In response to the editorial posted earlier about 2008 not really being the year of the PlayStation 3. The point that I was trying to get across to fellow PlayStation owners is that although yes 2008 will certainly be a great year for games and content, it just isn’t going to be the “year” of the PlayStation 3. That “Year” is some year and a bit more away, developers are just getting to grips with the PlayStation 3 architecture and are only just realising some of its potential as a gaming platform.

The PlayStation 3 is no longer a joke amongst the elite gamer crowd, and can no longer be ridiculed by Xbox 360 fanboys intent on ripping apart the console for its many negatives. It is now just becoming what it should have been at launch, a games console. Sony ploughed billions of pounds into making the PlayStation 3 a success and it was clear for all to see just what it meant for the company for it to succeed. Uber-Boss Howard Stringfellow even rolled his sleeves up and got involved as the PlayStation brand began to take a kicking.

However, the point I was making in the editorial was this, 2008 so far has not been a great year for PlayStation 3, in terms of what it could have been. Some users on N4G.com commented on the fact that PlayStation 3 had seen Firmware 2.4/1 this year bring the majority of user requested features to the console, but lets not lose sight of the fact that, these updates for me, have arrived a year too late. The features introduced in 2.40 should have been there at launch, and it is simply impossible to justify them not being there. We still have not been given the ability to chat outside of a game yet in a private chat, yet this is available on the 360 quite easily, and has been for some time.

Games are still crashing unexpectedly, Ferrari Challenge (Crashes when someone joins an online game), Battlefield Bad Company (+VOIP Issues, Squad Invites not working, Squads not creating), Uefa Euro 2008 (Framerate Lag across the whole game) I could go on and on about the issues that are still faced by PlayStation 3 users. Yet these problems seem to be pushed aside because Sony PR has everyone believing this year will be the year of the PlayStation 3.

If lets assume for a second, that this was infact the “year” for the PlayStation 3, then I really don’t want the console through years three, four, five and six as it will progressively get worse!. I absolutely love the PlayStation 3, I think it has immense potential, but you cant help but feel that Sony have asked a lot of its consumers to stand by it in the face of constant delays to a service we were shown three years ago at E3 2005, then to put up with a lack of games, games that were available were crashing/buggy or just didn’t run anywhere near their 360 counterparts.

Sony still have a huge amount of work to do. Introducing Firmware that wont brick consoles for a start, how that one slipped through the QA net, I will never ever know. Introducing the features that we need to make the console a success. We buy the hardware giving Sony the profit, so instead of devoting time to the stupid PSN Video Store, why not spend it giving us the features, as gamers we need and would like.

Voice chat at anytime, whether in game or on the XMB, with any of our friends, More uses for the PlayStation Eye, but most of all PlayStation Home! Shown three years ago, and we’re getting an Open Beta this fall, it has been so badly managed that it’s almost become a joke at Microsoft, with a senior Xbox executive this week telling us not to “hold our breath on PlayStation Home, as it could be dangerous”. I agree completely.

You have to understand that Sony have failed miserably in managing the PlayStation 3, Phil Harrison did not just leave a very well paid job because the PlayStation 3 was a roaring success and he felt like he could not achieve anymore in his current post, he left because he knew that the Sony ship was headed for stormy waters, and he didn’t want to be there when that happened. Harrison mentioned on the DualShock front that he believed it was a gimmick, and gamers didn’t need vibration, SIXAXIS was the future. – What a load of crap, and Sony proved that buy settling their dispute with the company behind DualShock.

2008 has been a “better” year for PlayStation 3, of that there is no doubt, but it certainly wont be “the year” of the PlayStation 3, that I am afraid is another year away.

Sony was kind enough to invite us to a small roundtable discussion with Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO, Jack Tretton.

The guy, apparently, is pretty important. Following yesterday’s press conference — which was hosted by Tretton — it stands to reason that the press had a few questions. Tretton was pretty forthcoming and candid in the laid back roundtable.

Some highlights include:

• How did Sony react to the Final Fantasy XIII 360 announcement? (“Am I disappointed by it? Yeah. Am I surprised? No.”)
• Are Sony feeling pressure to deliver Home after Microsoft’s avatars announcement?
• What’s the hold up with Home?
• The PlayStation 3 as a media center versus a gaming console. (“[We] can’t deny [Sony's] heritage by painting it only as a game machine,” he said.)
• Is there an opportunity to turn consumers who purchased for Blu-ray into gamers?
• Digital rights management and the PlayStation video store.
• Does the movie store effectively kill off the UMD? (“I certainly hope not.”)
• Have Sony thought about a hard drive or storage space solution for future iterations of the PSP?
• The discrepancy between PSP hardware sales and software sales. (Tretton cites piracy as one of three reasons.)
• Why no mention of Killzone 2 at the press conference?
• Being “Indian givers” regarding PS2 backwards compatibility on the PS3. (“You can stack [the two systems] on top of each other if you really want to,” he joked, mentioning that the price point of both consoles today equals the cost of a launch PS3.)

Download Interview [WMA]

via Destructoid

After watching the E3 Press Conference be delivered by Jack Tretton, I have to say that im very disappointed.

I’m disappointed because yet again the European Market is left until last, and because of that, the English inventing Great Britain is left out of the loop. The U.S PSN Store at the moment has received a number of aesthetic “tweaks” along with the addition of the much anticipated PSN Video Store. Sadly however these will not be coming to Europe until “Next Year” according to Sony big boss Howard Stringfellow for reasons that are still be to explained.

As i have stated before, I can understand the requirement for regional based content, it makes absolutely no sense to advertise Japanese content to Europeans and vice versa. However promoting one region nearly a year ahead of the other regions is absolutely inexcusable.

The United States is a market of gargantuan size, but that doesnt mean British customers should be of any less importance when it comes to feature deployment. I’m disappointed that once again we miss out, despite the fact that we speak English as our mother tongue. We miss out because Sony will have to offer movies that we want to see in another 26 languages to cater for the nations of the European Union.

One country has to wait a year for a Video Store due to 26 other countries within its Region. Despite the fact that the U.S version of the store would work perfectly well within Great Britain. This is where the “Regional Content” Strategy that Sony employ absolutely fails.

Exactly the same can be said this week with regards to E3, Sony’s big media event to promote its latest games, I return after a week vacation, E3 has ended a number of days ago, log onto the PSN Store within the EU region and guess what, No E3 Press Conference Videos for you, just 10 Game Trailers (that you’ve already seen a million times before). Fear not however the content will arrive a week later, that’s two weeks behind the U.S Store!.

Why cant Great Britain have access to the U.S E3 Content, Why cant Great Britain have access to the latest content on the U.S Store – Afterall we wait a week longer for absolutely no reason, the content on the U.S store is already in English. We wait for Sony to translate it into 26 other Languages, again fail!

If i were in the position of Jack Tretton, I would combine the U.S and U.K stores together, so that they both got the same content, and then class the rest of the EU region as just that, the EU region. It makes perfect sense, and if no-one at Sony has even considered this possibility then … I completely give up!.

Along with the E3 Press Conference, where Tretton ackowledged things wouldn’t look up for another year or so, a number of games that were shown have no official release date, and we haven’t seen anything spectacular from any “actual” in-game footage.

Resistance 2 doesn’t look that brilliant, same as Resistance but with a new setting, and an expanded story line. MotorStorm Pacfic Rift, same as MotorStorm, again different setting but principally the same. KillZone 2 pushed back to February 2009, so that basically leaves the killer app of 2008 for PlayStation fans as LittleBigPlanet.

I would expect LBP to shift more consoles for PS3 than the MGS4 (Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots) Bundle, and if Sony don’t release a LBP PlayStation Bundle then they are clinically insane!. Capitalizing on the hype of LBP and its huge appeal to a wider audience is a must to make 2008 successful.

PlayStation isn’t going to take on the Wii and win, but it may very well overtake the Xbox 360. The problem we currently have is that we are two years into the PlayStation 3 Lifecycle, which is expected to last around ten years, at a maximum. Two years into the PlayStation 3 Lifecycle and nothing spectacular, infact the console has only just got onto its feet.

Early adopters (myself at launch) have had to wait two years for any half decent games to be released, some of the current games like Ferrari Challenge suffer from horrible online issues that should have been addressed by the developers before the game was released. Paying £45+ for a game and then having to wait two months for a patch to actually play against your friends online is horrific!.

So after everything is said and done, E3 was a huge disappointment for Sony, not really showing anything we haven’t seen before, or even anything realistic. MAG (Massive Action Game) showed only a concept using a CGI Trailer, not exactly a highlight, impressive, but not practical. Every game trailer we had seen before, so nothing new.

Everything we were shown at E3 is released Q3/4 2008 or Q1 2009 should there be no more delays. PlayStation Home we were “absolutely assured” (Tretton) would be “worth the wait”. However should it be delayed again, it will be one of those over ambitious technology showcases that is pushed to the back of everyone’s mind.

There’s a golden rule in the games industry, under promise and over deliver. Its just a shame that Sony don’t grasp it yet.

Sorry to Jack Tretton for not having him on for an Interview, but sadly we’re out of time.

http://www.littlebigplanet.com/ is now live, not much on the site at the moment, but at least its a start.

LittleBigPlanet E3 2008: Developer Walkthrough

Customize your character, create your own levels, and so much more.

Video: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36540.html

WhatIfGaming E3 08′: LittleBigPlanet Beta Coming This September

That’s right. This September, most likely near the 1st week, LittleBigPlanet will definitely have the beta launch ready for fans eagerly awaiting the wondrous dreaming spectacle of the infinitely large world that makes it up.

Alex Evans, Co-Founder, Media Molecule: We’re ready for it, and this game just has to get out October. Mark (Healey) is having a boy soon and this bad boy has to be done before then.

WhatIfGaming: So, no delay…nothing? Solid for October 2008 on Blu-ray disc only?

AE: Yes. There will be no delay and it will be ready then.

WhatIfGaming: So the beta will take place September?

AE: You got it. Absolutely.

WhatIfGaming: So is it for underground members only or will there be a site for selection or something?

AE: It will be a public beta, but limited at the same time. We will disclose that info when we’re ready.

We would like to thank Alex Evans for taking the time to speak with us about LittleBigPlanet.

Source: http://whatifgaming.com/whatifgaming-e3-08…-this-september

Quite simply, the biggest game of 2008 – for me anyway!

Firstly, let me start this post with “What an absolute Joke!”

Sony’s PlayStation Home service – which has been constantly beset with delays since launch – is going to be ‘region-locked’ according to a Sony rep at E3.

While users will be able to visit any of their online friend’s private apartment areas in Home, all the public zones in the virtual world are to be restricted by the geographical area you live ‘IRL’ (in real life).

It’s another blow to PlayStation fans who were hoping that the service would be finally rolled out this year, which is also looking increasingly unlikely.

If you want to meet up with your pals from abroad, then you’ll be able to invite them into your apartment, but warping into the game space to bowl or play chess is not possible.

This is allegedly to make sure that each region receives an ‘experience most suited to their tastes’ as well as, no doubt, to keep advertisers happy.

Sony is obsessed with regions, sadly the world is not divided up into neat little lines. I understand the core principals of delivering advertisements based on location, obviously its pretty pointless showing someone in Europe an advert for a Japanese Company and its one thing to do that, but it is completely another to not let you play with anyone from outside your region!.

What is the point of Multiplayer? I know Battlefield Bad Company has a lot of US players mixed with Europeans, if it was all one region we probably wouldn’t get a game going.

Toys “R” Us is having a special promo for both our PSP and PS3 Fanboy readers. Buy any PS2, PSP or PS3 game, and get another game at 50% off. That’s a pretty sweet deal for those that are interested in getting two games. You can see all the eligible titles here. Offer is valid until July 26th

Via PS3Fanboy

Seems like a good offer, however we never get anything like this in Europe! Still if your in the U.S worth checkin this deal out.

With so much happening at E3 this week, it probably wasn’t the best time to take a vacation. However it was the only week that was available so it had to be done, I will have to play catch-up over the next few days updating this site and reading e-mails – oh the fun!.

I havent been completely isolated however an iPod touch kept me connected with the wider world, and I have read glimpses of what E3 offered, On the whole I feel a bit disappointed but I will have an in-depth look at what has been on offer over the past week, and hopefully my fears will not be realised.

Anyways, sorry for the lack of updates, catch up begins today!

AJ

It’s time to dust off your copy of Burnout Paradise today as the latest update, codenamed “Cagney,” is now available for download. Simply stick the game in and boot it up and you’ll be welcomed by an update screen asking you to download the almost 400mb patch. This latest patch adds a further 70 Freeburn challenges to complete online, improved SD rendering, custom soundtracks, new cars and more. Best of all? It’s completely free.

Criterion will continue to add to the Burnout Paradise experience this year with further updates which will include trophies, motorbikes and … planes? If you haven’t yet picked up Burnout Paradise, then now’s a great time to do so. With it selling for only $40 everywhere, you really have no excuse.

Looks like ill pull out my copy of Burnout Paradise for this refresh, always a great game, just never enough people had it in my opinion.

Playable Content

• Echochrome full game for PS3 (£6.99/€9.99)
• Echochrome full game for PSP (£4.99/€7.99)
• Top Spin 3 demo (free)

Add-on Content

• High Velocity Bowling “Amber Yarhees” character pack (£0.69/€0.99)

Videos

• Echochrome trailer
• Movement episode 1 part 2 (8 videos)
• Kung Fu Panda trailer

Something worth purchasing for a change on this weeks EU PSN Update. Echochrome Full Game for £6.99 which is not too bad, its a game of mind boggling puzzles, and follows Portals example.

It seems like the the inability to harm children in Fallout 3 didn’t win it any brownie points with Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification, since the office has refused to give the game a rating. The highest rating allowed in Australia for video games is MA 15+. Hence, any game with material the OFLC deems inappropriate for children under 15 will not receive classification. No classification means it is illegal to sell or promote the game. Bethesda can, and probably will, resubmit the game with edits to try and meet the MA 15+ rating’s guidelines. We are guessing those PS3 owners who really want their game experience intact can just import the game, since all PS3 games are region-free.

Time for Australians to start using Ebay again, as they did when GTA IV was censored in the Australia.