Coming this Thursday on Sony’s PlayStation Network is Fret Nice from Tecmo, a cute platformer that’s played with a guitar controller. The game is so novel that it deserves its own post (complete with video!). Here’s what Tecmo producer Ray Murakawa had to say about the game’s origins:
The game actually started as a degree thesis project and as that aimed at looking into the concept of adding an unorthodox game controller into an ordinary game genre such as the 2D platformer to see what benefits could be drawn from the new way of controlling the game. Although the game has since evolved to being not so much about the academic side of things, the guitar controller and what it can be used for in its new context has always been the essence of Fret Nice’s design.
I’m probably going to download it this week simply because it’s cool and different. Any of you interested?
PlayStation 3 owners in Japan will get to choose between two 500GB external hard drives from Buffalo to use with the PS3’s upcoming DVR software. According toAndriasang:
PC hardware maker Buffalo is about to take new steps in official PlayStation licensing. The company announced today two external hard drives that have been granted official recognition from Sony. According to Buffalo, this is the first time Sony has granted licensing to hard drive peripherals, a move that comes in anticipation of March’s release of PS3’s “Torne” digital video recorder kit.
Although Torne is a huge step towards my dream console, I’m not sold on the USB 2.0 connection these hard drives will use. That’s more than enough bandwidth for SD recordings, but I’d worry about HD recordings. The likely scenario is the Torne will use the PS3’s considerable power for some aggressive compression. The other choice is leaving the data relatively uncompressed, in which case I’d worry about hiccups in the connection.
Are you ladies and gents interested in using your PS3 as a DVR?
In addition to handing out nifty posters for God of War III pre-orders, 7-Eleven and Sony Computer Entertainment of America will be teaming up next month for God of War “Kratos Fury” Slurpees in Kratos cups. Hopefully they don’t actually taste like Kratos. Here’s a bit from the press release:
Starting on February 1 through March 31 God of War fans can collect all four exclusive Kratos-themed cups at their local, participating 7-Eleven while quenching their thirst with Kratos Fury, a blackberry and lime-flavored Slurpee beverage created by Mountain Dew and 7-Eleven specifically for the Kratos Slurpee program. With each Slurpee purchase fans can collect codes that can be redeemed at www.Slurpee.com for God of War and Slurpee-themed content in advance of the general public release.
I rarely go to 7-Eleven, but I’m sure as hell going next week for some Kratos Fury! Who’s coming with me?!?
With all the great games coming out in Q1 2010, I kind of forgot about White Knight Chronicles for PlayStation 3. The game is coming out next week, sandwiched between Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. I want to play it, but I don’t think I’ll have time until (much) later. How about ladies and gents? Is it on your radar? Does this trailer make you want to pick it up?
I attended a screening of Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic on Tueday. It was full of ultra-violence, disturbing imagery, cool animation, and vagina-shaped thingies. As a standalone animated film, it was okay. As an animated film that promotes a game, it totally succeeded in making me want to play Dante’s Inferno. Here are some assorted thoughts (not a review!) on the movie.
In the first few seconds, I was impressed with the animation style and was expecting something fairly realistic. The first three minutes of the film shattered all of my expectations. It went something like this:
Minute One: Dante’s horse flies upside down. For a second I thought he was attempting to do M. Bison’s “psycho crusher” from Street Fighter.
Minute Two: Dante returns home to find the slaughtered remains of his family and servants. This was just a taste of the gore that was about to come.
Minute Three: The spirit of Dante’s beloved Beatrice Portinari goes full frontal. This was just a taste of the boobs and vaginae that were were about to come.
So yeah! The animation style was impressive and disturbing in that tentacle-porn way. Compared to Planet Hulk, an animated film I recently saw, the art style and technique were out of this world. That said, some people might not like that several different animation studios with distinct art styles contributed to this movie. One of my friends in atendance didn’t like how disjointed and inconsistent everything was. In some scenes, Dante was thin and had long hair. In other scenes he was buff and had short hair. His appearance during the flashbacks reflected whatever style a particular animation house was using.
Perhaps I’m giving the film too much credit, but I chalked it up to journeying through a spiritual realm and perception changing in the various Circles of Hell. Hmmm, after typing that thought, I’m definitely giving the film too much credit.
Oh yeah, the Nine Circles of Hell hurts and works for this movie. Starting in the real world, traveling through the Nine Circles, and having flashbacks is a lot to do in an 88-minute movie. It definitely feels rushed and sometimes forced. Death’s Scythe — one of Dante’s two major weapons — isn’t explained at all; it seems like it’s just a random object Dante finds early in the movie and keeps for the next 84 minutes. Virgil’s introduction is done in like 15 seconds, “Hey, I’m Virgil! You loved my poetry and I’ll be your guide. Try the veal!” The way it does work is that it teases each circle as a level. It made me want to see more of each level and all of the boss fights.
The violence in the movie is completely over-the-top and it can be lots of fun. Some of the fight scenes were awesome, but by the end of the film I had my fill. The impact of Dante’s showdown with Lucifer was lost on me because my brain couldn’t process any more violence. If crazy fight scenes are your thing then you’ll love this flick. It makes Kill Bill look like Bambi.
There are some people — a certain game designer with a masters in English that’s working on BioShock 2 comes to mind — that will be offended by the movie’s liberties. Sure, a lot of details were altered, but the movie (and presumably the game) had far more accuracies than I was expecting. If it gets people interested in The Divine Comedy and leads to gamers reading the books, that’s just a fantastic thing. Besides, if you were expecting a literal translation in this movie or the game then you’re just stupid.
Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic comes out on February 9, 2010 — the same week as the game. This is a mistake. It should be out now to generate more interest in the game. As a marketing tool, it excels at making people want to play on PS3 and Xbox 360. Few people are going to want to buy it after playing. It entertained me, but it’s hard to recommend it as a Blu-ray or DVD purchase. I do think it would be an excellent impulse download on PSN or Xbox Live, so long as you’re expecting tons of gratuitous violence, gallons of blood, and vagina walls.
Sony Online Entertainment has released a batch of renders and concept art for Zatanna Zatara in DC Universe Online for PC and PS3. One of the reasons I prefer DC over Marvel is its excellent secondary characters. Zatanna totally fits the bill. She’s a sexy lady in a ridiculous costumer (fishnets?!?) and her formidable powers come from saying words backwards. It’s so wacky that I love it (and her)! Hopefully her stupid alternate costumer with the dumb headpiece will be available as well.
Renowned iPhone hacker George Hotz (aka Geohot) has released a hack for the PS3 that will allegedly allow tinkerers to use the system for potentially fun, mischievous, and nefarious purposes. He stated:
This is the coveted PS3 exploit, gives full memory access and therefore ring 0 access from OtherOS. Enjoy your hypervisor dumps. This is known to work with version 2.4.2 only, but I imagine it works on all current versions.
Sony’s system has held up well for three years, but it was only a matter of time before hackers cracked it. It will be interesting to see if Sony launches a volley of firmware updates to counteract the hackery. For consumers, it will be interesting to see if the homebrew and emulation scenes become as big as they are on the PSP.
Some of you use old iPhone firmware or jailbroken iPhones to take advantage of…unofficial software. Would you do the same with your PS3?
Can’t wait for Heavy Rain for Sony PlayStation 3? I’m sure a lot of you are in that boat (me too!). To help market the game and add some hype, Sony has launched the Heavy Rain: Four Days online game to help tide you over until its release. Sony Computer Entertainment of America product marketing manager Jefferson Dong (aka “The Donger”) served up some details on Four Days Challenge:
You can experience “Four Days”: The Heavy Rain Online Experience, a live online mystery that plays out in real time across three weeks, drawing you into the mystery and lore of the Heavy Rain universe. Between Tuesday and Friday every week there will be daily tasks for you to complete (leaving you the weekend to catch up if you fall behind). Each task will lead you to the next part of the journey. At certain key stages you will be prompted, while on other occasions you will need to deduce the right thing to do.
I like that publishers are using online games to create excitement for console games. EA and BioWare did a fine job with Dragon Age: Journeys, though that title offered items that could be imported into the main game. With the wizardry of HTML 5, I’m sure these online games will get even cooler in the future.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America product marketing manager Chris Munson announced that gamers that pre-order MLB 10: The Show will receive a free voucher for six classic baseball stadiums that can be used in the game. The ballparks include:
The Polo Grounds (New York Mets)
Shibe Park (Philadelphia Phillies)
Forbes Field (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Crosley Field (Cincinnati Reds)
Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals)
Griffith Stadium (Washington Senators)
As a longtime baseball fan, I love this perk. I probably would have paid for the parks as DLC. Getting them for free is a great incentive to pre-order.
On a side note, the inclusion of The Polo Grounds reminded me of RPadholic and excellent pal @jpkmets. I’m sure he’d love to play on the old field.
Okay baseball fans, does this pre-order bonus make you want to drop money on a game sooner rather than later?
for PlayStation 3. The game is coming out next week, sandwiched between Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. I want to play it, but I don’t think I’ll have time until (much) later. How about ladies and gents? Is it on your radar? Does this trailer make you want to pick it up?
on Tueday. It was full of ultra-violence, disturbing imagery, cool animation, and vagina-shaped thingies. As a standalone animated film, it was okay. As an animated film that promotes a game, it totally succeeded in making me want to play 
. Here are some assorted thoughts (not a review!) on the movie.
for Sony PlayStation 3? I’m sure a lot of you are in that boat (me too!). To help market the game and add some hype, Sony has launched the 
will receive a free voucher for six classic baseball stadiums that can be used in the game. The ballparks include: