Bill Gates kinda looks like Paul Gigliotti, what?
They’re definitely brothers from different mothers - or maybe they’re really brothers?
If you look real close at this picture here, you’ll notice a striking resemblance between multi-billionaire Bill Gates and wanna be Canadian musician Paul Gigliotti. For those of you who don’t know, Paul used to be in the Canadian band Wave, which had hits such as: Sleepless, Think it Over, That’s How it Feels and, who could forget, California.
Am I blind or just one with a keen eye? I think we have a winner.
Sony continues to lose money, no one sympathizes
Sony continues to lose money producing the PS3. Everything is still going according to plan.
According to Yahoo, Sony’s fiscal 2008 annual report showed the company has now lost approximately $3.3 billion since it launched the PS3 in November 2006. While PS3 costs may continue sliding down to reasonable purchase prices, video game enthusiasts are well aware most of the money is in the software.
Apparently, Sony’s game division saw sales jump up 26% and expect better numbers in the future with the release of Metal Gear Solid and Resistance 2.
Now we get to the fun part of the article: Will you still be buying a Playstation 3? The cost of the 40GB bundle is still $399.99 and $499.99 for the 80GB set. With that said, it’s time to do some mathematics. Actually, lets not. Math is boring. Point is, the PS3 is still pretty expensive. The excuse for buying one has drastically moved from, “It’ll be the best next-gen console,” to “It’s a Blu-Ray player.” Do we really need an excuse to buy a Blu-Ray player? Is the difference that noticible?
I don’t think so, but, honestly, I don’t know a lot of things.
I still want a Playstation 3. Hey SCEA, send me one so I can review some games. It’s win-win.
Diablo III announced, so long sunlight
He’s back!
Well it’s official, Blizzard announced at its annual invitational that the icy splash pages we’ve been speculating over all week were in fact signs of a Diablo renaissance. While there’s no word when D3 will hit shelves, one thing is for certain - when it does hit, the number of people who prefer outdoor activities will sharply decline. Can you blame them? It’s Diablo.
According to the Blizzard website, the third installment of Diablo will take place 20 years after the events of Lord of Destruction and will again feature evil stirrings in Tristram. Because I’m one of those who completely skip over the cinematics and storyline to get to the hilarious cow levels, I suggest you hit up Wikipedia for some backstory.
Will you be purchasing? I definitely will.
PSPhone rumours surface again, why?
In theory, it just won’t work.
I don’t really know why Sony would risk mixing and matching their cell phone and mobile gaming technology. Well, that aside, MarketingWeek is reporting Sony’s latest creation could hit store shelves as early as Christmas ‘09. The article mentions analysts in Japan and Korea say it would be relatively easy to convert the existing PSP models into cell phones. Uh, say what? Have you seen the size of the current PSP’s? Why would you want to hoist that thing up to your ear anyway
Maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic. I’m sure Sony would come out with some sort of blue-tooth headset and some sort of hands free dialing device. The question is: Why do we want this?
The PSP is a nice all-in-one device already. It’s a cheap wi-fi solution, offers music and video playback and plays games. Sometimes less is more and - evolving the PSP, yet again, won’t work. It lacks a full keyboard, for one. Its also cumbersome to carry around.
I love the initiative but unless they can really execute something to make me ditch my current Ericsson, I won’t buy into it.
Diablo 3 confirmed? Blizzard to clarify this weekend.
Is this a sign of Diablo 3? Clean up that mess you just made and read on.
Shacknews is reporting Diablo 3 will be either confirmed or denounced this weekend at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational this weekend in Paris.
After multiple teaser pictures involving an icy image began flooding the Internet, speculation rose to a maximum that a Blizzard MMORPG or Diablo 3 was destined to be announced.
As a hardcore fan of all Blizzard games, minus World of Warcraft, which I still will not pay for, I’m glad to see Blizzard is finally taking some initiative here to rest the hearts of many. It’s been too long since Diablo II: Lord of Destruction was released and many of Blizzard’s faithful have been waiting very patiently.
Continue checking the Blizzard page as the icy image continues to evolve. Yes, the picture changes over time. Are those eyes I see in the center
Bill Gates to retire, Vista still crippled
He worked hard for the money, so hard for the money.
According to Gizmodo Australia, June 27th will mark the day when Bill Gates will finally be quitting his day job at Microsoft.
The Harverd dropout is still worth about $58 billion and looks to dedicate more of his time to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Now if only he could use some of that money to hire a competant dev team to fix up Vista. That would be a legacy in itself.
Wii owners finally get Rock Band, does anyone really care?
A great game just got worse, at least for Wii owners.
It’s no secret Wii owners have been getting the shaft when it comes to “next-gen” games. While it sports lesser graphical power than the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, developers are merely porting PS2 games to the Wii in attempt to pull a fast one over the Nintendo faithful. Rock Band Wii is no different. Like Guitar Hero 3 before it, Rock Band looks more like a PS2 emulation than a 360 or PS3 combatant. But, can Wii owners really blame devs for opting to mirror the PS2? Frankly, I don’t see it as a problem. The Wii can’t compete with the big boys - no hard drive, lesser GPU, gimmicky controls. Do I expect to see more from Wii devs? Absolutely, but I can swallow the fact that the Wii is nothing more than a GameCube plus, and sometimes; maybe not even.
What I do have a problem with is Harmonix charing full price for a gimped game several months after its release.
Rock Band originally hit store shelves last December for the PS2, PS3 and 360. Wii owners had to wait until June 22, a full six months later, for a game that doesn’t look as good or carry as many features as its counter parts. Will I be shelling out full price for half a game? I don’t think so.
The lack of features for the Wii version are as follows:
- No online play.
- No downloadable content.
- No support for the GH3 controller.
Full price for a PS2 port? I don’t think so. Harmonix devs said they wanted to ensure the “core gameplay experience” was still evident and tailored to the strengths of the system. What a load of garbage. I call it blatent omission and just overall laziness.
Don’t get me wrong, I love playing Rock Band for the 360. I think the game itself is much better than Guitar Hero on its own and the drums are very challenging. I’m just disappointed to see what a debacle this has become to Wii owners who waited so long to get a piece of Rock Band.
How important are in-game trophies?
“It’s not cheating if there’s no sex!” - George Costanza
Xbox 360 owners have been enjoying gratifying tidbits called “achievements” since the console’s inception. They highlight special accomplishments of the game that many others may not have unlocked. For example, if you beat Dragon Force’s “Through the Fire and the Flames” on Expert, the user unlocks The Inhuman Achievement. For those of you who’ve played, you’d have to be pretty extra ordinary to complete that.
So just how important are achievements? Well, apparently, Sony found it mucho-importanto enough to come up with their own mirror of the 360’s achievement system.
Allow me to introduce the “trophy system” courtesy PS3 Fanboy.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but it sorta looks like the 360 gamer’s card, does it not? Well I guess the saying is true, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
Personally, I like the idea of having these achievements of in-game trophies. It gives the gamer something to look forward to, possible unlockables and bragging rights galore. As a gamer, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to do something no one else can - at least not in your immediate circle of friends. Listen up Nintendo, we need personal gratification. Get in on it already.
Source: PS3 Fanboy
XBL vs. PSN vs. Nintendo Wi-Fi
How much are you willing to shell out monthly for a service that should be free?
One of the big reasons any casual, or core, gamer purchases a system is, undoubtedly, for online play. The promise of being able to talk smack while fragging your closest friends online is a main draw for anyone with a competitive nature. It might have not been such a big deal in earlier times, see four player Goldeneye 007, but in today’s console war, online play has become a definitive option for the public.
As a Wii owner, who purchased almost a year ago today, I settled camp with the Big N because of two reasons: Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. While one of those games turned out to be fantastic and the other Mario Kart, in terms of online play – both games operate flawlessly.
Another reason why I hopped on the overrated Wii wagon was because the online play doesn’t cost me a dime. That’s right, I have all the options of battling my peers online without Nintendo charging me for server use.
Can you blame me for being so frugal? The Wii is still the cheapest system and its online component doesn’t gorge more out of my pocket. I’m sure a lot of you have this same sentiment.
While the Wii may not be enough for core gamers, there is still a divide in the PS3 and Xbox 360 online areas. Like the Wii, the PS3 offers unlimited online play without users having to shell out a monthly or yearly fee. Unlike the Wii, 360 owners have to subscribe to Xbox Live which is priced at $59.99 annually.
The real question is: Are you willing to pay that extra fee to play online?
Let’s take the Wii out of the equation for this bit and lets compare the Playstation Network with Xbox Live.
According to GamesRadar, by paying for the Gold membership of Xbox Live, users are able to:
- Play your Xbox 360 multiplayer games online with the premiere online gaming service.
- Use the brand new TrueSkill Matchmaking system to play against opponents with similar skills, personalities, and gaming tastes.
- Give player feedback to rate your teammates and opponents on their sportsmanship, abilities, and conduct to influence matchmaking.
- Play select original Xbox games online.
- Get access to exclusive Gold Member content.
- Engage in video chat.
- Enjoy all the Xbox Live Silver features.
All that for 60 dollars a year? To be honest, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. If you do that math, it’s about five to six dollars a month for an elite service which is clearly better than the PSN or the Wii online system.
Here’s the kicker, though. At January’s CES, Sony announced it would be upgrading the PSN to be on par with Xbox Live – and at no additional cost to users. Hopefully, to penny pinching gamers, such as myself, this means the end of online subscription gaming. The thought of paying for a service that should come included with the game originally is an idea I’m not fond of at all. It’s probably the reason why I’ve strayed away from games like World of Warcraft.
It remains to be seen what upgrades the Sony dev team will supplement with the existing PSN to make it shine above the already highly touted XBL system. Hopefully, though, this means Microsoft will smarten up and ditch the XBL service fees. Gamers aren’t made out of money you know.
Source: GamesRadar
-
Subscribe to Tech Viva
