You can follow your favorite blogs and receive updates here. Add some people Blogs you follow » | write a new blogmanage blogs view your pageblogging tips | commentsmessagesaccountlogout |
Inside Network analyst and awesome-name-haver Billy Pidgeon has declared that Sony must follow Nintendo's lead and cut the PS Vita's price if it wants the ailing handheld to succeed. In addition, he has called for more and better games -- certainly a boon to any gaming device!
"Although the hardware is high quality, Sony may need to follow Nintendo's lead and cut price drastically next year if the installed base remains below five million or the platform will not be viable for publishers," he told NowGamer. "Also the proprietary memory cards for PS Vita are prohibitively expensive.
"There should be more downloadable software, including inexpensive or free games, and these must be higher quality than popular iOS and Android games. It would in fact be helpful if the best and most popular smartphone and tablet games were also available for download to PS Vita."
He was quick to point out that the Vita's not been all bad, taking note of hot titles like Assassin's Creed III: Liberation and Persona 4 Golden. However, despite an improvement to sales, he believes the system could be much stronger than it currently is, and I don't think anybody could argue that.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has some big shoes to fill. While the arena battle genre isn't exactly bursting at the seams these days, the inevitable cloud of Super Smash Bros. looms over Sony in more ways than they care to admit.
Most of you probably just want me to outright tell you whether or not All-Stars is as good as Smash Bros. and be done with it. Nope, I'm not going to answer that -- All-Stars should be judged on its own merits.
And based on those merits, it excels.
As Destructoid's resident JRPG critic and a vocal fan of Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei franchise, I get questions about the Persona series all the time:
What's the big deal? What is the story about? Which one is the best one? Do I have to play all of the games in order? Are they all 100 hours long? What's with the guns to the head?
'Where do I start?' is the question I get most often. And I usually reply with something along the lines of 'any of them are fine.' But with the release of Persona 4 Golden my answer has officially changed.
If you've never played a Persona game before, start with Persona 4 Golden, as it's the most enjoyable release yet.
[Full Disclosure: Not only do current and former Destructoid staff appear as unlockable character skins in the game, there's also a main story mission during which you go inside a giant Mr. Destructoid robot. For these reasons, we are withholding a score.]
Ten years is a long time to spend on anything, yet developer Brian Provinciano was determined to see his dream project through to the end. It may have started as a demake of Grand Theft Auto III, but Retro City Rampage is imbued with the spirit of all the biggest games, movies, and pop culture phenomenons from the past three decades.
And it's finally here!
I've been able to take my time with RCR, savoring everything that it has to offer. Chances are most of you have purchased it by now, but for those on the fence or waiting for the WiiWare and XBLA versions to be dated, I'd like to share some kind words.
The biggest problem with the PlayStation Vita is that many titles don't quite "get" it. Either they go in deep with all manner of touchscreen hybridization at the cost of player comfort, or they concentrate so hard on providing a full console experience they forget people don't always have over an hour to spare when playing on the road.
Ragnarok Odyssey is such a success because it gets the PlayStation Vita. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it's damn near perfect as an example of exactly how Vita games should be. This, right here, is a masterclass in handheld software design.
Art by LoveChin88
[Update: Here is a revised version of the commercial with Jerry Lambert removed.]
Sony is in the process of suing Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek Inc over a recent TV commercial where a character played by actor Jerry Lambert enjoys playing Mario Kart Wii for a few seconds. Jerry Lambert is the actor who had played Kevin Butler, the fictional Vice President of various Playstation departments, in Sony's "It Only Does Everything" and "Long Live Play" advertising campaigns.
Who is Wildcat Creek Inc? Well, according to Corporation Wiki, they are a company owned by none other than Jerry Lambert.
Sony is claiming damages based on Bridgestone's use of the Kevin Butler character to "sell products other than those of Playstation". The thing is, the character that Jerry Lambert played in the Bridgestone commercial was not Kevin Butler. He wasn't even advertising a Nintendo product. He was just a Bridgestone worker getting into Mario Kart Wii when he should have been working (in order to help promote a Wii giveaway contest through Bridgestone).
The main thing I'm taking from this is that if I ever appear as a character in a Sony commercial, then I'm never going to let myself be filmed enjoying a non-Sony product ever again. I hope Marcus learns that lesson as well, lest he gets his ass sued for being caught on camera enjoying a rousing game of Donkey Kong.
Check out the full statement from Sony below.
Sony sues Kevin Butler actor (update: Sony comments) [VentureBeat]
Retro City Rampage. October 9, 2012. PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PC. You read that correctly.
Brian Provinciano's NES-style Grand Theft Auto parody has been cooking for just over a decade, and when it missed its proposed May release earlier this year, it felt like development would continue forever. But with a launch date set for next Tuesday, there's no way RCR will get the bump again... right?
The game costs $14.99. Should you buy it over PSN, you'll receive copies for both PS3 and Vita. It'll also be available over Steam and GOG.com, or you could buy the DRM-free version through the game's homepage and receive a free download code from either Steam and GOG.com as a bonus. This only applies to the US release; Europe will have to wait until later in October.
But what of the WiiWare and XBLA versions? Brian says that WiiWare should be getting its fix shortly following PSN, while XBLA will get its due once a release slot is finalized. Excited yet?
The original LittleBigPlanet earned a lot of its praise through sheer charm alone. The cute presentation and unique creativity afforded to the player won it a lot of acclaim, despite the fact that, to be fair, the actual game part was never spectacular. In my mind, LittleBigPlanet 2 confirmed this -- still fun, and a good way to waste time, but its poorer qualities were exposed by a sequel's inevitable lack of surprise.
I had feared that a third attempt at getting into LittleBigPlanet would be the proverbial final straw and turn me off the series altogether. I was gladly wrong. I also learned something very important.
LittleBigPlanet is finally at home on the PlayStation Vita. This is where it belongs.
The PlayStation Vita has been out for a little over half a year now, and it really is a nifty system. With its touch controls and twin-stick interface, the versatility of the system and its ability to provide unique, compelling experiences is unparalleled in the handheld market. With all that variety, you may be stuck wondering -- what should I get?
There's never been a better time to get on the Vita train, so hop aboard. I'll be your conductor for this trip, as we pull into Fun Station. There are ten scheduled stops as we drag out this train metaphor, each one representing a vital PS Vita title. You want to know what the best ten games on your Vita are? Look no further, friend!
Choo choooooo!
I had the pleasure of speaking with Media Molecule's Technical Director, Alex Evans, and Creative Director, Rex Crowle, about their newly revealed Vita title, Tearaway. Some are already calling the title the PlayStation Vita's savior, but I don't think that Media Molecule is thinking that hard about it. These guys just had a great idea for a game and went nuts with it.
In Tearaway you play as a envelope-headed messenger named Iota, out on an a adventure to deliver a very special message.
"Unique and creative" Playstation experiences can come to your Android mobile through this newly announced PlayStation Mobile program, anchored to your device via your PlayStation ID. It is supported by the PlayStation Store, now fully accessible from Android devices. You'll get your PlayStation-style gaming on these "PlayStation Certified Devices," that is. Oh, and Vita, of course.
Asus and Wikipad are also partners for the PlayStation Mobile program, so it's not just Sony products.
Games shown come from both major and indie developers, and Sony says that all will be easily downloadable from the PS Store.
They're already calling it all PSM. That won't be confusing, will it?
New Vita IP Tearaway stars a cute little guy named Iota. He's trapped in the world, in your Vita, and wants to get into the real world to "deliver a message." Media Molecule calls it a "buddy movie" that you make yourself. It's a striking 3D universe made entirely out of paper types.
The whole world of Tearaway is in your Vita, so you can manipulate it using Vita's front and rear touch features. In a sequence we saw Iota fall through a paper bridge. To help him out, the player was able to stick his finger into the game's world by touching the rear panel to push around blocks to create a path for Iota to climb up. The Vita's camera and microphone are also used in challenges.
Tearaway looks super cute. And a new IP for Vita is great news.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will be the very first "cross-buy" game, meaning that the purchase of the PS3 or Vita version gets you the other, at no extra cost. One cost, copies of the game for two systems. So nice.
Upcoming titles Ratchet and Clank Q Force and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time will also be cross-buy titles, said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of PlayStation Europe.
Nice moves, Sony. Very nice. Let's see more of this.
Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet), Raiden (Metal Gear Rising) and Rachet (Rachet & Clank) made an appearance on PlayStation All-Stars' official website today and were quickly removed. These images show rumored characters and possible box art for the game. Even crazier, Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden), Kazuya (Tekken), and Jin (Tekken) were spotted in the background of an image by a NeoGAF user.
Sony's ship is a sinking mess that can't keep PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale reveals from leaking. Between this and last month's major beta leak, I'm starting to think that Sony has an alternate reality game going on and forgot to tell anyone about it.
A couple crafty NeoGAF and GameFaqs users tore apart a PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale data file that has unveiled 9 new stages, 8 new characters, and a lot of other new additions.
Of course this could all be a hoax, but it's a very convincing one so far due to picks being reasonable and some accompanying images of these new stages. Until Sony confirms, we'll have to hope this is real because some of these inclusions are really freaking awesome. And here I was waiting for the next big Sony unveil at GamesCom ...
Some highlights of the leak include a Bioshock Infinite stage, Sir Daniel Fortesque from MediEvil, Dante from Devil May Cry, Spike from Ape Escape, Raiden from Metal Gear Solid, and Nariko from Heavenly Sword. Although I wish Sony would go even more obscure, it's cool to see Ape Escape and MediEvil get some love.
Between David Hayter (Solid Snake) saying he's recording dialog for the game and rumors about other characters (including an "RPG character"), we can expect more character unveils to come soon. Whether these will come from Sony or fans remains to be seen. However, we will be able to confirm if this leak is legit when Sony unveil new characters at GamesCom on August 14.
Here's a full list of all new characters, items, stages, and support characters:
The choice was simple: Go indie or go big. However, over the past console generation, this changed. Now, some indies make more money than major studios, and “going indie” has become a fair bit more difficult than uploading a game and running a PayPal account: it involves contractual obligations, marketing, and press representation, among other things.
James Marsden has the ideas, drive, and programming know-how to make a game. In fact, his latest, Velocity, is one of the highest-rated PSP games on Metacritic, and before that he had a critically well-received iPhone game, Coconut Dodge. Yet, it’s been a struggle to get media attention and to convince digital platforms to sell his game.
This is the story of how one small indie studio struggled to find an audience, but eventually found success in the most unlikely of places: negative press and PlayStation Minis.
