Posts Tagged ‘PlayStation’

7 Dec

Xbox One vs PS4 Impressions

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, PS4, Xbox One. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Yes, I’m that guy – I had to have both.

Awww, look at them just co-existing harmoniously...

Awww, look at them just co-existing harmoniously…

The next generation of gaming is now well and truly here, with the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One joining the 3DS, PS Vita and Wii U in one big dysfunctional gaming family. At the time of writing I have had just over a week with the Playstation 4 and a fortnight with the Xbox One, meaning I am just about ready to talk about what has and hasn’t impressed me about the brand new consoles. I’ve divided things into sub-headings for easy reference. Note that most of these photos were taken very late at night with a combination of caffeine, minimal sleep and of course excitement, so they are a little on the awful side if you look at them too closely.

Continue reading →

4 Dec

Mega Ultra Blast Cast Ep.13

Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


mubc2

A quick follow-up! Episode 13 of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast returns to the regular podcast room and focuses on the pair of brand new next-gen consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4, which hit Australian shores at the end of last month. Listen and you’ll get our in-depth impressions of the new consoles, our regular segments and three personalised lists of our top ten favourite games of the Xbox 360/Wii/PS3 generation. All this means that it’s a pretty long episode, but it has been a very long time since our last proper recording, so please bear with us.

If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three Sydneysiders breaching new gaming frontiers.

You can play the whole thing right off this page if that cooks your bacon:


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Or you can go to the Soundcloud site/app and listen from there:
https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mubc-13-next-gen-a-gogo

(Follow the link and then click the download tab)

As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Cheers!

27 May

IDO: Playstation Plus

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, IDO, PS Vita, PS3. Tagged: , , , , .

Well what do you know, looks like I’m in a bit more of an apologetic mood than usual. Let’s do another one.
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I N   D E F E N S E   O F

–==Playstation Plus==–

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Note:
For those without a current generation Playstation console or just not in the know, Playstation Plus is a completely optional online subscription service for owners of its consoles, launched by Sony in mid-2010. In Australia, it costs $20 for a 90-day subscription and $70 for a year’s worth. The company also likes to throw around free 30-day trials for the service as bonuses with its new games from time to time. The biggest reason to be a member of Playstation Plus is access to what the company calls its “instant game collection”, which is basically a constantly changing list of games available as full downloads for free. Members are able to play these full games until their subscription runs out, at which point they have to either renew their subscription, pay for the game completely or surrender the legal right to play it. The service also provides small discounts on normally priced game downloads (which can be played for as long as you like) and allows for automatic game and system updates on PS3 while it isn’t being used, among other things. Glad we got that out of the way. Now:

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The Case Against:
The one thing that the Playstation 3 always had over the Xbox 360 in the online department was that it was free. You didn’t have to pay any stupid yearly online fees just to enjoy a multiplayer game online with your friends. While Playstation Plus technically doesn’t change that, it does represent a cynical attempt by Sony to take more money from its loyal customers. This leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth, but it’s nothing compared to the outrage that is the service itself. The idea of downloading a game and being forced to pay to keep playing it is utterly repulsive. The service is a blight on the Playstation name and it should not exist.
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More like Playstation Minus, amirite? hehe

The Defense:
A lot of things attract hate on the internet. Wait, what am I saying? Everything attracts hate on the internet. But the reasons for hating on Playstation Plus that I most often encounter on forums and the like are simply some of the weakest I have ever seen. And they are a lot more plentiful than they should be. Continue reading →

25 May

IDO: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, IDO, PS3. Tagged: , , , , .

It has been a LONG time since I last did one of these, perhaps because I haven’t felt the need. But this one is kind of topical. Nintendo just announced that it will be debuting its new Super Smash Bros game at E3 in a couple of weeks, and I fear that means this awesome game will be forgotten, if it isn’t already.
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I N   D E F E N S E   O F

–==Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale==–

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The Case Against:
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale is a shameless rip-off of the Super Smash Bros series. It looks and plays exactly the same; but with a HD graphical sheen to it. Because of this it makes little to no sense that it even exists at all, given that it cannot hope to compete with the sheer presence of Nintendo’s many, many recognisable characters. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon aren’t even in it! What kind of self-respecting Sony mascot fighter doesn’t have those two? Also, the menus look horrible. The game isn’t worth anyone’s time.
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The same thing?

The Defense:
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale launched last year in October for PS3 and PS Vita and it hasn’t quite sold as well as Sony may have hoped. Sure, it came close to the company’s rather low expectations and in that sense the game didn’t actually do badly per se, but it didn’t exactly do Smash Bros numbers. Of course it was never going to do Smash Bros numbers, but that was because of a whole range of factors ranging from budget to marketing to the cobbled-together nature of SuperBot, the studio that made it. But its very average sales performance had absolutely nothing to do with it being a bad game. Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale is not a bad game. It isn’t even a mediocre game. It’s a really good one, actually.

Here’s why. Continue reading →

30 Mar

Updated Vita Impressions

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, PS Vita. Tagged: , .

To be honest, I just wanted an excuse to test the Vita’s in-built screenshot features. Many pictures coming up…

It has been just over a month since the worldwide launch of the Playstation Vita (You can see my first impressions of it here) and now that I’ve had some more time with the console, I can add a thing or two to my earlier article about it.

*Sigh* So green...

My main home screen, bubbles and all.

One of the things that has most impressed me in the last month about the Vita is its battery life. It’s a little refreshing to know that I have between four and a half to five hours to play around with on every charge (that’s while playing a Vita game with brightness and sound a decent way up) rather than the barely three hours the Nintendo 3DS yields at full stretch. Continue reading →

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