But before I begin the actual topic, I've got two things I wanna share. First, since I didn't write about the keys to victory for the NFL Divisional Games, I'll give you predictions of who's going to the Super Bowl. Two games were played on Madden NFL 10, and the first game (Vikings/ Saints) was a high scoring game. Vikings 48 - Saints 45 in overtime. The second game Colts and Jets was a blowout; Colts 38 - Jets 10. Vikings and Colts are in the Super Bowl and the week before I'll simulate the final score and post it either in my comment and/or my blog.
Second, I've got an issue with friends deleting me off their PSN account. I had this happen when I was gone off PSN for a year and a half. That I didn't mind, because I wasn't online and I had no way to tell people not to get rid of me. The issue that I have is people that I add delete me with no warning. Typically, if I delete you off my friends list you're either not online for a year or you've done something I didn't like (and I'm a pretty hard person to piss off). I shouldn't get too emotionally attached to something like this but that's my two cents.
The Fall, Rise, Fall, and Rise of the PS3
The PS3 has been out for about 3 years (technically this is going into the third year, but I digress) and it seems as it's been out for 10. At the beginning of the PS3 lifecycle, Sony fanboys (myself included) defended the system from bogus claims and valid claims such as no games, copying Xbox Live, and it was too expensive. All of which is true, and it seems as though some decisions Sony has made increased the number of gamers who purchased a PS3, but also it had at one point divided the Sony base (the one's who bought the system for $499 and $599 respectively). With great games all has been forgiven, such as the Uncharted franchise and Ratchet and Clank, and at least two more great games are around the corner such as Heavy Rain and God of War 3. This history lesson can show companies what mistakes not to make. The mistakes Sony has made, there are also some successes that were made. The next six months are going to be great for PS3 owners or they could be a failure depending on the decisions the Sony execs make.
The PS3 has been out for about 3 years (technically this is going into the third year, but I digress) and it seems as it's been out for 10. At the beginning of the PS3 lifecycle, Sony fanboys (myself included) defended the system from bogus claims and valid claims such as no games, copying Xbox Live, and it was too expensive. All of which is true, and it seems as though some decisions Sony has made increased the number of gamers who purchased a PS3, but also it had at one point divided the Sony base (the one's who bought the system for $499 and $599 respectively). With great games all has been forgiven, such as the Uncharted franchise and Ratchet and Clank, and at least two more great games are around the corner such as Heavy Rain and God of War 3. This history lesson can show companies what mistakes not to make. The mistakes Sony has made, there are also some successes that were made. The next six months are going to be great for PS3 owners or they could be a failure depending on the decisions the Sony execs make.
The E3 Fiasco
Arguably the most infamous thing Sony prior to 2007 was famous for. If you never seen the fiasco, I've got a brief youtube video on this link. I watched it live and thought it was okay at best. Everyone was eager to find out what exactly the PS3 was "capable" of doing. Of course, tech demos of MGS4 and the infamous Killzone 2 trailer were shown, but games such as Genji had promise (too bad it failed for anyone to remember it), and I can't forget about Heavenly Sword a.k.a. the Goddess of War (that's what some people called it).
The two things many people complained about (back in 2006) was the price of the PS3 and how many versions of it were planned on being released. As many people know, the PS3 was originally released in two forms, the 20 gig and 60 gig version at the price of $499 and $599 respectively. Sony figured since Microsoft could get away with making multiple consoles, they could also. The one thing I give Microsoft credit about the first Xbox and Sony for the PS3 is the mandatory hard drive. After the E3 presser (press conference), people were questioning Sony's audacity to release a console for 600 bucks. At that time many people started to dig Sony's grave and rushed to the 360.
Arguably the most infamous thing Sony prior to 2007 was famous for. If you never seen the fiasco, I've got a brief youtube video on this link. I watched it live and thought it was okay at best. Everyone was eager to find out what exactly the PS3 was "capable" of doing. Of course, tech demos of MGS4 and the infamous Killzone 2 trailer were shown, but games such as Genji had promise (too bad it failed for anyone to remember it), and I can't forget about Heavenly Sword a.k.a. the Goddess of War (that's what some people called it).
The two things many people complained about (back in 2006) was the price of the PS3 and how many versions of it were planned on being released. As many people know, the PS3 was originally released in two forms, the 20 gig and 60 gig version at the price of $499 and $599 respectively. Sony figured since Microsoft could get away with making multiple consoles, they could also. The one thing I give Microsoft credit about the first Xbox and Sony for the PS3 is the mandatory hard drive. After the E3 presser (press conference), people were questioning Sony's audacity to release a console for 600 bucks. At that time many people started to dig Sony's grave and rushed to the 360.
System Launch
The PS3 was launched in Japan November 11, 2006 and North America was released on the 17th. There were reports of people getting shot and injured (someone may have been killed, my memory's on that are a bit fuzzy, but I think someone was). People on EBay were charging upwards of $10,000 for one, and I was trying to get money just to buy one (for $600 of course). During my Christmas vacation from college, I ran across one at a Wal-Mart two days before New Year's and another one at Wal-Mart in my area. Me and my homeboy were going back to school and we stopped at our Wal-Mart to pick up a few items that we needed. The night before I picked up Twilight Princess on the Gamecube and started playing it. The next day, January 7, 2007, I finally had the money to buy a PS3, and to my surprise Wal-Mart had one. I didn't notice the night before if there were any.
I was a happy man to finally get a PS3, but there was one problem, there were no games out that interested me. In the beginning of 07, I wasn't an FPS fan, so Resistance: Fall of Man was out of the picture. Instead, I bought Madden NFL 07 and NBA 2K7. A few days later, I bought Fight Night Round 3 and Ridge Racer 7.
During the PS3's infancy, the things you can do on it now, such as internet browsing, watching downloaded videos from PSN or on your thumb drive, media servers, in-game cross media bar, and whatever else we can do now, wasn't even possible on PS3. Another thing the PS3 had a big problem was updates. It seems as if there was a system update EVERY DAY and these were mandatory and if you didn't do it, you could play your game. There's a list of other things you couldn't do, but I don't want to waste time remembering it. PSN itself was bare-bones. Of course you could download demos, but it's not how it is now. Some demos are rare, if you didn't download them from PSN when the PS3 came out, you would never see them again. Gran Turismo HD Demo is the perfect example of this.
The only bright side to having a first generation PS3 was that you could play ALL of your PS2 and PS1 games, so that made up for the lack of games. It wasn't until November 2007, that 'Uncharted' waters became a little clearer.
The PS3 was launched in Japan November 11, 2006 and North America was released on the 17th. There were reports of people getting shot and injured (someone may have been killed, my memory's on that are a bit fuzzy, but I think someone was). People on EBay were charging upwards of $10,000 for one, and I was trying to get money just to buy one (for $600 of course). During my Christmas vacation from college, I ran across one at a Wal-Mart two days before New Year's and another one at Wal-Mart in my area. Me and my homeboy were going back to school and we stopped at our Wal-Mart to pick up a few items that we needed. The night before I picked up Twilight Princess on the Gamecube and started playing it. The next day, January 7, 2007, I finally had the money to buy a PS3, and to my surprise Wal-Mart had one. I didn't notice the night before if there were any.
I was a happy man to finally get a PS3, but there was one problem, there were no games out that interested me. In the beginning of 07, I wasn't an FPS fan, so Resistance: Fall of Man was out of the picture. Instead, I bought Madden NFL 07 and NBA 2K7. A few days later, I bought Fight Night Round 3 and Ridge Racer 7.
During the PS3's infancy, the things you can do on it now, such as internet browsing, watching downloaded videos from PSN or on your thumb drive, media servers, in-game cross media bar, and whatever else we can do now, wasn't even possible on PS3. Another thing the PS3 had a big problem was updates. It seems as if there was a system update EVERY DAY and these were mandatory and if you didn't do it, you could play your game. There's a list of other things you couldn't do, but I don't want to waste time remembering it. PSN itself was bare-bones. Of course you could download demos, but it's not how it is now. Some demos are rare, if you didn't download them from PSN when the PS3 came out, you would never see them again. Gran Turismo HD Demo is the perfect example of this.
The only bright side to having a first generation PS3 was that you could play ALL of your PS2 and PS1 games, so that made up for the lack of games. It wasn't until November 2007, that 'Uncharted' waters became a little clearer.
An Uncharted Future
Naughty Dog, the creators of Crash Bandicoot and the Jak and Daxter games, hinted they were going to make a realistic looking game for their first PS3 game. It was called Uncharted (with no Drake's Fortune subtitle). Back in 2005, when I first read about it in Game Informer, I thought to myself, there's no way this game is going to be any good. Slowly, my homie Rambeaux (who at the time didn't have a PS3), was talking the game up and I was leaning on the fence about it. It wasn't until the demo of Drake's Fortune was released back in the first week of November 07, a few weeks before it's retail release. I downloaded it and immediately I was hooked. The graphics were stunning and made me proud to say I was a PS3 owner. I got the game during Christmas and spent time beating the game and trying to find all the treasures.
Before Uncharted, the PS3 didn't have many games specially made for it (Yes I'm aware of Heavenly Sword, Lair, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma). Insomniac Games the month before released Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Activision released Guitar Hero 3, and EA had Rock Band. Activision also released a little title called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, that changed the landscape of gaming both online and offline. The online part of CoD4 was addicting and that's where I made a few friends and joined a clan.
During the first half of 2008, the PS3 was getting stronger by the day. Folding at home was released so PS3 owners could help to find a cure for cancer. Playstation Home was still in the closed beta stages and just about everyone was looking forward to it. Some game called MGS4 was coming out in June and it had it's own console bundle. The 80 gig PS3 was getting phased out and the 40 gig would be the 'NEW' standard. I also can't forget about GTA4.
*Quick Comment*As a first-gen PS3 owner, I was okay with the 80 gig system. It at least had backwards compatibility. The biggest mistake Sony made was getting rid of BC. As you can see on PSN, they have PS1 classics and there are some rumors that Sega said that PSN might have PS2 classic games. Add to the fact, the God of War Collection was released and many people want the MGS franchise rereleased as a PS3 title. Some friends of mine had this debate years ago, and I'm still hearing people wishing PS3 had BC. *End Quick Comment*
After July 31, I had no access to the internet to tell my PSN friends not to delete me. I assumed that the wireless connection that I was 'borrowing' would be back on an unfortunately it wasn't. Before I left PSN, I downloaded 2.40 and read that a lot of people (probably 10,000 people) had their consoles bricked. Lucky for me, mine didn't brick, but what I didn't see was the 'death' of my PS3.
A few days before Christmas, I was playing MGS4 and my system got hot and shutdown. At the time I knew my PS3 would get hot (as all phat before the 40 gig was released would). I didn't let my system completely cool off and jumped right back on it. 2 minutes later, the fans completely shut off and the system powered off FOR GOOD. I died inside, but at least I got MGS4 from my dead system. This wouldn't be the last time a PS3 of mine would shutdown.
Naughty Dog, the creators of Crash Bandicoot and the Jak and Daxter games, hinted they were going to make a realistic looking game for their first PS3 game. It was called Uncharted (with no Drake's Fortune subtitle). Back in 2005, when I first read about it in Game Informer, I thought to myself, there's no way this game is going to be any good. Slowly, my homie Rambeaux (who at the time didn't have a PS3), was talking the game up and I was leaning on the fence about it. It wasn't until the demo of Drake's Fortune was released back in the first week of November 07, a few weeks before it's retail release. I downloaded it and immediately I was hooked. The graphics were stunning and made me proud to say I was a PS3 owner. I got the game during Christmas and spent time beating the game and trying to find all the treasures.
Before Uncharted, the PS3 didn't have many games specially made for it (Yes I'm aware of Heavenly Sword, Lair, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma). Insomniac Games the month before released Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Activision released Guitar Hero 3, and EA had Rock Band. Activision also released a little title called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, that changed the landscape of gaming both online and offline. The online part of CoD4 was addicting and that's where I made a few friends and joined a clan.
During the first half of 2008, the PS3 was getting stronger by the day. Folding at home was released so PS3 owners could help to find a cure for cancer. Playstation Home was still in the closed beta stages and just about everyone was looking forward to it. Some game called MGS4 was coming out in June and it had it's own console bundle. The 80 gig PS3 was getting phased out and the 40 gig would be the 'NEW' standard. I also can't forget about GTA4.
*Quick Comment*As a first-gen PS3 owner, I was okay with the 80 gig system. It at least had backwards compatibility. The biggest mistake Sony made was getting rid of BC. As you can see on PSN, they have PS1 classics and there are some rumors that Sega said that PSN might have PS2 classic games. Add to the fact, the God of War Collection was released and many people want the MGS franchise rereleased as a PS3 title. Some friends of mine had this debate years ago, and I'm still hearing people wishing PS3 had BC. *End Quick Comment*
After July 31, I had no access to the internet to tell my PSN friends not to delete me. I assumed that the wireless connection that I was 'borrowing' would be back on an unfortunately it wasn't. Before I left PSN, I downloaded 2.40 and read that a lot of people (probably 10,000 people) had their consoles bricked. Lucky for me, mine didn't brick, but what I didn't see was the 'death' of my PS3.
A few days before Christmas, I was playing MGS4 and my system got hot and shutdown. At the time I knew my PS3 would get hot (as all phat before the 40 gig was released would). I didn't let my system completely cool off and jumped right back on it. 2 minutes later, the fans completely shut off and the system powered off FOR GOOD. I died inside, but at least I got MGS4 from my dead system. This wouldn't be the last time a PS3 of mine would shutdown.
'Uncharted' Waters Again?!
During the Christmas holidays I went back to the PS2 (phat) and played games that I didn't have time to start playing, such as Indigo Prophecy. Since Heavy Rain could be considered a spiritual successor of IP, I suggest those who want to get a feel of how HR is might be like pick up IP from Amazon(dot)com. Brand new it's 109 dollars, but a used copy will cost you $10. Also during my PS2 frame of mind, I bought Guitar Hero World Tour (instead of getting my PS3 fixed) and MLB 09: The Show. With my birthday coming up and my PS2 probably on it's last legs, I decided now was the time to get it fixed.
I went through Sony's online Customer Service and placed an order for my coffin. My original receipt had water damage to it, so I did my best to handwrite the information that couldn't be seen. I thought that I wouldn't be getting a PS3 back, but Sony loves money. After a week or so later, I got my current PS3, 60 gig backwards compatible. A part of me, still wishes it was my original, but I can't complain. I also kept my limited warranty just in case this one dies on me and I can get it fixed (I still also have my receipt as well).
I finally got back online August 09 and I noticed that most of my friend's list has vanished. A few people kept me on. To make up for lost time, I downloaded demos of games that I missed to see if I really wanted to buy them or not. One game that impressed me was Batman: Arkham Asylum. The demo of Uncharted 2's multiplayer came out as well and I encouraged most of my friend's list to download it. I bought UC2 and had a blast playing it (I still have a blast playing it). Trophies and Home were finally implemented (even though trophies were around since the 2.40 update).
During the Christmas holidays I went back to the PS2 (phat) and played games that I didn't have time to start playing, such as Indigo Prophecy. Since Heavy Rain could be considered a spiritual successor of IP, I suggest those who want to get a feel of how HR is might be like pick up IP from Amazon(dot)com. Brand new it's 109 dollars, but a used copy will cost you $10. Also during my PS2 frame of mind, I bought Guitar Hero World Tour (instead of getting my PS3 fixed) and MLB 09: The Show. With my birthday coming up and my PS2 probably on it's last legs, I decided now was the time to get it fixed.
I went through Sony's online Customer Service and placed an order for my coffin. My original receipt had water damage to it, so I did my best to handwrite the information that couldn't be seen. I thought that I wouldn't be getting a PS3 back, but Sony loves money. After a week or so later, I got my current PS3, 60 gig backwards compatible. A part of me, still wishes it was my original, but I can't complain. I also kept my limited warranty just in case this one dies on me and I can get it fixed (I still also have my receipt as well).
I finally got back online August 09 and I noticed that most of my friend's list has vanished. A few people kept me on. To make up for lost time, I downloaded demos of games that I missed to see if I really wanted to buy them or not. One game that impressed me was Batman: Arkham Asylum. The demo of Uncharted 2's multiplayer came out as well and I encouraged most of my friend's list to download it. I bought UC2 and had a blast playing it (I still have a blast playing it). Trophies and Home were finally implemented (even though trophies were around since the 2.40 update).
Fast Forward to Now and the Future
Now, with the PS3 looking more stronger, there's a few things that we need to keep an eye on. One in particular is the premium PSN that could be coming by E3. It's going to be something similar to Qore, you'll get access to betas, videos, and other extra stuff that the free accounts won't get (until a little later). I think could be a good thing, but I'll have to do more research about it when it's announced.
Second, the motion controller. It's going to be a gimmick, just like Sixaxis control. I'll keep an eye on it, but I won't buy one.
Finally, the games. After the initial drought of games that PS3 had early on, now there's too many games to buy. I personally want Demon Souls, God of War 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and whatever PS1 classics may come out.
This blog ended up being a little longer than I expected, but when you've got a lot to talk about, your mind goes in different directions. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I typed it.
Second, the motion controller. It's going to be a gimmick, just like Sixaxis control. I'll keep an eye on it, but I won't buy one.
Finally, the games. After the initial drought of games that PS3 had early on, now there's too many games to buy. I personally want Demon Souls, God of War 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and whatever PS1 classics may come out.
This blog ended up being a little longer than I expected, but when you've got a lot to talk about, your mind goes in different directions. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I typed it.
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