GameBlob
A Lump Of Gaming & Geekery
Thoughts On Playstation Plus
Aug 20th
To be clear – I signed up in the first week. The service is still relatively new and already somewhat ridiculed. It’s obvious this is a service that doesn’t offer a lot to certain players. The hardcore are one of the groups it currently caters poorly to. In my experience though it’s already paid for itself.
Dividing time between “real life” and multiple platforms its easy to miss out on a lot of gems. In the case of PS+ some have been Minis. (Age Of Zombies!) while others are full blown titles. For example, I’d never been completely sold on Infamous despite the reviews and buzz. The demo didn’t do it for me despite the fun powers and gameplay. By letting me play an hour from the start of the full game I had to continue. Just goes to show how important a story really is. The free copy of Little Big Planet was a handy extra despite already having it on disc – it’s one of my daughter’s favourite games so it saves a lot of sticky fingerprints and disc swapping.
Would I recommend PS+? Only if you’re confident they’ll be offering content you don’t already own. If you’re the sort who buys everything on PSN, what can it really offer? Hopefully in future Sony will offer more beta access programs and perhaps the fabled cross-game chat. I wish they’d integrate FirstPlay over here in the UK too.
To put PS+’s failings in context: People have been calling Playstation Home a failure since launch, but the service obviously rakes in cash and has a big following. Hell, the PS3 itself has had to weather years of negative media attention and doomsaying, and look how it’s doing today.
I have faith in Sony making Plus worthwhile to core and casual gamers alike. How long it will take them to get up to speed? That’s anyone’s guess.
What’s your experience with Playstation Plus? Happy? Disappointed?
Five (big) things I’m excited about for E3
Jun 13th
So E3 is here. We’ve all been waiting for our favourite stories and announcements. Many are hardware related and that’s where this E3 is quite unique for having so much potential. Here are the stories I’m most excited about!
Nintendo Hardware Details
Rarely is so much information revealed before a proper hardware unveiling. The 3DS. Head tracking 3D screen, rumours stipulating a PS3/360 level of performance in a hand-held (not likely!), an analogue stick? Nintendo obviously have to bump up the specs to compete with the ageing PSP and the increasingly powerful Apple idevices. Lets hope it’s exceptional!
A new HD Wii? Some sort of online service with account-based downloads instead of console bound ones? There’s no real reason to think this is coming other than it really has to at some point.
Harmonix / Rock Band 3
A lot of people wouldn’t be in the slightest bit interested in finding out more about Rock Band 3, but as a collector of strange peripherals and fan of Harmonix’ previous work I’m seeing a lot to be intrigued by here. 102 button MatCatz controllers? Pro mode 6 stringed guitars which double as proper fully functional instruments? Adaptors that let you use any old midi keyboard to play?
A lot of big steps to be taking in a single iteration. I’d like to think that the advanced gameplay will help increase sales. Very ballsy, I hope it pays off for them.
Sony PSN & Hardware Changes
Are Sony really about to start charging a subscription for new features such as cross-game voice chat? What impact will the new service have on things like PS:Home & user profiles? How are Sony going to sell it whilst still leaving online gaming as a free feature?
New PS3 and PSP hardware might also be at the show, but that doesn’t really excite me as we know a PS3 revision isn’t going to be too different from the current one. PSP2 I don’t know anything about, and I’d be susprised to see anything at E3.
MS Project Natal (Kinect?) & Playstation Move (+ 3D)
People have argued the merits of both control schemes. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. They have a lot to prove this E3, and a lot of people will be watching to see how they’re both going to be justified by the publishers. Why are people going to pay extra for these? Have Sony miscalculated, or can PS3 prices be reduced over the next few years to the extent that allows for Move to seem good value to the average consumer? Given the obscene cost of 3DTV, are Sony pushing something before it’s ready? Is it impressive enough to get the public on board?
These are exciting times for 1st party peripherals and interface evolution. I don’t think any company has added significant new functionality on top of a console and have it be hugely successful.
A Slim Xbox 360?
If this happens it will probably sell a lot of machines. The current 360 design is big, noisy and (in my opinion) pretty ugly. A smaller 360 would help it compete visually with the slim PS3, reduce waste and generally be a great thing. Here’s a supposed legitimate leak of what it will look like – A definite improvement!
What’s missing from this list?
Obviously, games. There is so much going on in gaming to be happy about. Bulletstorm looks great, Resistance 3 and Killzone 3 will both likely make impressive appearances. Nintendo will show their long-awaited next Zelda title and Metroid other M. Microsoft have their obvious Halo cash-cow and Gears 3 to show. On the DS there’s Super Scribblenauts to look forward to.
So who do I think will come out on top at E3? I don’t see it as a game with winners and losers. It’s important they please their audiences but I think they’re all going to have strong showings, and it’s clear there is space for multiple approaches in the market. I’m most interested in Sony’s presentation, but I’m going to be watching them all with great interest!
New controllers not your thing? What are you most looking forward to this E3?
GameBlob – What is it good for?
Jun 9th
Opinions are like.. Well, you know. Gaming and technology blogs – something the world doesn’t need more of you might think. I don’t entirely disagree, but seeing the profusion of terribly written and fanboy blogs it seems everyone’s duty to try and contribute in a positive way, however small.
The net is teeming with confrontational and divisive gaming sites. While the passion is something that should be commended; fanboys are, at heart – fans – and that’s a great thing. Preferences and opinions should be celebrated. The pointless battles and one-upmanship grind on, however fun watching the fallout can be. At the end of the day in-fighting doesn’t do us any favours.
GameBlob aims to offer features and reviews with a critical but positive slant. Some things shouldn’t be taken too seriously, and the great work developers do to get games in our hands should never be underestimated.
So here is the GameBlob manifesto:
Decently Edited Writing
There will likely be some typos but you can be sure that things will generally make sense and have correct grammar and spelling. It’s irksome when even the high profile review sites can’t get that right.
No Stupid Arguments
Never will sales be put forward as a measurement of quality. MetaCritic and other aggregated scores will will only be brought up in a cautiously critical manner. Market share won’t ever be used to say X is better than Y. There is, and always has been room in the market for competition. Not all products are competing for the exact same audience – we all benefit from the diversity.
Doing It For The Hits
Obviously we wouldn’t have a blog if we didn’t want people to read it, but we don’t need to take the piss just to get clicks. You’ve all seen it around N4G and the other news portals. It’s not big and it’s not clever.
Welcoming & Platform Neutral
Everyone should feel at home here. We write about games new and old across all formats. You’re encouraged to comment, disagree with things, kick up a fuss and debate all you like.
Passion, Knowledge, Worthiness & Fun
We won’t write things we know nothing about. We won’t write to fan the flames. We won’t write misrepresentative articles or quotes. We won’t write unending top ten lists. We will do our best to collect and comment on news that interests US and might interest you too!
So, what are your thoughts on the state of gaming and games media? Any suggestions or help is welcome. Thanks for visiting!