Xbox 360 and PS3... not powerful enough???

This is a wonderful article I found on insomnia.ac about why the Xbox 360 and PS3 are just not powerful enough and how both Microsoft and Sony have gone down the wrong path... the Marketing path. I would easily compare this to the AMD/Intel/Apple (RISK CPU) days when everyone was in the pissing game of who has the fastest (Mhz rating) CPU because that somehow "automatically" gave them a lead. That is until Intel hit the 3Ghz barrier and then the game changed.

I think Alex Kierkegaard (who wrote the Xbox 360/ PS3 article) has made some excellent points. He IS in fact talking about what few know... and even fewer are able to discuss. It's such a political game now with the game companies that no one can really say what they think afraid of insulting them and hurting any sort of relationship they might have with them. More recently articles have popped up saying that the Xbox 360 is much easier to program for then the PS3... and if you read those its clear how much everyone is holding back, being so very very careful as to what they say. It's sad really...

So I'm very happy that people like Alex are out there, and I hope they continue to spread the truth. I don't mind that Microsoft and Sony have chosen this path (it is their decision to make after all) but notice how much better Nintendo is doing going down a completely different road... interesting isn't it... maybe resolution isn't the goal the big boys should be going after, even if Marketing tells them to. I do hope the next console generation will focus almost entirely on graphic detail since the resolutions will be the same (HD). I guess time will tell.

Forza Motorsport 2

I'll be the first to admit, I'm MUCH more of a motorcycle nut than a car nut MUCH MUCH more. Though, as a guy... I do like my car games as well. I play Ridge Racer 6 and Project Gotham Racing 3 (two completely different types of games) and enjoy them both. I even have Test Drive Unlimited which I've own for 9 months but have played only once (I'll get to it someday).

When I heard about Forza 2 coming out I wasn't sure if they would do it right, if it would become the new king of racing games (well until MotoGP 07 but that's motorcycles and a different level). Well let me tell you... it's THAT good. Forza 2 has in fact become the standard for car racing games moving forward... perhaps you've heard of the last "standard"... you know, the default best racing game from a few years back. I'm talking about Gran Turismo of course, and Forza 2 has completely leap frogged GT in a way I don't think Sony will be able to get back. That's too bad too, though I wasn't a huge fan of GT (probably due to the fact that I'm not a car nut) I could understand how people loved it so much. Well Sony was very good a dropping the car-racing ball so bad that I doubt they will get it back. The continued delays on GT sequels (the PSP version STILL hasn't come out) and the obvious invenstment that Mircrosoft has done with Turn 10 Studios has paid off, and boy has it paid off.

This game has it all, graphics, framerate, control, options, and all the little details that make it legendary. In fact I spent at least 2 hours yesterday just painting my car and making it look the way I want it (2 HOURS!!!!). Oh course the wonderful Xbox Live features don't hurt either as nothing beats racing with real people.

So overall, I would recommend this game to car nuts, and motorcycle nuts, and ANYTHING nuts! Every Xbox360 owner should have this title in their library. The only bad thing about this game is now someone has to come up with some even better and I'm just not sure how they are going to do that. :-)

5/5 Stars

Xbox 360 Elite Hardware Review

Here is a great review of the Xbox 360 that just came out on EuroGamer. It goes through some good comparisons and short comings. Essentially there are no big surprises here. I won't even consider upgrading my Xbox 360 until the the new 65nm revision of the PowerPC CPU is out (and even then, ONLY if it is MUCH quieter and has a MUCH smaller power supply, I wouldn't mind the HDDVD to be built in, and slot loading too).

The Wii, The 360, and the PS3

So I've been reading and reading about the how each of the next gen systems are doing. And I have a few thoughts on this...

Actually what got me thinking was an article in 1up.com about what a Sega VP thinks of the Wii. This guy... well... I used to work for Sega (many years ago) and I have to say that once they lost their will to make their own systems (The Dreamcast being the last system Sega made) they really lost their fighting spirit. Now I'll the first to admit it, Sega has been through some shit over tha past 10 years. This is what happens when you are the under dog in the 80's, make an incredible comeback and defeat Goliath in the 90's (Nintendo)... then lose your edge. Unfortunetly Sega has given up so much, that the people they now employ have no idea what it means to fight, what it means to have a vision of the future, what it means to make a difference.

So this article from 1up.com really shows this well. The VP they talked to made it quite clear how he felt. The Nintendo Wii was going to dry up in a year or two, and PS3 will continue to expland. The thing this VP seems to be missing is... the Nintendo DS is not as powerful as the Sony PSP, yet the DS is dominating. The Wii is not as powerful as the PS3 or Xbox360 yet Nintendo can't make enough Wii's for the demand.

This guy... of course he forgot to mention the games that Sega is bringing out for the Wii. This guy was so bias towards Sony that it wasn't even funny. Thing is... as a VP... he should know better than to burn bridges. I mean who knows, maybe Sega will make its money selling Wii games, since the Wii user base is SO much bigger than the PS3? And maybe Nintendo will bring out a new Wii in a couple of years instead of waiting 10 years because their console is so expensive unless they pull 10 years out of it's life it will be a money pit? (oh wait that's the PS3). Nintendo has staged a come back, it was 3rd in the last generation and now, it's shooting for the No1 spot, and you know what... it's getting there pretty fast. Oh yeah, I have a Wii and an Xbox360, but I'll hold off with the PS3 for a while I think.

Xbox 360 vs PS3... round 2... fight!

Gamespot just did their second Xbox 360 vs PS3 comparision. The first one was about 6 months ago so it wasn't fair to compare Xbox 360 2nd generation titles (ones that have come out a year after the launch) with actual launch titles from PS3 (titles that were obviously rushed to be on the shelves with the system).

So the new comparison is pretty good, it shows how close the systems are. I think what people don't seem to understand overall is that the new generation console wars are not going to be decided on who has better graphics (since both are running impressive HD graphics already) but more about which games will be on the systems and more importantly online play. So if the same game comes out on both systems (like Grand Theft Auto IV for example) and it's great online on Xbox 360 but very poor online play on the PS3... well you will have a clear winner.

Both systems can do great graphics, and because their video cards are so different from each other (Xbox 360 uses ATI while PS3 uses Nvidia) the games will NEVER look the same. I think Sony is really killing themselves by trying to extend the life of their system past the typical 5 year cycle (something that did happen with the PS2) and thinking the PS3 will still be graphically competitive in 10 years!!! No way, very poor plan (but who knows, I might be eating my words in 10 years).

Sony FINALLY joins MS in the Bloggers VR world

First there was Major Nelson from Microsoft's Xbox team, now Sony has started their own blog. I hope to see Nintendo follow soon.

Blogging, and point of presence is the future, Major Nelson is already on Twitter on and it wouldn't surprise me if he joined Jaiku next.

Sony is behind the online ball again... and Nintendo... don't get me started how far they are!

Colin McRae: DIRT review

This game is really something. I don't like Rally games but this one... wow. Yes the game moves as good as it looks!!!

DIRT is another great racing game for the Xbox 360.

Very Cool Crossword game

I usually hate crossword puzzles (I'm a Sudoku kind of guy) but this one is very very cool. Enjoy!

 

PLAY CROSSWORD GAME HERE

 

It's not timed like Sudoku, but still lots fun.

PSP Slim Details Revealed

It's about time if you ask me...

News of new PSP Slim are leaking fast. I say its about time, Nintendo has already shown what a huge difference a re-design can do. Hell, I got both the old DS and the new DS Lite!

I did hope the new PSP would have sliding out QUERTY keyboard though, for email and chatting.

A built in camera would be good too... not sure about bluetooth though.

I found the coolest Tron game!!!

 

DOWNLOAD HERE!!!

Today was worth it... because no matter what happens I will now have a GREAT 3D Tron Cycle racing game to play with. Life is GOOD!!!

Not only can you get the client, but also the dedicated server. Did I mention it runs in Windows, Mac, and Linux????

 

Oh yeah, with network play too!!!

Who ever did this deserves a trophy!

 

DOWNLOAD HERE!!!

There goes the rest of my week (an probably month!). 

Why do games cost $50-60 still?

I was just playing the new Dirt game for Xbox 360 and something hit me. On some games (and it's usually the racing/sport titles) there are a shit load of adverts. Not a couple, but A LOT!!!! Advertising EVERYWHERE. Just look at the field in John Madden Football, or FIFA Soccer, or Dirt. It's really incredible to see the logos everywhere. So my question is this... why is the game so DAMN expensive? I mean aren't the companies getting a lot of money from the advertisers? Can they charge them an amount based on the number of games sold? Having a logo in a game such as Madden is MUCH better than a TV advertising. You can't switch off the television, change the channel, fast forward through the commercials... the logos are just there. And they are there day 1 as well as day 365, they don't go away.
So why don't the developers charge these companies a boatload of money for the advertising and sell the game for $5???? Since Madden and most of the sport series seem to have an update every year, that just makes it double painful.
To tell you the truth, if the game price were that low, I'd be okay for them to stick some logos in other titles too... Gears of War, Lost Planet, Oblivion, etc... you can signs, logos on the walls/floor/ceilings. It could be pretty suddle and not in-your-face.
So how about it? Let's start with the sports titles and see how that goes eh? Cheaper games means MANY more sold too!!! And the piracy would go away as well, imagine that!
So what are the chances??? hmmmmm....

The History of the Playstation

Every once in a while... in history... we see a set of events that, at first, appear to be one thing, but lead to something completely different. This is the case of how the Playstation was born. From signing a contract with Nintendo, to getting betrayed, to coming back with a new product that would become the biggest success in the video game industry. Well that is the history of Playstation in a nutshell. Now watch it here... it's a three part segment. Very entertaining, very informative, very fun to watch.

Let the history lesson begin!

YouTube - The history of PlayStation [part 1]

YouTube - The history of PlayStation [part 2]

YouTube - The history of PlayStation [part 3]

Forza 2 vs Dirt... Xbox 360

Both games look amazing, and instead of chosing sides... I would have to say get both... that is right after MotoGP 06 (or even MotoGP 07 when it comes out in September!!!) :-)

MotoGP '06 on Xbox 360

I have lots of Xbox 360 game... well "lots" is a strong word, but I do have about a dozen games. I have some of the best games on the system including Oblivion, Lost Planet, Crackdown (ok I got that one for the Halo 3 beta), Dead Rising, Gears of War, Ghost Recon AW, Test Drive... well you get the picture.

The game I keep coming back to though... over and over again... is MotoGP '06. I guess that makes me a motorcycle nut, so what else is new? The thing is... even with its flaws (like dropping framerate in the middle of the race) this is a DAMN good racing game. I also love it when I talk to people and they tell me how they've tried to play it but it's too hard and they keep crashing. This makes me feel good inside. The reason for this is not that I don't want to play this game (on the contrary I want more people to play it) but because it proves how good the game is. A bit like riding a real bike... it requires feeling. This means that if you don't pay attention to the way the bike is responding to the way you are taking corners... well your going to end up on your arse. Thats just the way it is in motorcycle racing, one mistake and you crash. This is part of what makes it so exciting to watch.

Well time to get back to racing!