Ok now I won’t go so far to say I’m actually going to get a PS3 because no single game is enough to push me to get a console especially the priceyplaystation 3 when all of the games I love are on the 360. But Killzone 2 really does make me itch to spend some money, I truly wish they would have gone multiplatform with it. It’s definitely not a 10/10 as it’s got some definite bits that annoy me, the turning speed feels sluggish. I mean the graphics are amazing but certain things aren’t balanced properly. I mean running for some reason is like your a super human but you turn 180degrees about as fast as if you were 300lbs even with the sensitivity cranked up to 11.

I haven’t been able to play the whole game yet only beta and demo so I know the multiplayer will rock, but I’ve heard from others that the story is quite flat which might not bug many, but the fact that their isn’t any coop kind of pisses me off after all the great games to be released recently that all with that “bring a friend in” feeling.

Here’s where the whole PS3 vs 360 debate comes into play it comes down to the little things that make Killzone stand out from other games and give it that “awesome game” feeling. Very well tuned post processing filters are probably the #1 feature, but its the insane detail they went through to make things realistic and it all works around weight, everything’s mass feels real, shots and impacts have realistic impacts to the bodies movements. When you stop moving your body shifts forward to a stop the gun swings as you turn and as you stop turning. The deaths and impacts just make things rock. Most will say it’s the PS3 power that gives the game this ability, but not really it’s all about choices that the developers made and mostly to due with the VERY long development time that allowed them to really fine tune everything.

Whatever the case this generation I think the only thing thats for sure is that most people will probably end up with both a PS3 and a xbox360 because both sides have some awesome games. And even the AAA titles that make the consoles who they are will have their big pluses and nagging minuses.

If i had to I’d give Killzone a 9/10 based on what I know and have seen from the demo and beta multiplayer. And i’m giving it the benefit of the doubt that the rest of the final game will continue on with how the previous release were.

Source: Inhouse

This news from the report is probably music to Sony’s ears considering it’s a stark difference from the NPD survey last year that showed only 60% of owners knew that the PS3 even had a Blu-ray drive or what it was. This all may in the end be a moot point because even Sony has admitted that most people will stay with DVD and Bluray will not see the adoption that DVD saw from VHS because most people are content with DVD quality even on their HighDef televisions as one recent survey showed that 22% of owners think their watching HD content even when it isn’t. And with Toshiba offering to “surpass even Bluray’s quality” with their upcoming Super-UpConverting DVD Technology they might make it a moot point for Blu-ray as a Movie platform.

The real question I have is how many of those Playstation owners own more than 1 game, or even use the PS3 as a gaming console vs the other consoles. I can almost guarantee the difference is vast. But any Sony sponsored review of that would be about as believable as those diet pill reviews that we all know mean just about squat. But regardless it would be interesting considering the forums during the launch were a wash of people in Audio/Visual getting PS3’s for the cheapest route to HighDef and not for the gaming functionality. While the 360 might have the great media extender and functions. At heart it’s first a game console then a media hub. Sony has since day one been the opposite.

Source: Engadget

Many have said its something Sony is trying to give Playstation users as a distraction from the fact that their aren’t enough games, or differences from their competitors games to really warrant the higher price and craziness caused by the Sixaxis vs Dualshock 3. But it looks like Sony’s “Second Life that doesn’t suck” will have people waiting longer than was first expected. Sony has announced that they will be growing the beta of the service in Summer 2008, but that a open beta of the service won’t be available until well into Fall 2008 with a final version to come some time after that, no real expectations if the world will grow for those betas or stay the current size, maybe they’ll add the Outer Banks with lodges on a river or something. The fact of the matter is for Playstation users not in the beta, theirs only a trickle of real video or hints at features, and while features sound cool on paper in practice sometimes they aren’t so cool. Vista’s glass interface sounded amazing on paper, but when it came to practice … it was… ok, and many people still prefer the old opaque and even 2000 styling.

What’s also interesting to remember is that it’s said that Microsoft has had something in the works behind closed doors for release on the Xbox360 to combat the PSHome release, theirs no word if its a direct competitor or just a cool feature. But it seems that as it stands currently each console will have something, Wii with its motion controller, PS3 with PShome (give me a break bluray and the sixaxis are not selling points as a game console their gimmicks), and 360 has Xbox Live Multiplayer (which I’m sorry crushes the PS3′s online and the Wii by large amounts)

Source: Engadget

Like the Playstation 3 itself the Laptop comes in the shiny black case with metal trip to make it… well… playstationish. It’s kind of funny when you think of it, these laptops from Ben Heck may be the only laptops in history that once you get them don’t beg for some more laptop memory, no their perfect out of the box, including keyboard and screen, and the standard PS3/360 goodies.

The PS3 laptop looks a good bit thicker than the Xbox360 Laptop I’m not specifically why… but on the bright side the PS3 laptop doesn’t have to deal with the 360 power brick so that’s a definite plus. Ben really did a great job sticking each laptop to the console it was derived from, i mean the sexy lettering and the finish alone can tell you what it is from a mile away.  Here’s the even better news, the PS3 laptop much like the 360 Laptop is going up for auction with every penny going to a worthy cause. Considering theirs only 1 PS3 laptop in existence currently, it’s definitly worth a look.

Source: Engadget

But here’s where the issues start, you see with the announcement of HDDVD’s failure and the PS3 being a solid Bluray player, that boosted sales. Add to that for the last 3 weeks it’s been nearly impossible to find the Xbox360 in many US locations due to a known shortage from the Microsoft supply channels that has choked off sales.

While all of this explains the reason Microsoft slipped to third in hardware sales, theirs something even worse for Sony’s headlines. The fact that Microsoft took in more money from the 360 than the Wii and the ps3. You see Sony sold more units, but considering Microsoft’s console is cheaper and brought in more cash that means that the 360 is actually the success for January even beating out the Wii.

But beyond just having won by being first in the amount of cash they brought in, they also have opened up the lead wider between the Wii and PS3 vs the 360.

Source: TGDaily/Inhouse