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TGS 2009 Predictions

The Tokyo Game Show is the last major show of the year and is highly anticipated as the gaming industry is expected to reveal it’s holiday lineup and upcoming games. It is also notably one of the few shows that is open to the public.

This is an interesting year for gaming. All three consoles are more or less mature now in their deployment. The much awaited games have already been released for each console with the exception of the PS3 which still has to release any of it’s exclusive games.

The gaming industry isn’t doing so well with the closure and/or acquisition of others. It looks like all the games will be released in the 4th quarter while leaving a drought of games in the middle of the year which translates into lower sales figures compared with the year before.

While all three consoles will be present, all eyes will be on Sony and Nintendo as it is their home turf. The Xbox has had some success in Japan but is largely overshadowed by the home team.

This year’s keynote will be given by Kaz Hirai of Sony.

Sony
-Playable demo Gran Turismo 5 with release date for Japan
-Release date for Final Fantasy 13 North America
-Playable FF13 apart from the demo
-Playable Assasin’s Creed and Little Big Planet on the PSP
-Kojima Productions trailers (no hands on demos, just tech demos of MGS: Peace Walker)
-Introduction and release of PSP store and PSP mini dev kit
-Playable demo of God OF War 3???
-Release date and demo of White Knight Chronicles for North America???

Nintendo
-Wii price cut (practically confirmed)
-NDSi price cut or DS price cut. (I expect this around the same time the PSP Go is released or near December)
-New Wii Zelda game
-HD Wii announcement?
-New Wii controller with integrated Motion Plus included.
-More playable games using the Motion Plus technology

Xbox360
-I’m still waiting for that hand held.

What are your thoughts on TGS this year?

2009: 09/23
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: nintendo
psp
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Blu-ray lens up close

Blu-ray lens up close
Originally uploaded by mdelamerced

A little over a year ago, my PS3 suffered from the so called blu ray
death. It will accept all other discs except blu-ray ones. It had to
happen at the worst time, I was halfway through Metal Gear Solid 4. I
finally had it repaired 6 months later after I had purchased another
PS3.

At least it was the only thing that broke. I didn’t have to replace
the whole console. Unlike another console out there that kills the
whole thing.

How has your PS3 held up so far?

2009: 09/21
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: PS3
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The next MMO franchise

Recently at E3, Square-Enix revealed they are releasing a new MMO for the PS3 aptly called Final Fantasy XIV. Initial exclusivity on the PS3 and PCs. I say “initial” because” Square-Enix did not comment if it will come to the 360. But knowing its recent history, it should also be multi-platform.

It’s not surprising that SE is developing a next generation MMO. FFXI just celebrated its 7th year and I’ve been playing the game since it came out in english for the PS2 in 2003. Although it is profitable for Square-Enix with thousands of active users around the world only second to World of Warcraft, it’s not HD. Well not HD on the PS3. It’s HD on the Xbox 360. FFXI stands out as the only true multi-platform MMO in the world.

So why release a new MMO when the old one still works?

Gamers want HD. Well at least myself. FFXI on the PS2 is severely dated compared to the PC and the Xbox360. My sister refuses to play the game on the PS2 anymore because of the bad graphics.

FFXI is now too advanced. The game is now mature and there are a lot of high level players. One thing I’ve noticed about “matured” games, there isn’t enough new users coming into the game to keep he community fresh. This is evident by the presence of more players from the low level areas to the high level areas. Although FFXI always keeps the franchise fresh by expansions and updates and “holidays” which is able to keep the players attention to keep on playing. But everything reaches an end.

I hope FFXIV won’t be too different from the current version. That mistake led to the loss of interest in Everquest 2 . I doubt that I’ll be able to import my character from FFXI.

2009: 09/11
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: FFXIV
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PSP Go!

According to 1UP.com, a new PSP is underway and will drop the UMD format and gain an internal flash drive. Still no second analog stick though. It will be first shown to gaming industry folks in this year’s E3 conference in Los Angeles.

The PSP Go also known as the PSP-4000 is a major update to the handheld and will be released in Japan in September. North American fans will have to wait until November. With the loss of the UMD drive, it is also expected that Sony will unveil in Playstation Network store with 100 PSP games ready for download.

The public hasn’t been kind to the PSP over the years. After a hotly anticipated launch in 2005, the price of the handheld and quality of games pretty much held back its growth compared to that of the Nintendo DS. The PSP was almost left for dead until recently where a revamped game lineup and a lower price tag is giving life back to this once promising console.

The past year hasn’t been that good to Sony. The PS3 is getting it’s sales figures kicked by the Wii and the Xbox in North America while the PSP is almost holding it’s own against the DS in Japan but it now has to compete with the iPhone/iPod touch in the handheld gaming landscape. Piracy of the console is quite high. Maybe it is time to release a new PSP.

This PSP cannot be like the ones released in the past 12 months. They were just lighter, video out, built in microphone and so on. But not really a big jump from the original model. Which is why I’m still using the same PSP I bought four years ago compared to when the DS Lite came out which I got right off the bat. I hate the UMD format. It breaks easily and there’s no cover for the part where the disc is going to be read. The UMD is worst kind of portable medium ever created. It’s something you buy and give to your child.

This new PSP in my opinion is pretty much a risk for Sony. They are releasing a new handheld in depressed economic situation, dropping of the UMD (even though is a good thing), and no backward compatibility. Unless they plan on an exchange program for you to trade in your UMDs for a downloadable version or an add on for us early adopters to play these games. There must be something big under the hood of the new PSP for me to drop my soon to be legacy version for this one.

Rumor puts this announcement in E3 to be held in the summer.

2009: 05/16
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: 1up
E3
psp
rumor
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99

What is it with the number 99? Whether it be 99¢ or $99, there seems to be an attraction to the number. For the US, I understand it to be more related to taxes. But somehow through the years, one is more predisposed to buying an item that costs $99 than let’s say if it were priced at an even $100. Even if the difference was just a penny.

Which brings me to the “magical” $99 console.

Back when I wasn’t earning much and could only afford one console, the obvious choice was the PS2. I had wanted a Gamecube because of such innovative games such as Pikmin and Animal Crossing but it was just out of my budget. Then came the near holiday announcement of Nintendo in 2003 that they would be dropping the price of the console to $99. I then immediately went on Amazon and bought one. When the PS1 went down to $99, I got one as a back up to my existing console.

And now, the best selling console so far, the PS2 has entered into it’s twilight years into the magical 99 dollar price tag. Gaming sites have called the price drop, “on the wrong console”, and others, just a shrug. They already own one. Or two.

My take on the whole thing? They should’ve dropped the prices last year. The writing was on the wall that the PS2 wasn’t selling as well as it used to. Most game development for the PS2 has either shifted to the PS3 or to other consoles. Not to mention that the PS3 didn’t do so well last year compared to it’s competitors.

It’s never too late to drop prices on their products. It might have done them more good if they dropped the PSP to $99 as well. That would’ve made more sense since the DSi is coming out in North America in a couple of weeks.

As for the PS3 dropping to $99, that’ll be the day.

2009: 03/31
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: PS3
psp
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Resistance Retribution on the PSP

The last very very good AAA game I played on the PSP was God of War and Final Fantasy Crisis Core and that was a year ago. Now I can add Resistance Retribution to that short list.

I’m not a big Resistance Fan. I didn’t pick up the game when I got my PS3 and still didn’t get it when it became part of the Greatest Hits line (note: lower priced). So picking this up was sort of a big thing for me.

As a newcomer to the series, the game has enough cutscenes to get you oriented with the setting and the story so far.

Controls are pretty well mapped. Although it took me a while to get used to the changing of weapons. It doesn’t ruin the experience of the game. The secondary function of the weapon is a bit tricky since it involves the directional button.

Checkpoints are well placed but it can get frustrating at times when wave after wave of enemies come rushing in and the next checkpoint is still over that ridge.

Boss battles are relatively easy. (Of course I was playing easy, I don’t play videogames to lose, I play to win) with exception of a few. There are times where you may run out of ammo. Let’s put it this way, there are ammo boxes and health packs all over the place. Just not always where you want them. (Hello boss fights?!)

Overall it’s a solid shooter and a must play on the PSP.

I have no review for multiplayer. Because of this game I may have to pickup Resistance 1 and 2 for the PS3 to unlock the additional weapons for the game.

2009: 03/28
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: AAA
psp
Review
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One game, two versions, same price

Final Fantasy: Echoes of Time Gets A Release Date: News from 1UP.com

The latest money maker for Square-Enix, Final Fantasy: Echoes of Time has now been given a US release date of March 24 for the Wii and DS. Both will retail for $39.99. My next question is, “why?!?!”

I know “Final Fantasy” is a premium title. That’s one of the reasons why they’re charging so much but for two different platforms? It’s not as if one is coming out on the Wii and then on the PS3. It’s coming out on a home console and a handheld. Handheld!

This is such a pain. I guess we know now where SE is getting the money to pay off for Lara Croft.

Gamasutra – Square Enix Makes $117 Million Bid For Eidos

2009: 02/13
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: Final Fantasy
Square-Enix
Wii
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Final Fantasy XIII official trailer

FINAL FANTASY XIII | SQUARE ENIX

This is really late but you view the trailer from the official website or download it directly to your PS3 or Xbox360. Yes, I did say Xbox 360. It really is coming to the gaijin console. I’ll be posting a review of the Japanese demo once I get my hands on it.

2009: 02/13
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: Final Fantasy
Square-Enix
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Aquanaut’s Holiday > Endless Ocean

Over the weekend I finally got myself into serious gaming and got to playing the Asian version of Aquanaut’s Holiday: Hidden Memories for the PS3. First of all, the game is highly importable. Just make sure you are getting the Asian version. The whole game is in english and if needed, you can switch to chinese.

The graphics are amazing. It really feels like you are cruising underwater with the sound encoded in DTS adding to the atmosphere of diving.

There’s a lot to see beneath the waters and a mystery to solve. My only gripe? There’s no evening diving. It’s like racing 24 hours in Gran Turismo, the sun is always up and doesn’t change or set. It is widely known that there are varieties of fish that only come out during the night.

You can’t use your own music while under water and the in-game music is something you wouldn’t want to listen to outside of the game. Which is realy weird for a game that relies heavily on “atmosphere”.

Getting around requires a skill since you can either navigate through all the tunnels and passageways to get around and then there’s the NaSu. It’s some sort of becon that you can set anywhere in any of your explored areas. You also need to buy batteries to supply the sonar buoys located all over in order to navigate properly. It’s a good way of controlling the progress of the story. Sort of leading you from one plot twist after another compared to the free flowing exploration of Endless Ocean which would lead you well…endless searching for the next chapter.

But this is a game that the PS3 really needs and it’s sad that there’s no release date for North America. If you’re looking for a really casual game on the PS3 then look no further. This is that game. Take a hint Sony.

AQUANAUT’S HOLIDAY opening

If you have the Wii, you’re stuck with Endless Ocean. The plot is not as mysterious or as “dark” as Aquanauts but it takes a more relaxing turn. Filled with Enya-esque music, which I believe is better here than on the PS3. Just load up your music on an SD card and play away. Endless Occean provides a relaxing environment for diving and it really is diving with you and your dolphin friend compared to the enclosed submersible that Aquanauts puts you in.

Endless Ocean Trailer E3 2007(Wii)

But then there are the last generation graphics and the weird poking around of sea creatures. Then again, they do have the concept of time and moving around the map via your boat. Much easier than Aquanauts. But then again, how do you know where to go? Using the Wii-mote is easy and painless. Just literally point and swim in that direction.

But once you’ve finished the main story, there’s hardly any motivation to pursue all the side quests. The only way to track your progress is to check your sea discoveries and aqua library. Aquanauts has the trophy integration thus providing us with a rough guide on what to complete next.

So if you have both consoles, I suggest you get Aquanauts for the real underwater adventure. If you want to relax, get Endless Ocean and just sit on the deck and watch the sunset. I’m not kidding, you can really do that.

But if you’re a big underwater fan, then by all means get both. There’s a lot to learn about the ocean and the secrets that it holds.

2009: 01/26
POSTED BY: mdelamerced
CATEGORY: videogames
TAGS: casual
ocean
PS3
underwater
Wii
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Life after 1UP

Game Industry Tweet

After the collapse of the 1UP podcasts there is an obvious void in my list of podcast subscriptions. So what else is there to do but follow them of twitter!

Yes folks! They’re on twitter. Well not all of them, but at least most of them. For privacy purposes you’ll have to search of them and dig deep into 1UP.com to find out what their twitter names are. This reminds me of the day when techtv was sold and all them went their own ways and fans like myself followed them wherever they went. I feel the same thing happening here.

The link above will take you to links to the twitter accounts of gaming industry personalities as well as journalists. I think the road ahead is pretty bright even though a lot of people don’t think so. But as we learned from the first dot com bubble, there’s a lot more to come from these talented folks.