After the delays to testing the rest of my games for updates (mostly due to the PS3 error - which I'll get to in a bit), I've been in the middle of finishing up numerous games sitting on my shelf for the PS3. This is something I will hopefully later this year be able to extend to other consoles, however the problem I have with that is in some cases I'll want to replay other titles in my collection once I start doing that.
Back to the case at hand. The PS3 disruption on March 1st was due to a software issue in a piece of hardware within the majority of the older "fat" PS3 units, which couldn't handle a leap year. After 1 day of outage the system corrected itself, re-syncing back visually with the correct time, but the CPU clock is now 1 day out. Sony hasn't yet patched this problem which means if it's not, in 4 years time (but obviously 1 day removed) the same problem will happen. I'm sure with that time frame, somehow it'll be updated.
With the CPU correcting itself I was finally able to play Heavy Rain, which I'd purchased the week before. I was very apprehensive about the game because while I'd like the look of it for quite some time as it got closer to release I expected that it would end up not being that great. And while the first reviews were positive, I started the game not liking it so much... but eventually got very caught up in the story and played it constantly over a week or so, eventually finishing all the endings and adding the title to being the second Platinum trophy I've gotten for a game after the Resident Evil 5 one last month. My copy also came as a collectors edition with DLC content which I've downloaded, but I've kept the extra chapter to come back to later as something else to play and more DLC is expected.
After this I went back to Aliens Vs Predator and completed both Alien and Predator single player campaigns on hard. While there was the odd tough spot, I managed to finish them both while also picking up all the collectibles (exactly as I had with the Marine campaign first) and picked up numerous extra trophies. Some Multiplayer will be next the next time I play the game.
I had also managed to try Bayonetta which I was borrowing from my friend Andrew, but the game really isn't my cup of tea - too much going on screen at once. Odd enough seeing as I was a big fan of Devil May Cry and simular titles (including God of War, which the third title is out this week - more on this later).
Prior to these I managed to finish in general over the last month or two Call of Duty 4's single player campaign, Ghostbusters The Video Game, Assassin's Creed II, Uncharted 2 on Hard, Uncharted on Hard as well, Resident Evil 5's remaining trophies (as mentioned in the earlier post), Silent Hill Homecoming, and the the Half Life 2 portion of The Orange Box.
This week, Thursday specifically, I will be picking up God of War 3 in the massive Pandora's Box Collection set which over in PAL areas also includes the God of War Collection of the HD version's of God of War and God of War II, which was never officially released here.
I never finished God of War II, and I'm rusty on to the story line of God of War having not played it since early late 2006/early 2007 so I'm going to play all 3 in order once I get them. This will be my next set task. Then back to my collection to continue. With that still on my shelf to complete including as above or otherwise, and in no particular order:
Multiplayer for Aliens Vs Predator
I have 70-odd feathers to collect and 2 trophies for Assassin's Creed II linked to them (plus some extra assassin's missions and other side quests if I'm up to it).
More Burnout Paradise (general Gameplay)
More Ghostbusters collectables/trophies
Replay Grand Theft Auto IV
Replay Metal Gear Solid 4
Replay Devil May Cry 4
Replay Mirror's Edge, extra trophies and content
Replay Silent Hill Homecoming
Continue Playing Half Life 2 Episode 2 and Episode 3
Complete Uncharted on Crushing
Complete Uncharted 2 on Crushing
I also want to pick up Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City in the coming months and add these to the pile. Gold Edition's bonus content will be added to my list, and the GTA stuff will come after I replay and refresh myself on the original GTAIV first.
Additionally before I finish, you will have noticed I'm behind on Game Of The Post updates (as of this post specifically, 5 - but I'll probably do the PS3 updates post - so 6 then) which I will make up for with new posts before any new topical ones. Until then...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Me Vs. IGN + News Thats Not News (Updated)
I've recently had a bee in my bonnet (for lack of better expression) over various websites posting news that's not really news at all on their websites in an attempt to either look like they're trying to crack something open, or just filling their front page with updates that didn't really take anything produce. A great example of this I saw yesterday was on IGN, but before I go further on that a quick rant about why I still have issues with the site leading into this.
I've had a love-hate issue with the site since late 2000 or so, about the time Mark Jung took main control of it as the COO, brought up several billion websites - including decent ones like the excellent GameSages, filled the main site with crap content made by idiots, and almost killed the entire website off... three times in about a year under the company Snowball Inc (which split its stock options several times to keep afloat). One of their big ideas when the company almost went under was to make a section called Insider which charged people a monthly/annual fee for extra content, early content, and early web HD video. The section, which I had access to for a couple of years via a friend who'd gotten his account for free when he purchased a game early on, was very limited on updates. And while it still exists - generally providing specific clean HD records, podcasts and downloadable PDF's of content, these days the company is owned via Fox Media and doesn't have any worries about closing.
In 2002 I posted a copy of a press conference video IGN had posted via Insider when Resident Evil 4 was properly re-announced for release to the Nintendo Gamecube. I had Tal Blevins, who I believe still works for IGN currently, e-mail me with an attempted cease order by making threats of their "legal department" - which didn't exist at the time. The first file I linked to was loaded on GameSpy's server because my good friend Rammy had put it there to reduce load from my host - however I eventually mirrored it and then linked it on my own site. Ironic these days as GameSpy and IGN are both owned and connected by the same parent these days and Tal would have been able to just get the file removed.
Because I didn't back down, this created an argument on the IGN forums where I defended myself clearly and actually won the argument against Tal and the forum users. I never had to take the video down, Tal's legal threats never came through. My point that I proved was that the entire operation was a cash grab because IGN didn't want people getting the video for free when they had the hopes that people would pony up $19.95USD or more just to see it.
Shoot forward to now and I respect IGN a bit more than I did back then. Their content is generally available to all without an attempted cash grab. The site is generally better set out (early layouts were cluttered and harder to navigate). The one thing that has kept it also good is that they have archived everything going back to the PSXOnline and N64.com days... so we're talking 1997 and 1998. While I also have less beef with their reviews as much as I used to (I'd love to think I was one of the first to start using the term IGNorant in description of their content around decade ago, and I never disliked them as much as GameSpot's - something for another time) the one thing I still have a big issue is their news content.
On a day-to-day basis I use Kotaku for my source for my gaming news. It's less cluttered, more precise, more topical, more updated - and the two specific things I love about it which IGN really managed to piss me off about, is Kotaku always credits it's sources and authors correctly and clearly, and their news is generally always news (and more specifically, when it's not its always marked as such).
Of those two things firstly IGN hardly ever cites a source for it's content, unless of course it really is their own exclusive which they splash everywhere all over it. Frequently, and this was an argument used in my video defense, IGN will take news and content (scans of screenshots specifically) from Famitsu and other Japanese magazines without citing a source. This happens less frequently these days than it used to, but I still occasionally will see them do it.
But the one thing above all which annoys me is this thing they frequently do, which is posting news which isn't really news.
What I saw yesterday was a story for Rock Band: Green Day (or Green Day: Rock Band - depending who you talk to). This story which discussed the fact that the game, unlike the other releases - including The Beatles - would not be coming out with a band set. As obvious as this seems.
I don't know IGN - had you neglected the fact that unlike all the other titles EA had released for Rock Band (specifically RB1, RB2, and Beatles), a band set was announced at the same time the game was. Or that most people own a comptable set or could pick one up separated if they didn't because of the reported stacks of equipment that is still currently sitting in stores and warehouses.
Or the fact, which you have also reported on frequently, that the genre has lost a lot of money in the last year... from of all things, saturation - mostly due to Activision's Guitar Hero glut, releasing six titles in as much as 14 months.
Kinda all adds up that releasing this as software only would make obvious and perfect sense, but then again there is the IGN story. Which in the end, after the story being entirely speculation and conjecture based on the fact nothing was announced - EA contacted them to say indeed no hardware will be released and the title will be software only.
Great work guys. Seeing as you just did a preview on the title, maybe tomorrow you can make a story on the parallels between EA making the new Medal of Honor like Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare titles for another bit of news that isn't really at all obvious.
Update - Thus proving that IGN is still not as well supported as I thought, there are discussions online today of a number of IGN staff being let go to keep profit margins up and to allow for future investments in other departments.
I've had a love-hate issue with the site since late 2000 or so, about the time Mark Jung took main control of it as the COO, brought up several billion websites - including decent ones like the excellent GameSages, filled the main site with crap content made by idiots, and almost killed the entire website off... three times in about a year under the company Snowball Inc (which split its stock options several times to keep afloat). One of their big ideas when the company almost went under was to make a section called Insider which charged people a monthly/annual fee for extra content, early content, and early web HD video. The section, which I had access to for a couple of years via a friend who'd gotten his account for free when he purchased a game early on, was very limited on updates. And while it still exists - generally providing specific clean HD records, podcasts and downloadable PDF's of content, these days the company is owned via Fox Media and doesn't have any worries about closing.
In 2002 I posted a copy of a press conference video IGN had posted via Insider when Resident Evil 4 was properly re-announced for release to the Nintendo Gamecube. I had Tal Blevins, who I believe still works for IGN currently, e-mail me with an attempted cease order by making threats of their "legal department" - which didn't exist at the time. The first file I linked to was loaded on GameSpy's server because my good friend Rammy had put it there to reduce load from my host - however I eventually mirrored it and then linked it on my own site. Ironic these days as GameSpy and IGN are both owned and connected by the same parent these days and Tal would have been able to just get the file removed.
Because I didn't back down, this created an argument on the IGN forums where I defended myself clearly and actually won the argument against Tal and the forum users. I never had to take the video down, Tal's legal threats never came through. My point that I proved was that the entire operation was a cash grab because IGN didn't want people getting the video for free when they had the hopes that people would pony up $19.95USD or more just to see it.
Shoot forward to now and I respect IGN a bit more than I did back then. Their content is generally available to all without an attempted cash grab. The site is generally better set out (early layouts were cluttered and harder to navigate). The one thing that has kept it also good is that they have archived everything going back to the PSXOnline and N64.com days... so we're talking 1997 and 1998. While I also have less beef with their reviews as much as I used to (I'd love to think I was one of the first to start using the term IGNorant in description of their content around decade ago, and I never disliked them as much as GameSpot's - something for another time) the one thing I still have a big issue is their news content.
On a day-to-day basis I use Kotaku for my source for my gaming news. It's less cluttered, more precise, more topical, more updated - and the two specific things I love about it which IGN really managed to piss me off about, is Kotaku always credits it's sources and authors correctly and clearly, and their news is generally always news (and more specifically, when it's not its always marked as such).
Of those two things firstly IGN hardly ever cites a source for it's content, unless of course it really is their own exclusive which they splash everywhere all over it. Frequently, and this was an argument used in my video defense, IGN will take news and content (scans of screenshots specifically) from Famitsu and other Japanese magazines without citing a source. This happens less frequently these days than it used to, but I still occasionally will see them do it.
But the one thing above all which annoys me is this thing they frequently do, which is posting news which isn't really news.
What I saw yesterday was a story for Rock Band: Green Day (or Green Day: Rock Band - depending who you talk to). This story which discussed the fact that the game, unlike the other releases - including The Beatles - would not be coming out with a band set. As obvious as this seems.
I don't know IGN - had you neglected the fact that unlike all the other titles EA had released for Rock Band (specifically RB1, RB2, and Beatles), a band set was announced at the same time the game was. Or that most people own a comptable set or could pick one up separated if they didn't because of the reported stacks of equipment that is still currently sitting in stores and warehouses.
Or the fact, which you have also reported on frequently, that the genre has lost a lot of money in the last year... from of all things, saturation - mostly due to Activision's Guitar Hero glut, releasing six titles in as much as 14 months.
Kinda all adds up that releasing this as software only would make obvious and perfect sense, but then again there is the IGN story. Which in the end, after the story being entirely speculation and conjecture based on the fact nothing was announced - EA contacted them to say indeed no hardware will be released and the title will be software only.
Great work guys. Seeing as you just did a preview on the title, maybe tomorrow you can make a story on the parallels between EA making the new Medal of Honor like Activision's Call of Duty Modern Warfare titles for another bit of news that isn't really at all obvious.
Update - Thus proving that IGN is still not as well supported as I thought, there are discussions online today of a number of IGN staff being let go to keep profit margins up and to allow for future investments in other departments.
Monday, March 1, 2010
PS3 Game Updates... [Updated... ironically]
Oh no.... yup it's a rant about this.
It's been a while since I've written in here, but not through lack of want... just been busy with work, friends coming to stay, and most of all gaming. Which of course leads me the point of this update.
Slow downloading, annoyingly large, and almost constant game updates for PS3 titles I own. In fact as I write this right now, one is downloading to my PS3... 226MB in size, the time for the download it tells me it has left currently as I write (at so far 2% downloaded) is 167 mins... anyone feel like watching the extended cut of one of the Lord of the Rings films while we wait? :p
Sadly, while I'd be okay with this on a infrequent basis, it seems to be a overly frequent thing. The issues that make it worse are that you can't background download the patch, and then just install it later. And unlike the 360, you can't download the update off the net and transfer it across - you have to do it while putting the game in.
I currently have 26 PS3 games on my shelf, which includes a couple I've borrowed from a friend at this time... and in the last month or so I've actually played quite a lot of them. Here is a list of updates I've had in just the past month or two of games I've put in the PS3:
Aliens Vs. Predator
Brand new purchase, put the game in... update straight away. Moderately sized and downloaded fast. This won't be the only event like this.
Assassin's Creed II
Patched around the time I was halfway through my playthrough after buying it to fix glitches, including a game ending one. So I was happy to get it.
Bayonetta
Borrowed from friend. Patch still to be installed which fixes some issues and allows you to install the game to the HDD.
Burnout Paradise
Patch is still to be downloaded of around 400MB in size, it was too slow and long for me to care about when last loading. It adds extra content into the game and fixes some stuff, but it was going to take over 200 mins. Legitimate reason I guess.
Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
I swapped this for another game so I only played it for the first time about a month or so back. Small and quick patch.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Patched when I brought it, although it was after the games release. Patch was for fixes plus correcting visuals apparently closer to the 360 version. I felt this one was worth it.
Grand Theft Auto IV
Showed my friend this because he'd never played it. Patch to download still, but haven't. I think this one was the one that added trophies and fixed some issues with Multiplayer. Quite and old one, but seeing as I hadn't put the game in for quite a while it's not surprising.
Heavy Rain
Another brand new purchase but patched on day one. It's the patch I'm currently downloading now, trying to play the game for a bit before work. But that wont happen today.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
I would suspect this is an online update more than anything, but seeing as I haven't played much of this since I originally got it - not surprising it needs some sort of update to a degree, but considering there was nothing I could see wrong with it and it's not the type that probably needs it - then I don't see why either.
Resident Evil 5
Another legitimate reason. Patched the game to add in some content, support the new DLC content and change save files to Ver 2.0, so I'm fine with that. Still haven't downloaded it, but still of point.
Rock Band
I went to transfer my songs from Rock Band 1 to 2, and before I could do it I had to patch the first game.
Rock Band 2
Once I'd been able to transfer my songs to HDD, I loaded up RB2 and.... another update straight out of the box. Was brand new here in NZ at the time, but the game had been out overseas for over a year at least so it seemed like legitimate reason to have had time for an update.
The Orange Box
Large patch on start up. Had been a long time since I'd last played TOB, so it was probably for good reason - and I'd suspsect mostly the online support for TF2.
Uncharted 2: Among Theves
Two updates in a week.... one was an old update from the very end of last year, which I'd not gotten because I'd stopped playing a week or so before the update originally arrived. Downloaded and finished most of the games trophies, was very close to 100% and then they updated again... which affected the Multiplayer and added in new MP trophies the following week. The changes to how the MP works haven't gone down well with players as well.
So around half of the games on my shelf have had updates that needed to be downloaded, and while it looks like it means half of them don't.... it's purely because I haven't put the other games in there. While older titles I have are less likely to have them, there could be a few that do.
I think I'll come back to this topic next time and I'll go through and test the remaining titles on my shelf...
UPDATE: Today the PSN crashed for people with older "Fat" PS3's much like myself, and my trophies have disappeared from AVP. Oddly enough the PSN seems to keep these updates separate and loading in, you could still potentially patch games. However the other issue with the fault is that certain games wont let you play them, even offline - like AVP and Heavy Rain. What a day to make this rant huh?
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