PlayStation 3

PlayStation Pulse Headset – Elite Edition Unboxing

by Sohrab Osati | May 7, 2013 | 3 comments

If you love gaming but have found yourself in situations where your audio has intruded upon those around you, then the PlayStation Pulse headset is your savior. Compatible with the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, the Pulse wireless stereo headset gives gamers everything they could want from a headset that features comfortable design, BassImpact for extra…well bass and a built in noise canceling microphone to satisfy the commander in you while gaming online. Unlike previous headsets from Sony and competitors that feature a retractible mic, the Pulse mic is built into the unit, giving it a sleeker design while housing one less external part that can break. Thanks to three sliding switches on the headset, you can also control the incoming volume, mic level, and bass. A quick mute button is also available, making it easy for you to converse with those around you without bugging your teammates.

Other benefits from the Pulse headset include on-screen headset updates like battery level and other related information that will appear right on your screen. Sony has also provided a mode functionality button that, when pressed, allows you to select between different audio presets, designed for general gaming, shooters, racing, movies, music, and more. Maybe best of all, for those who simply cannot afford a extensive surround sound setup or for the time when you want to continue to game without waking others in the household, the PlayStation Pulse includes virtual 7.1 surround sound. This lets you hear every audio cue that sound engineers put into the game. The 7.1 surround sound can also be a savior for hardcore gamers, by alerting them to sound from enemies that might be creeping from behind.

Editorial: A Budding Love For PSN

by Sarah Ingram | May 4, 2013 | 1 comment

For those of you who read my last editorial, this next one might seem a bit confusing. And while yes, I certainly do think the Playstation Store loading time is WAAAAAYYYYYYYY TOOOOOOO LLOONNNGGGGGGGG, what lies behind the spinning circle of loading time agony is a poorly-organized gold mine. The Playstation Store has a plethora of various exclusive titles that are available to download, and as I have very recently begun to get over my aversion to digital games, I have found some amazing ones that I’ve loved playing.

I am a gamer and also a collector, so purchasing a game digitally is not my first choice. I also don’t particularly like the idea of spending 60.00 on downloading a newly-released game when for the exact same price I can get a disc, and the case for my display wall, and probably a steelbook or DLC or pre-order bonus. However, the budding love I have for PSN comes from the strictly digital PSN games, and there are a couple reasons why my love is growing.

1. They are unique

Games like Journey or The Unfinished Swan are not just games; they’re experiences. There’s something special about them that wouldn’t quite work the same if it needed to be “worth” what a full-priced title is. The shorter play time, or lack of multiplayer, or simplicity of design in these is something only successful through a platform like PSN. Something like The Walking Dead game came out episodically – again, something that only could succeed through the digital world, and an approach that drew you in and left you wanting more. And while games like Rainbow Moon or Dragon Fantasy Book 1 are not necessarily unique in a historical sense, they are unique in today’s market. Old school RPG style games are not common anymore, and still having a source to play new iterations of this theme is refreshing.

Amazon Updates LoveFilm for PlayStation 3 with HD Streaming

by Sohrab Osati | May 1, 2013 | 0 comments

Amazon has just rolled out an update for LoveFilm (think Netflix for Europe) for the PlayStation 3 in Germany and the UK. The latest update brings a few new features and a UI makeover for better tracking the content you care about. Think Amazon Prime for the PS3 with a slightly different skin. Other new features include:

Improved search engine
Improved recommendations
New Watchlist feature

The biggest addition however is the ability to finally be able to stream movies and TV shows in HD, bringing the app to the 21st century. Those of us who are rooting for 4K are a bit screwed at this point if major providers are still switching to HD services.

Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection Gets Detailed

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 30, 2013 | 0 comments

When we last reported about the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection that’s headed exclusively to the PlayStation 3, we only had few details to go by. We knew that the collection would include Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, and for the first time on PS3, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Now, we can confirm that, in addition to those titles which will all be HD remakes, the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection will also include Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Trophy Edition. To make the package even more compelling, especially for those who might not have time to beat MGS and MGS2 or might find them harder to beat, due to their different control scheme, compared to MGS3 and MGS4, Konami will be including graphical novel adaptations of the first two Metal Gear Solid titles. Illustrated by Ashley Wood and written, respectively, by Kris Oprisko and Alex Garner, the two animated graphic novels will allow you to watch the events of the first two games unfold before you though no trophies will be included for spectators. More details, after the jump.

Should You Buy ‘God of War: Ascension?’ – Single Player

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 29, 2013 | 0 comments

So you might be wondering to yourself, why are we just now giving a God of War: Ascension a review. To better answer that, I’ll first give you a bit of a back story. Most websites tend to receive titles for review weeks before the game’s release date so they can spend proper time with the title and comply with any given embargoes out there. While our site wasn’t in line to get a review unit way in advance, we were still going to receive a unit for review a week prior to the game’s release. Long story short, due to a shipping mishap, we were not able to get our unit for review till 10 days after the game’s release. By then of course, every major and minor site had shared their take on the game. Soon, the game’s first week and second week sales, which are highly important and often based on the surrounding reviews, were to be announced as well. At this point, I had an important decision to make. Do I release our review and just follow the pack or hold off and find a more meaningful time to share our God of War: Ascension review?

As you can tell, I opted for the latter scenario. Despite a large part of a game’s sales taking place during the first month, a great many of gamers tend to not be able to play a given title till months down the line. Be it bad timing with their lives or the holdouts who want to get in on the action at a better price and that’s who I want to talk with. This means that while the hype for God of War: Ascension might be done by now, there are still thousands of holdouts who have not purchased and played the game. With the summer gaming lull soon to kick into full affect (minus The Last of Us), it’s time to answer the question. Should you buy God of War: Ascension for its single player campaign?

Editorial: Things You Can Do While The PlayStation Store is Loading

by Sarah Ingram | Apr 20, 2013 | 5 comments

Ever since the PlayStation Store got its “overhaul” of a makeover last October, I have had PlayStation Store trouble. Browsing the games, movies or music is a nightmare, the layout doesn’t show you everything half the time, and worst of all it takes FOREVER to load. This past week the PSN update took a full 24 hours longer than usual, and the the negative attention now surrounding how PlayStation handled the long delay (by not really dealing with it at all) has reminded me how much time I actually waste waiting around for the store to load, especially every Tuesday.

Today I timed how long it actually took for the store to load, from hitting “X” on the store button to when images appeared on the screen. It was a pretty long time.

Well, I don’t want to waste my time, and I know you don’t want to waste yours, so I’ve complied a helpful list of things you can do while waiting 1:04 for the store to let you look at it. You might even be able to get a couple of these done if you’re swift/ have crappy internet.

1. Make a cup of coffee.

2. Plug your controllers in to charge.

3. Fiddle with your headset and TV settings.

4. Go to the bathroom.

5. Call a friend and invite him over to play a game you will eventually purchase from the Playstation Store.

6. Check Twitter/ Facebook/ Tumblr/ Reddit.

PS4 Is Not The PS3’s “Successor” Says Sony. Wait, What?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 19, 2013 | 3 comments

One of the problems of being a large entity like Sony that operates in all the different regions of the world with separate headquarters and management systems is that they can says things that don’t line up with the corporate strategy. In fact, it’s only been in the last month that a Sony exec accidentally leaked the existence of Gran Turismo 6 for the PS3. Now Sony’s Middle East general manager is the latest to make some head scratching statements when speaking about the PlayStation 4 and believes that

the PS4 is ‘not a successor’ to the PS3.

Wait, what? The PlayStation 4 is not the successor the PlayStation 3? Lets talk, after the jump.

‘Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection’ Heads to PS3

by Allegra Osati | Apr 19, 2013 | 0 comments

Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection

Whether you’re excited by Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain or saddened by the departure of long time Snake voice actor, David Hayter, there is no denying the excellent quality of the series thus far. So if you’re looking to revisit the series again or are looking to get into it for the first time, I’d hold off on purchasing the currently available Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and instead wait for the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Collection, destined for the PlayStation 3.

David Cage Believes PS4 is ‘Another World’

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 4, 2013 | 2 comments

It’s no secret that developers have been extremely happy with the PlayStation 4 with many being quite vocal about it. Unlike the PS3 which housed an internal processor (the Cell) which was mastered by Sony’s internal studios like Naughty Dog (Uncharted, The Last of Us) and Sony Santa Monica Studios (God of War) and not 3rd party companies, the PS4 instead provides a computer CPU and graphic engine. This will allow for developers to get a better handle on the PS4 from the start while the inclusion of 8GB of super-fast GDDR5 unified memory will allow the system to do things not possible before. The latest developer to give his full support for the PS4 is David Cage who released the ground breaking Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Soul this Fall.

Epix to Arrive on PS3 & PS Vita

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 3, 2013 | 7 comments

If you’re ready for another movie delivery service for the PlayStation 3, then say no more. Epix, which has long been available on other platforms like iOS, Android, Google TV, and yes, even the Blackberry Playbook is now available as a free download on the PlayStation Store. As you would expect, Epix allows you access to their catalogue of 3,000 movies which includes titles like The Avengers, Skyfall and Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol for a monthly trial though a free 14-day membership available. Epix also boasts many concerts and documentaries. PlayStation Plus users will also get free movies and specials every week.

David Hayter Not in MGS 5 In Order to “Recreate the Metal Gear Series”

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 2, 2013 | 20 comments

To say that the Japanese game industry has been in a downward spiral this past generation would be an understatement. Once dominant in the era of PlayStation and PlayStation 2, it seemed that Japanese game makers could do no wrong. Japanese games always delivered rich stories, interesting characters and vastly different worlds to gamers. Mega studios like Square-Enix (then SquareSoft), Capcom, and Konami continued to produce hits with solid franchises like Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and Metal Gear Solid to name a few.

Then, next generation consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360 came into the market and something happened. It’s as if the entire Japanese game industry decided to collectively fall asleep. Many of their games no longer offered the same visual polish as their Western counter parts. Projects also started to take an endless amount of time to accomplish. Since the PS3 has launched, Naughty Dog has pumped out three Uncharted titles, each being a blockbuster and is on the cusp of releasing The Last of Us. Square-Enix on the other hand has only published Final Fantasy 13 which by all accounts is a mediocre game at best and has followed up two sequels (the latter being almost out) which continue the subpar experience and are really large expansion packs, rather than a new entry. Furthering their demise has been that many of the classic games like Final Fantasy 13 bare little resembles to a traditional JRPG that the series is so well known for, instead opting for more button smashing. Games like Resident Evil titles now have the urge to be more of an FPS title than survival horror with the mindset that they are being more Western and that this will help the franchises gainnew fans. Not only do sales numbers beg to differ:

Final Fantasy X (PS2) – 8.05 million
- Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2) – 5.95 million
Final Fantasy XIII (PS3+360) – 6.88 million
- Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3+360) – 2.93 million

But even if it’s true that more Western audience are playing them, guess who no longer is, the old fans who liked the games for what they were. Now, sadly, another Japanese icon is falling into this trap. When we first reported that David Hayter, long time voice actor behind Solid Snake/Big Boss would not be reprising his roll, we among others speculated that it might be due to the nature of the games story which wouldn’t incorporate Solid Snake. Seeing how Big Boss was voiced previously by Hayter though not in MGS4, we decided to give Konami and Kojima the benefit of the doubt that it simply didn’t fit or that there might be a surprise in order for us. Boy were we wrong.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain HD Trailer and Screenshots

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 28, 2013 | 0 comments

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain - Big Boss

We previously shared some details about Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, like the fact that the story is a prequel to Metal Gear Solid and tells the story of Big Boss. The Phantom Pain also takes place after the events of Metal Gear 5: Ground Zero and in fact, is thought of as the second act to the story. But who needs words when you can have an awesome trailer?

After the jump, the nearly 6-minute-long Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain HD trailer and screenshots for your viewing pleasure.

David Hayter Not Cast as Snake in ‘Metal Gear Solid 5’

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 27, 2013 | 0 comments

I bring sad tidings to all Metal Gear fans. At GDC, it was revealed that The Phantom Pain, previously shown at the Video Game Awards and played off as a new IP is indeed part of the Metal Gear saga as many gamers correctly assumed.. In fact, the next MGS game is titled Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain and is a prequel to the entire Metal Gear saga and in fact is the second act so to speak to Metal Gear: Ground Zero. Kojima explains:

Ground Zeroes’ is a prologue of MGSV. 9 years after that event will be ‘The Phantom Pain.’

This places the story before the events of Metal Gear Solid and the players in control of Big Boss, at least in Phantom Pain. Spoiler Alert for those who have yet to play MGS and the games that follow: MGS5 will fill in the remaining gaps that lead to the uprising of Big Boss as a “villain.” From there, the MGS saga follows the story of Solid Snake who then defeats Big Boss. So this brings us up to our favorite gravelly voiced actor, David Hayter.

God of War: Ascension Update 1.03 Out Today

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 26, 2013 | 0 comments

God of War: Ascension Update 1.03

Are you enjoying God of War: Ascension so far? Good, because it’s a mega-epic-fantabular game. As you can tell, I haven’t at all enjoyed my time in ancient Greece with Kratos and company. The game, which has officially been out for two weeks, is getting another round of updates, designed to address community concerns that the “Trial of Archimedes” section (Chapter 28) near the end of the game was excessively challenging. According to Sony:

In every God of War game, establishing a well-paced difficulty ramp towards the end of the game is paramount to us. Based on player response, the degree of challenge offered here was short of our goal of being perfectly balanced.

With the latest update, at the end of each elevator switch (which is three for those playing at home), you will now receive a measured amount of green health orbs and a nominal amount of blue magic orbs. The given changes will also be affecting all difficulty settings. Sony Santa Monica Studios added:

We are confident this revision will address feedback regarding “Trial of Archimedes” while still preserving the level of challenge appropriate for this late section of the game.

While a bit of a controversy surrounds that fix change, i.e. does this take away something for those who were able to beat the stage without the extra orbs, the additional add-ons from the God of War: Ascension Update 1.03 will be welcomed ones. More on that after the jump.

Sony Santa Monica Addresses ‘God of War: Ascension’ Audio Issue

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 16, 2013 | 1 comment

If you’ve been experiencing some audio issues in the God of War: Ascension single player campaign, you’re not alone. Though not wide spread, Sony Santa Monica has acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix. The primary culprit seems to be when running the game in 5.1 surround directly to your television via HDMI. Sony recommend that you adjust your in game setting to stereo as your TV cannot perform 5.1 anyways.

Running HDMI to a receive with your game set to 5.1 surround should not cause any issues. After the jump, Sony’s comment on the matter.