Posts Tagged ‘EA’

Is Project Natal going to be any good?

November 24th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games
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After watching Microsoft’s E3 presentation in its entirety back in May I was very impressed by the games on their way to the system. I was getting a bit bored until my favourite director Spielberg walked onto the stage hinting at a new Microsoft gadget.

The conference was then handed over to Lionhead studios where they showed Milo off to the world. The game demo that the woman was playing enabled her to hold a conversation with a boy in the game. A lot of people have said there is no point to a lot of this but to me it seems like the future of gaming.

You are able to actually use your whole body in the games. For example you can hold an invisible steering wheel stepping in and out to accelerate and brake respectively. Everything can become more realstic thanks to the full body control Natal has. This could actually be the future of games altogether not just a fancy wavey wand. Natal is also able to scan real life objects such as a golf club or a football so you can use your own personal things in the game.

If this is released in the way the videos and previews have been put forward to the public then it is going to be one of the biggest leaps in technology we have ever seen. On top of this, at the recent Tokyo game show major developers such as Sega and Capcom have both announced their backing of the hardware and this is on top of all the other major developers which include EA, Activison and of course the expected Microsoft Game Studios.

For more information on this amazing new gadget it might be worth checking out a gadget blog.

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May 2010 Is Expected Date For Skate 3 Release

November 7th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games

Up until the release of the first Skate game, the skating game market was owned by the Tony Hawk games. However, once EA released their new Skate game, which used a brand new way of playing, they took over the skating market. Releasing their second game, they gained even more of the market share, but now, with the announcement of Skate 3, will this really be as successful?

EA have revealed some video game news today that Skate 3 is currently being developed for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with a target release date in May 2010.

Only a few details were actually given about the game features, but what was said was that this game is going to be more focused on team play rather than single. With the new co-op features, you will be able to create ultimate skating crews either online or offline. Once you’ve got together a perfect team, you and your team can take part in group events and special career challenges.

Some of the current features such as the Hall of Meat and Create are also on the list for some additional improvements. Not to mention a new training feature called skate.School which will allow you to train before you play with the pros.

These various new features do look good, but is it enough to beat the competition? For the past few years EA has controlled this market with Skate, but this could change with the release of Tony Hawk: RIDE. The new Tony Hawk game will change the way we play skating games because it comes with a Wii Balance board style skateboard controller. I wonder if the skateboard controller really works well, will Skate 3 suffer because they are simply improving features with no huge changes.

Due to the current problems with the global economy, many people choose to not buy video games as much and then sell them after they have completed them and they are not worth playing again, I wonder if Skate 3 will be one of these games.

What I know for certain is that Ill want to read some game reviews before I get my copy of Skate 3, unless more new features are announced.

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Game of 2009 - Skate 2

February 27th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games

It is almost time for one of the most anticipated games of 2009. Skate 2 is set to be released on January 29th 2009 and people are already eager to book their place on the front lines to get hold of their own copy.
The game includes double the amount of tricks and a brand new city for people to skate in. San Valenona is the newly constructed city in which people can skate and it is truly a skaters paradise. Additionally, the career mode has changed slightly where you can now pick up professional skaters and help them revive their careers and re-invigorate the skate scene. New clothes, accessories, decks, trucks and shoes are all available including Dakine Bags and even Nixon Watches for you completely customisable character. The game also features numerous different famous skaters such as Mike Caroll, Eric Koston, Terry Kennedy and Chris Haslam. There are numerous videos available on the net which preview the game and its features. The introduction film to Skate 2 is brilliant as it is all the skaters in the game trying to escape prison which is really funny!
The first instalment of the game was an utter success with gamers across the globe. It completely revolutionised the way people play skating games and it was so much fun. The game was really designed for next generation consoles in mind and it uses the entire controller brilliantly. Both analogue sticks are required to perform tricks so it makes it as realistic as possible rather than the Tony Hawk computer games which is deemed as more of the fantasy skating game where anything is possible. Although that sounds good it is better to have the game more realistic and accurate to how skating really is which is far more enjoyable. It makes the game harder which then makes the gamer want to play it even more.

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Can Sony Survive?

February 15th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games

After Sony announced job cuts for it's electronic division, Katsuhiko Mori, fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments, stated in an interview: "Sony doesn't have any core businesses that generate stable profits". But could the Playstation console help Sony?

Although some people may point this woud that ever since the Playstation 3's release back in 2006, it hasn't been making a profit. And that it because of the rather odd but simple fact that Sony are selling the console for less than it costs to make. And it has been like that since the consoles release. Sony reduced the price below manufacturing costs on purpose so that they could attempt to break into the market.

However, it may seem odd, but Sony has done this will all of their consoles, Playstation 1, Playstation 2 and now the Playstation 3.

Their plan is that they release a high spec console at a loss which will last for many years and eventually turn them in a profit. But will it prove to be successful this time? With the high pressure competition of the Xbox 360 and the new market of Nintendo Wii, will Sony manage to make enough profit to cover their losses?

The problem is that Sony will not reduce the price of the console until they begind to make a decent profit. But as the consoles prices is alot higher than the competition, they won't get a huge proportion of the console sales, which, in turn will cause them to lose money for longer.

Although all that sounds a bit bleak for Sony, there is one upside that they have, Blu-ray. It was lucky for Sony that Blu-ray came out on top of the DVD battle. If HD DVD had won the DVD battle, it would have been even worse for Sony has their console would not have any edge over it's competition.

So, currently, it's not looking good for Sony, and with their release of Playstation Home being criticised by Microsoft and founder of EA, Trip Hawkins. Both of them have said that Sony's attempt at an online community is outdated and not directed.

Aaron Greenberg, a manager at Xbox 360 game console division, stated: "When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what’s happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that. It feels like 2005 tech in 2008.”.

Hawkins said "I can't tell if they're going towards this mass market idea…or if they’re being lured into essentially trying to compete with Warcraft or Second Life”.

After Sony spent alot of time, money and effort on their new social community, it has just been shot down, personally, it just seems like an idea of earning money, there are several things within the world that requires money to buy, and they also have sections of the world which are sponsored by different companies like Red Bull. I'm sure most gamers will hate the idea of being spammed with adverts as they walk around.

Overall, it's not looking bright for Sony, they are relying on Playstation 3 sales to increase so that they can make a profit, but as the price is very high, it turns many buyers off, but they won't reduce the price until they make a decent profit. Who knows what position Sony will be in if their console doesn't start to sell more units.

Caribbean Holidays and All Inclusive Holidays are perfect for this Winter.

 

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Latest Need For Speed Undercover Review

February 14th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games

The newest ‘Need For Speed’ title has got some pretty poor reviews so far, but I can’t see the problem with the game.

I got the game a few days ago and have been playing it ever since! With the great ‘Most Wanted’ title and then the downhill slide that was the ‘ProStreet’ title, the Need For Speed range needed a lift. And I believe that the newest ‘Need For Speed’ game is that lift.

The game starts rather sudden, the opening movie sceen throws you straight into the driving action, so make sure that you’re not in the middle of a drink, like I was, when you start the game.

Overall, the game is alot like the previous Need For Speed title, ‘Most Wanted’, with several cop chases and high speed street races.

However, the thing that makes this new game better than ‘Most Wanted’ is the amazing graphics and new cars. With a new range of incredible cars, you can race around the streets at lightening speeds.

Although the storyline and graphics are awesome on this game, there are some downsides to it. Firstly, the AI of the game is not brilliant. Within all races there are some drivers that go for the win, and then there are the annoying ones that simply take you out by smashing you into a wall. For the first few tries of a tough race, you will end up restarting due to the annoying AI.

Although the game has it’s downsides, the general play of the game is awesome, it’s a mix of ‘Need For Speed: Most Wanted’ and ‘Burnout Paradise’, and both of those games were brilliant. I can only advise than when it comes to making their next ‘Need For Speed’ title, EA spend a little bit more time of the AI. Overall I would give the game 8.5/10

Caribbean Holidays and All Inclusive Holidays are perfect for a Winter get-a-way.

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Guitar Hero vs Rock Band 2

February 10th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Playstation 2 Games, Playstation 3 Games, Playstation Games

Since the very first Guitar Hero game in 2005, Activision and RedOctane have been the leaders of the music game industry, until, 2 years after the Guitar Hero release, Rock Band was released into America.

The developers of the original Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2 games were Harmonix, but after they completed their second Guitar Hero game, they moved onto a new publisher, MTV Games and EA. After Harmonix moved on, Neversoft took their place and the first thing they did was release a new game, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock which was released in the later part of 2007. The game proved to be a great success, until later that year Harmonix came back into the business with Rock Band. This game featured a whole set of instruments, guitar, drums, bass and mic.

After a good year of Rock Band being released, the competition is back on because in November 2008, both publishers, Activision and EA released a new music game. Guitar Hero World Tour from Activision and Rock Band 2 from EA, let battle commence.

From Guitar Hero’s view, it was a whole new game for them, they had to create a whole new range of instruments, but once they were done, it was clear that they hadn’t cut any corners. Their new guitar has a touch sensitive bar to allow finger tapping during song sections, their drums feature 5 pads and a foot peddle, one more than Rock Bands. Aswell as a whole range of shiny new instruments, their game featured a music maker where you could create and share your own songs.

On the other side, Rock Band’s new instruments don’t seem to have changed much. Harmonix only made 2 changes to the drums, they made the peddle metal instead of plastic to make it stronger, they also changed the drums to velocity sensitive, basically, the harder you hit on the pads, the louder the sound you get in the game. Except for a few minor changes, their instrument range has stayed the same.

On the actual game side of things, they haven’t got a music maker, however, they do have one great thing that Guitar Hero does not; a huge selection of downloadable songs on top of their 80+ song set list. This also gets better, any songs that you have already downloaded for Rock Band 1, are still compatible with Rock Band 2 and appear on the set list when you load up the game. Another advantage is that for a small fee, under $5, you can transfer almost all of the 70+ Rock Band 1 songs onto Rock Band 2, giving you a minimum of 160 songs on Rock Band 2.

Now that the advantages to each game have been said, now comes the difficult part, deciding which one to get. With Christmas closing in, many people will just be choosing one game rather than both, plus many people will lack the space for 2 sets of instruments.

As both instrument sets are compatible with both games, many people will have to choose whether they want the larger and more expandable set list of Rock Band, or the new features and suited up instruments of Guitar Hero.

Even though Harmonix have more experiance in this type of game, the stage is clearly open and we’ll have to see which game will come out on top.

Caribbean Holidays and All Inclusive Holidays are perfect for a Winter getaway.

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