WAIP: March 1st 2010 - Where Have I Been for the Past Month Edition

I know that we seem to have this conversation too often but alas, this time, I have a good excuse. As you may or may not have known, I have been in grand jury duty for the past month. In between I have been working my normal job in between and thus, in the month of February - I have had one day off.

I am back and better than ever and I am here to let you know what I have been squeezing in, in terms of games played, while I was on my little hiatus.

At the beginning of the month I had been delving into Mass Effect 2 a little further but nothing really came to fruition. Jury duty really disrupted my flow and I forgot how to make time to play.

I did manage to squeeze tiny bits of 'Splosion Man in there but nothing more than a few levels at one time. It is quite a charming game, I just wish I made more time to play it.

Lastly, the coup De grace, I have been replaying the original Bioshock on hard with no Vita-Chambers. My wife had ordered Bioshock 2 for me as a Valentine's Day gift so I wanted my recollection to be refreshed for the sequel.

Bioshock is just as fantastic as I remember - just as beautiful, disturbing, and perfectly crafted. I walk into a room and I am overwhelmed by the design for a second time (yes this is only my second time through). It felt amazing to take down a Big Daddy in one shot (no deaths, nothing). I feel like this is the way the game is supposed to be played because I am just as jumpy on this playthrough as I was with the first. If you cannot afford or have not been persuaded to buy Bioshock 2, just play the original again.

I wonder if having the original running through my head is going to help or hinder my experience of Bioshock 2. Stay tuned for those impressions. I did want to say though that the Bioshock 2 Special Edition is fantastic in its construction and beauty. Have a look:



Now my only problem with all of this is that I have the remainder of Bioshock to play through, Bioshock 2 to play through, and Battlefield Bad Company 2 is coming in the mail tomorrow. I suppose that it is lucky that I am finished with jury duty.

Did I mention that I also wanted to pick up MLB: The Show 2010 and Heavy Rain for the PS3? No. Well... yeah, those too.

WAIP: October 26, 2009: Playstation 3 Acquired Edition (The First Experiences)

On Friday night I finally took the plunge and picked up a PS3. I picked it up in Jersey (boo hiss) because we were visiting my wife's Aunt and the tax just so happens to be a tad bit cheaper in Jersey. When we got back to Cindy's (wife) Aunt's house I unpacked it slowly, but deliberately, and proceeded to hook it up to a busted standard definition television (let us not forget the fact that I hooked it up incorrectly at first). I purchased a HDMI cable online so my standard definition gaming will be limited.

So I went through all the set-up procedures (pretty standard issue here) but it took me a few minutes to really learn the way the on screen keyboard works. The standard issue QWERTY keyboard works just fine and it is actually a bit quicker than the 360 on screen keyboard (good thing too considering their version of the 360 chat pad is said to be not that great). What I cannot figure out is why some of the time they have this cell phone like keyboard that forces you to type in some T9-like formula that really does not make sense in the realm of the console but in the grand scheme of everything this is a low priority issue.

The real annoying issues came out of having to update the console. Before I could sign into the Playstation Network I had to update the console to 3.02 and folks, people are not kidding when they say that the console takes forever to update. I would measure the time in time it takes to make a sandwich (slowly) and then eat that sandwich (slowly). It was painstaking considering all that I wanted to do was play my new console.

After that I signed into PSN and began to browse their very pretty and well organized store front. The first thing that I noticed, other than the aesthetics, was the lack of content compared to the Xbox Live Marketplace (not really disconcerting but an easy observation to make). So I queued up the demos of inFamous and MLB: The Show 09 and went on my merry way (meaning I left the Playstation Store).

I then popped in LittleBigPlanet (which needed an update that was long enough but not nearly as long as the system update) and proceeded to be melted by that games charm and attention to detail. I managed to accidentally get myself online in one of the levels I was playing and while it was more funny than anything that one experience was a smidgen laggy and I immediately noticed that lack of people talking (which I think that this game benefits from when it is there).

I later installed the demos for inFamous and The Show. Yes you heard correctly, you have to install your demos and I think this might go the same for PSN titles but do not hold me to that seeing as I have not purchased one yet. It does not make sense to me and it is just one thing getting in your way of playing your games sooner.

That is all for my initial thoughts on the Playstation 3 and though it may sound like I do not like the thing, that is not the case. I quite enjoy the Playstation experience I had so far and I am looking forward to playing Uncharted 1 this coming week. I thought I would not like the controller at all but I really do not mind it. I still prefer the 360 controller but I can (and still need too) get used to the Playstation controller (I need to stop pressing the 'SQUARE' button instead of the 'X' button when it says to press the 'X' button. I need to train myself on the PS controller).

But for now I PS3'ed out and I just want to play some Borderlands on my 360 (mental hug).

My Plans for Acquiring a PS3

Ladies and gentleman my days of owning just one console are numbered. While many of you know that I have had plans to purchase a PS3 it has only now become a viable option (price drop and job promotion - it is a gift from my wife). I am excited but I am also a bit taken aback and the reason for that is because I already have enough on my plate to play. Nevertheless this is what I am looking at in terms of games:

• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (If I like the first one, which knowing recommendations and other various factors, I will)
• Flow and Flower
• The PixelJunk series
• LittleBigPlanet
• InFamous
• MLB: The Show
  

...and that is all I can think of right now. I am looking for other recommendations but for now I think that I have a good base. Also, if anyone was wondering, I do not plan to purchase anything other than Playstation exclusives on the PS3; I love getting Gamerscore too much and I do not see there being a lot in Trophies for me.

Microsoft Aquires Big Park Studios

Microsoft announced today in a press release that they had agreed to aquire Big Park Inc. or Big Park Studios. From the press release:

BigPark was founded in 2007 by a group of industry veterans who led the creation and growth of two hugely successful software companies, Distinctive Software Inc. and Electronic Arts Canada. BigPark's founding team is composed of business leaders with over 80 years of collective experience in the video game industry, having produced or overseen blockbuster franchises including "Need for Speed," "FIFA Soccer," "NBA Street" and "SSX."

The only reason that this looks interesting to me is I might see a first party Microsoft sports franchise in my lifetime Ala Sony's MLB: The Show series of games. I would perhaps kill someone (in Halo)... for a good baseball game on the 360. That is the only reason I am even posting this.

Please Microsoft, I love baseball more than most things and if you can bring me a good baseball game I would be forever indebted to you.