Final Fantasy XIII is obviously the big deal this week, but there are actually quite a few interesting games that you should keep your eye on. Also coming out for PlayStation and Xbox 360 is Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
The handheld systems have some cool things going on too. The DS has Foto Showdown
As always, let your fellow RPadholics and me know if you’re picking up any new games this week!
Last night at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Michael Giacchino snagged an Oscar for best original score for Up, adding another accolade to his phenomenal career. While he’s gained fame for his work on Lost, The Incredibles, Ratataouille, and more, Giacchino got his start in games. From The Lost World: Jurassic park to numerous Medal of Honor titles to several Call of Duty games, he has composed some of the best soundtracks in gaming.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Oscar Awards, the outstanding HBO documentary on Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird, or wrestling’s Monday night wars, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
New Coffee: Totally forgot about this, but I opened a bag of Colombia La Piramide Reserva from Stumptown last week.
Last night at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, Michael Giacchino snagged an Oscar for best original score for Up, adding another accolade to his phenomenal career. While he’s gained fame for his work on Lost, The Incredibles, Ratataouille, and more, Giacchino got his start in games. From The Lost World: Jurassic park to numerous Medal of Honor titles to several Call of Duty games, he has composed some of the best soundtracks in gaming.
As someone that’s followed his career for more than a decade, I’m thrilled for Giacchino’s success. Every time he snags an award, he creates an opportunity for people to learn about the gaming world. His success brings attention, prestige, and legitimacy to the relatively young business of videogames. I know he’s busy with movies and television, but I hope he still has time to create music for the medium that helped get him to where he is today.
Out of curiosity, do you have a favorite Michael Giacchino soundtrack? I absolutely love the score for The Incredibles. Giacchino’s music is one of the reasons The Incredibles is high on my list of all-time favorite movies. Let me know some of your Giacchino favorites when you have a chance.
Sony has filed an interesting patent for software that will cause game demos to lose functionality over time. Siliconera reported:
Sony appears to be working on a new kind of video game demo. A patent filed by SCEA details a system that gives users a full or nearly complete game to play with, but slowly removes features until you buy it.
The software has customizable triggers that disable features after a set number of plays or lapsed play time. Let’s see some theoretical examples of how this could work.
The good news is that gamers will get try more of a game before they make a purchasing decision. The bad news is that the practice is a little evil. The first thing that I thought was, “Great! Sony is following the crack-cocaine model. The first time is free!” Seriously though, depending on how it’s used, the software could be fantastic or it could piss of millions of gamers. I can’t wait to see it in practice.
What do you think? It this kind of software smart of evil? Clever or devious?
Game Informer has revealed that the sequel to Portal — one of the most unique and creative games I’ve played in the last few years — will be released this holiday season! Here’s what you can learn in the latest issue of GI.
Our 12-page cover story gives you the first details on Portal 2’s new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists.
I’m super-psyched for this game! How about you guys and dolls?
Gamers that want to express their sexual orientation, religious belief, and race on Xbox Live will be able to do so thanks to a Gamertag update from Microsoft. According to Gamasutra:
Microsoft is making changes to its Xbox Live Code of Conduct to expand the kinds of Gamertags it allows — which means users can now have tags that indicate their sexual orientation, religion or race.
I love this move. It gives gamers more choices in how they can identify themselves to other players.
Are you guys going to reveal more information? Do you like that Microsoft has allowed this? Or are you all “don’t ask, don’t tell” when it comes to race, religion, and sexual orientation?
In the immortal words of Barry Manilow and Shania Twain, “Looks like we made it.” Yes, it’s Coffee Talk #100!!! Thank you all so much for your support and readership. Today I’m going to be a little selfish and write about me. What I wanted to tell you all on this special day is that I am not a journalist. I am a verbal entertainer.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, American Idol voters hating Asian people, Apple laying the smack down on HTC, or the iPad going on sale in less than a month, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
In the immortal words of Barry Manilow and Shania Twain, “Looks like we made it.” Yes, it’s Coffee Talk #100!!! Thank you all so much for your support and readership. Today I’m going to be a little selfish and write about me. What I wanted to tell you all on this special day is that I am not a journalist. I am a verbal entertainer.
Most people that write about games for enthusiast outlets are not journalists — not in the sense of reporting. Certainly there are exceptions. Leigh Alexander, Patrick Klepek, and Stepehen Totilo are fine reporters. Most “game journalists” are actually critics. Some are just hacks that vomit thousands of words on a single game just to get multiple page views. I’m not any of those things.
Nobody is going to use it, but I prefer the label “verbal entertainer”. Reporting news isn’t my priority. Most game reviews are crap and and most people/outlets don’t know who they’re reviewing for, so I don’t want to be called a game critic. I use the term “game writer” a lot, but that should probably be saved for people that write scripts for games (like the totally outstanding WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010!).
What I like to do is entertain you. Whether it’s through cool discussion, goofy video interviews, or asking developers your questions on PadCasts, my goal is to make your day a little bit more fun. Whether you read my words or listen to them, my motivation is similar to Robbie Williams’ — “Let Me Entertain You”!
My name is Raymond Padilla…and I approve this message this. That’s not right. I meant, this…is American Idol! That’s not right either… Oh yeah! I’m a verbal entertainer!!!
With the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XIII getting a nice technical comparison from Digital Foundry, I thought it would be a good time to ask you which version of the game you’re getting. As for me, of course I’m getting it on the PS3! Reona Rewis 4 life!!!
[poll id=”30″]
The fine people at Digital Foundry have posted a technical comparison of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XIII. As expected, the PlayStation 3 version is superior. Here’s DF’s conclusion:
“Adequate but a touch disappointing” best sums up the Xbox 360 version. Fine edges lose precision, and while the effect is mitigated thanks to the MSAA along with the multitude of post processing effects the engine has at its disposal, the fact is that the lack of resolution can make the 360 build look sub-par. The clean CG look of the PS3 game in motion is unduly compromised, and while it’s still a handsome enough title on Xbox 360, it lacks the pristine presentation of its sibling.
If you’re interested in high-level graphics talk, the article is definitely worth checking out. The read reminded me of my PC Magazine Labs days when we’d scream at each other about competing graphics card technologies. Ha!
Hmmmm, I think I’ll start a poll while I’m at it.
Rumors of a PSP phone have been floating around for a few years, but the latest word comes from the prestigious Wall Street Journal. Here’s what the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper had to say about a mobile phone that happens to play PSP games:
Threatened by Apple Inc.’s growing stable of portable devices, Sony Corp. is developing a new lineup of handheld products, including a smart phone capable of downloading and playing videogames, according to people familiar with the matter.
It sounds like a great idea, but the mobile phone market is so crowded. Apple’s iPhone OS is popular with consumers around the world. Google’s Android OS is rapidly growing its installed base. Nokia’s Symbian is still hugely popular in Asia and Europe. Microsoft will be going large with Windows Phone 7 Series in late 2010. Heck, even Palm is struggling with its polished and innovative WebOS. Is there room for another player?
While playing PSP games on a phone would be cool, the rumored device would need more to compete with the aforementioned mobile operating systems. I doubt this will happen, but a Sony phone that featured a custom build of Android and PSP functionality would be terribly interesting.
Sony is allegedly working on another device that “blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable”.
What do you think of all these Sony PSP phone rumors? Would you be interested in one?
Someone should file this under Modern Publisher Warfare 2. *snicker* As some of you know, former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have filed a lawsuit against Activision through O’Melveny & Myers. While lawsuits in the gaming business are nothing new and seldom interesting, I found it amusing that the law firm issued a press release to publicize the case. Here’s a quote on the lawsuit from attorney Robert Schwartz:
Activision has refused to honor the terms of its agreements and is intentionally flouting the fundamental public policy of this State (California) that employers must pay their employees what they have rightfully earned. Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual ‘investigation’ into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of ‘insubordination’ and ‘breach of fiduciary duty,’ which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.
Honestly, I lost interest in the whole affair on Tuesday. I don’t think it’s as big a deal or as interesting as some people in the gaming press are making it out to be. That said, some of you appear to be interested in it so I thought I’d post the quote and a link to the press release.
Just to check myself, are you still interested in the Activision vs. West/Zampella feud?
