Category Archives: PlayStation

Games, General, Nintendo, PlayStation

PlayStation 64

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With the first day of Spring a little over a week away and Sony still insistent on getting the PS3 out in that impending three month window, the jokes and conspiracy theories are inevitably starting to hit fever pitch. I’ve just been reading this feature over on 1UP and it really made me think.

I chuckled at their Dreamcast 2.0 feature back in November and although those parallels are quite amusing, I have to say that the ones between the PS3 and the N64 are even more compelling and Sony will be in trouble if they come out a year after the 360 with little extra in the way of power and a price tag $100 bigger, brand name be damned. Microsoft’s launch might have been a minor debacle but the signs are looking like unless Sony have pulled the wool over all our eyes they could actually be taken to the wire with this one.

I’m tempted to back Microsoft if only because I want to see what would happen if a system that they can’t give away in Japan becomes the top dog. That could be interesting…

Games, Impressions, PlayStation

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

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I’ve just been sent a review copy of the new Onimusha, due out for the PS2 next week (my review will be on Pro-G at some point), and thought I’d come out with some impressions to go with all the big review sites who reviewed it last night. I thought what I saw of Onimusha was quite cool when it came out and got a kick out of Jean Reno and modern France in Onimusha 3, but this is the first time that I’ve played one at any length.

Overall it’s pretty good. It’s fast-paced and the hack and slash action is good fun and reasonably deep, and the presentation is decent (no 480p, though – boo!) – graphically it’s very colourful and even in its 4:3 480i nastiness looks great.

There are a lot of story scenes which all look good, both when they’re in-game and CGI (nothing as impressive as the intro for Onimusha 3 so far, unfortunately), but what lets them down is some pretty bad voice acting. Not original Resident Evil bad, but more like Resident Evil 4 mildly grating. The reviews of the US version all say that that version includes the option to switch to the original Japanese voices, but inexplicably it’s nowhere to be found in the PAL one.

It’s too early for me to give this a score but if I had to do it right now I’d give it 8/10. It’s one of the better pure action games that I’ve played in a while.

Games, General, PlayStation

Loading…Please Wait…

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I’ve noticed that quite a few PSP games have some atrocious load times (Winning Eleven 9, I’m looking at you), but this really takes the cake. It’s a video showing someone playing – or rather attempting to play – Smackdown vs Raw 2006 on the PSP from booting it up until getting into the first fight of career mode. It literally takes over six minutes because it even has to load the loading screen! It can’t be helping the already poor battery life, either.

The guy probably deserves it for buying a wrestling game, but still it’s either proof that the game was horribly rushed or that optical media isn’t yet the way to go for handhelds. Take your pick.

Games, General, PlayStation, Sega

Ryu ga Gotoku

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It might not have been particularly huge news on all the main gaming sites, but I’m very excited by the news that Sega’s recent Japanese action game Ryu ga Gotoku (translates as “Like a Dragon”) will be released in the West under the more marketable name of Yakuza.

As you may or may not have guessed, the reason why I’m excited is not only that it’s supposed to be an excellent game and a return to form for Sega, but because it’s also been called a spiritual successor to Shenmue, a game that I’d rank as my second favourite of all time and that I’m borderline obsessive about. It’s not as slow and doesn’t have the emphasis on exploration and investigation, but it looks nice and I can’t look at this shot without being reminded of certain areas of Shenmue II by night. This is one I’ll be watching keenly over the next few months.

Let’s just hope that the localisation isn’t ruined by horrible voice acting again.

Games, General, PlayStation

Gotta Love EA

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If you need any more proof that EA gets lower every day, check this out from Kotaku:

Imagine my shock when a message popped up telling me that I had to either pay $2 or give my privacy away to ESPN and whoever they feel like selling my details to, if I wanted to play online.

Basically to play the PSP version of Fight Night Round 3 online you either have to pay them $2 from your credit card for “authentication” purposes, or if you don’t have a card/don’t want to give them any more money/don’t want to give your card details over a public wireless network, you have to give them your email and mailing address and opt into the EA/ESPN mailing list. This is in order to use all of the features of a game you’ve just paid $40 for.

Apparently to play the 360 version online it’ll require the blood of your firstborn.

Games, General, PlayStation

Colossus Shenanigans

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Here’s yet more proof that some people have too much time on their hands, this time playing around with the third best game of 2005. It seems that the R1 button in Shadow of the Colossus is useful for more than just climbing rocks and mythical beasts, and can actually be used to pester the more conventional fauna in the forbidden lands.

The larger bird is the best and most impressive one, so definitely take a look at that one. By the looks of things they’re not new but it’s the first time I’ve seen them, and this one of someone climbing the temple is long but also cool.