Amy, The Game Review Summary

From the creator of Flashback, a survival horror, set to launch on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday 11th January 2012.

Amy Official Website

Plot: A comet strike has brought havoc on humanity, unleashing a deadly virus that has infected almost everyone.  Lana regains consciousness in the midst of chaos, roads have been destroyed, walls crumbling,

My Take on NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

 

Okay so yesterday and early this morning I spent a considerable amount of time play NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. I must say they did a pretty good job of bringing them back to life. I guess they had to make up for the total mess they delivered earlier in the year. It's kind of funny because there really wasn't a lot of hype for this game to begin with. I was definitely happy that it was coming back but I guess I would've been just as happier playing the old NBA Jam. 

One thing that I did notice was that NBA Jam is produced by EA Sports. Back in the day it was made by Midway. Midway was mainly a huge producer of several popular arcade games including one of its biggest games Mortal Kombat. Let me clarify. It was Ed Boon and his NetherRealm squad created Mortal Kombat but Midway were the ones who published the game and got it into arcade machines. 

NBA Jam still has the same memorable gameplay. The AI is still annoyingly aggressive as hell. This time they're even worse. If the ball is loose they push you down to the ground to get it. If you have the ball and your on the ground and you try to get up they sometimes push you back down before you even get the chance to do so. You sort of have to move in the opposite direction of where they're pushing in order to get away. It doesn't always work though. 

The computer is a damn cheater in this game. It goes out of its way to make this game very challenging. So challenging that you want to break your controller. Yeah the good old times are back. The AI just always knows just when to timely block your shot or to instinctively shove your team mate just enough to miss your pass. Nobody is that perfect especially in basketball. I've seen some nice give and go plays but the stuff that happens in this game is just ridiculous. The game within itself is ridiculous so I guess I shouldn't really be too upset. 

The worst is the slow reaction time. The reaction time and timing is key to success in this game. You kind of have to think ahead of time when it comes to making your moves count. If you miss a shove it really shows as your opponent makes their way to the basket and you're left dragging behind them. Its the same for when you're on offense too. If you don't get that shot off in time your adversary will definitely be there block it. There are no freebies in this game. You gotta earn your keep.

There are some nuances to the game too. For instance EA Sports added the Jam Now, Road Trip, and Online Arena modes to the game. Within each mode you receive experience points as you play building your progress up level by level. I'm on level 13 right now. Jam Now is something you could do either alone or with a friend. Road Trip takes you on a wild basketball odyssey going up against other opponents all the while you progress and gain experience points.Jam now is just for playing exhibition games against the computer or another opponent. The online arena is where you can match your skills against other online opponents. You'll also gain experience and rewards playing online as well.

There's also a Jam Store that replaces the code system from the old game. Now instead of using three letter codes to obtain hidden characters like Bill Clinton or the funk master George Clinton you can buy the with the reward credits you earn in the game. Characters are not the only things you can get from the Jam Store. You can also purchase icons, backgrounds, teams, name titles, and special privileges, which are unique extras for the game. Man they really tried to keep people engaged in this game huh? On average I usually see a little over 250 people on this game at a time. So it's not really catching everyone's attention. It's more of a cult classic. 

All in all I still love the game. It brought back a lot of memories for me.  Plus it kind of fills in the gap for the NBA since they're still in a lockout. It feels weird without having any basketball games on TV. I'll give this game a 7 out of 10.

The Parallel of Light and Dark: Closure

Closure is a game where you use the element of light to navigate through paths that are impassable in dark. The game has been featured in a flash version over the last couple of years and has become a fan favorite. The environment of the game is completely surrounded by darkness with small patches of light which gives you a false sense of security. It makes you wonder what's out there in that vast darkness. You go through the game carrying a light source that helps to navigate you to the next level. I love these types of clever puzzle games that keep you on edge all the way through. Its definitely similar to Limbo but it has its own unique feel. Closure is being developed by lead programmer and desiginer, Tyler Glaiel, and Artist, John Schubbe. Look for the game to be released in the PlayStation Store early 2012.  Check out the video.




If you liked what you saw in the video you can play the flash version here:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/480006

Beat Hazard Ultra: A Musically Powered Game

Beat Hazard Ultra is a musically powered indie game created by developer Steve Hunt. The game is powered specifically by your music. I've played games like this before and I'm always bedazzled by all the bright lights and colors. It's really reminiscent of games like Rez and Everyday Shooter. Every element of the game is totally dictated by the music that's played. You can play the music from your PS3 hard drive or from the default music within the game. Check out the video.




For more info about the game and Steve's Story click here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/08/09/beat-hazard-ultra-powered-by-your-music-written-in-my-bedroom/

I Wanna Be Just Like You: Gotham City Impostors

I would hate if someone tried to look and do everything the same way that I did and ended up looking like a horrible doppelganger of yourself. Imagine how Batman and the Joker feel. I bet somebody after watching the scene with the imposter Batmen in the Dark Knight movie thought it would be a good idea to make a game based off of the same imposter theme. Well that very well may have been the case. The phony Batmen and the wannabe Jokers go toe to toe in Gotham City imposters. Watch the videos.

PC Games - E3 2012 - Gotham City Impostors

What Is This Online Pass Code Mess?

You might want to think twice about buying your next online multiplayer game from your local Gamestop. Starting with the release of  Resistance 3, September 6th, you'll have to get online via an online pass code to join your buddies online in an multiplayer match.  Sony claims that this is only a testing phase for select games and is not a full fledged campaign. There is also a possible additional payment involved as well upwards to $20.

Well this sucks. So not only do you purchase the game but you also have to buy a separate additional online subscription to the game as well. So a $40 game can become a $60 game and a $60 game can easily become an $80 game. That's just not right. It's just another avenue of income for Sony. The game is to make as much profit as you can. That's capitalism for you. To the gamer of course it's a stupid idea. Any idea that involves us paying more money past the initial payment for the game is stupid.

This not only hurts gamers but it also hurts game stores like Gamestop. They won't be able to buy games with this feature because they won't be able to sell it. No other person can play it online besides the original owner. Hopefully this phase won't last long and they can roll back to the original format. It looks like I won't be buying Resistance 3 anytime soon. Watch the video.

From Dust Hands-On Preview

Have you ever created a world in your own image in 7 days? No? Well now here's your chance. From Dust is a game where you can create your own world how you see it. You're able to manipulate the elements to how you see fit. I guess if you ever wanted to know what it feels like to be a god playing this game would be it. The game looks pretty interesting from the preview. Take a look for yourself.

Kaz Is King

Kazuo Hirai's clout has moved up considerably high within the last couple of years. Especially since the PlayStation Network attack. The shareholders definitely made it known this week after promoting Kazuo as Chairman of the board at Sony. So former CEO, Howard Stringer, is gone fishing taking a 16 percent reduction in his pay package to end the fiscal year. That sucks. With the turmoil that Sony has had this year with the Japan Tsunami, Network attacks, along with falling stock prices, Sony shareholders pretty much forced him out. I think that would be the best check mate I've ever heard of. lol  Stringer had been CEO since 2005 and was with Sony since 1997 so I know it was probably hard for him to go. Especially when you have so much power at your fingertips like that.

So the new head honcho of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is Kaz replacing former chairman, Akira Sato, who will be retiring in August. Kazuo's replacement will be Sony Entertainment Europe's President and CEO, Andrew House. Ken Kutaragi, dubbed, "The Father of the PlayStation", will has been retired as Honary CEO. Hirai's promotion as Chairman will become effective September 1st. So there have been a lot of shake ups at Sony lately. I don't think I could work in the corporate world. Everything is so public. Imagine getting fired and the whole world knowing about it. Ken Kutaragi's and Akira Sato's positions sound like they were forced out as well. It doesn't feel good to be the guy on the lower end of the corporate stick.

If it brings more stability for Sony in the long run then so be it. I believe Kazuo is a very smart guy. He moved up Sony's corporate ladder pretty fast and has been at the forefront of several of Sony's endeavors from the original PlayStation to their new innovation the PS Vita. He;s a bright light for Sony. He kind of reminds me of Helio Castroneves, the Indy Car driver. Everybody likes him and its like he can't do no wrong. Let's hope that this move brings about great results so I can keep playing bad ass games like God of War or Metal Gear Solid.

Sony: Hidden Truths Revealed... Supposedly

I said to myself that I wasn't gonna post any more news about the Sony intrusion attack but I see people still won't let this go. People are still uneasy about the event and are still blaming Sony for the attack claiming that they knew about it and did not inform customers right away. Well of course they knew about it. It happened to them, but to what extent did they know? I think when that particular event happened the damage was already done before Sony could finally figure out the full extent of what actually happened. Once they did that's when they informed customers. I think they were very methodical in their approach to figuring out what happened and informing the public in a proper manner.

Its so funny because I know the same people that are supposedly complaining about this are the same people who still play their PS3s everyday. Their the same people who downloaded those free games from Sony in their Welcome back program without a hesitating thought. Come on, nobody is gonna turn down anything for free. I sure didn't. lol  I didn't see any reports of PlayStation 3 owners boycotting Sony. Did you? The whole thing is just ridiculous. It happened, let it go.

The fact that Sony got hacked is nothing new. Hackers have been doing this to companies for years. Will it ever stop? Probably not. No one is truly safe. Hackers will eventually find their way in no matter what. If anything, its a good thing that this happened because it allowed Sony to improve on their security. It also made people aware about the maliciousness of hackers and how they should be more vigilant in protecting their security. Don't just leave it up to a company to protect you. Protect yourself as well. 

So Sony figured out what the problem was, informed the public, and made nice with some goodies for the customers. The best thing they did out of this situation was to give their customers free online security, which I immediately took advantage of. I mean you can't beat free especially when its something that's going to help you in the long run. You can't pass that up. To ask anything more from them I think is just ridiculous. So people need to get off the Sony hater bandwagon and get back to just playing games.Watch the video. Don't let it scare you away from Sony. lol

I'm Fightin' Against The All Girls Team And Their Winning!

Skullgirls is a 2D throwback fighter featuring an all girl cast. It kind of visually reminds me of a cross between Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and Dark Stalkers, which both were made by Capcom. Just as I've said in earlier posts before it seems like developers are having flash backs all of the sudden and are rolling out with all kinds of 2D games. They're back in again. Which isn't a bad thing. There are a lot of fun 2D games to play these days that are just as good as the featured 50 to 60 dollar next gen games that they have for sale at your local game shop. The good thing is that you don't have to get up from off of your couch to buy them anymore. They're all online for purchase via your current console.

The game is a fast paced combo tactical fighter featured in the fictional Canopy Kingdom. The quest and the goal is to capture the mystical and mysterious "Skull Heart". This heart once obtained has the ability to grant wishes but it doesn't come without a cost. If the female fighter's soul is not pure in nature her heart and her wishes will become corrupted. This event will turn the world as they know into a living nightmare thus transforming the fighter into a Skullgirl, a monstrous creature with unnatural power. Now isn't that just a treat. So if you're player is a bad girl she could single handily alter the state of the world from good to worse just by making a crazy wish. This reminds me of Ghostbusters when Ray accidentally wished for the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Yeah something like that can definitely change the fate of the world. lol

It's amazing how the characters look when you look at the game footage. The developers definitely took their time and care into making this game. The characters were sketched up on paper not created on the computer with software. That's really neat to see nowadays since most game creating these days is rendered with some kind of software on a PC. They really made this game from scratch. The creators are Alex Ahad, Art Director, and Mike "Mike Z" Zaimont. Their work has been featured in games such as Scott Pilgrim, and Lava Punch. The game also features real-time lighting and shadowing. I love the cartoony feel of the game as well. it really shows within the characters. Check out the clips.

E3 2011: Skullgirls Art Process Documentary:

More Skullgirls Videos

Skullgirls E3 2011 Interview

PS3 Games - E3 2011 - Skullgirls

Check out their website and their Facebook Fanpage for more footage and info about the game:

http://www.facebook.com/skullgirls?sk=info

http://www.skullgirls.com/home

Sony E3 2011 Press Conference

I'm reposting all of the conferences from the E3 event now that all of the big gaming media sites have released the embed codes. This is for people who didn't get to see all of the excitement. They will show the entire conferences in full so you can either sit back and relax and enjoy the show or you can skip to the good parts. Please comment on what you're favorite part of E3 was.
I'll go ahead and start with Sony. Despite their temporary downfall with the Japan earthquakes and the attacks Sony stood pretty tall at E3. They had plenty of new innovations and games to show. One was the PlayStation Vita. I don't like the name Vita. I still think that they should have left it named as NGP, (Next Generation Portable), because the name fits. That's exactly what it is. NGP is much more catchy. 
People loved the device but were also concerned about the price of the item. They were also concerned about the game selections. Everyone knows that there's one thing that can make or break a console and that is the game selections. Without a spectacular game selection a game system cannot survive despite the features it possesses.  Sony announced some decent titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Street Fighter X Tekken featuring Cole from the inFamous series. I still think we need to see a full line up of games so gamers won't be left hanging when they spend their 2 to 300 dollars on the Vita. 
Watch the video as Sony talks about taking it to the next level. Enjoy the video! 

Source video from GameSpot.com

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back

I wanted to play the Welcome Back Kotter theme song for this post because I felt so in the moment also because I think it would be kind of funny. I was trying to figure out how I could get people to scroll over this post and have the theme song start playing. Well just the welcome back part anyways. I figured it would be too much work just for one post and I decided just to get this post done. Ha!

Anyways... the PlayStation Store is finally back up and running and the Welcome Back promotion has begun. It officially started yesterday afternoon but whose counting the hours? So I'm home last night with my brother who came from out of town checking out this Welcome Back promo for the first time not really overly excited about it but only to do 2 things, download Dead Nation and inFamous and also get my free subscription for PlayStation Plus+ I was able to do both but there was some trouble with the PlayStation Store.

One of the issues I had was initially entering the store. It kept failing and not allowing me in. I thought my internet was out and I absentmindedly got up to reset my cable modem forgetting that I had originally seen that four of my online buddies were online. After feeling dumb I reset my PS3 tried to enter the store again. Once again it took a couple of tries but I made it. I'm thinking maybe their network was overloaded with customers trying to download all the free stuff. I kept getting errors everytime I clicked on something. I would have to exit one area of the store then enter back in again. It was sort of a pain.

So I clicked on the big Welcome Back link and I was in the free section for the Welcome Back promo. The way it was set up was kind of weird. You had to click one icon that was labeled Welcome Back Game 1 and download that then you had to go back to that section and select your game. Then you had to do that all over again for the second game. It was kind of cantankerous especially when I kept getting errors in the store. I just don't know why they didn't just tag those games as part as the welcome back promo and just have customers do a straight download. That would've been more efficient.

I was able to access the games I wanted but unfortunately I couldn't download them. When I tried to download inFamous I got a message saying that I was out of space which really sucked. I have too much stuff on my 60gb which meant that I had to upgrade. Luckily for me I have a spare 120gb laptop hard drive. The down side is that the back up process for this will take hours. I know this because I've done it before. I think the last time I did that it took almost the whole day to back up my content to another hard drive. So all I did was just add my new games to my download queue so I could download them later.

The kicker was the was the welcome back content for the movie selections which was sort of low ball to say the least. The selections where Ghostbusters, Final Fantasy: Enemies Within, and Bad Boyz. Now Ghostbusters came out 1984/85, Bad Boyz was released in 95', and Final Fantasy: Enemies Within debuted in the summer of 2000. I'm not really one to complain because I love those selections but they're a bit dated. You can't tell me that people in America have not seen those 3 titles over and over again. I've seen all 3 of those movies more times than I care to count. You can't tell me that other people don't feel the same way.

I just figured maybe they would release movies that were a little more recent. I wonder what the conversation was that led to those selections. I'm sure if I asked I would get some round about answer. Once again, I am not complaining. I'm just saying that it doesn't make any sense to me as to why those selections were made free versus new selections. That's like promising someone a car without them knowing what it was and you give them a rusty 72' Pinto. That would be something customers definitely wouldn't expect just like these movies. Is it wrong that they only made those movies the available free selections? Or are we wrong for assuming that we would get great content for free? Obviously they're being really frugal given recent events but is it right to low ball customers like that?

Well they never really told us what movies we were gonna get. Originally we were to receive free rentals which would only last through the weekend but I guess they scrapped that plan at the last minute. I guess we should just shut up and be happy for what they gave us. After all they really didn't have to do this at all. Welcome back folks! Ha!

It's All In The Shot Stick: My NBA 2K11 Diatribe

I've been really digging into NBA 2K11 as of late. It seems to be the only game I play these days and I have a lot of games. Out of the 23 games that I have for my PlayStation 3, not even including the dozen or so that I have on the hard drive, I play 2K11 the most. I've been playing the game a lot mostly because of the My Player mode. I created my player and have more or less become a stat whore. I'm all about the numbers and I've learned to manipulate the game of sorts.

In the beginning when I first created my player it was really tough. I had to figure out how add the original 10,000 skill points to my player to get the most efficiency out of him. That was the tricky part because when you play the game they don't give you no breaks. You have to scrap for every play and every point. They don't give it to you at all. You really have to earn it. Once you get to around level 58 you'll be able to maneuver through the games pretty good. You shots will become a little easier to make and you'll find that your defense has picked up notch as well. It still all relies on how you divvy up your skill points though.

If you manipulate the attributes then you manipulate the game. I've found that depending on the particular skill you may not need to max it all the way up to 99. For instance, my created player had a free throw rating of 46 which isn't really good but I managed to make most of my free throws with it. You really have to have a steady thumb for that. Rebounds are the same way. I was grabbing 12 to 17 rebounds per game with my created player on a 60 rating. Doing this allowed me to split my skill points to other attributes increasing my  player's talent. I was forcing my player into those actions even though he wasn't very skilled in them.

If I had to put it into percentages I would say that to have true success in My Player it would be 55 percent building your character and 45 percent of truly knowing how to play the game of basketball and playing the game itself. The game is not perfect by any means. If you know how to play the game then you know how to manipulate it. There's a lot of familiarity with gauging the AI's moves and when to strike and react.

One of the problems that I've noticed is shot control. In 2K10 I just loved having the ability of just knowing when to shoot. I didn't have a meter to guide me or anything. I know it sounds weird but I like the shooting the ball without shot stick timing. You get a more fluid shot that way. It feels better to me too. With shot stick timing on it feels kind of blocky and choppy especially when you play online. Thats where I really have to gauge my shot. Unfortunately when you play the My Player and Online modes you can't turn shot stick timing off. You get used to it in the My Player mode but when you play online it sucks especially when you play someone online who doesn't have a solid connection and their lagging. Be prepared to miss a lot of shots.

Another thing I have a problem with is how the computer decides whether or not my shot will go in or not. This is where I get so frustrated. If you ever get a chance to watch me play you would probably see me cursing all kinds expletives at the TV screen because what I thought was a good shot apparently was not a good shot at all. I could take a 10 ft shot with a really good shooter like Kobe Bryant, or say for instance my created player who is at a rating of 99 in mostly everything, and the ball will either roll in or roll out, hit the back iron, or this is my worst, fall short. Its so annoying when it happens. I'm not expecting to hit every shot in the game but I do expect to hit a majority of my shots. The majority that I do shoot better fall in.

Now I'm not talking about just shooting any kind of crazy shot but if I'm open and I take a good percentage shot it should fall most of the time. A player with a rating of 99 shouldn't be missing a majority of his mid range shots but NBA 2K11 has a way of making sure that he does. These are open shots that I'm talking about not defensively guarded shots. That's been my pet peeve. Don't even get me started on lay-ups. There have been number times when I've attempted to make a lay-up and the ball would roll in and roll out or roll across the back iron and fall on the other side. Its so irritating when you get a decent drive to the lane lay it up and that happens, with no defense on guard mind you.

A lot of the time it feels like you being challenged more by the computer than the actual opponent when you see things like that happen in the game. I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news I'm just telling you my experiences when I play this game. I'm sure a bunch of you can relate. I've played this game so much that I pretty much have it down to a science. None of this information is gonna make me be the best player in this game but I have honed my skills considerably playing this game numerous times.

I have a theory of how the online game is played. Hear me out. I've learned from all the years of playing this game that when you play an opponent of a higher rank it does not work in your favor. Certain shots that you would normally get against another player might not fall for you when you play a specific player of a higher ranking. To add insult to injury you may find that the particular high ranking opponent may have his way with you shooting the lights out. Nothing can be missed when they play. Even the shots that shouldn't have been made fall in somehow. Part of you might say its because they're good and another part of you would say that they had some lucky shots. I've found that the game works in their favor greatly depending how far down the totem pole you are in rank.

So you if you happen to get lucky and have you're opponents back against the wall on a 20 point run in the third don't expect the game to be over so soon. 2K11 has a way of working against you. You could hit a dry spell missing your shots and allowing your opponent to come back. I don't know if its just the nature of basketball that the game emulates or the favor factor that I speak about but either way its really royally annoying when it happens. Idealistically you would like to carry on the onslaught against your opponent and not give them a chance to come back. I could be wrong about everything and it could be the fact that fatigue comes into play with your team or key players possibly affecting the way they shoot the ball. Who knows really?

My worst problem with this game would be playing someone online and they realize that I'm going to win the game they either offer to tap out or they just disconnect themselves from the game session altogether. I really hate that. Some people truly feel that they're supposed to win every single game. Name a basketball star that has won every single basket ball game in their career? Just name one. No one can because that basketball god doesn't exist. So why do these players feel that I'm supposed to lose all the time? I guess they don't realize that I know how to play this game and I am pretty good. Just because my stats are not as high or I haven't won as many games as them doesn't mean that I don't know how to play the game.

Today I played someone online. I had the Chicago Bulls and my opponent had the Miami Heat. When I play people online I let them pick first. Most times they pick their favorite team. I like to pick good match ups or rivals to play against them. I do have a favorite team by the way, Lakers, but I've learned that you don't always win the game with your favorite. You have to choose your battles wisely. So we got into the match and it was a pretty good battle.

Entering the 3rd quarter I had got on a pretty good run and had bested my opponent with my stingy defense. I was using multiple sessions of double teams every time he would try to force himself in the lane. I would not let him drive through the lane with D. Wade or LeBron at all. So I basically took away his offense. My opponent then resorted to shooting 3 pointers. He was missing more than he was hitting and I was gobbling up all the rebounds.

By the end of the third I had him on a 15 point run and he couldn't stop me. So he waved the white flag and wanted to quit early and I declined. Then he finally just disconnected. Don't you hate when they do that? I get upset when they do that because the 2K network doesn't always do a good job of recording that scenario. Some times it does sometimes it doesn't. Theres no real way that you can report it either. Oh well.

I know it might sound like I'm literally knocking NBA 2K11 but I'm not. It's a great game. I'm just pointing out some flaws and annoyances in the game. I'm also just expressing my frustrations with 2K11 As with any game, or anything for that matter,  nothing is perfect. They strive to make the best game that they can. I have seen that. It's the best NBA basketball game to date. It's the only NBA Basketball game today. Sorry EA Sports. I still love basketball, even though my Lakers are not in the finals, and I still love playing NBA 2K11 and will continue to play it until 2K12 comes out. Hopefully all those problems that I mentioned will be gone by then. If you would like to challenge me online through the PlayStation Network just add me and give me a holler @ MEKKACHYLD. I look forward to playing you guys.

My How The Mighty Have Fallen

Sony has really taken a beating this year. With the unfortunate blow of the devastating Japan Tsunami and the massive hacker attack, Sony has taken a hit on the chin that they could not withstand. The untimely events have really hit Sony's wallet to the tune of upwards the billions. They're fiscal year number projections have been severely crapped on. They have also sustained losses from time not being online via the PlayStation Network and thwarting off multiple lawsuits from various entities due to the hacker infiltrations.

Do I feel sorry for the company? I could easily say no because they are an international company who can make millions on any given day and I'm just a lowly lover of games and an upstart blogger looking to make it in online media. lol Seriously though, admiring Sony's business savvy and their products, I do feel bad. I feel bad because they have created a multi-international online community comprised of not only game developers, brand ambassadors, and vendors, but also fans and gamers. It was sad to see Sony get hit like that because it affected so many others. It could've happened to anybody. It just shows us that no one is safe. It's a big lesson to the rest of the gaming industry of what could be possible.

Will Sony get back to business as usual? I really believe so. They'll start off today, hopefully, bringing the PlayStation Store back online and introducing the Welcome Back promo and go from there. They have plenty of projects and promotions that they plan to deliver within the coming weeks and months. They'll also be rejoined with their previous vendors who also took a huge hit when Sony went down. We'll see how they'll fair out towards the end of the year. The devil is in the details. Check the video from ClevverGames for more info on this story.





Related Articles & Posts:

Sony now expects $3.2 billion loss due to earthquake
Sony Estimates that PSN Outage Will Cost Over $170 Million

PlayStation Store Returns

Well you probably already know media blogs and sites that the PlayStation store is returning. I'm just supplementing news. I for one can't wait for it to open back up so I can download those goodies that Sony is promising us. The first thing I'll do is download that inFamous game. I can't waiting to play it. Also getting a free month of PlayStation Plus+ might lure to staying on and getting a full subscription. It will be nice to try out. Check the video.

Gamers Complain Over PSN Welcome Back Gifts

Well I guess Sony just can't make anyone happy these days. Well everything is slowly coming back to normal for Sony and its customers. Sony got the PSN back up over the weekend. I was more than happy to get my Netflix and Vudu back on my PS3. Its not really worth watching on my PC. Though Qriocity and the PlayStation store are not back online were able to enjoy online gameplay. That was the big piece of the puzzle that we were missing. It's funny because I have 23 PS3 games and I've yet to play anyone in a match in any game yet. What's wrong with me? Sony even delivered us the list of goodies that they promised us.

Now this is where you play the drum rifts for the punch line. With all that gamers are still not happy. Well apparently some gamers are complaining about what's on the gift list, preferably the game selections. The full welcome back promotion includes 2 free game titles out of a 5 game title selection, 4 game title selection for the PSP. You also get 1 month free of the PlayStation Plus+ subscription for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP. For current subscribers you receive 60 days worth of free services in addition to Qriocity subscribers also receiving the same deal.

Wait, there's more. In addition to the aforementioned,  PSN subscribers will also selection of free movies to enjoy for one weekend. Subscribers who use PlayStation Home will also get dealt a slew of goodies. Ok now back to the game selections. For the PlayStation 3 the welcome back picks were as follows: Dead Nation, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Super Star Dust HD, & Wipeout HD + Fury. For the PSP you get LittleBigPlanet, Mod Nation Racers, Pursuit Force, & Killzone Liberation.

Now those are not bad selections. Actually the whole deal is a steal. Now originally I felt that they should have allowed people to get the newer releases but then I got to thinking that they really didn't have to do this at all. Most of us didn't get hacked or our information taken at all. Sony did this just for the fact that we were loyal fans.We're PSN loyalists. lol That games they made available to us were actually some of their most popular games to date. We should be happy that we're getting something for free. A lot actually.

It's like Sony gave us a bunch of doggie treats and we spit them all out like we were too good for that. I don't get some people. Why complain at all? Now some people may argue that they already have this game or that game. I'll tell you this, there is no one person that has every single game on that list. No one. People always want more than they can have, especially when its free. I'm happy because I had a notion to buy inFamous until I saw it on the welcome back list. When I saw that I was happy. Now I can get it for free and play it before inFamous 2 comes out and I get an extra game for free. How cool is that? The rest of the welcome back perks are just bonus to me. So I'm please with the outcome. I guess I have to tip my hat off to the hackers for making this happen. How ironic is that? lol

There an article on http://www.play-mag.co.uk that shows the total sales figures for each game which is just above 10 million sales collectively for each game. There are over 77 million PSN users meaning that not every PSN user has played those games yet. This means that Sony was justified in adding those games to the Welcome back gift list. Check it out for your own reading pleasure.

http://www.play-mag.co.uk/opinion/dont-we-already-all-own-the-welcome-back-pack-games/

PlayStation Network Is Back Up!

The PlayStation Network is finally back up. Watch the video as Kazuo Hirai talks about the restoration services and changes to the network.

PSN Down Compensation Plan Announced

 Look like Sony is on their way to a full fix. Sony will be hosting a "Welcome Back" event for all PS3 and PSP owners with a free one month subscription to PlayStation Plus+. Current subscribers to PlayStation Plus+ and Music Unlimited will receive an additional 30 days free. Additional premium content is in the works as well. Full service to online gaming should be restored sometime next week. The PlayStation Store and Qriocity should be back online by the end of this month.

It's good to know that Sony does care about their customers and that they are working around the clock to get their services back online. I know for sure that they will never forget this critical event and plan for future attacks. I for one will be happy that I'm getting the PlayStation Plus+ subscription for a month.

Sony plans to have a press release today to discuss the situation. For more info check here:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/30/press-release-some-playstation-network-and-qriocity-services-to-be-available-this-week/

The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend

In light of recent events it seems that Microsoft may be chumming up to their competitor, Sony's enemy,  to prevent the same fate. Their seems to be news of people's Xbox 360s being unbanned. DJ Keemstar, who owns 15 of the same system, says that Microsoft made this move allegedly to avoid interactions with the hacker group known as Anonymous. The claim has been acknowledged by many posts from different forums. He has video of one if his Xbox 360s being unbanned as well.

Wow if that's the case I'd like to quietly thank Anonymous. lol I've had 3 banned 360 consoles myself so it would be nice to know that they could be unbanned except they are now damaged permanently thanks to the 3 red rings of death. This could also be a Microsoft sales ploy to lure PS3 owners to sign up for their Xbox Live service since the PlayStation Network is down. I was thinking about buying a brand new Xbox but if they're really unbanning 360s then I guess I'll just save the money and purchase a banned one. Hey you can call me thrifty all you want but at least I'll be back on Xbox Live. Ebay here I come. lol

Calling All Cars (Ps3) Review

Vid upped by gamingbitsDavid Jaffe's (of God Of War fame) premiere PlayStation Network title, in high-definition graphics, offering true 7.1 surround sound support, a split-screen option to enable two players to go online using the same PS3. Read Twisted Metal.You take the role of a bounty hunter careening around a cartoon world on the hunt for criminals on the loose. The game scores a