Analysis: It Can’t Get Much Better than the PS3…

Analysis I was always a little bit confused with game consoles. Starting with the Nintendo 64, I watched Nintendy closely as they literally threw their game consoles in the bargain bins. What began as awe turned into sheer disappointment. Nintendo’s consoles are usually one generation behind, strutting horrible graphics, lacking important features, and falling behind its competitors half-way into its lifespan. Meanwhile, SONY masters the gaming console format in 1995 with the PS (now known as the PSOne). Games like Tekken, Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, and Ridge Racers all find success on the console, with lovely graphics [at least for its timeframe], and stellar features. Even Microsoft mastered the technique, choosing graphics and presentation over gaming. The XBOX proved to be a horrible investment at launch, but has turned out to be great in the long run. Halo, Call of Duty, Halo 2, and PGR all were excellent titles.

Now with each brand’s latest entry into the market, they’re trying to do something different. Microsoft is going with the half next-gen approach–improving graphics by about 50%, forgetting about HD and Wi-Fi at launch (which comes in separate and expensive packages), but mainly focusing on the game experience and XBOX Live. SONY is going all out–not only improving graphics by 100%, but making HD a must with HDMI support for games and Blu-Ray support right out of the box. Moreover, Wi-Fi, internet access, etc. all make their way into the console. Nintendo is going the next-gen route as well, pioneering a new gaming revolution with the Wii. Its motion-sensing console will allow gamers to be involved in the way a game is played. Graphics are an improvement over the GameCube, but still prove to be last-gen. Wi-Fi, Internet Access, and photo viewing are all a plus.

TGS 06: PS1 Emulator Coming, New Talkman, GPS/Camera Deats, And Everything & Anything Else!

TGS news is pouring in. So much to talk about. Possibly the biggest is following SONY’s download service to be released with the PS3. While PS3-PSP connectivity has been marked off as no big deal, SONY hopes that the PS1 emulation service will make more PSP-owners consider a PS3. Or maybe the opposite…Hopefulyl, SONY won’t limit this service to just both PS3 and PSP owners but rather as an integrated part of the PSP/downloadable by computer.

Is SONY following suit and creating a whole bunch of new colors for the PSP. Surely, nothing special, but Nintendo has proved (at least in Japan…) that no matter what the color, people will line up. Already, pink and black have been popular there. What with SONY coming out with a p!nk flavor for the PSP, how about blue, silver, and more?

Talkman Numero Dos, Ace Combat X, Ratchet & Clank, and others were previewed at TGS06. PSPFanboy caught a video showcasing it all, but the video has no sound (they sure fooled me…). Personally, Gundam Battle Royale looks spectacular. Furthermore, MGS:PO’s GPS capabilities will allow for players to find others to play with–not quite what was expected, but still a great idea.

More TGS later!

TGS 06: LocoRoco Guide, PaRappa the Rappa…

Some TGS news after a break for it. Just a note: this weekend we will be launching the next podcast for the blog & a post-podcast will also be heard on Sunday. Meanwhile, Kotaku is showing off what looks to be SONY’s latest attempt to wow crowds who’ve not yet picked up LocoRoco. The ‘Guide to LocoRoco’ explains the characters, shows off stickers, and explains how the game is played (which doesn’t take up a lot of pages…). Even so, this book is cool for any LocoRoco-beginner or seriously-pumped LocoRocoer. EDIT: Even Jimmy caught this before me…
If the LocoRoco No Uta CD didn’t phase you, maybe the Original Soundtrack: No Uta will. Nothing has yet been released about it, but we hope that it will include a lot more songs than the measly 4 we saw on the original No Uta. It ships October 18th to Japan. You can pre-order/buy it on Play-Asia, but not just yet.

A week before TGS, nobody really seemed to care. But, now, all the gaming sites are all over it. GameSpot has the most TGS coverage possible, using their simple ‘Images’, ‘Videos’, and ‘News’ tags to direct visitors. 1Up’s TGS site is very much like their homepage, just highlighting games that will be shown at TGS and the news there is. IGN’s TGS site is…feh…okay. Oh, and if you cared, Microsoft is doing quite a bit for TGS. Hopefully, that’ll pul back up lackluster XBOX360 sales in Japan. Really lackluster sales.

More pics after the jump!

[UPDATE] 1Up LocoRoco Photoshop Contest…

After SONY and VH1 announced their contest, 1Up seems to have jumped on the same bandwagon. Your job, in this contest, is to implement LocoRocos into real life. Certain people have already made LocoRoco sundaes, LocoRoco dumbells, and more. Even an iLoco (which is perhaps the best I’ve seen so far).

EDIT: Well, the photoshopping contest chugs on. Between 50 and 100 competitors have entered the contest and have shown some very impressive entries. Some of them include Oprah handing out the LocoRoco (err..the keys to a Pontiac), Zidane headbutting a LocoRoco, Grand Theft LocoRoco, Desperate LocoRoco (Desperate Housewives), and more.
An Asheville, NC newspaper, the Citizen Times has reviewed LocoRoco. They gave it 51/2 stars out of 5 (whether this is a typo or not, I’ve yet to discover), touting the simplicity and intuitiveness. A small, but nonetheless great review. Also, The Olympian in Olympia, WA reviewed LocoRoco. They repeated that LocoRoco lives up to the hype instead of games like The Matrix. Beautiful review. They gave LocoRoco 4 stars.

I missed out on the lot of TGS and PS3 news this week, so I’ll repeat it here. SONY announced the PS3 pricing starting at $500, but without benefits like Wi-Fi and HDMI. Now yet another disappointment. The original planned worldwide launch (which would’ve included worldwide territories…) has been dished. Instead, the US will get 400K units and Japan will get 100K units at launch. Europe’s launch has been delayed until Spring 2007. SONY could’ve impressed us by the worldwide launch, instead of Nintendo’s usual Japan-first-US-later scheme. Rather, they are showing that they don’t really care about Europeans just yet. After all, they only play into a fraction of the gaming market, right? No way. They are just as important. They deserve a PS3 this November.

Meanwhile at TGS: Koei has announced that Dynasty Warriors Mahjong will arrive for the PSP and will be previewed at the Tokyo Game Show come later in the month. Meanwhile, Capcom, who has focused their large retro collection on the PSP, will be launching new retro collections in addition to Monster Hunter PSP 2.

Hopefully a podcast later today?? I’m off to play some LocoRoco…

[UPDATE] TGS06: Camera/GPS deats released, GT4 Mobile Coming, at All?

Earlier, I posted about the camera/GPS add-on. I was really busy, so I posted everything really sloppily. As I mentioned before, both add-ons have been priced and are set for Fall-Winter releases for this year. The camera will be called the “Chotto Shot”, attaching atop the PSP, and will cost 5,000 yen or about $42-$44USD. Rated at 1.3MP, the camera is nothing special. It is more like a cheap digital camera included within a $0 Verizon Wireless deal, if you know what I’m saying. Hence, software and a storage case will be packaged with the camera so that it won’t look as cheap as it really is; it will ship 11/2. The GPS receiver will also attach at the top of the PSP via USB, and it will cost 6,000 yen or about $50-$53USD. Including no software, the GPS receiver will not require Wi-Fi, and it will be used in games like MGS:PO and Hot Shot Golf, as previously announced. Hopefully, SONY will introduce a map software via UMD or for the PSP’s Memory Stick. Otherwise, the GPS Receiver would be very useless. PSP-Vault helped us out on this one; PSPUpdates and PSPFanboy provided good deats; gaming sites did okay jobs. In raw Japanese, specs can be found here. Otherwise, the Vault will give you some good specs in “raw” English. Boy, this makes TGS sound even better. Here are some pics:

Meanwhile, PSPUpdates also revealed that GT4 Mobile still has an indefinite release date–after being delayed since the PSP release. It looks like, at this point, that Polyphony Digital is simply focusing on the PS3-version of GT, instead of GT4 mobile. It should be noted that Gran Turismo 3 was the best selling PS2 game, and would help to boost PSP sales. That’s a definite.

TGS 06: Zoomed-In GPS Pics…

PSPUpdates has posted some new pics of the GPS add-on via USB. Supposed to arrive later this fall, it will be highly detailed come TGS-time. New pictures are revealing that the add-on will attach to the USB mini-B port at the top of the PSP and that it will overhang in the back like a clip. It is completely white and says ‘GPS’ on the top with a plane-like picture. Furthermore, it is supposed to be working with some high-profile games when it arrives. Some predict the add-on will cost between $50 and $100, others think lower.

TGS 06: GPS, Camera Add-Ons Pictured…

SONY’s PSP will be receiving add-ons that will attach on to the mini USB slot. This includes a GPS receiver and a 1.3MP camera that will both arrive sometime in October-November. Both add-ons are supposed to be able to work with games, and the Tokyo Game Show this year will preview how the GPS receiver works in games. Gizmodo revealed some nice, new pics of both add-ons. In the pictures, the camera add-on is attached to a P!nk PSP, while the GPS receiver is attached to a regular black PSP. Seems interesting. What’s on the screen is a little bit deceiving. The P!nk PSP user is playing LocoRoco! (hah :)) Here are the pics:

Hmm…these accessories really look sleek (as does the pink-colored PSP), but the question is how will they perform? The camera is a mere 1.3 megapixels in a world where 6 and 7 megapixel cameras are the standard. What kind of optical zoom will it have? Furthermore, how will it tie into games? I’ve seen the use of the camera as part of World Championship Poker : All In 2‘s trailer (arriving 12/01 for PSP). The GPS unit is one that will really be interesting. What kind of range will it have? Furthermore, does it require internet access to function as a standalone GPS receiver? How will it work in games? So many questions—TGS is so far away! We kick off our official coverage beginning September 22nd.

Ghosts N’ Goblins Pushed Back; PS3-PSP Connectivity Pics

Jimmy’s German Blog has released World 2 Level 1-8 graphic walkthroughs. Check them out here, and have fun!

When LocoRoco is released on September 5th in the US, it was supposed to have some decent competition. Well, no longer. Ultimate Ghosts N’ Goblins, a remake of a retro classic, will be ported to PSP one week earlier on August 29th. It has received some mixed signals from the 1Up Show, who calls this game too hard to play, and at the same time a beauty to watch. Could this be in an effort to free LocoRoco of competition? This is such a big release for the PSP (despite receiving no commercial buzz here in the US) that you’d expect SONY to free the world country of PSP games for that week. Or maybe I’m just trying to make up LocoRoco news.

Anyways, PSPFanboy has some good news today. The longtime rumored PS3-PSP connectivity has been captured in a recent photo. A Ceramic White PSP is shown connecting via the USB 2.0 port to the PS3. Interesting. PSPFanboy says it echoes some of the Amsterdam racist ads that were pulled a few weeks ago. I didn’t really care. All I thought of was what is going to make this connectivity between the two so special?

Some small TGS06 tidbits: MGS:PO (Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops), the new game for PSP that will have GPS connectivity, is getting some major buzz on all the gaming sites. GameSpot has it clocking in at #4 on the PSP list, and 1Up has it at #4 on their complete list. As far as I can tell, graphics look stellar and this will be a great addition to the PSP lineup. We’ll just have to wait until TGS, right? 😦

TGS 06: Some of the PSP Lineup Revealed; GPS will be big?

TGS06

While SONY has slacked off at recent games conventions, hopefully they’ll bring their weapons to TGS06. Recently, PSPFanboy revealed some of the PSP lineup at the show, also announcing PSP games with GPS support at the convention. What with SONY planning big launches in the future–a PSOne emulator rumored for this year, a possible music service, VoIP support, Camera/GPS add-ons, and more–TGS could be the show where they detail big plans for the rest of the year and into Q1 2007. PSP Fanboy lists these games:

PSP

Boxer’s Road 2: The Real
Monster Hunter Portable 2
Jan Sangoku Musou
Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinee (Graphic Novel)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Jeanne D’Arc
Sarugetchu Piposaru Racer
Tenchi No Mon 2 (Kingdom of Paradise 2)
Ratchet and Clank Portable
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
Gundam Battle Royale
Tales of World: Radiant Mythology

PSP GPS Software

Navigation Software (temporary title)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Homestar Portable
Minna no Golf (temporary title)

Big titles like Monster Hunter, Ace Combat, and Ratchet and Clank look to appeal more to Americans/Europeans than most of these other titles. MGS:PO will, of course, be a big title. It’ll be interesting to see how GPS will work with this game, and how it will work with all others. As PSPFanboy reports, this is just a partial lineup, so more will be revealed for the future. Many have questioned how GPS could work in games. I have no clue at all. And, heck, one comment stuck out: where in the world is GT Mobile? These questions will hopefully be answered come TGS in late-September. For more continuing coverage, stick with the blog.