Playstation 4 me

I recently gave in to my inner child and became the owner of the PlayStation 4. I walked into the store, chose two games, that online pass, dipped deep into my pocket paid and left. Set it up to my TV relegating the ps3 to the second port and got under way. Since then it’s been around a month, so I thought I would share my experience, and maybe help you to make a decision on if you should fork out your hard earned pounds.

An accurate representation of how the deal went down

Pretty, pretty

In my opinion there is quite a difference in the graphical quality of the games. I was massively sceptical before I took the plunge as to how much better the graphics could really be and I have to say, based on the early games I’m pretty impressed.

Games so pretty, you no longer need eyes

The screen shot comparisons do not do justice just how pretty things looks, how smooth they play just how good they feel. The jump from 720 – 1080 can be seen and all in all the games I have played look great and I am excited to see what Watch Dogs will look like, But I will be more interested in the re-mastering of the Last of Us a game which went to great lengths to look amazing on the PS3. I do hope there is more to it than the Tomb Raider update of slightly more hairier hair….

Tyrone Biggums gets it

Beauty is only skin Deep.. yeah yeah yeah 

Game play wise, games to certainly seem smoother and faster. I haven’t experienced any lagging, jumping or any other unpleasantness while playing infamous Second son even with powers galore shooting around the screen like sonic on speed.

Games start up quicker than on the PS3 which is nice for a quick game of anything, and would probably be even faster if I used the stand by feature… Which I don’t because… I… I don’t know I just turn things off. In reality though it won’t feel all too different than the PS3. The controller feels odd at first, with its narrower grip and that strange smooth touch pad but you get used to it. You will however hit share when you want select I can Guarantee that.

R.I.P the simple select button

PlayStation Plus..you
If you are or were a PlayStation 3 kinda person you were no doubt quite happy that online for us was born free and were shocked and disappointed with the news that we would have to pay for the online services by way of the PS+ Subscription. I was.

But, I’m slowly coming around to the Idea that it might just have been the icing on the cake. Without the PS4 I wouldn’t have purchase a PS plus subscription I just didn’t see the point but since it was thrust upon me I have had the privilege of free games. And not bad games either, good games, games I was happy to play. Tomb raider, Payday2, Sly Racoon, Uncharted 3 and Bio shock Infinite…all for free as part of the subscription with new games every month.. Much Excite

is nice

Granted with every silver lining is a brown turdy one. These games are on the PS3, so I have been moved away from my PS4 onto my PS3 by the addition of Free-ish content. But it does give hope for what the PS4 may soon bring to the table

Bobby

All in all I am Very happy with my purchase. Yes it was a lot of money and yes there are like 3 games. But it’s an investment in something I hope to have for many years. Hopefully. So if you’re on the fence, un sure what to do I say this. If you have the Money, and spending it won’t hurt you too much then take the plunge, enjoy what’s out there and grow with the console, keep your PS3 ( if you have one ) and Take advantage of the PS+ and all in all just have a good time.

This guy had a good time on his D**k

 

 

Is Nintendo the New Sega?

We all have warm feelings in our belly’s when we think about Nintendo. Pokemon, Zelda, Mario…. mmm ahhh Nostalgia. We don’t have such warm Feelings for Sega.. not after the Megadrive… Saturn…Dreamcast and then death of hardware. They still make games though some Bad like Sonic some good like The total war series. Sega Failed because it Hardware  A, was terrible ( The Sega Saturn… jesus) but Mainly it was due to poor Third party support and the strength of the competition, who simplified there tools, and didn’t use gimmicks like a second screen in side the control. Using Sega as a base, lets examine Nintendo…

Out Smarted by a phone?

With the growth of the smartphone industry it was inevitable that some companies were going to feel the pinch. Camera companies need cameras that did more than photos, camcorder has  almost died a horrible wriggling death not including the professional market or those people o so retro and, games consoles needed innovation, in both its hardware and in its games.

Hipsters Everywhere

Nintendo had this with the DS. It was touch screen they had some decent exclusive games, OK third party support and was way better than the screened turd Sony would eventually put out.

They made smaller ones then bigger ones and then a 3D one and then a big 3D one and then a 2D one again that looked like a doorstop. It certainly seemed that they had one basket with so many eggs in the Easter bunny would be jealous.

happy happy eggs

The problem, for me at least was that the 3D part was a Gimmick more than a tool which added and enhanced the experience. To date only a few games have really made use of it in a decent way, with a variety of others Just having 3D because the Console can do it. Also, Again when I did play the 3DS which was in my household I would often turn off the 3D part, allowing me to actually see and play the game without having to be bolted in front of my eyes to keep it in the middle.

Now I can see in 3D…. I hate it.. turn it off Kill it with Fire

Extra’s aside I think the 3DS would have performed a lot stronger had the rise of the smartphone not taken place. As I have mentioned in a previous post the Casual gamer, a market which Nintendo Holds with a loving embrace have Migrated to playing games on the thing they already had, with more actual features, with good quality games ( some) for as little as free…. Maybe Nintendo should design a phone combining the touch screen part of the DS with a decent processor and other useful tools. Nintenphone and Nintentab.

Thanks T3 you little so n so’s

Its out of our hands

 Let’s move away from the handheld market now and look at Nintendo’s Home consoles. The Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System were giants of it time. It had lots of good games, loads of support and, even the games which came out on them and their rivals the mighty Sega Master System and Mega Drive were different, unlike today.

 The SNES was popular well into the 32 bit era, with many playing it when Sony’s First baby arrived into shops (Thanks Nintendo for your part in that) Not wanting to be Outdone Nintendo Designed the N64 a console twice as powerful as the PSone but used an outdated cartridge system. This was the first Nintendo Console I owned, and for me, it was the beginning of the end. The PlayStation had so much Third party support it was a like a billionaire in a whore house, it had so many games.. so so many.

The N64 had some games, they….. were…… ok? I want to say they existed, that some’s up for me there impact much better. Aside from the ones that were made by, exclusively for or in conjunction with Nintendo ( Mario 64, The Zelda’s, Metroid and Super smash Bro) with the odd exception. This started a trend which we would continue to see in the coming Consoles from Nintendo, Cube to WII U.

Best Third Party N64 game? Third Partyish?

Also as with its handhelds it seemingly tried to differentiate itself by having quirky gimmicky features rather than gaining support from Developers. The GameCube had some fun games on it, but its big thing was that it used a little disk and look like a lunch box. The ps2 was simply a better version of the old one and whooosssshhhhhh Success. This pattern of Gimmicks over third party has continued, and though the WII’s motion controls were fun, and did well in the casual market, the third party support wasn’t great and the WII U is just silly. a screen in a control… hello Dreamcast u .

End of the line

 So, is there a place for Nintendo? Possibly. But probably as a games developer rather than a console behemoth.Yesterday Nintendo announced that instead of a 55bn Yen profit it now predicts a 25bn Yen Loss….that is quite a big, it hurts me to loose £10.

All of Nintendo

There success in the 80’s and 90’s was great and we got a lot of great games from it, hell in the early Noughties they pulled it off again with the WII and the DS, they just got it wrong with the next move forward, perhaps they could develop something new, but with the Xboxone and the PS4 out now, it would have to be something with amazing, with graphics to rival, maybe a normal control would be nice, but most importantly, Decent Third party Titles. Take the weight off of Mario.

Just look at that terrible Posture

I hope they find something because I love the Zelda Games and Nintendo as a whole really, and I hope they do it fast.

Bugs….Damn Bugs

I recently decided to delve into my pocket and fork over some hard earned cash for the Last of Us. walking home I found my self in a content mood, excited to see what this game could offer. I placed it into my Playstation and suddenly the simple hum of the fans turned into a jet engine and my Playstation sounded like it was gearing up to fly me to an exotic land. It didn’t what it did do is turn off… Fantastic ( No pun) this is the only game it does it with, running smooth even with Bioshock infinite so, it leads me to think the game has a disgusting bug something wouldn’t have got as often on a good old fashioned Nintendo.OH NO NO…

Super for so many reasons

Patch 9.01 fixing bugs given to you by patch 9

One of the main reasons old games didn’t have bugs in them is because there was no simple fix if one occurred. If Sonic had a universal bug which stopped the game, then simply they would not sell that game. Word of mouth would get out and that game would have made a terrible paper weight. To fix a bug they would have had to fix it and then reship a whole new game.

we had one bug..just one..

This of course is no longer the case. With the invention of the internet the need to be perfect is not critical. If a bug is spotted then a simple patch can be whizzed over the internet magic land and fix it for us hoorah!.. It does of course mean that you have to wait for that to be fixed… fine if its minor, like your character’s face collapsing, but if its major, like ‘I can no longer play this game so its now just a coaster’ then waiting for a patch is bothersome and costly given if just a little more time was spent on it then it could have been avoided.

Patches for all hahaha, Love the over lor.. I mean developers

Old father time is not on our side.

Another problem, comes from us as consumers and the world generally. We want things quickly, as quick as possible now isn’t quick enough we want it yesterday. so when a new game is mentioned we want, such is the rush to get it to us while we are at the peak of interest. and when that happens we get a game that is filled with bugs, errors and all kinds of problems.

Lurking in your game to ruin your day..like stepping in shit

Also to be considered is the higher level of competition that simple was not present a few years ago. There are many developers out there, creating new and intuitive concepts which if a competitor was to discover could copy, and bring to market first, making the new game not as good.

They’re looking at our ideas…GETTT THEMMM

So another rush begins, also some companies seem to be focusing onto many things at once focusing on several games at once, let us remember the words of Ron Swanson.

When the all seeing eye is spread thin problems slop through the cracks and that seems to be happening more and more often. though i do not see what has happened to naughty dog as they were focused on one game..maybe its my Playstation but all of my other games say otherwise.

Great I loose my ring and now my games have bugs.. what next my tower collapses…

There are numerous other reasons why Bugs in games occur and for the purpose of this blog have picked on just too, our want and the technology we have at our disposal have lead to a world where games that are half arsed get released. We should be using the new technology we have open to us to enhance an already great experience, not fix problems taking away from one.Also i would like to play my stupid game and this is balls. Also thanks Sony for making the playstation with poor thermal paste, I replaced that stuff and now my playstation is silent no more jetting off.. I still cant play but… I can hear again. <a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10376481/?claim=79be79cbrdj”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Banned on Xbox live? NO GAMES FOR YOU

According to a tweet from Microsoft if you are banned from xbox live you wont be allowed to play your games… what? I have paid for a games machine and but i’m not allowed to play games… but i can watch tv and netflix…seems fair… that’s like buying a bottle of water not being able to drink the water but I am allowed to read the label. its also most as if Microsoft don’t want to sell this console

.http://appygamer.mobilesrepublic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=4&articleid=10091384

Sexy sexy games Part 1 women in games and gaming

In the world of gaming women are not held in very high regard. They are usually weak, clingy, useless individuals who need a man around to make sure they are ok, ..didums. Oh and why they are doing this they have to have their boobs bouncing around free and wild and their arse out way way out.

Equality? NO! I want boobs! and bums.. and and legs..mmm wait what was I doing?

There is a serious lack of strong female characters in games and I am not entirely sure why. In certain situations It would be refreshing to face the generic issues felt in games but from the perspective of a strong female lead, going beyond simply oi oi big man can you help me. They have an emotional spectrum a game could delve into and develop. moving beyond just shes got tits, Lets try and get them to jiggle. Games like dead or alive or Soulcalibur though they cannot perhaps have the depth of story could have concentrated more on fighting mechanics and graphics, and less on realistic boob jiggly wiggly.

Don’t Objectify me

If we take the last of us for example, The game looks like it will be great, but that is because of the story it is telling and how immersed you will become with the characters. But would the story be as great if the roles were reversed and it was a female lead looking after a boy? yes, I think so probably better, you can develop both a man’s and woman’s story on an emotional level but with the women she would have lost a child she had, making the connection stronger. And being a woman, she would face physical issues that would make the game feel different, in a great new way. And all of this possible with out the fleeting hope of some CGI Nipple. But no we men  who dominate the industry ( supposedly)  want to control a man and look at women and there in lies the problem female characters have become something for male players to look at to lust over not to understand or feel for. Even Lara croft a strong heroine was eventually just taken to.. look how realistic her boobs are now… I mean….

NOW WITH REAL GAME FACTS! G’WILIKERS

Armour? that’s like so last season

Women in games are not only set apart by the stories they are allowed to tell but also by what they are allowed to wear which nothing! woo yeah spring break yeah!!. ahem. in games where there are female characters they tend to not wear very little. The reason for this? sexy woman on things sell and men like tits and bums and the insinuation that something is sex driven. the bouncier the better.

PSP, you’re playing it wrong

it makes no sense in the game world that if I wear full metal armour I get better protection, but a metal bikini and thing does the same thing, unless every one is striking her in the boob. Now I like the female form as much as the next licensed hetero but cmon people.. they are not even real. Its  that simple.

I have this tiger but, I don’t know, I still feel a little…. exposed.. hmm ah well

Despite the fact that there are quite a few gamer girls out there who I am sure would like to control a character they could look up to… nope.. Bums for them… Bums for all. Could it be argued the males characters are there for them… hmm that will be in Part 2. While gamer girls are tthe subject I would like to point that the industry has even turned them into objects. Men are depicted as fat, cheeseball eating lonely men, and women play games in their underwear.. that might be true, I too enjoy a game in my boxers but If I had to go out on a limb? Gonna guess that most of them wear clothes.

Just look at that.. they don’t even have any chairs.. jeez

TITS TITS TITS

overall, its clear that games are made for men by men despite the large female voice in the industry. Some female characters are great, Elizabeth from bioshock infinate, Hell even Jill valentine was a heroine who didn’t have much out. Games like Dead or alive beach volley ball only serve to bring down the industry standards, it wouldn’t be ok in the world so why should be it be OK in games? Movies are bad too and Comics are

…

When the industry finally realises that women play games too and they are an important demographic and we move away from just boobs holding pads then as an industry we can grow and develop. I would like to finally point out again that I like women as much as the next red blood straight man but we shouldn’t as an industry degrade and objectify women. Lets be better than that.

Don’t mind me, I’m just casually gaming

The term casual gamer is thrown about a lot recently. with the seemingly endless boom of games on mobile devices and of course those really annoying facebok games it seems that ‘ casual’ gamers are not going to go anytime soon. they are a group that ‘ Hardcore’ gamers hate and claim are ruining the industry. But how does one become a ‘casual’ gamer and  are they harming the industry?

Hardore? No, no I’m a casual gamer wait no Hardcore..wait no.what?

so what makes someone a casual gamer and not a casual, gamer? what I mean by that is what is the difference between someone who is classed as a casual gamer and someone that simply plays games casually?. Is someone who plays games on a mobile but all the time a hardcore gamer? but someone who plays say Call of duty some of the time casual? Its a term that kind of losses its meaning when trying to define like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or Guestimate ( Not now or ever a word).

Poppin’s bitch. Creating words, creating flying umbrellas

Lets assume its just people that play games on mobile Devices and Facebook. Games on mobile devices can be pretty good. From adaptations of Dead space to simple games like temple run Mobile devices are fun, often cheap and can be as if not more addictive as there triple A counter parts. Just because someone doesn’t play games on a console doesn’t mean that they are not hardcore gamers.When the game-boy was released no one was accused of being a casual gamer playing pokemon or Kirby so is it the thing you are playing it on or the games themselves? is it the amount of hours you put in ? I just don’t under stand!! ahhh…fdfvdVREV REvreq v

The face of hardcore gaming? or just creepy fun?…creepy

Ahem, sorry, what if i played a console game but only on occasion am i still classed as a hardcore gamer or do games have to make up more than a certain percentage of my day.

One thing i’m pretty sure on though is the majority of people who read this can agree  that facebook games are annoying beyond belief if not only for the fact that everyone needs you to be their friend in order to plant more apples pointless uselss stupid stupid apples. But many people spend a lot of time on these games investing not only many many many many hours but also in quite a few cases money. like real cash.. like c’mon people its not real fruit.

Where the fruit Ninja when you need him

They took our Industry.

what absolute rubbish! Popycock other words like that. People who play games for whatever reason can only continue to strengthen the industry becoming a hulk with out the rage or the green, giving us a strong voice to fight back against things such as games being banned for their content or for lazy parenting or terrible games as a whole. Also with a wider range of people comes a wider varity of games. The willingness to take a risk on projects because there is a chance someone will like it.

The gaming industry with every game they release

Sure it might just be a ‘casual’ game for a mobile device but it may be one of the best games you play, which may enspire someone to create something for PC or a console. In all the terrible games can drown in a see of great games… good games..ok games

its a long, long road.

Games are not long enough. This is also the view of some people on games now. ‘ it’s too easy, it’s only 10 hours, my thumbs hurt, I’m lonely’ so many complaints. The view that they are too easy and too short is one I can understand fully and is a great annoyance of mine, especially given the costs of gaming and coming from playing the likes of another word and lion king ( stupid hairy faced bastard ) on Sega Mega drive.  Development times and costs are a factor as is the needed to be first out not only to ensure that they are the first  but to meet the demand of us gamers winging about releases

Gamers waiting for Duke Nukem. Thank god.

.

Casual gaming is part of our culture now and we should embrase it a nice warm hug for casual gaming mmm. Sure, facebook games are annoying and people are frustrating but the more people play games the better the industry. What’s more, ‘casual gamer’ has no meaning and soon with the ps4 and the Xbox one perhaps we will all become more casual and more social. And with games of decent quality being cheap on phones and great quality we can now game where ever whenever with out committing to a console. Viva the casual revolution. Not social though that can still walk off Alone into the desert.

Games are not bad people, people are bad people.

Joe Biden said earlier this week that violent video games should be taxed and that this is ok. No Mr Biden it isn’t it makes about as much sense as giving a blind man a Picasso for Christmas.

Games don’t kill people, people kill people

First things first lets think about it. People have been doing violent things for a good while now. They have literally been hitting each other since we came out of the trees and started walking around in the grass 2.3million years ago.

I know, i’ll use this club

we have had wars and murders and kiss chase long before video games.  Ninja’s did not originate in japan because some one played splinter cell and decided to copy him back in the 15th century. There was  a post recently that I saw that compared killing in call of duty to rape as you have to overpower you opponent, no one could link these two things I thought and then this happened.

An  horrific incident  took place over in the US that involved Noah Crooks a 13 year old boy who attempted to rape and then killed his mother because she took away his version of Call of Duty. Now I’m sure an easy bond to make would be that he simply, played the game liked the bang bang parts didn’t like losing the game so went all crazy. However, his mother gave him the rifle as a present when he was 11 surely in itself an act of violence. The game doesn’t involve rape at all so that must have been from his own mind. You can’t blame games for sending people into fits of rage especially when they have age ratings. sports do similar things to many people but i’m not hearing for a ban on boxing or pool.

Will someone think of the children

TV’s Books,Comics and other scary media

Games are not the only things out there that has an influence on the way society thinks and acts.Movies have been around long before the first video game and they depict violence are far more realistic scale you know using real people and stuff. Films like Sin city are violent mash ups of shooting beating stabbing slicing and all kinds of madness( and awesome) but people know they are made up, not real not and tell great stories.

What the hell happened to the Simpsons

Yet, someone commits a horrible act and its found out they played GTA and suddenly the cause is found? blame the game! kill it with fire!. Its easy that way we don’t have to look at how society treated them or what there home life was like, or what other media he liked to consume its quick, its easy and no one is defending the game. Back to my previous point above if an orphan read comics that doesn’t make him batman.

If someone plays GTA they do not become a jacking psychopath the people that do probably would have some other event cause a reaction.

Taxes get your taxes here

To tax a video game because it is violent would mean you would have to tax all the other media that is also violent. Sports, movies newspapers, the news, family arguments

Where did I put that game?

it would be plain wrong to single out just video games for this punishment and that is what it is make no mistake. Also what ever happened to free speech? the ability to express ones views in any media they see free to do so with? Youtube lets us do it with video, Blogs like this let us do with writing so why should we not have that same freedom with our games? Naughty Biden, Naghty

I’m sorry

So…erm thats a all folks

The debate over Violent video games will go on and on for as long as people are looking for a quick and easy thing to blame for horrific incidents. The people blaming the games themselves probably don’t play them as a hobby and do not mind if the industry is damaged because of blind allegations. Some violent acts in games probably will have an affect on young minds, but in those cases it is down to the parents to mediate and stop there children playing games in the same way that they wouldn’t ( or shouldn’t) let them watch 18 movies or look at porn. There are many games out there are non violent, that promote dance and driving and cooking and being a lawyer but I wonder if we will ever here ‘ Chef wins big thanks to  DS game Cooking, Mama’.

EA online – you shall not Pass

Thanks Gandalf you grey wizard you

A lot of the big Games companies have, over the last few years used online passes to allow people to unlock content. Online multiplayer is a main one. The things you would assume you would get with splashing out for the game in the first place especially when the multiplayer online aspect of things is heavily promoted and shoved in our faces.

Online Multiplayer look at it…LOOK AT IT

Granted yes if you buy the game new you get the pass but why should we be punished if we buy a preowned game? I still own the game, its mine all mine and  we should have access to all of the content that comes with it and not have to give more money to the publisher and feeling trapped and only being able to buy new games despite the expensive prices. Fifa is a prime example. For most people the online part is the best part sure we all want to be Messi but nothing is quite like beating your friend with a 90th minutes cheeky header. But the price doesn’t drop with age  so £40 is the price you’ll need to pay to enjoy that feeling and if you spend less on the game you had to buy the pass.Buying the game new every year is expensive and I have grown attached to my Kidneys which i would unfortunately need to sell to keep up to date.

YU-GI-OH. This is just funny

However, Recently EA have decided to get rid of there Online pass requirements. Yes! A win for gamers everywhere, sing a song dance rejoice. EA were one of the worst culprits and now perhaps  they are finally happy with making all the money they make from poorly made games.

Maybe they heard about what Xbox was doing before the rest of us and got out quick to look good like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But they wouldn’t do that… would they? probably. It would be very harsh on gamers to hit them twice. Paying for an online pass from EA and then to Microsoft. Or maybe they care about us and really did listen to gamers being unhappy. 

‘ we’ll wait till the customers come’ EA

Hopefully the other publishers that employ the silly notion of online passes will look at EA as a forerunner and also drop the Online pass and stop restricting the content which we should get when we buy the game regardless of how we buy them.