Archive for the ‘Sony’ Category

Resistance 2 (PS3)

PS3 development, Insomniac has made some good games the last years like Ratchet & Clank and Resistance 1. Now Resistance 2 is up for turn and I took a closer look at the game to find out what we can expect. The story in Resistance 2 starts right where it ended in Resistance 1 so if you haven’t played the first game I really recommend that you should do that first. The story takes place in the 1950s in America while USA was still in depression.

The single player campaign is already completed but they still have to polish some stuff here and there. Large portions of the co-op campaign are also confirmed to be running so the game should be available later this year. Insomniac also includes bosses in this amazing FPS. Huge robotic giants on 150 feet are some examples for bosses in this game. They will add plenty of bosses throughout the game though. Vehicles will also be available there will be boats, land vehicles and ever air planes a huge selection of vehicles here with other words. The AI has also been greatly improved and tons of new monsters and different enemies have been added to this game compared with the previous version. I am really looking forwards for more updates on this game and I think it will be one of the best PS3 games in 2008.

Yakuza 3 Preview (PS3)

Sega has just released 2 demos of the Japanese PlayStation Network for Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan aka Yakuza. It is still unknown when this game will be out in the US but we hope it won’t take long. The gameplay is very much like the older Yakuza games, but this time you start in Kyoto during the Edo era. The first missions in the game are to walk around to different shop keepers in town and force them to pay their debts. You can go and talk to all citizens in the town to gain useful knowledge. After this you can visit the temple and do a few quests there, for this you will learn some new attacks.

The graphic is much better on this game then the previous one and the details are amazing. The game will be out in March in Japan and later this year in the US and rest of the world. One feature that sets the Yakuza series apart is the variety of often strange minigames strewn throughout the world. These small games can be forexample eating contests, bow practice, rock paper scissor etc. The feature is however cool and sometimes you have to complete minigames to win certain rewards etc so it really brings more things into the game.

Alone in the Dark 4 Delayed (PS3)

Alone in the Dark 4 was actually going to be released this month but has now been scheduled for March which is quite understandable since they had many things to improve before they released the final product. Alone in the Dark is a third person horror shooter but you can also play in first person. The first person aiming is however awful and you wont be able to hit many creatures like that. The physics of the game are quite bad so they have some things to fix before they start to sell this game.

Like all the other Alone in the Dark games this one also features many puzzle missions. But the puzzles have improved greatly and are more realistic then ever. Before the puzzles were like “find the storm key to open the storm door” now they are more like find an iron bat to break down the door”. Everything is in a very realistic environment. The game also features cool attack combos like spraying some monsters behind a fence full of gasoline and throw a match and watch them burn to death. Lets just hope they will fix some of the physic bugs and the first person aiming before we gets it in the stores in May.

Grand Theft Auto – San Adreas

Grand Theft Auto-San Adreas is a 3D video game which was launched in 2004 by Rockstar North, initially to be played in PlayStation2 versions, but now is available in Xbox variants as well and has sold about 14 million copies worldwide. It is an action packed adventure series revolving around the lead character CJ or Carl Johnson who is an African American and member of a gang and it is the user who controls the actions of CJ in course of the game. The game revolves around his journey in unfolding the mysterious death of his mother. This is the main crux of the plot and several other minor incidents like gang wars, action chases add on to the total effect of the game. The city of San Adreas which is no less than a character in this game is a fictional city located somewhere between California and Nevada and apart from this central location, the storyline also takes the players to three other cities like the imaginary San Fierro based on real life San Francisco, Las Venturas and its adjoining desert region modeled on the city of Las Vegas and its adjoining Nevada desert regions and finally the illusionary city of Los Santos based on the city of Los Angeles.

It should be noted here that many characters belonging to the other Grand Theft Auto series of games also feature in this version, like some members of CJ’s gang, Claude and Catalina. This game has also introduced several innovations, unseen in the previous versions. These include the use of around two hundred vehicles, fire arms and greater fire power. With time, the game has turned more realistic and it now allows multi player facility by means of which two players can co operate and play together.

However, Grand Auto Theft-San Adreas has often been in the news for the wrong reasons and ha been removed from the market in some cases because of its alleged adult content.

Namco Museum

Video games have for long been a great source of killing time, at times an obsession and in cases merely a past time. Individuals from age eight to eighty have been hooked to these video games and the scenario hasn’t quite changed with the progress of time. In fact with the coming of computers and newly improved technologies, the graphics and techniques have made the games even more alluring.

Namco Museum is the video game which was introduced by Namco compiling the various games in PlayStation since the 1990s and is now supported by the Wii video gaming console for its usage. While it cannot be denied that Namco Museum received mixed responses upon its initial inception, but somehow there was certain amount of noticeable success which facilitated the release of multiple versions of this game.

The first of this series was Namco Museum Volume 1 which contained the various games from the 1980s like Galaga, New Rally-X, Rally-X, Pac-Man, Pole Position etc. The second volume followed in the same year and this series contained Dragon Buster, Grobda, Mappy, Xevious, Super Pac-Man etc. This was followed by Namco Museum Volume 3 which featured Dig Dug, Pole Position 2, Galaxion and Ms.Pac-Man which became popular in the United States of America in the year 1997. Volume 4 of this game contained Assault, Ordyne, Pac-Land etc. This was succeeded by Volume 5 containing Dragon Spirit, Metro Cross, Pac-Mania etc. Other versions of this game include the Namco Museum Advance, Namco Museum Encore, Namco Museum 64/DC, Namco Museum DC, Namco Museum Battle Collection, Namco Museum Remix etc. The Namco Museum Battle Collection contains some of its best known games like Pac-Man and Galaga and was introduced in the PlayStation Portable. All the games referred to in the above mentioned list included both single and multiplayer options and the multitudes of sequels of this series only justify its popularity.

The Sims refers to a premier video game series which was initially released to be played in PlayStation but is also available now in Xbox variants. It is more of a strategy based game designed by Will Wright consisting of 2D and 3D graphics and it gives an account of the diurnal activities of a group of virtual people called ‘Sims’ in course of living their lives in SimCity. Awarded as the best computer game in the year 2000 by GameSpot, The Sims has been emulated and reproduced in the form of compilations and sequels like The Sims 2 and upon its inception, it is estimated to have sold a whopping amount of around 16 million copies, thus entering into the pages of history as the best selling game ever.

In order to enlighten eth prospective players about this game, it is necessary to refer to the phrase which its creator Will Wright had rightfully commented once that it is a ‘digital dollhouse’. This is quite true as unlike the various computer games which are goal oriented and has definite missions, this game is on a different plane, dealing entirely with the life and times of the inhabitants of the fictional city called SimCity. The characters are already designed and the player usually has the control over the members of a family, consisting at the most eight individuals and his aim is to help the Sim attain his personal objectives. The game is definitely a way of testing the intelligence, presence of mind and strategic abilities of the player in case of similar real life situations. A notable innovation in the game is the language of the Sims which is known as Simlish language. The game does not provide translations into English and in many instances it has been noticed that the players themselves have indulged in re-interpreting the language and thus create dictionaries of their own to refer when needed.

Madden NFL07

Various video games have been launched modeled on the popular sports and the Madden NFL07 is the latest version of the very famous Madden NFL series replicating American soccer matches. The Madden NFL 07 is supported by the Xbox 360gaming console and it has been the first of the Madden series to make its appearance on the Wii and PlayStation3 consoles. The latest version has got certain new additional features. These include the use of jukes and spins, two for each by the players to deal with their rivals, use of highlight sticks, FreeMotion controls and Hikes, Runningback, Quarter Back, Kicker or Punter and Wide Receiver which are available on the Wii versions and can be used in accordance with the Wii Remote. The Lead Block Control is also a latest inclusion which aids the players to sweep past their unpleasant rivals at the time of positioning only. A huge variety of musicians have lent their voice and musical prowess to add to the effects of the game.

Since its inception and arrival in the world market, Madden NFL 07 has earned immense popularity and awards. In august 2006, it was adjudged BB& B’s Sports Game of the year. In the G4 television series X-Play it was again awarded as the Best Sporting Game of 2006. The Spike TV Guy’s Choice Awards, it won accolades for being the Game with the most Game. Moreover, Madden NFL 07’s Wii version was announced as the Best New Control Scheme and the Best Traditional Sports Game of 2006. This award was further facilitated by the exquisite new technical tools like the Wii remote which allowed various upgraded techniques like FreeMotion controls, hikes etc to be introduced as part of the game. So the Wii gaming console too here has a substantial role to play.

Resistance: Fall of Man

Resistance: Fall of Man is at times also referred to simply as Resistance or Fall of Man or RFOM in abbreviation. This game was released in the United States in 2006 and was a first person shooter video game manufactured by Insomniac Games for PlayStation3. From the time of its release, this video game has garnered lots of praise from the critics and has won a series of awards. These include GameSpot’s winner of the Best PlayStation3 game in 2006, being designated as Gameinformer’s one of the top 50 games of 2006, Best First Person Shooter on PlayStation3, Best Original Score, Best Graphics Technology and several more.
The crux of the game is held together by Sgt. Nathan Hale who has the undaunting task of combating the alien invaders who have furtively invaded Britain. The game is set in Siberia and it is interesting to note here how some of the major historical and political incidents of the twentieth century like the Great Depression, World War 1 and 2 and significantly the Red curtain phenomenon in Russia which was penetrated by the Chimera forces, have found their voices indirectly through this game. In the game, chimeras are extraterrestrial or celestial creatures’ whom the human forces guided by Nathan Hale have to contest. Apart from the aerial Chimeras called Angels, another enemy is the Clovens. This is a science fiction game and some of the arms and armaments used have an uncanny similarity with those that were in vogue in the 1950s. There are also certain fictitious weapons and each has separate functions of its own. RFOM allows multiplayer support with a maximum of 40 players.

This game despite its popularity was embroiled in controversy regarding the portrayal of the Manchester Cathedral in the game which shows it as a backdrop of gun fights and bloodshed and this fact was condemned by the church authorities forcing Sony to apologize on behalf of the manufacturers.

The acronym F.E.A.R. is the abbreviated form of the popular 2005 shooter game which is known as First Encounter Assault Recon. It is supported by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles and it is played from the first person point of view. It is to be noted that prior to its release F.E.A.R. was immensely hyped and once introduced it was greatly appreciated by critics and players alike. In fact it has been Game of the Year by GameSpy. One of the reasons that may have contributed to the popularity of the game is the kind of graphics used like lightmapping, volumetric lighting, normal mapping, shaders and parallax mapping which are components of the Jupiter EX which is the major engine technology used in the game.

The central conflict of the game is between a special intelligence force lead by its front man who is known as Point Man and whose only aim is counterattack the various supernatural forces at work by means of his ability of being able to withstand those attacks. In terms of gameplay, a significant opportunity arrives when the game’s virtual world is slowed down in terms of speed and the player is allowed to commute in normal speed. This is known as ‘reflex time’. There are several weapons which are used in this game like guns and pistols and other firearms and at the same time, there are also certain illusory weapons which are used for example, the particle beam weapons.

First Encounter Assault Recon also allows multiplayer playing and these multiplayer versions were renamed and released in 2006 as F.E.A.R. Combat. Both the PlayStation3 and Xbox versions allow online multiplayer playing facility. The entire thematic is aided by the spooky and ghostly settings of the game.

However there is no denying the fact that while both the Xbox and PlayStation 3 versions have garnered encouraging reception, they have not been able to overcome F.E.A.R.‘s popularity as a PC game.

PSP or PlayStation Portable

The term PSP is the abbreviated version of what is popularly known world wide as the PlayStation Portable and it is the current innovation of the PlayStation series to hit the markets. It is a handheld gaming console and also the first in the world to have used the format of the optical disc or the Universal Media Disk or UMD. Released in the United States in 2005 by Sony Computer Entertainment, a recent version called PlayStation Slim and Lite was launched in July 2007. the basic constituents of this PlayStation Portable console are the 166 MHz graphics clip, 32 MiB main RAM and 4 MiB embedded DRAM and the Allegrex which is the premium multiprocessor used in its functioning. The XrossMediaBar is responsible for providing access to the internet and allowing the users to enjoy video and audio outputs too. The PlayStation Portable is currently priced at around US$169.99 in the United States of America. All PSPs have specific model numbers which were designated according to the regions for which they were produced and for the United States the number is PSP 1001.

In 2006, certain add-ons to the PSP were announced and this includes a PSP GPS attachment and a PSP camera. The PSP also performs the function of a web browser and is seen to support the technological tools of other browsers like the CSS. It also aids the functioning of JavaScript and HTTP cookies. The PSP also allows the user to enjoy movie viewing with the help of the Universal Media Disk and it supports various audio and video formats like the PNG, JPEG, ATRAC, Bitmap, MP3, WMA, AVC, MPEG 4 etc. wireless networking is also allowed by the PlayStation Portable gaming console with the help of the Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b which enables multiplayer game playing.

The few complains regarding the PlayStation Portable has been that it uses the Universal Media Disk which has often been rebuked for its slow speeds during transmission of data.