June 2006

PS1 games coming to PSP

June 28, 2006

There will be a downloadable service for PS1 games on PSP. OK, so we knew about this, but now there’s a list and it has some good stuff on it.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Silent Hill
Tomb Raider

Yep, even if I don’t consider every one of those to be a-list titles, they sure will sell. Sony does something right for once!

[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/28/up-to-7-000-psone-to-psp-titles-by-2007-reports-uk-psp-magazine/]Up to 7,000 PSOne-to-PSP titles by 2007[/url]

Kaz Hirai just needs to stop talking. Everything he says is like an arrogant slap in the face to his customers. His current statement is a CYA on the potential price of PS3 games. The verdict? $60 may be a minimum.

I don’t like the $60 price point of Xbox 360 games, which is why I buy everything off live. Remeber those handful of SNES games that were around $80? I’m pretty sure there’s a reason the price point stays where it is.

[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/06/28/how-much-would-you-spend-on-a-ps3-game/]How much would you spend on a PS3 game?[/url]

Gamasutra has an interview with Clint Manny, vice-president of sales and marketing at Gameworks, on how SEGA/Sammy intends to revive the flagging fortunes of the arcade industry in the US. For those of you who don’t know it, Gameworks is basically SEGA’s version of Dave & Busters, a sort of combo sports bar and arcade.

Most of Manny’s points revolve around a lot of the common sense things I noticed about D&B’s the first time I went: The advantage of an “adult Chuck E. Cheese atmosphere,” the benefit of shooting and racing game rigs that cannot be easily reproduced at home, and the glorious prizes. Still, it’s nice to see his take on it, and he has some interesting points on merchandising.

[url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060627/andersen_01.shtml]The Rebirth Of The U.S. Arcade?[/url] (Gamasutra)

1up has an interview with 2142 senior producer Marcus Nilsson (alhtough they are calling it an interview) talking about the game and the new “Titan” mode. Apparently this will revolve around taking control of the battlefield and then bringing it to your opponents on giant floating battleships. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

[url=http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3151821]Battlefield 2142 preview[/url] (1up)

UNO

June 28, 2006

[i]UNO[/i] really needs no introduction, I’m sure of it. It’s one of the best, easiest and most popular card games out there. Bringing it to the Xbox Live! Arcade on the 360 was no difficult task, due to the simplicity of the game.

You play against the computer or people (you can play it on Live!), and play [i]UNO[/i]. That’s all there is to do it. If you happen to be one of those people that don’t know [i]UNO[/i], you go around, and putting down cards that match the color or symbol/number of the previous card.

The game is good if you want to add a few easy gamer score points to your account (a total of 200 available). It’s also fun playing with friends online for a few games, in between some “serious” 60 dollar game.

The downsides are, that for one, the music completely sucks. Thank goodness that you can upload your own music onto the Xbox 360 and listen to that meanwhile. Also, the game tends to be monotonous after a while.

I would give this game an 8/10. It’s fun, and good while it lasts, and fairly cheap (400 MS points). If you want to play this alone, then don’t bother with it. The true fun lies within the multiplayer. I say, go ahead and purchase it, because it’s an excellent (not to mention cheap) multiplayer experience.