Three’s Company

January 21, 2009 on 4:11 pm | In PS3, Recommendations, Wii, XBOX 360 | No Comments

…or “How I stopped bashing and learned to love the PS3.”

I’ve been a vehement non-supporter of the Playstation 3 since its launch a few years back, deciding to go with a Wii for the superior launch titles and more affordable price, then with a 360 for the superior library and much more streamlined online experience. With each passing day I would laugh at the plight of the PS3 owner – badly reviewed exclusives, Square-Enix going over to the 360 and of course, the exclusion of backwards compatibility with the PS2 in all of their currently-produced models. All this considered, I managed to pick one up after much consideration. I kind of wanted a Blu Ray player and this would be a great chance to start to review some of the newer PS3 games.

What have I learned? The Playstation 3 is not that bad of a system.

Granted, it has its flaws, but they’re actually mostly involving the library with non-exclusives. However, most of the great games that came out last year were multi-platform and the PS3’s graphical power make most of the games look better than they do on the 360. To be completely honest, the pure raw processing power of the PS3 currently can’t be matched by any other system. Unfortunately, developers have no idea how to get their head around the coding process to make PS3 exclusives. So far only Sony’s in-house studios, Konami (Metal Gear Solid 4) and Media Molecule (Little Big Planet) seem to have realized the potential of the PS3.

That’s the biggest problem I have with the system, actually. I have a total of 3 games for this ridiculous paragon of processing power: Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Folklore. I have no desire to get any other games. Why? Because the 360 at the end of the day is more fun to play. I’ll be playing Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV on 360 because the online experience is better, I can pad my achievement score and I’ll be able to play with pretty much every one of my friends. (They all have 360s because let’s face it, the online experience is superior due to a 4+ year head start with developing XBox Live.)

So, why on earth would I choose to even slightly support the PS3 by getting one?

Something I’ve discovered is that the DLC for PS3 exclusive games gives you a little more bang for your buck than Microsoft. If it’s cross platform, the price will be the same, but as I was browsing DLC for Folklore, I noticed something: You can get eight extra missions, two brand new enemies and two new outfits for the main character for $5.99. (For those of you who don’t want to get out a calculator and do the math, that’s roughly $0.75 per mission, $2.98 per mission, and $2.98 per outfit if you were buying each of them separately – or if you prefer, it’s about $0.50 per item) Comparatively, the Knothole Island expansion for Fable 2, which offers roughly the same amount of content is 1000 Microsoft Points, or about $12.00. I know that they’re two completely different games and its difficult to compare them this way, but come on! It’s really difficult to beat that amount of content for that price.

If Sony starts wising up and giving developers lessons in coding for their powerhouse and actually continue to offer competitive prices for DLC, it would be very difficult for Microsoft to catch up – especially since every demo is available to every PSN user for free immediately. With XBL, you have to pay for that precious gold account to get access to the demos immediately.

As for the Wii? Animal Crossing: City Folk ain’t enough to keep us interested. Less Carnival Games and more De Blob! Seriously. I’m thinking about disconnecting my tiny little white box and putting it up for adoption.

No, you can’t have it.

- Steve

Ye Olde School

August 28, 2008 on 7:45 am | In PS3, Recommendations, XBOX 360 | No Comments

As the cost for developing graphically stunning titles increases, the modern gaming industry is beginning to resemble the movie biz more and more. Publishers don’t want to pour a lot of time and resources in a new idea only to see it tank, so formulas and franchises are the norm.

That’s where downloadable content comes in. Cheap to buy and cheap to make, the fair offered on both Xbox Arcade and the Playstation Store can be quirky and fun because it can afford to take a few risks.
Another plus is that such bite-sized stimulation doesn’t require the heavy time investment that say, delving deeply into Metal Gear Solid 4 does. You can get your video game fix and quickly be on your way, allowing for the development of a fully functioning social life and career.

With that preamble in mind, I highly suggest investing $10 bucks in the downloadable remake of the NES classic “Bionic Commando,” dubbed “Bionic Commando: Rearmed.”

The game combines both old and new elements into something refreshingly different. For once, there are no invading alien species hellbent on the destruction of mankind, i.e. “Gears of War,” “Halo,” Resistance” and practically any other shooter in recent memory. Instead, your task is a simple “rescue this dude, kill the bad dude.” The game throws in plenty of snarky dialogue and other interactions, though, to compensate for the lack of dramatic depth.

The gameplay mechanics offer the kind of challenge almost completely forgotten in today’s convenient age of constant checkpoints and endless lives. The game’s titular hero possesses a bionic arm that can grapple onto any metal object or platform. Traversing of the levels is accomplished by using this ability to swing, grab and lift yourself up and across the many obstacles.

The modern update adds a wickedly (and often brutally) refined swing mechanic, a host of upgrades and weapons, challenging level design and numerable boss fights. For those thirsty for even more, the game also throws in over 50 special challenge rooms, which present the player with a virtual obstacle course to navigate in just 30 seconds.

A warning for those easily frustrated: The difficulty level of this game can be absolutely insane at times, with each swing requiring exact timing and a limited amount of lives allotted for each level (Trust me, the challenge rooms will test even the most mild-mannered). But hey, that’s all just part of the old school charm.