Geek Swagger.
Posts tagged Xbox 360
Is the PSP Go overpriced?
Aug 28th
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. Â 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. Â On top of that the new design is pretty neat, and the overall package is significantly smaller. Â What's not to love?
Well, a couple things. Â 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. Â I'm completely lost on this gripe. Â 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. Â 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? Â 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. Â 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. Â Save it for the PSP 2.
The more obvious complaint about the PSP Go is its price. Â At $250 it costs the same as the standard PSP did at the product's launch in 2005. Â 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. Â 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. Â That's right, the same price as the PSP Go. Â That's not even mentioning the Nintendo Wii. Â 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. Â The first and most-obvious way would be to drop the price to $199. Â 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. Â 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. Â Right now Sony has started a program where, if you register your PSP G0 by October 10th, 2009, you'll get a . Â Why not bundle $50 worth of PSN Store credit with the device? Â Or at least bundle 3 downloadable games. Â 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. Â Makes sense to me.
“How To Make A Great Movie-Based Game” – IGN
Jun 22nd
Until relatively recently most gamers cringed when they heard about a new game based on an upcoming movie or similar franchise. Â Because of the fact that movie tie-in games usually seem rushed out of the door and leave fans of the movie scratching their heads, the developers at GRIN were faced with the overwhelming task of making a game that lives up to the fanbase's expectations while at the same time providing a fun experience to everyone else. Â Hit the link below to check out an IGN article discussing how they went about making it all come together.
(Courtesy of RocketXL)
Terminator Salvation Review
Jun 22nd
It goes without saying that the Terminator franchise has had its peaks and valleys, but I for one believe that the latest foray into the world of John Conner was quite successful as a movie. Â So then, how does the game fare? Â Roughly the same, I'd say. Â Having completed Terminator Salvation on the Xbox 360 I can say that it's a totally enjoyable experience, an exciting action thrill ride that coincides with the theatrical release very well, especially considering that the game's plot is meant as a prelude to the events that occur in the movie. Â Therefore, if you've already seen the film you'll get a whole new experience with the game.
Terminator Salvation is a lot like Gears of War, in a good way. Â Most notably in the control style - Salvation uses the same over-the-should vantage point for its gunplay, and even has a pretty interesting cover mechanic. Â The best part about it is that with the ability to move precisely between various forms of cover you won't experience the hassle of getting stuck to cover, or not being able to remove yourself from it as is common in Gears. Â Secondarily Terminator Salvation brings Gears of War to mind because it's just a straight-up fun action experience that doesn't take itself too seriously and varies the gameplay enough to keep the player interested. Â Although 3rd person shooting could be considered Salvation's main course, there are several vehicle and defense scenarios which give the player enough variation to keep them guessing.
The audio and visual aspects of the game are spot-on. Â You'll hear the familiar Terminator anthem several times throughout, and nothing pairs better with mowing down Endos and Aerostats than that classic ballad. Â All-around the music fits well, and the visual portrayal of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles is surprisingly intricate and vivid. Â The weapon load-out is sufficiently varied without becoming too encumbering: you get your standard M16-variant machine gun, a tactical shotgun, a light machine gun, a grenade launcher, RPGs and even a few different forms of grenades. Â Though it may sound limited compared to other games' abundance of weaponry I find that having just a few weapons to work with is optimal since, more often than not, the player just finds their favorite gun and sticks with it anyhow.
I do have a couple of beefs with the game, though. Â First of all, it's damn short. Â You can blaze through the whole of Terminator Salvation in an afternoon without much difficulty. Â This is coming from a guy who is notorious for taking longer to complete most games than many others do. Â Also considering the fact that the achievements are pretty basic and there isn't a whole lot of replay value, that initial 5 hours is probably the most you'll want to get out of the game, period. Â This shortcoming is somewhat remedied by a nice co-op mode, however.
All-in-all I'm not sure that I can safely recommend Terminator Salvation as a $60 purchase to anyone but the most hardcore Terminator fans. Â If you're interested in the game and are looking for a fun but brief experience, by all means check it out, but wait until the price drops a bit or pick it up as a rental and save your cash for a more substantial game.
E3 2009 – Rumors and Such
May 28th
It's that time again. Â This year's return to the E3 of yesteryear should produce some exciting news. Â This post is really just a roundup of some of the rumors I've heard and what I'm looking forward to most. Â We'll start with Microsoft and the Xbox 360.
Not much is known about what Microsoft is going to show this year. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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. Â This might be tied into the Zune / Xbox Marketplace integration that was announced this past week (along with the new Zune HD). Â However, as far as games go, I'm kind of at a loss. Â 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. Â 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. Â There has also been some interesting information leaked about possible revisions to their hardware which have me excited. Â Let's start with the games, though. Â Currently the games they've announced that I'm interested in:
- Uncharted 2 - A sequel to my second favorite game on the console. Â What I've seen so far looks even better. Â Can't wait for this game.
- Heavy Rain - Should be interesting, comes from the same folks that made Indigo Prophecy. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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? Â 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. Â Apparently called the "PSP Go," this new portable console will be focused on digital rather than physical media. Â 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. Â 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. Â Despite having a solid line-up of games Sony is still struggling in this department. Â Some shots were recently leaked of a PS3 "slim" redesign, and originally these images were scoffed at. Â 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. Â Could Sony finally be making a big push to put the PS3 on the map? Â A slim and sexy version of the console could do the trick, though a price drop wouldn't hurt either. Â We shall see.
As for Nintendo? Â Who on Earth knows. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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.
Left 4 Dead’s Survival Mode
Apr 22nd
I'm a huge fan of Left 4 Dead, and it tends to be my go-to multiplayer game of choice because of its stellar cooperative play. Â For that reason, when the latest downloadable content for the game dropped yesterday, including the hotly-anticipated "survival" mode, I downloaded it immediately. Â Last night we had a crew of 4 ready to give it a try, but to be honest it left a sour taste in my mouth.
Survival Mode is basically an extended version of the scenario that plays out at the end of each of the four levels in Left 4 Dead. Â In the standard co-op mode the way it works is you and your 3 buddies have to defend an area while you wait for a rescue vehicle to come and save you from the zombie onslaught. Â Such a task is extremely difficult, especially on expert difficulty, but we've been able to overcome that part of the game several times with proper strategy.
Survival mode basically throws strategy out of the window. Â It's almost as if Valve made this mode just to thwart the gamers who play it. Â For example, if you ever find a good spot to hold up and defend from, chances are good that there will be some new breakable wall that will let the infected flood in from behind you. Â Not only that, but the waves of zombies and special infected come much more rapidly, and often simultaneously unlike in standard cooperative play. Â Add to that the fact that they've severely reduced the effectiveness of using melee attacks to push zombies away from you, and this mode has frustration written all over it.
The good news is that it's completely free, so you don't really have to worry about whether you'll like it or not. Â Give it a shot, you might dig it or you might think it's a little overboard. Â I'm apart of the latter group.
Xbox 360 – the new SNES?
Jan 20th
Not too long ago I was reflecting back on this generation of consoles. Of course to an outsider it's clearly evident that the "winner" in terms of console hardware sales would have to be the Nintendo Wii, and I don't question that for a second. Still, there's a lot to be said of the Wii's lack of software - i.e. games worth playing. When it comes to strictly software I'd have to say that the Xbox 360 wins hands down. In fact it might just be the most complete lineup of any console I've ever owned.
So that brought a very important question to my mind...is the Xbox 360 this generation's SNES? If you've been involved in the gaming community for any length of time and are roughly my age (or better yet, a bit older) you'll know that most gamers consider the SNES to be the epitome of game consoles. It had a ton of great games, ranging from established first party franchise titles to lesser-known newcomers in the form of 3rd party titles. The SNES was on the cusp of the gaming revolution in the United States, coming just before developers and publishers started pandering to wider audiences in order to cash in and just after the technological advances necessary to take the gaming experience to another level.
The Xbox 360 is also in such a period. With the 360 we've seen the standardization of online gaming services. Xbox Live on the original Xbox was just a nice addition to the gaming experience, but the 360 (as well as the other consoles, though none have achieved to such a high degree as the 360) has made online services, including multiplayer and community features, a necessity. I cannot imagine playing games without being able to join up with my friends, play cooperatively online, or download arcade games and add-on content for the games I already own. This has become the rule rather than the exception.
Of course as I mentioned, it's all about the games. On the 360, including first and third party titles, we've had a steady flow of quality games since the launch. Sure there have been dry periods but on the whole I can say I've always had a game to look forward to no matter what time of year it was. Right now for instance I'm looking forward to the GTA4 expansion, FEAR 2, and Resident Evil 5. That's a total of three huge releases in the typically slow late winter period. In the busiest time of the year, the holiday rush, we've been buried consistently in great games and each year has been proclaimed the "best year in gaming." There are almost too many games to play, and even if there's nothing worth playing that came out recently you can always visit the back catalog of games you probably missed. That's far more than I can say of the PS3 (which I own), a system that seems to get a couple quality exclusive titles a year. Those games are great but they're too few and far between...hopefully that'll change this year.
So what do you think? Ten years from now will gamers be looking back at 2005 - 20?? and proclaiming it as the best era in gaming because of the 360? It's possible. It's also possible that the whole "greatest console" or "greatest era" thing is just generational. Since I played SNES as a kid that's my favorite era, but since kids growing up today are playing the Xbox 360 (or Wii, PS3) this will be their favorite era. With all that having been said, nostalagia be damned: this is one hell of a time to be a gamer.
The New Xbox Experience
Nov 20th
This morning (yesterday morning, by the time you're reading this) I awoke and one of the first things I did was turn on my Xbox 360 to grab the latest software update from Microsoft. This update at last brings the New Xbox Experience (NXE) to Xbox 360 consoles the world over, giving the platform a refreshing and perhaps much-needed new look. Of course software plays into Microsoft's hand quite handily, so they've been able to essentially give us an entirely new console experience without giving us a new console at all. So, how does it work?
Well the first thing that happened after I installed the NXE update was I was prompted to create an avatar. This is a feature that's becoming more and more popular these days on gaming consoles, and I've blogged about it before. Basically your avatar is a cartoony representation of yourself. You get to pick your body type, skin color, facial features, what kind of hairstyle you'd like and so on so that your friends can see and interact with you online. The hope down the road is that more games will integrate NXE avatars into the gameplay by pulling in a gamer's avatar rather than relying on their gamertag or gamerpic for identification. There are two games right now that do just that - firstly is the new title called Kingdom of Keflings, a sort of RTS in-which a giant version of your avatar manages and builds infrastructure. I haven't played this game but one of my friends assures me it's fun. Secondly is the old standby Xbox Live Arcade classic Uno. Uno however just lets you project your avatar's likeness into the game for identification without adding any true gameplay value (after all, what can you add to Uno?).
The new guide system is really pretty, if a initially somewhat confusing. Everything is much more graphically designed, and artwork has been placed where once there were only lists of text. There are also many more "blades" on the new dashboard, including sections such as My Xbox for all of your personal info, the Friends section to see and interact with your friends' avatars, Video and Game Marketplaces, and the Events sections just to name a few. Basically it's a lot of content that was already on Xbox Live, but now it has been organized in a much prettier and easier-to-interact with way.
Another of NXE's cool features is the new party system. You've always been able to get in parties when you're playing a game, but this functionality has been applied to the dashboard experience as well. Basically parties let you get a group of your friends in one voice chat instance, and then the party leader can move everyone in the party from one activity to the next. I tried playing around with the party system a bit today and I have to say it works pretty well once you figure it out. From the dashboard I was able to get together with a couple of my friends on Xbox Live, and then from there we moved into a few games seemlessly without having to worry about sending or re-sending invites. The parties also finally add private voice chat for more than 2 players, which is a huge feature that I've been waiting for since voice chat was first revealed.
With NXE you can now control a lot of your Xbox 360 from the guide as well, not just the home screen dashboard. If you're playing a game or watching a movie and you don't want to exit, you can do pretty much anything you'd want to do aside from playing with system settings from the guide. The new guide lets you form parties, listen to music, play whatever is in the disc tray, send messages and view game information. Top it off with the same fit and finish as you'll find in the rest of the NXE and you have a winning piece of functional software.
The last feature I want to talk about is Netflix integration. Netflix has moved into the video streaming space, and more and more players are starting to take advantage of that. The most popular Netflix set-top box is the Roku which costs $99, but if you take into account the Apple TV these gadgets can cost as much as $300. In the Apple TV's case you even have to do some firmware updates just to get the thing to work with Netflix. Netflix on the Xbox 360 with NXE is extremely simple. So simple and convenient that I had to fire up my Netflix subscription again just to take advantage of it.
With the launch of NXE, Microsoft has also unveiled their Netflix "Watch Instantly" application which - you guessed it - lets you watch streaming Netflix content. The application is only about 3 megabytes and installs in seconds, and once you get everything setup you're presented with all of the Watch Instantly Netflix titles that are on your queue. That means you get to watch HD content on your TV instead of from behind your computer. The quality is typical streaming quality, that is to say it's not the best, but I never ran into any buffering hiccups and the interface is easy to use and very slick. My only gripe about the whole thing is that originally you were supposed to have the ability to bring parties in to watch Netflix movies. Unfortunately that feature didn't make it into the initial release of the NXE, but hopefully they'll hit us with a patch down the road which takes care of that.
Overall for a free update you can't really go wrong with the NXE. It brings the Xbox 360 out of the playskool bright-primary-colors era of 2005 and gives us something much easier on the eyes. It also adds a lot of functionality, some of which is shallow and aesthetic but there are also plenty of features that make you wonder how you ever lived without them. Bravo Microsoft. I also have to give them a tip of the cap for having a relatively painless upgrade process. For me I never experienced any network issues or errors, everything worked as it should. That's a huge contrast with Sony's recent Playstation updates which have been pretty hit-or-miss, and have needed patches a lot of the time.
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Gears of War 2 Limited Edition Unboxing
Nov 8th
I switched it up a bit this week and decided to do an unboxing rather than a screencast for a couple reasons. First and foremost is the fact that I couldn't think of anything else to talk about, and second I figured it would be a good way to switch up the content. When I originally started doing videos I didn't plan for them all to be Mac-related screencasts, that just happened to be how it turned out. As always thanks for watching!
5 reasons why Xbox Live is better than PSN
Sep 4th
This is my follow-up post to the "5 reasons why PSN is better than Xbox Live" post. Â I guess the point of these posts is that each service has its merits, but neither is perfect. Â I guess that's the point of competition, isn't it? Â I've used both over the past few years (although I must admit I've had less time with my Playstation 3 and therefore PSN) and I enjoy using both for various reasons. Â So then, without any further delay let's go ahead and jump into the list!
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- Community Integration
Unlike PSN, all of the features you get with Xbox Live are available in each Xbox Live game.  Basically, Xbox Live's friend system was designed, from the beginning, to work with every game on the Xbox 360 unlike PSN where it's up to each developer to integrate their own system.  What that means is there's a global friends list that I can interact with (including sending/receiving voice and text messages, game invites, picture messages etc.) not only from the Xbox 360 dashboard, but in-game as well.  It doesn't sound like much but it makes playing with friends a lot easier.  Of course, it should be mentioned that these features come at an expense since, unlike PSN, Xbox Live is not free.        - Amount of Content
There's no question about it - Xbox Live has an almost overwhelming amount of content.  Whether you're looking for games, video, expansion content, demos or gamerpics you'll have a lot to choose from.  From the beginning Microsoft has been serious about making Xbox Live Arcade a place to find those experiences, whether classic or not, that give you a taste of that "pop in and play" style of gameplay perfect for short sessions.  Since those initial plans though, games have varied to include full-length experiences as well.  Whether you're looking for classics like Rez HD or brand new games like Braid, there's a good chance you'll find something to suit your style.      ÂOf course the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't stop there - you can also purchase or rent movies, check out trailers, and sample music videos from the Video Marketplace.  The amount of content still dwarfs what's available on PSN (videos alone) so, much with Xbox Live Arcade, chances are good that you'll find a movie you like.
- Features and Peripherals
Part of the over-arching Xbox Live experience is utilizing features that are sewn into the system.  It's the seemingly simple things like being able to listen to music, either on your Xbox 360's hard drive or streaming over your home network, while playing a game.  I have to tell you the first time you setup Windows Media Center or the Windows Media Extender for the Xbox 360 you won't help but have a huge smile on your face.  Instantly you'll be able to use all of the music on your computer in games - so whether you're killing aliens or flying down a racing track you get that personalized experience that only one's personal music collection can provide.      ÂAside from features that came with the Xbox 360 out of the box, there's also a lot of other cool peripherals that Microsoft provides to expand on the experience.  One big selling point to the PS3 was that it used bluetooth, and so any ordinary bluetooth headset would work for voice communication.  That's cool, but sometimes using such a solution feels like a cheap experience.  The Xbox 360 however, which comes with Microsoft's own headset made specifically for voice communication on Xbox Live just feels right.  Of course there are also a lot of other peripherals that will cost you money - products like the chatpad for text messaging (I understand that Sony is working on their own version, but it looks a little wonky to me) and the wireless headset to free up some clutter.  I use both, and both work great while making interacting with friends that much easier.Â
 - Software Updates
All along Microsoft has been great about adding features to the software of their console.  Sony is a bit slower at this, introducing somewhat out-dated functionality that has existed on other consoles for a while.  Meanwhile, Microsoft is dedicated to delivering two feature-packed updates a year (one in the Spring, one in the Fall).  Some of the features they've added in the past updates are the Video Marketplace, MSN messenger integration and even user interface updates.  There's no better way to keep the experience fresh than by changing things up a bit.      ÂMicrosoft realizes this and that's why, 3 years into the consoles life-cycle, they've decided to completely revamp the way the dashboard looks.  This fall we'll see an update that changes the user interface into one that's a little more modern, and a little less Fisher-Price.  The update will also add new functionality such as Netflix integration and avatars (not to mention live game shows) that will continue to make using the dashboard fun.  The fact that Microsoft is a software company primarily leaves me pretty confident that they can add to their product via incremental software updates without having to worry about pushing out new generations of consoles as often.
 - Community
This is easily the biggest advantage Xbox Live has over PSN.  Live's community is absolutely huge, and Microsoft is dedicated to keeping them interested.  The last dashboard update included streaming video features like "Major's Minute" (Larry Hryb's overview of some of the lastest features the 360 has to offer) and "Community Confidential" (Trixie's rundown of all of the latest events going on in the Xbox Live community).  That's only a couple of examples but it's easy to tell that Microsoft wants to keep their customers happy.       The other less glamorous side-effect of having a huge community is that you'll never have to worry about finding someone to game with online.  Most big games have their own dedicated communities (Halo 3, Call of Duty 4) but even older games retain a presence online.  I remember not too long ago I went back and played Project Gotham Racing 4, and was pleased to find that there were still a ton of people playing.
So there you have it. Â In my opinion, the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live provides the more seamless experience. Â If you just want to pick up some games and jump in to play with friends you can't go wrong with the 360. Â There's features there that are aimed at both the casual player and more hardcore gamers, and new features are being added all the time. Â Of course there's still a lot of promise coming down the road, and if Microsoft would get around to capitalizing on some promises (Live Anywhere, the independent XNA games initiative) I'd be even happier.
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And that rounds out my "5 reasons" posts, for now. Â Remember this is all just personal opinion, and if you want to go back and check out the arguments I made for PSN you can do so by clicking here. Â As always if you have any comments I'd love to hear them!
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5 reasons why PSN is better than Xbox Live
Sep 2nd
This is a series (that's right, I'll also do the opposite in favor of Xbox Live) of posts for a while. Â After having used both online components for the individual consoles, obviously the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in this case, I've found good and bad things about both. Â So then, without wasting much time let's dive in and start the countdown!
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- User Interface
I have been a fan of the Playstation 3's cross-media blade interface since I first saw it on the PSP.  It's simple, pretty, and intuitive.  Fortunately, not too long ago this approach was also taken when revamping the Playstation Store.  Before the store was overhauled what you saw when you tried to browse or purchase content was what amounted to a pretty, if cluttered, website.  That's right.  You interacted with the Playstation Store via the PS3's web browser.  After a lot of complaining from gamers Sony finally realized that perhaps that wasn't the best route to go (especially for a store that has a lot of potential to make money for them) and so they transformed the store into more of a software-based solution.          ÂThe new store is absolutely awesome.  Not only is it pretty to look at (I find myself going in there even when I know there's nothing I want, just to make sure I haven't missed anything) but it is, at least in my opinion, much easier to use than the Xbox Live Marketplace.  With the Playstation Store you won't find lists of text denoting what you want to try out.  You get image-based icons in various categories that you can drill down into to find what you want.  You can also search through the content alphabetically so, unlike the Xbox Live Marketplace, you won't have to scroll through a giant list past the A's and B's to finally get to the first letter of your download.  Add to that the simple touches like placing a shopping bag icon next to any content you've already downloaded (saving you the time you may have lost redownloading something you didn't know you already had) and the experience is just plain better.  I'm happy to say that the same system was carried over to their Video Store as well.
 - Trophies
When I first heard that Sony was taking a crack at the beloved achievements system I assumed the worst. Â How can an idea so simple be elaborated on? Â You do things in games, you're rewarded with points. Â Can't go very far past that, right? Â As it turns out, I was wrong. Â Getting trophies is way more fun than getting achievements, for a couple reasons. Â One problem with achievements is they can be easily gamed. Â For instance, I can go out and rent a game that has a bunch of extremely easy achievements and pad my score by 1,000 points in a weekend. Â Sony, by breaking up their trophies into 3 separate difficulty levels, have found a way around that problem. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â ÂThroughout a game with trophies in it you'll be presented with opportunities to win Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies plus a Platinum trophy for earning all other trophies available for that game. Â Your trophy count for each of these separate levels (Bronze being the easiest to obtain, Platinum being the most difficult) is displayed on your PSN card which is easily accessible from the XMB's friends list so, if someone has been padding their trophy count with easy-to-get bronze trophies you'll be able to tell right off the bat. Â Another cool feature of the trophy system is that, in order to progress your gamer level you need a certain number of trophies, including certain types of trophies. Â So, for instance, say I have a thousand bronze trophies but I need at least 3 gold trophies to progress to the next gamer level rank - I'll be stuck at my current level until I go out and grab those golds. Â Pretty cool stuff.
 - PSP integration
One huge advantage that the PS3 has over the Xbox 360 is that it already has the PSP, a handheld multimedia powerhouse, ready to be integrated with your PS3 experience.  Through remote play you can interact with your PS3 from your PSP (remember how I mentioned they both had the same interface?) and do things like watch videos, listen to music, access the Playstation Store, and even play games.  This gives me a whole bunch of opportunities to interact with PSN from my PSP.  Say, for instance, I just heard that a new game has been added to the Playstation Store.  Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to get to my PS3 anytime soon but I do have my PSP with me.  As long as I have a wifi connection (built into the PSP) I can use remote play to turn on my PS3 and start the download so it will be waiting for me when I get home.          ÂAs another example of how cool remote play is, imagine you're totally addicted to PixelJunk Eden on the PS3.  As with before, you're away from your PS3 but you want to get your fix and even earn some trophies, so you use remote play to play PixelJunk Eden on your PSP (despite it being a PS3 game) and, since trophies are available even over remote play, you get to add to your trophy count!  Pretty cool stuff.  Just the idea of the established functionality plus potential further integration in the future has been enough for me to add the PSP to my must-own gadgets list.
 - Real Currency
One of my biggest complaints about the Xbox Live Marketplace (and most online gaming-related stores these days) is that they shy away from using actual monetary values for things you purchase.  For example, why say a certain game costs $10.00 when you can instead say it costs 800 Microsoft points?  To avoid confusion, that's why - and Sony understands this.  Of course equating the money your users spend to funny money does have its financial benefits (users will be much quicker to spend "fake" points instead of actual dollar amounts) but it still seems a little deceitful, doesn't it?  That also adds another step in the content-purchasing process.  On Xbox Live if I want to purchase something I must first purchase points, then use those points to buy whatever game I'm interested in.  Fortunately, the same is not true for PSN, and as long as I have my account information tied to a credit/debit card, I can quickly make purchases just like on iTunes and guess what!  On the Playstation Store if something costs $10.00, it says $10.00.  Not 800 Space Bucks.            - PSN IS FREE
This is a huge feature.  Microsoft charges $50 a year for their Xbox Live service while PSN is 100% free.  You can play your games online without spending a single cent.  This is my biggest response to anyone who gets down on PSN because it doesn't have a particular feature that is available on Xbox Live - PSN is free.  They're allowed to lag a little behind despite making a ton of progress of late, just because they aren't billing me yearly.  I accept that.  With PSN there's absolutely no barrier to entry because they're banking on your liking the content that's available and maybe purchasing a game or two.  I have to say, spending $20 on the PSN store for a couple games is much easier when you know you aren't being billed to use the service.  Just sayin'.          ÂRunners Up:Â
Another huge feature of PSN is the ability to download full games, not just arcade games. Â I've already spoken highly about the power of releasing Siren, a somewhat-niche title, as a download but this has worked for other titles too. Â Games like Warhawk and Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty have offered full-game experiences without having to go to the store and purchase a physical copy. Â The main reason this is only possible on PSN is the Playstation 3's hard drive capacity. Â It generally doubles the Xbox 360's in most cases, plus you can upgrade your own hard drive rather than spending ridiculous amounts of money for a proprietary solution as Microsoft has done. Â Being able to deliver full content experiences via digital distribution is the next big thing in gaming and I'm happy Sony is on-board.
These are just a couple features I like about PSN over Xbox Live, but didn't get their own specific bullet points. Â First off, content. Â Sony has made an effort to bring original and unique content to PSN over the same old arcade game rehashes that we see all-to-often on Xbox Live. Â Games like Fl0w, PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Eden, Super Stardust HD as well as future titles such as Fat Princess and Flower prove that Sony is committed to bringing the goods.
As I said I'll be posting my Xbox Live list on Thursday, so stay tuned for that! Â If I missed anything please leave a comment, or just leave a comment and let me know what you think. =)
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