My Game Center

In the gaming world, 2011 has been a year of critically acclaimed titles, botched launches and security breaches. And if you thought the motion controller was finally dying, think again.

The titans of the video-game industry have shown hard-core gamers that they haven’t forgotten about them, and the battle for game of the year may just be getting started, with some of the year’s most anticipated games — “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” and “Uncharted 3,” among them — hitting shelves in November.

“Batman: Arkham City” came out this month and threw its hat, or hood, into the conversation, with redeveloped gameplay paired with a story line that will stun the hard-core Batman fan.

According to Warner Bros. and Rocksteady Studios, “Arkham City” has shipped more than 4.6 million units worldwide since its Oct. 18 North American launch and the week one sales figures were more than double the units sold of “Batman: Arkham Asylum” in the same time period.

the extras

Here are a couple of video game extras making a splash this year:

• the OnLive Gaming Service is quickly becoming a big player in the industry. think of OnLive as the streaming Netflix of video games. you can rent or buy games that stream directly to a Mac, PC and now the OnLive home console.

• For those in search of a gaming headset, the NOX Specialist is a high-quality wired rig for the price. the Specialist paired with the Negotiator ($99 for the bundle) makes the headset compatible with the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360.

“Batman: Arkham City” is up against competition that poses more of a threat than the Dark Knight’s greatest villains. “Portal 2,” a rich puzzle game that came out back in April, is “Arkham City’s” biggest contender so far. “Portal 2″ provides a mind-bending puzzle experience interwoven with a story that is so complex, you can still be uncovering secrets on your third play-through.

“Gears of War 3″ also is gunning for the top-game crown. Receiving near-perfect to perfect scores from critics, Epic’s “Gears 3″ proves to be the final chapter fans were hoping for — it’s endlessly fun to play with friends, raising the bar for the multiplayer standard.

Fighting games, which have seen the most ups and downs since the days when they ruled arcades, are back in force, with help from Capcom. the largest competitive fighting game tournament in the world, EVO, saw a record 2 million viewers tune into its live online stream this year, which can be largely attributed to the success of newer fighters like “Super Street Fighter 4,” “Marvel vs. Capcom 3″ and “Mortal Kombat.”

Capcom capitalized on the success of “Super Street Fighter 4″ by releasing the long-awaited “Marvel vs. Capcom 3,” a crossover fighter that mostly met fan’s expectations. an expanded version of “MvC3″ is due out next month.

The casual gamer hasn’t been left out. Xbox 360 Kinect finally proved it wasn’t a gimmicky Wii wannabe with the release of some innovative software. “Dance Central 2,” “The Gunstringer” and “Child of Eden” all received praise for innovative gameplay and outstanding use of the Kinect camera. There’s talk of the Kinect being compatible with the next iteration of an Xbox, extending the life of Microsoft’s inventive peripheral.

Not all motion capture hardware was created equal. Sony’s PlayStation Move has had a rough sales year and lack of software, suggesting that the Move will be pushed to the back-burner in 2012. the Move wasn’t even close to Sony’s biggest problem of 2011 — that would be the massive network breach that put millions of users’ personal data in the hands of hackers.

Still, Sony’s security breach looked like a blip on the gaming radar compared to Nintendo’s disastrous 3DS launch. the follow-up to the successful DS came out in March with a high price tag of $250 and a horrendous launch game lineup, setting sales off to a slow start. the $80 price cut, to $169.99, increased sales for Nintendo’s handheld but reduced the company’s annual financial projections by more than 80 percent.

To make matters worse, Nintendo announced a peripheral that adds a second thumb stick, which would be required to play certain games. such an integral peripheral hints at a complete physical redesign and a serious lack of foresight. in addition, competitor Sony has the PS Vita due out in February.

Nintendo had key successes in handheld with the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and the DS, but the market has changed. as smartphones become more prevalent and sophisticated, 3DSs and PS Vitas are less likely to succeed.

Handheld woes aside, Nintendo and Sony still have their consoles. Well, Sony still has its console. the Nintendo Wii is approaching the end of its line with “Zelda: Skyward Sword,” which comes out next month. Next year will be a preparation year for Nintendo, with the company getting ready for the upcoming Wii U console and more top-notch titles for the Nintendo DS.

Sony and Microsoft have set the pace this year, with both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 showing fantastic sales numbers and software quality. Microsoft announced big plans ahead for Xbox Live, including cable service. the success and stability of the Xbox Live service, along with the sensation of the Kinect, give the edge to the Xbox 360 in 2011.

Next year will start a shift toward the PS4 and whatever the next Xbox may be. the Wii U could very well hit homes during the 2012 holiday season, marking a make or break year for Nintendo. the company can’t sustain two back-to-back disappointing releases.

While we wait to see if the motion-control craze stays around and what the next big trend will be, the games keep coming. November is shaping up to be the year’s biggest month in terms of the sheer quantity of games being released.

Here are some of the highlights:

“Battlefield 3″

Xbox 360, PS3, PC. Rating: M for Mature. Price: $59.99

2011 has yet to see the epic showdown between two top-tier military shooters. “Battlefield 3″ comes out just two weeks before the current first-person shooter champion, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” EA is boasting that there are already “a couple million” preorders for Battlefield 3, but we won’t know which is king until the end of November. Released this week.

“Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception”

PS3. Rating: T for Teen, Price: $59.99

PlayStation3 fans should have experienced Uncharted 1 and 2 by now. It is, after all, the defining exclusive series for the console. Uncharted 3 will likely be the last chapter of the series on the Playstation 3 and it kicks off the biggest month of the year. Release date: Nov. 1.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″

Xbox 360, PS3, PC. Rating: M for Mature. Price: $59.99.

The hype machine is under way for the reigning champion of video games. “Modern Warfare 3″ is Activision’s follow up to “Black Ops,” the best-selling game of all time. so to say that expectations are high is an understatement. Chances are that “Modern Warfare 3″ retains its title, but “Battlefield 3″ is sure to make things interesting. Release date: Nov. 8

“The Elderscrolls V: Skyrim”

Xbox 360, PS3, PC. Rating: M. Price: $59.99.

Based on early trailers and gameplay footage, “Skyrim” looks like it will be the definitive fantasy RPG experience. Every Elderscrolls installment thus far has been a game-of-the-year candidate, and “Skyrim” doesn’t look to be any different. Release date: Nov. 11.

“Halo: Combat Evolved — Anniversary Edition”

Xbox 360. Rating: M. Price: $39.99.

It’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since “Halo” changed the fate of the original Xbox and changed video games in general. the new studio in charge of the series, 343 Studios, has its first outing with this remake. there has been no shortage of HD remakes of older games recently, but this one looks to be a bigger overall package than we are used to seeing. Release date: Nov. 11

“Zelda: Skyward Sword”

Wii. Rating: E10+. Price: $49.99.

The Nintendo Wii had a good run that started with a pace to become the best selling video game system of all time. since then, its collapse in productivity has been staggering. the console that brought motion controlled gaming to the forefront gets its final farewell with the highly anticipated Zelda: Skyward Sword. Release date: Nov. 20

Don’t count out December for new titles. the most anticipated of the bunch are the all-ager “Mario Kart 7″ for 3DS on Dec. 4 and “Star Wars: the old Republic” on Dec. 20.

Max Parker blogs about video games as the Game Guy at communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com. first published on October 27, 2011 at 12:00 am

While we here at NWR will spend the next couple of weekstalking about the greatest games and moments from the GameCube’s era, it’simportant to also address the elephant in the room: the GameCube was, puttingit bluntly, a commercial failure. Sure, there was great software to be playedand the shape of the console along with the handle made it useful in fending offlate-night home invaders, but the system just couldn’t generate sales.

In fact, atthe end of the fiscal year in 2002, roughly six months after launch, theGameCube had sold only 3.8 million units. Compare that figure to those of theNintendo 64 and the Wii, which each sold around 5.8 million units in the sameamount of time, and it is apparent that the GameCube stuttered and stumbled outof the gates at the time of its launch. Worse yet, by the end of the 2002fiscal year, there were about 28 million PlayStation 2s in homes all acrossthe world.

Nintendoneeded something to spur sales, and in November 2002, it appeared that thatsomething was to be Capcom. during a press conference, Capcom announced whatwere to be known as the Capcom Five; five games developed exclusively for theGameCube by Capcom’s Production Studio 4 (with the exception of Killer 7, whichwas developed by Grasshopper Manufacture) and overseen by Resident Evil creatorShinji Mikami. this was a serious and bold endeavor, and it certainly didn’ttake long for the promise of five exclusive GameCube games to be chipped awayat until very little remained.

In January2003, due to pressure to increase revenue, Capcom conceded that not all of thefive announced games would be GameCube exclusive, and that any of them, exceptfor Resident Evil 4, could be ported to another console. Worse yet, just priorto its launch on GameCube, Capcom announced that nine months after ResidentEvil 4 released, it would be ported to the PS2, effectively pulling the carpetout from under the notion that RE4 would help spur GameCube sales, even if theGameCube version would be considered superior to the PS2 port in nearly everyway.

In the end,only one of the fabled Capcom Five would retain GameCube exclusivity, whileanother would end up canceled entirely. I’d like to look at each of theindividual games that made up the Five and discuss not only what happened atthe time of their release, but also the impact they had on the future and how,if at all, it involved Nintendo.

What acoincidence that the only game of the Five to retain GameCube exclusivity justhappened to be the worst reviewed and selling of the bunch. P.N. 03 was afavorite project of Shinji Mikami, and early builds available at differentpress events inspired confidence in the final product. In fact, many outletsconsidered P.N. 03 to be the most promising of the Five.

P.N. 03 was tobe a futuristic shooter focused on quick reflexes and defensive awareness.Rather than create an infallible hero, Mikami wanted to stress defense andreward players for using cover and performing defensive maneuvers effectively.eager to avoid a Resident Evil aesthetic, Mikami and Studio 4 also opted for abright color palette made up mostly of white and large, clean environments.this step outside of the ordinary no doubt had a hand in the press’ generallyfavorable response to P.N. 03 when played at different events.

As notedpreviously, though, increased pressure to generate revenue caused Capcom torelease the game early in order to slip it in before the end of the fiscal yearand, hopefully, buoy profits. Turns out that rushed, somewhat incomplete gamesaren’t good at doing that. Go figure. Mikami himself wished that he had hadmore time to complete the game. instead, the game featured barren andrepetitive environments, stiff controls, and even completely removed thecharacter holding a gun, due to not having enough time to animate it. instead,she shot out of the palms of her hands.

Mikami wouldlater get an opportunity to utilize some elements of P.N. 03 in making a muchmore complete game, Vanquish. While more reliant on shooter tropes than P.N.03, Vanquish still featured the speed and maneuverability of that game’sheroine, Vanessa. from quickly ducking behind cover to rapidly sliding acrossdistances to engage enemies, P.N. 03’s influence is all over Vanquish and itsfuturistic landscapes.

Probably themost recognizable game to come from the Capcom Five outside of Resident Evil 4,Viewtiful Joe is a sight to behold. With the game’s exaggerated, cel-shadedgraphics and an impeccable frame rate, Joe blazes around near-chaotically,pummeling foes with a series of combos, blocks, and special powers. The game iseasily one of the best beat-’em-ups to come out in the past decade.

Viewtiful Joesold enough to be considered a success internally by Team Viewtiful, who hadset out to create a relatively inexpensive game. Capcom, though, expected more,and ported the game to PS2 a year later. It sold even worse there while alsoremoving progressive scan and featuring bouts of slowdown during the busiermoments on screen. Sequels and spin-offs also blossomed from the relativesuccess of the original GameCube game.

Team Viewtifuleventually became Clover Studio, who worked on two notable PS2 games, Okami andGod Hand. Okami took the cel-shaded look of Viewtiful Joe and combined it withthe exploration and action of a Zelda game to create one of the best adventuregames of all time. God Hand, meanwhile, was another beat-’em-up that intended,at least somewhat, to be more realistic and serious than Viewtiful Joe. Whilemost reviews of the game were middling, it has garnered quite the cultfollowing, and even became available on the PlayStation Network recently.

Though bothOkami and God Hand are lauded for their originality, neither sold especiallywell, and Capcom sought to absorb Clover Studio and put them to work on otherprojects. instead, Clover Studio disbanded, with a great deal of the staffgoing on to form Platinum Games, including Shinji Mikami. It was with PlatinumGames that Mikami not only developed the aforementioned Vanquish, but alsodabbled with Nintendo-exclusivity again, creating MadWorld, a dark and violentbeat-’em-up. Despite critical success, MadWorld failed to find its footingcommercially, a disappointing recurrence in the discussion of the Capcom Five.

Beingcancelled and all, Dead Phoenix remains the most mysterious of the Capcom Five.The game was to feature a winged man flying around large environments, shootingand attacking waves of enemies, both big and small. While compared to PanzerDragoon at the time, the game also bears some resemblance to the PS3’s Lair, inthat the player wouldn’t be stuck on-rails and would have the opportunity tofreely fly around levels.

Dead Phoenixwas intended to be released in the summer of 2003, but when informationsurrounding the game grew scarce, some assumed that it had been cancelled.Before 2003’s E3, Capcom went on to assure everyone that it was still indevelopment. A few short months later, Capcom finally announced that the gamehad indeed been cancelled.

Perhaps themost interesting thing to come from Dead Phoenix and its cancellation is theorigin of the return of Kid Icarus, as posited time and time again by IGN.While the game hung in limbo, IGN posted an article questioning if its suddendisappearance might mean that it was being reworked to become a new Kid Icarusgame, as both shared undeniable similarities. this, of course, would prove tobe untrue, but it was the first of several instances where IGN would put forththe idea of a studio working on a new Kid Icarus game. Only now is there a realKid Icarus game on its way out, being developed internally by Nintendo’s ownProject Sora.

Easily themost successful and renowned member of the Capcom Five, Resident Evil 4 was thegame that was meant to change all preconceptions about Nintendo and itsGameCube. Here, a challenging, bloody, gorgeous game was going to illustratethe potential of the hardware and shed the kiddie image of the purple lunchbox. Capcom had also made it a point to stressthat Resident Evil 4 would remain a GameCube exclusive despite what may happento other members of the Capcom Five, with Shinji Mikami even going so far as tosay that he would commit harakiri (a form of suicide) if the game was ported toanother system.

Just a sidenote to developers: don’t announce that you’ll kill yourself if something youhave no control over happens.

As notedpreviously, a PS2 port of Resident Evil 4 was announced two months prior to itsrelease on GameCube, and even though it wouldn’t be released until nine monthsafter the GameCube version, patient PS2 owners could now wait rather than goout of their way to buy new hardware. The PS2 version of the game went on tosell more units than the GameCube’s.

The mistakewith Resident Evil 4 wasn’t releasing it on two different consoles, it wasannouncing and then reaffirming that it would only be released on one. WhyCapcom ever thought to limit the availability of one of its flagship franchisesto a single system is befuddling. It just can’t be argued that Resident Evil 4would have been anywhere near the commercial success it was if released solelyon the GameCube, much as it may sting to admit it. If anything, ‘Cube ownersshould have been happy knowing that their version was the definitive build andthat they, in the very least, could play it on their console of choice. Thathasn’t been a luxury afforded in this current generation.

While ResidentEvil 5 saw release on non-Nintendo consoles, the Wii was treated to twoexclusive (at least up until a couple of weeks ago) Resident Evil games thatwere each basically an on-rails tour through Resident Evil’s greatest hits.Interestingly, Capcom is now close to releasing a 3DS-exclusive Resident Evilgame that is going to fit in canonically with the series as a whole. KnowingCapcom’s history to this point, as well as considering that Resident Evil:Revelations will be the most expensive 3DS game on the market at $50, it’s nothard to envision a likely scenario in which this game winds up being ported toanother system.

Killer 7 was the final Five release, and by this timeCapcom had fully given up on any console exclusivity, releasing both theGameCube and PS2 versions at the same time. without a doubt the most bizarreand divisive game of the lot, Killer 7 was stylistic, violent, and a whollyunique game unlike anything on either platform. The game even went on to drawire from the once menacingly notable Jack Thompson, who purported that the gamefeatured “full-blown sex sequences.” for more about Killer 7 and its ups anddowns, check out Radio Free Nintendo’s excellent recent RetroActive, where theydiscuss the game at length.

While Killer 7 may have been a cross-platform release,its critical success and unparalleled style put Grasshopper Manufacture and CEOSuda51 squarely on the map, allowing them to create several notableNintendo-exclusives. The first of those was Contact, a quirky RPG released forthe Nintendo DS in 2007. of course, the best known Grasshopper Manufacturereleases are No more Heroes and No more Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. In thevein of Killer 7, the No more Heroes games are violent, genre-melding affairswith no shortage of wit and sarcastic nods to video game tropes.

Though No more Heroes has been ported to the Xbox 360 andPS3, and Grasshopper Manufacture has turned their attention to those consolesfor recent and upcoming releases like Shadows of the Damned and LollipopChainsaw, Suda51 has expressed interest in exploring what the Wii U has tooffer, and perhaps creating a third No more Heroes game for the console. out ofall the Capcom Five contributors, he seems the most interested and invested inutilizing Nintendo’s hardware.

***

In the end,even though all but one of the Capcom Five were released on other platforms,most remain synonymous with GameCube, either through the limited exclusivitythey did possess or the generally better technical performance they had on the‘Cube. The Capcom Five only suffer because of Capcom’s own mismanagement, fromrushing P.N. 03 out the door to stifling momentum by constantly contradictingthemselves.

With the Wii Ucoming next year, it will be interesting to see how Nintendo can again currythe favor of third party developers in creating games that, most importantly,take full advantage of the hardware. that, and not exclusivity, will be the keyto the Wii U’s third party successes.

Nintendo said Friday its new Wii U game console will go on sale during the next fiscal year that begins in April, and the company will look to avoid the problems it has had with its latest handheld.

“Based on the bitter experiences we have had with the Nintendo 3DS, we are making every effort to prepare so that the Wii U will not stumble during its launch,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Iwata said the final version of the console will be on display at the E3 conference which is set for June in Los Angeles. that suggests the company will begin shipping the Wii U after summer but in time for the 2012 holiday season, in keeping with past launches.

The Wii U has a set-up box similar to the current Wii, but also has a small tablet-like gamepad that is linked wirelessly and has dual thumb-controlled joysticks and control buttons. The tablet can be used together with the main box to play games shown on a TV, or independently on its own smaller screen.

Nintendo has said the high-definition game system will have strong third-party developer tools and will launch together with well-known titles. but the company rankled game fans when it showed footage from other game systems at presentations for the Wii U during last year’s E3.

Iwata spoke about Nintendo’s results for its first half that ended in September, which it released Thursday. The company slashed its outlook for the fiscal year through March and now expects a ¥20 billion (US$263 million) net loss, after saying just three months ago it could make an annual ¥20 billion profit. in may the company had predicted a net profit of ¥110 billion.

He said the losses were due in part to large price cuts on the 3DS the company made less than six months after its launch, but he expected a strong holiday season based on the large number of games for the handheld that are due over the coming months.

I am not a fan of motion gaming, waggle, touch screens, or other so-called “casual controls.” It’s not that I write them off the moment I see them. I just have yet to see a game that uses those control options to make the experience better to gamers like me, who are well accustomed to a standard controller.

Just recently though, I saw a game that’s finally change my mind, and its name is Modnation Racers: Road Trip. Using the touch screen and back touch pad of the PlayStation Vita, the team at SCE San Diego have created a game that streamlines the creation tools that we know and love while maintaining all of the depth that we expect. 

Modnation Racers: Road Trip (PlayStation Vita)Developer: SCE Studios San DiegoPublisher: SCEARelease: February 22, 2012

For those unfamiliar, Modnation Racers is a the Sony exclusive kart racer with a heavy emphasis on creation and customization. Since the series’ launch last year, there have been over 2,000,000 creations available and shared, with approximately 500,000 of those being tracks. Fans of the series will be pleased to know then that Road Trip will be able to access all of those creations, day one. you can’t upload Road Trip creations for use on the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable, though.

The experience of playing a handheld game versus a console game is distinguished most notably by the fact that handheld experiences must be quick bursts of fun that are as immediately satisfying as they are deep. For a game like Modnation, this can prove a challenge as you can conceivably spend hours building and perfecting a custom track. For Road Trip, SCE San Diego is making smart use of the PS Vita touch screen functionality to lessen the amount of time spent building from hours to mere minutes.

It starts with you choosing from a preset list of environments: jungles, island resorts, deserts and the like. after that, you simply draw the shape of the track from an overhead view of the environment. just touch down on the screen to draw and you have a track designing in literally seconds. It’s that simple.  from here, you can select the placement of finish lines, weapon drops, and boost pads just by selecting the option from the menu and touching the spot you want to place them at. or you can use the auto-populate feature if you don’t care to go too deep. There is also an option to use the Vita camera to make tracks out of what you’ve photographed. This was not demoed though, so I’m not sure how it works.

Once you have a track laid out, you can manipulate the surrounding environment with touch fairly simply. so when I wanted to lay out a lake, I simply selected the option from the menu, traced onscreen the area that I wanted to place my lake in, and watched the terrain form in an effect reminiscent of from Dust.

Road Trip also makes use of the back touch pad during track customization. when creating mountains for my track, I place my fingers on the back touch pad and rose the terrain with corresponding spots onscreen. when you have all the touch features working together, what you get is the ability to make complex and creative tracks in minutes. creating tracks in Road Trip is streamlined, amazingly intuitive and easy to use all while retaining the richness and depth that the series has built its name upon. 

While the touch controls shine the most in the track editor, they are also featured in the avatar and kart editor. Relegated mostly to Minority Report-style drag and drop, touch in the kart editor allows you to zoom in close and swap out kart components such as tires, suspension, spoilers, etc. in the avatar editor you use the touch controls in a similar manner, swapping out clothes and accessories. one cool feature though is Modnations’ use of the the Vita’s gyroscope. At anytime when customization a kart or avatar, you can shake the Vita to randomize your creation. It’s not the most fascinating feature ever, but it’s there and it works.

Our demo of Modnation Racers: Road Trip also showed off the game’s career mode, complete with over thirty tracks and events. If you like the series’ take on kart racing already then you will feel at home here. Drifting and drafting are back and intelligent use of them is as important as managing your boost, shortcuts, and weapons.

As I’ve said, I have never been interested in the whole motion/waggle/touch control craze of late. If every Kinect and move controller suddenly vanished tomorrow, the evil leprechaun on my shoulder would probably break into a river dance. Road Trip, though, uses touch to great effect that further elevates the core gameplay of the series. Handhelds are about quick fun, and Modnation is about creating cool stuff. Road Trip’s use of touch control supports both these design mantras and comes out the better for it.

Published on Oct 26, 2011

Uncharted 3′s release will be celebrated in LittleBigPlanet 2 with the launch of a Nathan Drake Sackboy costume which will hit PSN on 1 November in the US – the same day Uncharted 3 launches in North America. Meanwhile, Media Molecule will celebrate LBP’s third birthday with a birthday cake costume – also available from 1 November, but only for a week.Expect both LBP goodies to hit the PSN in Europe on 2 November – the same day Uncharted 3 launches in the UK and Europe.

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• Posted October 1st, 2011 at 18:57 EDT by PSU Community
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In part 1 of this series, we cast a reflective glance back at the PlayStation 3 during the early stages of its life, visiting topics such as price tags, games, Blu-ray’s victory against HD-DVD, the introduction of DualShock 3, and the launch of PlayStation Home. After covering the period 2006-2008, we now move forward to the year 2009 and beyond in part II of PlayStation 3 – then and now.

2009

All three major platform holders made a great showing at E3 2009; however, Sony’s presser included games such as Uncharted 2: among Thieves and God of War III, which won many post-E3 awards. also of particular note at Sony’s show was the PlayStation move, the company’s counter to Nintendo’s Wii Mote motion controller, and later, Microsoft’s Kinect. Elsewhere, the Japanese giant also announced that an additional 50 PSOne classics were to be added to the PlayStation Store.

In terms of core software, 2009 saw the release of a number of triple-A titles, among which included some notable PS3-exclusives. the first half of the year included titles such as Flower, Killzone 2, Resident Evil 5, Infamous, and Prototype, while the latter portion of 2009 saw the likes of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dirt 2, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Demon’s Souls, Uncharted 2: among Thieves, and Trine. Uncharted 2 in particular was a standout release, considered by many as one of the greatest PS3 games ever conceived and raked in numerous awards for its landmark visuals and gameplay.

2009 also saw the release of the PlayStation 3 Slim model, which was announced during Sony’s Gamescom press event. These systems were lighter, smaller, more energy efficient, and less likely to suffer the infamous “yellow light of death” error that plagued its bulky brother.

2010

Although Nintendo arguably made a great impression at E3 2010, Sony’s conference was spectacular. the hardware manufacturer took the wraps off an impressive Killzone 3 demo, and announced PlayStation Plus, a service available to those who were willing to pay more money for additional content via PSN. Sony also demoed LittleBigPlanet 2, Dead Space 2, and dropped a huge announcement – a new Twisted Metal game was in the works. not to be outdone, Valve boss Gabe Newell also made a surprise appearance during the show and confirmed that puzzle sequel Portal 2 would be coming to PS3, while marketing maestro Kevin Butler popped up for a quick chat to rapturous applause. later on in the year, Sony also made a splash at Gamescom with the announcement of Resistance 3, and rolled out PlayStation move in September 2010. Sales were modest compared to Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, however, though move has seen healthy support in the year following its release.

Overall, the year 2010 was a great period for quality PS3 games. the first chunk of the year featured titles such as Heavy Rain, Bayonetta, Final Fantasy XIII, MAG, Bishock 2, Battlefield 2: bad Company, God of War III and Red Dead Redemption among others. Heavy Rain and God of War III in particular won many awards and are must-have titles in their own right, boasting sumptuous visuals and compelling gameplay. later on in the year we were treated to heavy hitters such as Madden NFL 2011, Dead Rising 2, Vanquish, call of Duty: Black Ops, Gran Turismo 5 and Echocrome 2. By this time, developers found it easier to create games for the PS3, and so games like Madden NFL 2011 and Final Fantasy XIII looked just as good as their Xbox 360 counterparts.

That year, Sony churned out two new PS3 models: one with a 160GB hard drive and the other with 320GB of storage. By that point, the 20 GB and 60 GB launch SKUs were no longer in production, nor was the 80GB unit bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Controversially, these newer models lacked the backwards compatibility function seen in earlier consoles.

2011

And so our feature brings us up to date in the year 2011. In this year’s E3 conference, Sony dominated with games such as Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Resistance 3. One of the biggest PS3 game announcements came in the form of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, with fans of the stealth- adventure series overjoyed to find out a 4th title was in progress.

The PlayStation 3 has been packed with excellent games and this year is no exception. the first half of 2011 included games such as Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3, Dragon Age 2, Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, LA Noire, and DIRT 3. This year also saw an influx of High Definition collections, including the Prince of Persia HD collection, God of War Origins Collection, and the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD collection, offering classic PS2/PSP games with HD visuals and Trophy support among other features. looking ahead, the next few months will see the release of big hitters such as Uncharted: Drake’s Deception, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Dark Souls, and Ratchet and Clank: all 4 One.

The reception of the PS3 has changed very much since its 2007 launch. PS3s are found in millions of homes in North America, although the Xbox 360 remains the main console of the continent. Indeed, everything was looking pretty rosy for Sony until April 20, 2011, which marked the day the firm’s flagship online service, PSN, was taken offline due to an “external intrusion.” However, Sony failed to notify consumers of the reason behind the outage until several days after the hack, and users were understandably angered as to why they failed to act more swiftly. PSN was offline for over a month before finally being restored in early June. One would assume this would be a big blow to Sony and its online services, and indeed the company did suffer a lot of flak because of it; in the long run however, it actually benefited PSN somewhat. the system was rebuilt, made stronger, and safer for the company’s customers, but the most surprising effect of the hack was that PSN saw an increase in user registration. furthermore, as a means of extending their gratitude to returning customers, Sony launched a “welcome Back” program that offered two free games and other free content to members affected by the hack.

2012 and Beyond

E3 2012 is almost a year away, but we wonder what direction the PS3 will take next. Exclusives such as the Last Guardian and Final Fantasy Versus XIII remain in development while the library of PlayStation move games continues to expand. As for the games gracing the console in 2012, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Mass Effect 3, Twisted Metal and the aforementioned Last Guardian are just some of the highlights we can look forward to for next year.

Will the PS3 close the unit sales gap between itself and the Xbox 360? it is hard to say at this point, though Sony’s console is undoubtedly gaining ground, albeit slowly. furthermore, while PlayStation move has got off to a successful start, it’s still being eclipsed by Microsoft’s Kinect. will that change with the PS3’s library growing at an incredible speed? the future is never certain, but what is visible is that Sony’s huge gaming console has stolen its way into the homes and hearts of millions. Thanks to a good library and quality services at reasonable prices, the PS3 is now seen as a success and a worthy investment for gamers.

Gamers and analysts believe the next Sony game console won’t see the light of day until around 2014, but in the meantime that gives PlayStation 3 owners ample opportunity to soak up the plethora of new games, content, and services offered by platform holder Sony. back in 2006, the road was a decidedly bumpy affair, though these days you’d be hard pressed to find someone who won’t concede things have smoothed out nicely. PlayStation 3 owners back in 2006 didn’t have an easy ride, with few killer games to tuck into and the constant barrage of criticism piled on the platform by the media and gamers alike. However, these days things are another kettle of fish altogether, and needless to say it’s incredibly pleasing to know your $500-$600 purchase was well worth it.

Article by Shawnee Lee

More than three years after the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, the creator of the franchise, Rockstar Games, has finally revealed that another entrant is on the way.

Web users who head over to the Rockstar Games Web site today will not be able to access its pages. Instead, the site has been replaced with the Grand Theft Auto V logo, along with a promise to launch a game trailer on November 2. Other than that, Rockstar hasn’t divulged any details on the game.

Rumors have been swirling for years that Rockstar would launch a new Grand Theft Auto game. However, the company has stopped short of announcing the title, deciding instead to focus its efforts on other popular games it has launched recently, like Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire.

But given the success of Grand Theft Auto IV, it seemed that it would only be a matter of time before its successor was announced.

After hitting store shelves in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV became a mega-hit around the world, tallying first-week unit sales of 6 million copies and bringing in $500 million during that period. the game became the biggest launch in the industry’s history, easily besting the previous record-holder, Halo 3.

More than a year later, however, Grand Theft Auto IV lost its crown to call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Last year’s release of call of Duty: Black Ops then bested that title to become the bestselling game of all-time.

Rockstar did not immediately respond to request for information on the game. However, we should know much more next week after the trailer launches.

Following the revelation of the official box art design for the forthcoming Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition last week,  Electronic Theatre has endeavoured to secure further details of the retail release. Today, it has been confirmed that the latest version of the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption will launch at a budget price point in the UK.

While most ‘Game of the Year Edition’ re-releases are offered with plenty of additional content, they typically launch at a full retail price – typically £49.99 in the UK. However, the forthcoming Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition will be made available in UK retail stores with a recommended retail price (RRP) of just £29.99, with many retailers likely to cut that price even further.

In addition to the original Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmare content pack and all of the currently available downloadable content (DLC) for the game, the Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition will present a brand new ‘hardcore’ mode for gamers already familiar with Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition will be available throughout PAL territories from 14th October 2011, and Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with all the latest details on Red Dead Redemption and other titles from Rockstar Games.

Xperia Play is the world’s first PlayStation-certified smartphone.

MANILA, Philippines – Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play, or more popularly called the "PlayStation Phone," was finally launched here on Tuesday, several months after it was released in the United States and other parts of the globe.

Dennis Manzano, general manager of Sony Ericsson Philippines, described the phone as "a game-changing product."

"It’s all about communication and entertainment," he told reporters during the launch of the gaming smartphone in Makati City.

Powered by Google’s Android 2.3 operating system (Gingerbread), Xperia Play boasts of a 1-gigahertz snapdragon processor, an Adreno 205 GPU, a 5.1-megapixel camera, a sound recorder, a music player and other applications.

The horizontal sliding phone also has a keypad similar to the PSP (PlayStation Portable) go — a handheld game console manufactured by Sony –and is the first PlayStation-certified smartphone.

Priced at P19,990, the device comes pre-loaded with six game titles: "Bruce Lee," "FIFA 2010," "Madden NFL 11," "Star Battalion," "the Sims 3" and "Crash Bandicoot," an old PlayStation favorite.

"For months, several people have been clamoring for the Xperia Play. Now it’s here in the Philippines just in time for the Christmas season," said Vince dela Cruz, Sony Ericsson Philippines’ product group marketing manager.

"There are a lot of smartphones in the market but there’s only one that’s focused on gaming," he added.

Dela Cruz noted that Sony Ericsson wanted to take advantage of the fast-growing mobile gaming industry, which he said is currently valued at $7 billion.

The company hopes to grab a big share of the gaming market, with dela Cruz saying that the average gamer is not a teen but a 30-year-old.

He added that the number of girl gamers has increased through the years.

Room for improvement?

Several bloggers and tech experts have said that the Xperia Play could have been turned into the ultimate gaming smartphone if it had the other features of high-end handsets, from dual-core processors to the Mobile Bravia Engine, the same brand behind Sony’s high-definition liquid crystal display televisions.

It also could have been better off with an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connector to allow users to share content on a larger HD screen, they added.

Dela Cruz, however, said Sony Ericsson opted not to put all these features to make the Xperia Play more affordable for its customers. the company’s top of the line handsets are usually priced at P27,000 here in the Philippines.

He added that even without those add-ons, the Xperia Play has been successful in offering another option for those who want to play more complex games on their touchscreen phones.

"It allows for more immersive gaming," he said.

According to dela Cruz, users of the new phone will never run out of games as more than 400 titles are currently available in the Android Market.

Meanwhile, Square Enix titles such as "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" are set to be available exclusively on the Xperia Play in the coming months.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter still has a lot of questions about the Wii U. In a new interview with Industrygamers, Pachter says he believes the system is in a unique position in the market. “The Wii U is a pretty ambitious undertaking. It’s a new console, with new controls and architecture, but it’s not quite ‘next’ generation,” he said. “Developers have to contend with differences between the Wii U and current generation consoles, then have to figure out what to do with the controls.” Pachter also expressed concern that the Wii U won’t be able to offer enough exclusives at launch to be competitive. “The [launch date] is still up in the air, and as far as I know, there are no significant third party exclusives,” he said. “Instead, we’ll see iterations of third party games already on the market, which is unlikely to drive significant hardware sales.” still, he concluded that predicting the success of Wii U’s launch is impossible until we have more details. “In order for the launch to be hugely successful…the console will need three things: a competitive price, compelling first party launch titles, and compelling third party launch titles,” Pachter said. “We don’t know if the Wii U will have any of these, so it’s quite difficult to predict a hugely successful launch.”