Tag: Sony

An insight into how faulty PS3s are dealt with

The incident

At the weekend I was playing LittleBigPlanet but after I had completed a particular level, instead of the next one loading up the screen went totally white and the system seemed to freeze.  The PS3 then restarted and spat out the disc.  I’d had enough gaming for one night anyway, so I turned the system off and went away.

I came back to the PS3 the following day only to find that none of my PS3 disks would load.  It was the same with DVDs and CDs.  I have to admit, I then panicked.  But it was weird because apart from that, the rest of the PS3 worked totally fine.  I could play games that were on the hard disk, connect to the PlayStation Network, and browse the PlayStation Store.  But what use is a PS3 that won’t load game disks?

Continue reading An insight into how faulty PS3s are dealt with

Sony UK boss on DLC: ‘Nothing is ever exclusive’

Sony UK boss on DLC: ‘Nothing is ever exclusive’– This is a very interesting interview.  It has allayed most of my fears about exclusives and whatnot.  Seems that whilst Microsoft is engaging in bribery and market restriction, Sony is wisely investing in R&D.  My faith in them has been restored.

Sony on PS3 price: We’ve a business to run

Sony on PS3 price: We’ve a business to run– And people have got food to buy, fuel bills to pay.  I’d say a PS3 could be considered a luxury these days.  In all honesty, I agree that Sony have some fantastic games coming in the pipeline, but the Xbox 360 is sooo much cheaper.  Why should Sony waste the momentum they’ve currently got?

Kaz Hirai: Sony can ‘re-evaluate’ paying for PS3 exclusives

Kaz Hirai: Sony can ‘re-evaluate’ paying for PS3 exclusives– Damn right, as PS3 Fanboy notes; “This strategy has meant a bevy of formerly PS2-exclusive series to become multiplatform successes on Xbox 360 and PC.”  Enjoying games such as Burnout, GTA and Assassin’s Creed on your 360, are you?  You can thank Sony for not bribing splashing the cash like Microsoft.  That may all be about to change.

GamePro interview with Scott Steinberg, marketing VP of Sony

GamePro interview with Scott Steinberg, marketing VP of Sony– Interesting read.  There’s discussion of the Blu-ray victory, Microsoft’s 2008 game line-up, and possibilities for new PS3 downloads (including the possibility of movies, music, and PS2 games).

Sony’s marketing VP tells GamePro that Microsoft may have “already leveraged all of their big assets” for the Xbox 360 in 2007, leaving 2008 wide open for the PlayStation 3.

Gorgeous new PLAYSTATION Store

I would have posted this as an aside, but I wanted to include the a picture of the new visual style of the store:

New PLAYSTATION Store preview

(Click the above image for high-res goodness)

The update to the PLAYSTATION Store will be around mid-April, during which there will be a firmware upgrade required for the PS3 in order to use the new store.  This is because the store will be software-based, and not a website, as is currently the case.  There will be no content updates due to the store between now and the update.

Visually the store redesign seems to have taken a page off the SingStar Store, which is no bad thing.  Seriously though, this is great news.  Whilst the old store could have said to have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, the new design doesn’t seem to have any critics (so far).

Who benefits from the update?  Only PS3 users at the moment, although the PC version of the store will probably be updated sometime in the future.  The new store should be very fast, compared to the old store, due to its software-based nature.  I have to admit, whilst browsing the store, it has felt like wading through treacle.

Anyhow- here’s to more good stuff coming from Sony!  (And to some extra content for the store after the redesign).  Yet what I’ve noticed on the official forums, has been an ever-increasing demand for the release of Home and the long awaited in-game XMB.

Getting to grips with Patapon

With the amount of coverage on PlayStation.Blog, I was intrigued and decided to give this game a go; especially with its low price point of £25. Now, Patapon isn’t your ordinary game. No sir. It breaks the mould of game design just like LocoRoco did. And like LocoRoco, it is a 2D game yet still packed full of gameplay, charming graphics and a catchy soundtrack.

If I was to sum up Patapon in four words, I would do so like this: pata-pata-pata-pon. What exactly am I trying to get at? My rather crude explanation is that as the gamer, you fulfil the role of the god of the Patapons, ‘Almighty’. It is your job to beat the drums for the Patapons to follow and obey. You take turns between beating the drums and hearing the Patapons chant. You’ll eventually unlock four drums which map to to the buttons: X (Don), O (Pon), triangle (Chaka) and square (Pata).

Patapon

Different ‘chants’ or combinations tell the Patapons to do various things such as march forward, attack, and defend. If you keep the rhythm going and don’t miss a beat, your army will build up into a frenzy which increases attack speed, power and all-round impressiveness.

I’m still struggling to get to grips with the game as a whole as sometimes I might not be pressing a button hard enough and therefore ‘missing’ a beat. Also, you’ve got to beat the drums at a steady pace; not too fast, or again you will be losing the rhythm. Furthermore, in frenzy mode it can be easy to lose track of the beat, so I’ve found it useful to tap the beat out with my foot. It makes things a lot easier!

Related reading: PlayStation.Blog’s ridiculously good Patapon coverage

And more specifically: How to cross the desert without burning your Patapons to a crisp!