God Of War and God Of War II includes the addition of Trophy support. Sales of this collection will be watched closely – it takes quite a bit of work to remaster games like this, but if it sells well we might see other Sony PS2 franchises reappear like this on the PS3. I’m a huge fan of the franchise, partly because of the brutally satisfying gameplay, partly because of the mostly-consistent mythological backdrop, so this is a must-buy for me. Of note: this is a $40 game.

The PlayStation Portable gets the PS3’s most recognizable mascot this month with its very own version of LittleBigPlanet. While you’ll be able to make and share your own levels in LBP on the PSP, you’re going to be playing them alone since multiplayer didn’t make it into this game. I’m being cheeky by mentioning this would be a $40 game as well since PSP games tend to debut at this price.
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Sony Rotates The Shield Harmonics On Trophy Data

By Paul Munn | October 29, 2009

trophies_with_border When TripleTags closed up shop for good last week I felt bad about the great art those guys had put together for my “now playing” card, but I’d fallen out of habit updating my Trophy card there. Plus I’d signed up on GamerDNA.com’s site after hearing they were getting Trophy data from SCEA daily. And it worked, sort of, at least until this past week. It turns out that neither they nor Raptr can get Trophy data any longer, confirming my early suspicions that these sites weren’t authorized to get that data in the first place.

This makes me want TripleTags back so I can have a really great-looking Trophy card again instead of the sad-looking one available on the PSN. So why did it go under? Site owner Joshua “SectionZ” Hernandez (a guest of the Aeropodcast) posted on Facebook that he didn’t have time to maintain it any longer now that his new game software company Metamoorephosis is off to a great start with purcussONE and bitFLIP.

Will GamerDNA and Raptr get Trophy data back? I imagine they could continue to try and scrape it off of the site. I suspect this is what PlayFire is doing with the EU arm of Sony. But without an official connection it’ll be a losing battle.

Welcome to the Party PS3 – Netflix is Arriving

By Joe Haygood | October 26, 2009

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Late last week, Netflix stock made a nice jump after company officials mentioned that they had a big announcement coming this weekend. The announcement was to mention a new platform that they would be delivering instant streaming on starting in a short period of time. Rumors started to swirl that it would be either the PS3 or the Nintendo Wii, but as of this evening, Sony and Netflix have put out a joint press release that the PS3 will have Netflix in the next month.

Basically, the service would work similar to the way it works on the Xbox 360, but instead of it being built into the actual operating system on the PS3, you would actually insert an Instant Streaming disc that would open up a Netflix front end that would allow streaming of movies. The selection will be the same as it is for all other delivery platforms, and their will be no additional costs on the PSN, with the exception of needing a Netflix account. Also, the Instant Streaming discs are to be offered as a free item, although the press release does make it sound like they might charge for them in the future.

So PS3 owners, are we happy, sad or indifferent over this development. I like the idea of Netflix coming to other platforms, but I wonder if Sony could of made it easier by developing an extension to the Media bar that would support Netflix instant streaming natively, instead of using an extra disc to make the magic happen. I can say this – I have already put in a request for a disc.

PS3 Exclusivity Review: October ‘08-’09

By Paul Munn | October 23, 2009

ps_logo_gray_95x95 This week Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time rolls out on the 27th and IGN has handed it a 9.0 and Editor’s Choice award. I’m a very big fan of the series so this game is an easy purchase for me, so much so that I’m not reading reviews and I’m even debating whether or not to download the first, Clank demo that arrived on Thursday or the second, Ratchet demo coming next week. The Podcast Beyond crew took a look at the set of Sony games that rolled in this year in this week’s podcast 112, but I think the net should be cast wider to all PS3 exclusives over the past 12 months. It’s surprising how much great stuff we’ve seen for the system.
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NPD Says The PS3 Price Cut Worked

By Paul Munn | October 19, 2009

ps_logo_gray_95x95 The NPD numbers covering September (five weeks from August 30th to October 6th to be exact) are out, and the PlayStation 3 price cut to $299 seems to have worked. Microsoft cut their console down to size as well, of course, and even Nintendo decided to take a dip in the profitability of their console with their drop to $199, boosting everyone’s numbers, but the PS3 outsold everything except for the DS.

The DS didn’t exactly blow its doors off, though. The DS sold 524k, the PS3 sold 491k, the Wii sold 462k, the Xbox 360 sold 352k, and the PSP (pre-Go, remember) chugged along at 191K. In last place, limping along, is the PS2 with 142k units sold. The 360’s number is nothing to sneeze at, but it looks like that PS3 price cut showed that consumers still really did want a PlayStation 3 after all this time. Does Microsoft consider that along with having sold a full 110,000 units less than the Wii this time a problem?

September was also notable for stopping a long slide of months where game sales were down significantly from the previous year. This is no small feat, even if this month just meant staying on par with 2008. New consoles on the market could have been a big part of that and if the holidays are good to those new console owners it could very well be a very happy holiday for all three console makers after all.

Seen at Gamespot.

Mick Would Be Proud of Borderlands

By Paul Munn | October 9, 2009

Gearbox has bucked the trend of holiday delays by going gold with Borderlands today. When I heard Joe call it something of a Diablo-ish shooter on Aeropodcast #102 I was intrigued. The three gameplay videos I found over on Co-Optimus shows off its semi-cel-shaded style with some post-apocalyptic-looking action, but there’s something in the last of them, shown here, that intrigued me.

I found the gameplay pretty easy to follow and the weapon variety surprising. When your hero starts getting badly hurt, notice how they treat death. She’s knocked down and an arcade-like message flashes for her to “Fight For Your Life!” Apparently, by doing enough damage as she’s down, perhaps on her knees, on the verge of death, she’s given a second chance. I could just hear Mick barking at Rocky on the mat: “Get Up Rocky Gaddamn You!”

Angry at the PSP Go? Just Wait.

By Paul Munn | October 6, 2009

mob_pitchforks_small Reviewers are giving the Go some serious flak for what isn’t a surprise: the fact that you can’t use UMDs in it. This seems to be the number one crucial failing of the new handheld and it’s a deliberate design decision. ArsTechnica spells it out clearly, bashing the Go as a pro-Sony and anti-consumer device with a price point that’s “almost a sick joke” in this recession. It’s all about having one seller with no price competition from retail.

Hm, let me think, what else raised this kind of torch-and-pitchfork no-retail-competition gamer rage in the past? What was it? I’m having a hard time remembering now since everyone has since gone back to their homes and stoped raging against it since it’s considered a success. Oh yeah, it’s Steam!
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Ones to Watch on PS3, PSP for October 2009

By Paul Munn | October 1, 2009

ps3_uncharted_2_among_thieves_box_art Uncharted 2 is set to dominate the fall when it hits on October 13th, already earning numerous very high marks in reviews. The multiplayer demo, out now on the Store, is not to be missed. It’s drop dead gorgeous, the various modes are quite accessible and fun, and while I’m certain I’ll be decimated by anyone and everyone just a few short days after release in the competitive modes I’ll be able to fall back on some fun co-op modes when I want to take a break from the single player action. All that and it ships with a full recording tool for post-game review and posting your best matches online. But Nathan Drake’s sophomore outing isn’t the only high-profile title coming in October to the PlayStation pantheon.
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