S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Screenshots

My favorite parts of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are the awesomely life-like skyscapes you see throughout the game.  Below are just a few of the screenshots I’ve taken while playing.

The Bear

If it wasn’t for music I don’t know what I’d do sometimes.  I recently caught an episode of Penny-Arcade: The Series, and there was this track featured by Alex Mauer simply called “The Bear.”  The song was so provocative that it inspired me to purchase Alex’s full album on-the-spot.  Truthfully, I didn’t know I was purchasing a physical album (I presumed it would be an MP3 download) but I’ve since received (and ripped) Alex’s  ”9999,” and it was well-worth the purchase.

Unfortunately there is no online version of the song that I can find, so you’ll have to watch the episode of Penny Arcade linked above to see what I’m talking about.  I’d recommend taking a look either way, since their show personifies my dream job.  The song shows up at approximately 7:00 minutes.

My monthly post.

It seems like I’ve fallen off with posting lately.  Honestly, I feel that talking about most of the things I would normally talk about is kind of a waste of time because there’s a lot of other (better) ways to keep up on what’s hot in the tech industry.  First and foremost I’d recommend listening to as many TWiT netcasts as possible.  The most obvious of the bunch would be This Week in Tech itself, but I’d also recommend taking a look at MacBreak Weekly and Windows Weekly while you’re there.  Those are my primary sources for tech news.

On the gaming side of things I’d recommend the usuals.  My favorite of the bunch is the Joystiq Podcast, the hosts of which not only review the news from the past week but also provide an often-times hysterical delivery.  My second standby when it comes to gaming podcasts would have to be 4 Guys 1UP, previously the 1UP Yours podcast with Garnett Lee.  Garnett has since moved on to bigger and better things at Gamefly but David Ellis has done a great job in his stead.

The latest additions to my repertoire are CheapyD’s CAGcast and CO-OP by Area 5, a band of 1UP alumnus.  The CAGcast (short for Cheap Ass Gamer, a website dedicated to gaming deals) is probably the most laid-back of the bunch and, to be honest, I mostly listen to it for CheapyD and Wombat’s off-topic banter.  CO-OP on the other hand is a masterfully-produced Revision 3 video show that reviews the past week’s releases.

So, now that I’ve more-or-less put myself out of a job by sharing all of my sources for information, what can I offer?  How about a Canibus song (best rapper alive):

Is the PSP Go overpriced?

I think I’m one of the 10 people on Earth that is looking forward to plunking down the cash to buy a PSP Go this Fall.  To be honest the hook manifests itself in the downloadable games – I totally covet digital downloads and the thought that I don’t have to carry around a bunch of UMD discs is extremely attractive.  On top of that the new design is pretty neat, and the overall package is significantly smaller.  What’s not to love?

Well, a couple things.  First off, and this is the lesser of the two qualms, gamers tend to be upset that Sony didn’t add a second analog stick to the device.  I’m completely lost on this gripe.  It’s been clear to me that the PSP Go was more a refinement of the PSP line than an evolution, and therefore since the device relies on the PSP’s back-catalog of games there’s no point to add a second analog stick.  If the focus of the Go is to play all of the PSP games that are already out, games that haven’t been developed with 2 analog sticks in mind, why would they add one now and change everything?  Not only that, but they’d put developers in a jam since they’d have to decide whether it was worth adding support for a second stick to appease the Go customers only.  I’m always against splitting the market, especially when it comes to game consoles, and that’s exactly what a second analog stick would do.  Save it for the PSP 2.

The more obvious complaint about the PSP Go is its price.  At $250 it costs the same as the standard PSP did at the product’s launch in 2005.  It’s $80 more than the previous model right now, and to be honest it looks like even more of a sham with the PS3’s price dropped to $299.  Basically, consumers are faced with the choice of getting a PSP Go for $250, or paying just $50 more (less than the price of a game) to get a PS3 which plays blu-ray movies and next-generation games.

Additionally, Microsoft is dropping the price of the Xbox 360 Pro in reaction to the Sony price cuts, so you can get a 360 with a useable hard drive for $250 now.  That’s right, the same price as the PSP Go.  That’s not even mentioning the Nintendo Wii.  Based on the value-transfer in the console market just in the past few weeks, I really think Sony needs to cut the price on the Go if they want to sell more than 10 of them.

There’s a couple ways they could do this.  The first and most-obvious way would be to drop the price to $199.  However, at Sony they might think that cutting the price of the Go before it hits the market would degrade its reputation as a premium product to potential purchasers.  The question of whether or not average consumers even know about the PSP Go yet, or more importantly if they know what it costs, is an entirely different matter.

The second route they could take is to just bundle in some extra games or accessories.  Right now Sony has started a program where, if you register your PSP G0 by October 10th, 2009, you’ll get a free copy of Gran Turismo PSP.  Why not bundle $50 worth of PSN Store credit with the device?  Or at least bundle 3 downloadable games.  That way they could stick with the $250 price but say it’s basically $199 since you’re getting $50 worth of games for free.  Makes sense to me.

DOOM Resurrection only $2.99!

Doom Resurrection is a first person shooter from the folks at id Software, makers of the Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake and now Rage series of games.  It takes its cues from Doom 3 in particular, which was best-known for being a graphical revolution when it debuted on the PC back in 2004.  Resurrection uses assets from that same game but, as you would expect of the iPhone, doesn’t look quite as good.

The fact that it’s an FPS has been misleading to some, because it’s one of the multiple “on-rails” games that have found their way to the iPhone.  That being said it’s a full-featured experience that doesn’t borrow levels from its previous PC counterpart, and even though it doesn’t look as good as that game in particular, it’s one of the most impressive visual showcases on the platform.

Doom Resurrection was previously priced at $9.99, but at $2.99 it’s a steal.  Hurry though, this is a QuakeCon exclusive deal that will end at noon tomorrow (August 16th).  It’s worth noting that id’s iPhone version of Wolfenstein 3D is also on sale for only $0.99.  Links to both can be found below.

iTunes – Doom Resurrection

iTunes – Wolfenstein 3D

AudioBoo – Battlefield 1943 and Monkey Island

This one’s split into two parts because the first part exceeded 5 minutes.

Fight Night Round 4 – Vicious Uppercut

So I picked up Fight Night Round 4 this week and I have to say I’m loving it so far.  I’m a huge boxing fan and this game doesn’t disappoint.  There have been a lot of haters out there complaining because EA took away the use of face button controls, but I find “Total Punch Control,” i.e. controlling your punches with just the right analog stick, to be more than adequate.  There’s a bit of a learning curve but once you figure it out it’s a bunch of fun.

One of the coolest new features is the ability to replay and upload videos from your fights to EASports.com.  Below is a 4 second clip of my latest knockout.  It was a “flash knockout,” which is a new feature in FNR4 as well.  What it means is basically if you land a perfect punch even if you’re getting beat pretty badly you can instantly knock down your opponent, just like in real boxing.

Max Stain, indeed

I’m kind of concerned about one of my favorite franchises – Max Payne.  The newest game in the series seems to be departing from the tried-and-true formula of the previous games and as such I’m becoming a bit skeptical.  It all started with the full reveal of Max in the new game, and puns like “Max Stain” were abound.  Basically he looks like an old bum these days.  That’s odd, because in the previous games Max always maintained a conservative yet professional look even when facing some particularly troubling situations.  Before and after pics are below.

Before

After

However the changes don’t end there.  The new game takes place roughly 12 years after the events that occurred in “The Fall of Max Payne,” and a whole lot can happen in 12 years.  What does it matter you ask?  Well, it’s possible that the developer (Rockstar Vancouver, not Remedy Entertainment who developed the first two) could manufacture some history in those 12 years that isn’t exactly coherent with what the fans have come to expect.

Another point of contention is the fact that Max Payne 3 doesn’t take place in the film noir haven of New York City (a trademark of the franchise) but instead in São Paulo, Brazil.  One could assume that a down-on-his-luck Max moved to Brazil to retire?  Who knows.  Also, has Max ever not been down on his luck?  Anyways, this is a game I’ve been waiting for since forever.  I’m a huge fan of the other titles in the series and I really hope that this one can hold up to those standards.

PSP is Go!

Engadget just put up a post confirming that the PSP Go is a reality based on an upcoming episode of Sony’s Qore.  The details of the new handheld are nearly identical to what had been discussed before, but now we get to see what the unit will actually look like.  Image and a link back to Engadget’s post are below.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/30/sonys-psp-go-leaks-out-before-e3-is-obviously-a-go/

E3 2009 – Rumors and Such

It’s that time again.  This year’s return to the E3 of yesteryear should produce some exciting news.  This post is really just a roundup of some of the rumors I’ve heard and what I’m looking forward to most.  We’ll start with Microsoft and the Xbox 360.

Not much is known about what Microsoft is going to show this year.  You can bet that Halo 3: ODST will play a big role, but otherwise they don’t have the laundry list of announced megaton games to talk about like they have in years past.  One rumor going around is that they’re working on a motion controller (in fact, the same rumor is going for Sony) so we may see the debut of a new motion controller initiative to compete with Nintendo’s ridiculously successful Wii.  There’s also a rumor that the 360’s dashboard will see another massive update similar to the “New Xbox Experience” we saw last holiday season.  This might be tied into the Zune / Xbox Marketplace integration that was announced this past week (along with the new Zune HD).  However, as far as games go, I’m kind of at a loss.  Some folks are saying that Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will be debuted during Microsoft’s conference despite the fact that it’s traditionally a PC franchise.  I’m not sure about that but Episode 3 is definitely a game I’m interested in seeing.

The Sony press conference is the one I’m the most excited for because they have the biggest list of announced games to look forward to.  There has also been some interesting information leaked about possible revisions to their hardware which have me excited.  Let’s start with the games, though.  Currently the games they’ve announced that I’m interested in:

• Uncharted 2 - A sequel to my second favorite game on the console.  What I’ve seen so far looks even better.  Can’t wait for this game.
• Heavy Rain - Should be interesting, comes from the same folks that made Indigo Prophecy.  The gameplay seems to rely heavily on quick time events but the visuals are great as a result.
• Project Trico - This game isn’t technically announced yet, but some footage was released not long ago and it looks promising.  Unfortunately I wasn’t around for ICO on the PS2, but I’m looking forward to playing my first game from Team Ico.
• God of War 3 – This one’s obligatory.  Another game from a series I haven’t had the opportunity to try out yet but if nothing else the gameplay looks extremely fun and the visuals are amazing.

So that’s just the software, how about the hardware?  I’ve been flirting with picking up a PSP (for the second time, I might add – I bought the original when it was first launched but there were no games so I traded it in to put towards my 360), and all rumors point to an announcement of a new version of the PSP this year during Sony’s press conference.  Apparently called the “PSP Go,” this new portable console will be focused on digital rather than physical media.  You’ll be able to download games from a PSP store which is very appealing to me, and very appealing to Sony because it should cut down on some of the rampant piracy issues associated with the device.  A lot of folks are pointing to this as the rebirth of the device, and I know that if it’s announced I’ll buy one, plain and simple.

There’s also the question of the Playstation 3.  Despite having a solid line-up of games Sony is still struggling in this department.  Some shots were recently leaked of a PS3 “slim” redesign, and originally these images were scoffed at.  There is a bit of a twist however – sites that put these images up were contacted with cease and desist notices, giving this rumor some credibility.  Could Sony finally be making a big push to put the PS3 on the map?  A slim and sexy version of the console could do the trick, though a price drop wouldn’t hurt either.  We shall see.

As for Nintendo?  Who on Earth knows.  They maintain that they’ll have games for core gamers (i.e. gamers who aren’t interested in doing exercises on a balance board or playing their Wii remote like a pretend saxophone) but we’ve heard that before.  All I know is that it really doesn’t matter what they do at this point, the Wii and DS combined will continue to sell like gangbusters and completely outshine the 360 and PS3.  My only concern is that Microsoft and Sony will begin to think that motion controllers are “where it’s at” and give up on traditional gaming as we know it.

It would be a sad day if that were to happen.