Tag: PS3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Character Creation Screens

Here are a bunch of screens of the character creation process in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The screenshots show the facial presets for the game’s various races. Head shots of argonians, dark elves, nords, orcs, and more are included. Some of you will recall that Skyrim was in my E3 2011 personal top five. My head is currently swimming with character creation ideas. I want to play now!!!

How about you? What kind of character do you plan on playing as in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?

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PlayStation Home Getting Massive Overhaul: Do You Care?

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that PlayStation Home will be getting a massive redesign later this year. The new PlayStation Home will feature “an all-new hub that integrates games, quests, community events and user-generated content, while providing players with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options.” Here’s the rundown of Home’s “new core experience” from today’s press release:

  • The Hub: The new, futuristic Hub brings games directly to players with a featured game front-and-center upon login, the Activity Board where players can engage in quests and community activities, and a direct path to free games via the teleporter.
  • Action District: A gathering place for the hardcore demographic, the Action District has a gritty, urban feel reminiscent of a first-person shooter level and provides a direct travel point to action and horror games.
  • Sportswalk: The Sportswalk has an exciting outside-the-stadium feel with instant major league sports scores, headlines and highlights, ample space for sports-themed games and provides direct travel points to sports-related games.
  • Adventure District: The Adventure District drops you in a lush island jungle with an air of mystery, hidden treasure and discovery, where players will be able to launch directly into adventure-themed games.
  • Pier Park: A waterfront boardwalk leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games. Take a ride on the Pier Park Ferris wheel or visit the arcade for some bright entertainment.

I really wanted to like PlayStation Home when I first learned about it. Unfortunately, the project I learned about was nothing like the product that launched. Dueling ideologies transformed Home into something I was looking forward to into something I find extremely boring. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that Home is very popular. I just don’t understand why people are digging it. Perhaps the new PlayStation Home will be more to my liking.

How about you? Are you looking forward to the new PlayStation Home? Or does it still seem boring?

Serah Kicks Ass in the Latest Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screens

The latest batch of Final Fantasy XIII-2 screens shows Serah Farron in action. As you can tell from the images, she’s no longer Lightning’s little sister that needs protection. She kicks all sorts of ass with a bow and sword. With the way that many Asian people switch R’s and L’s, I’m calling her Serah Fallon…which makes her related to Jimmy Fallon.

Anyway, check out the screens and let me know what you think (please)!

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This Week’s Videogame Releases

After several dry weeks in August, there are finally some great games coming out! Deus Ex: Human Revolution has been getting a ton of hype. I loved the original and can’t wait to dive into this one. Gamers looking to show off their martial prowess online will want to pick up Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition. A lot of hardcore gamers feel that this game is the pinnacle of 2D fighting. On Sunday, Nintendo will have four great old games rebranded as $19.99 Nintendo Selects for Wii.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

PlayStation 3 Getting NFL Sunday Ticket for $339.95

Sony Computer Entertainment America and DirecTV have announced that the popular NFL Sunday Ticket subscription package will be available on the PlayStation 3 for $339.95. The subscription will let gamers view every out-of-market NFL game. Considering that NFL football is the most popular sport in America, this is an enormous deal. Here’s more from Sony Computer Entertainment America senior vice president Philip Rosenberg:

At the start of the season, viewers who do not currently have access to DirecTV will be able to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket at the season price of $339.95. Existing DirecTV customers can access the service on their PS3 for an additional $50 and use the PS3 as an additional receiver for your home.

NFL Sunday Ticket is a DirecTV-exclusive sports package that offers:

  • Up to 14 NFL games every Sunday
  • Full HD for every football game
  • DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel

Like I said, this is a huge deal for the American market. With this announcement and the recent PlayStation 3 price cut, I wonder if any American consumers will use the PS3 as a way to compensate for DirecTV unavailability. $340 is a lot of money, but if you can’t get DirecTV then this is a reasonable option. Hell, if you can get DirecTV but don’t care about its programming packages then this can save you money in the long run.

Are any of you tempted by this deal? Imagine if the PS3 launched with this partnership? The console wars would have played out so differently in America. Also, where’s my Manchester City subscription package for real football?!? (Half-joke)

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[I wanted to post this story yesterday, but my crap web host decided to take the day off. Never use AnHosting.]

PlayStation 3 Price Cut to $250

[Updated 9:10PM PDT] Sony has just announced that the PlayStation 3 160GB model has been price cut to $250 effective immediately. I’m waiting for the official press release, but for now check out that image of the “official” tweet from the PlayStation account. For those of you that don’t have a PS3, are you going to buy one for $250?

[Update: Here’s a clip from the press release with the official price of multiple models in multiple territories.]

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that the PlayStation®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system with 160GB hard disk drive (HDD), currently available at a recommended retail price (RRP) of 29,980 yen (including tax), $299 and euro 299, will be available at a very attractive new RRP of 24,980 yen (including tax) for Japan, $249 for North America and euro 249 for Europe/PAL territories. SCE will also reduce the price of the PS3® system with 320GB HDD, currently available at a RRP of 34,980 yen (including tax), $349 and euro 349, to RRP of 29,980 yen (including tax), $299 and euro 299. The new pricing will be immediately effective for North America and Europe/PAL territories, and starting August 18, 2011 for Japan.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screens are Moogletastic!

I’m loving the latest batch of Final Fantasy XIII-2 screens. They’re full of moogle goodness! Several of the shots show the game’s moogle in cutscenes and in action. In addition to being awesomely cute, the moogle fits into the combat and puzzle aspects of FFXIII-2. There’s also this cool shot of Serah wielding a comically large bow. It’s amazing that her skinny arms can even lift it!

Anyway, please check out the screens and share your thoughts on ’em. Kupo!!!

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Coffee Talk #382: Achievements, Trophies, and Gaming Habits

Achievements and trophies have added a new twist to gaming. These kinds of rewards are arguably the biggest change this console generation has introduced. For the most part, gamers seem to love them. It’s fun getting a…

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, Amazon’s HTML5 iPad Kindle site, traveling to Utah to break office windows, or the Wisconsin recall, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Achievements and trophies have added a new twist to gaming. These kinds of rewards are arguably the biggest change this console generation has introduced. For the most part, gamers seem to love them. It’s fun getting a virtual pat on the back during the game. It’s fun getting meaningless points for the sake of having them. Achievements and trophies add a layer of permanent fulfillment that complements the satisfaction of clearing a level or beating a game.

That said, they’ve also changed the way many of us play games. I’m not much of an achievement whore, but I have a lot of friends that are. Some of my friends will keep playing a game after they’ve beaten it just to get all the achievements or trophies. On one hand, they’re getting more value out of a game. On the other hand, they’re not particularly enjoying it; they’re just obsessed with the virtual rewards. A lot of my friend endure mediocre or crap games just to get some extra trophies.

Compared to previous console generations, I play more games well after I’ve beaten them thanks to achievements. I’ve also kept with mediocre games for longer than I should have because of trophies. Have these rewards changed your gaming habits? Do you play longer than you used to because of them? Have you beaten crappy games just to boost your gamerscore? Have any of you pulled a Ted Regulski (beat all those crappy Burger King Xbox 360 games just for achievements)?!?

Thanks to bsukenyan for inspiring today’s column with this comment!

Watch Ken Levine Talk About BioShock Infinite

Check out this interview of Irrational Games’ Ken Levine talking about BioShock Infinite. The game was one of the best things I saw at E3 2011. Ken is awesome, BioShock Infinite will likely be awesome, and your day will be better for this double dose of awesomeness.

Check out this interview of Irrational Games’ Ken Levine talking about BioShock Infinite. The game was one of the best things I saw at E3 2011. Ken is awesome, BioShock Infinite will likely be awesome, and your day will be better for this double dose of awesomeness.

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Coffee Talk #381: I Dream of Next-Gen Consoles with SSD

Back in November 2009 we discussed our next-gen console dreams. At the time, my dream was for a TiVo-enabled console. While that dream is still alive, I have another wish for next-gen consoles…

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 awesomeness of Curb Your Enthusiasm, finding solutions for your crap web host, or the future of HSPA+, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Back in November 2009 we discussed our next-gen console dreams. At the time, my dream was for a TiVo-enabled console. While that dream is still alive, I have another wish for next-gen consoles: solid state hard drives. With the introduction of hard drives in consoles, load times are much shorter than when games ran entirely off of discs. That said, load times still happen and they still piss me off. While the power of the PlayStation 3 is impressive, it’s annoying when it’s held up by a 5,400 rpm platter drive.

Solid state drives (SSDs) are much more suitable for keeping up with powerful CPUs and GPUs than platter-based drives. The throughput levels aren’t even close. It truly is a tortoise vs. hare comparison. In practical terms, look at the boot times of a MacBook Air (SSD) vs. a MacBook equipped with a 5,400 rpm drive. Next-get consoles with SSDs would start up faster and have considerably less load times than today’s consoles. As an added bonus, SSDs are much more durable and far less prone to failure than platter drives — a nifty benefit of not having moving (fragile) parts.

Best of all, the next-generation PlayStation and Xbox machines should hit sometime between 2013 and 2014. By then, the cost of a 256GB SSD should be cheap enough for a home console. Hell, if they don’t arrive until 2014 then maybe a 512GB SSD would be an option! Ah, the dream….

Anyway, that’s my latest next-gen console dream. What do you think of using SSDs in future consoles? How have your console dreams evolved since November 2009?