Category: PS3

Rock Band 3 Will Have a Keyboard: Do You Care?

I liked the conversation you guys had with yesterday’s “Do You Care?” article about Killzone 3. It was simple and totally fit in with the spirit of the site (you guys!). So let’s try it again! The demo for Green Day: Rock Band teased that Rock Band 3 will have a keyboard peripheral. A few of my journalist friends confirmed that they learned this at a recent press event (I’m guessing the info was/is under NDA). Do you care that Rock Band 3 will have a keyboard?

Personally, I think it’s great. On the ridiculous side, people can rock out to Europe or Jem and the Holograms. Being (more) serious, there are so many great songs with prominent keyboard or piano parts. Hell, just look at all the great Elton John songs that could take advantage of a keyboard peripheral. When I first heard about the news, Bon Jovi immediately popped into my head; David Bryan’s keyboard and piano playing are a really underrated facet of the band’s sound. He adds a great layer to so many Bon Jovi songs and his contributions are often overlooked.

So yeah! The question again is do you care that Rock Band 3 will have a keyboard? Well…do ya?!?

HBO Content Available for PS3 and PSP Through PSN

Sony has announced that HBO content is now available on the PlayStation Network and can be viewed through PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles. Episodes of Entourage, True Blood, Rome, Da Ali G Show, Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Eastbound and Down, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, and Flight of the Conchords are available. The content will be updated on a weekly basis.

As a huge fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage, I love this addition. Episodes will be available around the same time they’re released on DVD. The good news is that you can just buy the episodes you like for $3 a pop instead of buying the whole set. I’m hoping that HBO boxing content will hit PSN, but I don’t expect that to happen.

Any of you excited by this news? How many of you are going to fill your PS3 hard drives with Sex and the City Episodes?

Killzone 3 Will be in 3D: Do You Care?

Sony has officially announced Killzone 3 for PlayStation 3 and confirmed that it will be playable in stereoscopic 3D. While it’s important for Sony’s first-party games to push new technologies and Sony as a whole to offer games that encourage consumers to buy its stereoscopic 3D televisions, I was wondering how much it matters to you. Do you care that Killzone 3 is in 3D? Does it make you want a 3D television? Or will it take more than that? If so, how much more?

Would You Like Google TV on Your PS3?

My friend Jason asked me an interesting question about Google TV: “who will be the first console to get GTV built in…hmmm?” Well, Sony already announced that it will offer televisions with Google TV built in, so if it came to any console, wouldn’t it be more likely to hit the PlayStation 3? This is total speculation of course, but how cool would it be to have a service like Google TV on your console? I’d go for it in a heartbeat. How about you? Can you picture Kaz Hirai introducing a Google executive at Sony’s E3 2010 press conference? The two of them could give a Microsoft a Degeneration-X crotch chop.  “Are you ready?”

This Weeks’ Videogame Releases

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is out, exclusively for Wii. Are you one of those people that said Shigeru Miyamoto is “out of touch” and that the gaming business has passed him by? If so, explain why this game is so great. In other exclusive news, ModNation Racers is hitting both Sony platforms. Lastly, UFC Undisputed 2010 and Blur are hitting multiple platforms.

Any of you guys and dolls picking up any of this week’s new games?

PSN Premium Service to be Unveiled at E3 2010?

In addition to the rumors that Sony will announce the PSP2 at E3 2010, VG247 has heard that the company will also unveil a premium PSN service at its press conference. The service is said to include one free PSN title a month (from a limited selection) and a streaming music service similar to Spotify. The site’s sources pegged the pricing at £50. If that’s accurate, I’d expect the American price would be lower since Microsoft’s competing Xbox Live Gold service is $50 a year. (£50 is approximately $61 at the moment.)

The streaming music service is the most interesting tidbit to me. Since Sony has movie and music divisions, it could include streaming movies/music in a premium PSN package to greatly differentiate itself from Xbox Live Gold. However, Sony’s various divisions have not played well in the past so that’s probably just a pipe dream.

Any thoughts on this PSN premium rumor? What would you want to see in the service?

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UFC Undisputed 2010 Developer Diary: Online Fight Camps

Here’s a cool UFC Undisputed 2010 developer diary on one of the game’s new online features — fight camps. An MMA fighter’s teammates and training partners can play a huge part in his success. This online mode lets gamers replicate the “camp” feeling. In this video, Undisputed Producer Neven Dravinski and MMA Manager Ed Soares discuss the new feature.

I know RPadholic Big Blak is really looking forward to this game. Anyone else planning on picking it up? Want to start an RPad.tv stable? We could rule the MMA world!

This Week’s Videogame Releases

After several weeks of boring releases, mid-May delivers with authority! The Xbox 360 exclusive Alan Wake is out this week and numerous critics have compared it to Sony’s Heavy Rain, but with broader appeal. On the multiplatform kick there’s Red Dead Redemption, Split / Second, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. Last but not least is Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow for Nintendo DS.

With all the great games available this week, I want to know if you’re planning on picking anything up. Please let me know!

Is Final Fantasy XIII More of an Adventure Game Than an RPG?

BioWare writing director Daniel Erickson made lots of noise yesterday in an interview with Strategy Informer by stating that Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII is not an RPG. It’s an interesting stance and a great starting point for discussion. Before I get to that, here’s the exact quote:

You can put a ‘J’ in front of it, but it’s not an RPG. You don’t make any choices, you don’t create a character, you don’t live your character… I don’t know what those are — adventure games maybe? But they’re not RPG’s.

I agree with two of his three points. You don’t make choices or create characters in FFXIII, but I definitely enjoyed viewing things from the characters’ perspectives. The characterization is one of the game’s strongest points. That said, is FFXIII more of an adventure game than a true RPG? Or has the definition of what an RPG is evolved over time? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that matter!

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NPD Hardware Sales Figures for April 2010

NPD Group released its console sales data for April 2010. This is the first time that I didn’t see any numbers for the PlayStation 2. Is the sun finally setting on Sony’s ridiculously popular console? How did the boys and girls at Microsoft and Nintendo fare? Digest April’s numbers as I digest a Cadbury Creme Egg in honor of Easter month.

  • Nintendo DS: 440,800
  • Wii: 277,200
  • Xbox 360: 185,400
  • PlayStation 3: 180,800
  • PSP: 65,500

It was a slow month for all systems except for the Nintendo DS, which continues to shatter records and sell like MacDoubles. Four months into the year and the PS3 is holding its own against the Xbox 360. Unless it has a killer Q4 — which is certainly possible — I don’t see how the PS3 overtakes the Xbox 360 in North America, as some analysts have predicted.

Now it’s time for you to play Jesse Divnich and Michael Pachter. What do you think of April’s console sales numbers?