playstation 3 Archive

1

First Impressions and Unboxing: Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition

metal gear solid 4 limited edition

Well, I’m about 8 hours into The Reason You Buy A Playstation 3, and so far it does not disappoint.  I wanted to write up some quick impressions for y’all – for the record I’ve played all three entries into the Metal Gear Solid franchise along with the Portable Ops game on the PSP.

Here are my initial thoughts on the game:

  • The first 30 minutes of the game contain a LOT of “holy shit” moments
  • It feels like a 50/50 split between gameplay and cutscenes so far – this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the narrative is the strongest suit of the MGS franchise
  • Sometimes I feel that this awesome movie is being interrupted by a game
  • These cutscenes are the most amazing cinematic pieces ever in a video game – they probably surpass a good portion of Hollywood movies and TV shows too
  • Are people who’ve never played an MGS game really going to enjoy this as much as I have so far?
  • You can totally play this game like Call of Duty 4 and kill everything that moves with your M4 Carbine/P90 if you want to – ammo does not become a problem like it was in previous MGS games
  • There are a LOT of items/weapons to use – it feels a little overwhelming at times
  • I’m surprised at the variety of environments – I totally did not see these gorgeous locales coming
  • Why can’t Snake climb up obstacles that look like any Joe Six Pack could surmount?
  • Why aren’t there more hours in the day to play this game?

Was the limited edition of the game worth the $25 premium?  I don’t know yet, as you can see from the blu-ray case, it has spoilers so I’m not touching it until I finish the game.  My initial reaction is that of buyer’s remorse because $25 is a HUGE premium for a “limited edition.”  However, if this blu-ray disc delivers it’ll be worth it due to the cinematic nature of the game.  The audio soundtrack doesn’t hurt either – it’ll make driving on the freeway a little bit more epic.

(More pics of the unboxing after the jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

0

Get A Head Start On Metal Gear Online Beta Registration

metal gear online

If you’re a good little video game fan like me, you’ve undoubtedly already pre-ordered a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 and received the Metal Gear Saga dvd with a Metal Gear Online beta key.  The beta will be available this Thursday, April 17th for download from the (new!) Playstation Store.

According to Playstation.Blog, though, you’re going to need to a Konami id in order to play in the beta (and also the full game).  The Metal Gear Online beta set up process on the PS3 will prompt you to create one via their web page, but lord knows how annoying it is to input text on the PS3 using the controller.  Fortunately, you can expedite the process by signing up for a Konami id here from the comfort of your own computer.

Yes, I’m wondering the same thing you are.  Why do we need to sign up for these extra ids to play the game?  Wouldn’t it be easier on poor gamers to just allow us to use our PSN accounts?

Read more details on the Metal Gear Online Beta [blog.us.playstation.com]

1

Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 Acquired!

metal gear saga dvd pre order bonus

Well, I finally did my duty as a red-blooded gamer last night and pre-ordered my copy of the upcoming Playstation 3 blockbuster, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. As an aside, I gotta admit there is no more depressing time to be at a fairly isolated Gamestop than 15 minutes before closing on a random Thursday. There wasn’t a soul in the store and the employees looked more downtrodden than Eeyore.

Anyway, what got me out there was the awesome pre-order bonus that Konami is offering when you put down your $5. You get a DVD entitled “Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2” which is essentially a well produced (it better be since Hideo Kojima himself is credited as the producer!) recap of the previous games in the Metal Gear franchise. It runs about 30 minutes long and contains a lot of in game cutscene spoilers from the previous games. So if you haven’t played through the other games yet and don’t want it spoiled, you may want to hold off on watching this bonus dvd.

As someone who has played through every game in the series, though, it was a nice refresher to get me pumped up about the new game. It even includes all of the currently released Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers too! (Including the epic 16 minute trailer from E3 2006)

The other big draw of this pre order bonus is an enclosed code to download and play the Metal Gear Online beta in mid-April. If MGO is anything like the Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops online game was on the PSP, I can see it being forgotten in the annals as the PSP title was fairly boring. But, hey, it’s free and it has a shot at being decent given its pedigree. Lord knows the PS3 could use more exclusive multiplayer experiences.

All in all a GREAT package and a shining example on how to reward customers for pre-ordering titles.

metal gear 4 saga dvd pre order bonus

1

New Weezer Song “Automatic” To Debut On Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Soundtrack

I never really cared much for Gran Turismo soundtracks, because usually when I play Gran Turismo it is serious business and I need to turn off the music.

However, yesterday, SCEA announced that a remix of a brand new Weezer song, “Automatic,” would be included in the soundtrack (“mixtape”) for the upcoming US release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Everyone hungers for new Weezer material and the above clip showcases both the game and the song.  I can’t say I recognize Rivers’ voice in the song, but I think I’m liking what I hear. It certainly fits a driving mood.

It’ll be interesting to see if the LA Riots did some heavy remixing to the vocals or if it’s a new direction for Weezer.

Read the full mixtape list [blog.us.playstation.com]

4

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Demo Impressions

Sony has done a lot to piss gamers off since the Playstation 3’s launch, but they seem to finally be getting their act together by concentrating on fixing the biggest problem – the lack of good fucking games to play. Since waking up at 6am to fight the holiday shopping crowds for a Playstation 3 last December, I’ve used my PS3 very little. There’s a layer of dust over the system that I could draw pictures on with my finger. That’s changed the last month, though, with the release of Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Uncharted has been on and off of my gaming radar over the past year or so. I first saw a trailer of the game late 2006. The graphics looked pretty impressive, but I had no idea what the game played like. Other people were immediately slapping “game of the year” and “Sony’s best first-party title” labels on it. Shills they may be, but the hype at least piqued my interest in the game.

Fast-forward one year later and I still had no idea what the game was like. Reading the interweb only gave me the impression that the game was “Tomb Raider, but with a dude instead of Lara’s tits”. Fortunately, the 1200MB demo hit the Playstation Network earlier today, allowing me to finally see if this game was worthy of the hype.

The short answer is yes.

I’ve had a chance to go through the demo a few times and have been quite impressed. The game combines tight, responsive controls with gorgeous graphics, realistic human animations, and challenging (but winnable) combat to create one of the best games I’ve played this year. A simple way to describe the gist of the game would be to say that it’s an amalgamation of Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. If the full game delivers on the puzzle solving element and continues the solid combat and platforming from the demo, I’ll be ready to proclaim it the best title on the Playstation 3 thus far and the best reason to finally take the PS3 plunge.

Read my detailed impressions after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »