Supreme Court Upholds Freedom of Speach

In a 7-2 decision by the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ruled against the state of California that video games should be given different laws when sold to minors. I agree with them insofar that I believe in freedom of speech. I don't think kids should get their hands on these games, but I think the parents need to stop them. A little educations and paying attention can go a long way in keeping kids away from the wrong video games. If you already take your kid to R-rated movies for example, then likely games are not going to effect them.

The underlined reason I like this decision is because it stops a "slippery slope" scenario that has us ending up like Australia with games not being allowed in. Another positive for those over 17 or 18 are that you shouldn't have to show your i.d. to buy games. I may wait a week or two, but if a retailer says they will not sell you video games they can't legally do that. While it is bad that it makes it easier for little kids, the retailer can't legally discriminate against any group as was done in the past. So I see those rules being lifted soon. So I'm saying don't try to sue people yet because it would hurt the industry. However, I don't hold sympathy for Gamestop as they already do what they can to make games more expensive. (Lawsuit idea is not necessarily true, just what I know.)

Working on a review for Infamous and L.A. Noire. Recently beat both of them, just need to gather my thoughts.

Hello All, welcome to the Xbox side

Hello everyone, Carruthers here to introduce myself. My focal point of interest here will be dealing with xbox and xbox 360 games along with pretty much anything else that piques my interest. Also, i will give insightful insight into game releases, xbox live updates, and games updates. I will also attempt to put videos of how-to-do's with achievements and anything else that may be helpful or funny. Looking forward to it. Cheers Chaps!

After the Fact, if anyone has requests for input on certain games or updates along those lines, message or comment and ill get on it, but please try not to stray Too far into hypothetics.

Protip: The Mass Effect series is my personal favorite of all of my games, and i highly recommend it. Also, Bioshock is incredible, and im waiting for Half-Life 3 to be freakin released.

Take-Two extends Rockstar contract

Take-Two studios extend their contract with the heads of Rockstar Games. Take-Two studios also posted a $1.1billion dollar profit for this last fiscal year. Through this story it was revealed that Rockstar North was still continuing production of the game The Agent, which this gamer had heard was canceled. They also further confirmed The Agent would remain a PS3 exclusive.

All in all I'd say this is good news. The Agent seemed like an interesting game. and I'm happy it's still being worked on. The Agent is a game promised to Sony for allowing GTA to be non-exclusive and dlc being delayed. It was originally thought they might do a zombie game, but thought the genre was too overused (in addition they made Undead Nightmare). The Agent is an espionage game set in the 1970s. Very little has been released about this game though what has has been good.

Miscellaneous Info

• The Supreme Court is nearing a date to decide on the constitutionality of banning sales of video games to minors.
• L.A. Noire is unleashed to fairly good reviews, though not as amazing as Red Dead Redemption did last year (getting a copy from bestbuy for $60 with a $20 gift card and $10 of gamer's reward zone points, so a review will likely come out in a week or two).
• Dragon Age III is announced with an add looking for jobs.
• Rachet and Clank: All for One announces that there are retailer specific DLC for this game. Yay!(sarcasm).
• Infamous 2 announces its retailer exclusive DLC, though if history repeats itself it may come out at a later date.

Well that's a brief summary of news I find relevant. Playstation store is expected to be down till at least May 24th (thought there is that whole end of the world thing that's suppose to happen first).

A question for any readers out there: What is your preferred strategy for MAG, and what load out do you use to level up?

The network lives! Somewhat.

After three weeks of being down the PSN has started to come back online. Features like syncing trophies, seeing if friends are online, and media capabilities, and online gaming have been restored. A system update is required to access the limited online features and a change of password will be prompted. Yet again, full restoration to the PSN should be accomplished by May 31st. For now savor the victory. Hopefully the new security keeps something like this from ever happening again. Hope to see people online soon.

Playstation Network Update AGAIN

Much to the chagrin of many gamers like myself, PlayStation Network is still down, and, now, we are being told that it will be around the end of the month that it is back up again.  I seem to recall Sony having said that it would be up by the end of last week, but it is not, and it is very frustrating.

I respect the reasoning - they have to iron out all security flaws they can find before it gets rolled out again.  But that doesn't change the fact that it is majorly trying my patience.  Oh well.  There's not much you can really do in this instance but wait, and hope, and rant about it in blog posts.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Ubisoft has publicly announced details about the new game Assassin's Creed:  Revelations.  This will be the fourth chapter in the story about Desmond (voice acted by Nolan North, the same guy who does the voice of Drake in the Uncharted series), the man who, through futuristic technology, relives the memories of his ancestors.  In this game, he will be traveling to Constantinople regarding the mystery about Templars and Assassins.

The guys at Ubisoft outdid Assassin's Creed with Assassin's Creed 2, and then the outdid themselves again with Brotherhood.  If they pull it off again, it is safe to say that they could potentially pull in some Game of the Year awards.

Source:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1166213p1.html

The Smithsonion adds 40 games from what it considers to be the best games of all time

I disagree with this list. Any game that ever received a 10 from a reviewer should be on this list. There are several games I think deserve to be on this list. Games like Brutal Legend were really good, but really don't compare to Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 2 or Metal Gear Solid 4. Not a single GTA is on the list despite being one of if not the most controversial game franchises. 40 is a small number so I understand. Sound of in the comments and we may compose who should have been axed or added. Keeping this article short compared to a rant about all the games I think are both better and more significant.

To further clarify, I thought Brutal Legend was a great game, but just maybe not in my top 50 definitely out of top 10.

The Art of Video Games exhibit will open in Washington, DC, on March 16, 2012, and will run through September 30, 2012.

Era 1: Start!
Atari VCS
Pac-Man
Pitfall
Space Invaders
Combat
Colecovision
Donkey Kong
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Zaxxon
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
Mattel Intellivision
Tron: Maze-Atron
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
Star Strike
Utopia

Era 2: 8-Bit
Commodore 64
Jumpman
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
Attack of the Mutant Camels
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario Bros.
The Legend of Zelda
1943: The Battle of Midway
Desert Commander
Sega Master System
Marble Madness
Phantasy Star
After Burner
Spy vs. Spy

Era 3: Bitwars!
Sega Genesis
Earthworm Jim
Phantasy Star IV
Gunstar Heroes
Dune II: Battle for Arrakis
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario World
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Star Fox
SimCity

Era 4: Transition
DOS/Windows
Doom II
Fallout
Diablo II
StarCraft
Nintendo 64
Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Goldeneye 007
Worms Armageddon
Sega Dreamcast
Sonic Adventure
Shenmue
Rez
Chu Chu Rocket!
Sega Saturn
Tomb Raider
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei
Sim City 2000
Sony PlayStation
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy VII
Einhander
Final Fantasy Tactics

Era 5: Next Generation
Microsoft Xbox
Halo 2
Fable
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Microsoft Xbox 360
BioShock
Mass Effect 2
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
Modern Windows
Portal
Fallout 3
flOw
Minecraft
Nintendo GameCube
Metroid Prime 2: Echos
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Star Fox: Assault
Pikmin 2
Nintendo Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Boom Blox
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Sony PlayStation 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Okami
Gradius V
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Sony PlayStation 3
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Heavy Rain
Flower
Brutal Legend

Additional Games (available for short play in exhibit, not included in vote)
Pac-Man (Arcade)
Super Mario Bros.
The Secret of Monkey Island
Myst
World of Warcraft

Another PlayStation Network Update

The PSN is still down, and nothing is new on that front.

However, it is also worth noting that Sony has finally hired investigators to figure out what actually happened, at least on a specific scale (obviously they were hacked).  Sony is likely going to rather intensely increase the security of this network, which - due to having credit card numbers - should have happened in the first place.  However, despite Sony's faults with their network, it is still better than XBOX Live.  And I say that based on my ability to watch Netflix streaming without paying yet another monthly fee - not that there are very many good films to stream on Netflix.

Anyways, on to the part of this information that I think is a lot more important to our readers:  when will PSN be back up?

Potentially it could happen today, or even next week.  Although Sony is saying that it is likely that it will be back up by the end of the week.

And, as an added bonus to being able to use multiplayer again, everybody who had a PlayStation Network account prior to the hack will be given a month of "Playstation Plus" free (marketing scheme anybody?) and the ability to download some select Downloadable Content, or DLC, for free.

Repost Remake: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Ask any casual gamer about Ocarina of Time and they'll know what you're talking about. Whether it be the game's charming 64 bit graphics, its gripping plotline, its exquisite musical score, its unique character development, or its overall fun factor, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is clearly one of the most well-known games in the Zelda franchise. It's been over a decade since the game's release, and everyone still rants and raves about it. It's gotten to a point in which almost every other Zelda game has been compared to it one way or another. Diehard fans of the franchise have stated that even though that Twilight Princess is awesome as far as graphics and game feel are concerned, they still stand by the fact that Ocarina of Time will be always be the better game, solely because of the great legacy that game alone has left behind.

Now that Nintendo has announced the release of a remake of this stellar game ported over to the Nintendo 3DS in Japan next month, this question will be on the lips of every Zelda fan: how will a remake stand up to the original game? As far as comparing remakes to originals is concerned, it should be obvious that the 3DS is bound to have better graphics and more innovative gameplay compared to its predecessor, which are qualities that most remakes of any game have in common. Personally, where I get a little fuzzy is how Ocarina of Time, a game meant for gamers to sit down in front of a TV and enjoy, will be accommodated by the smaller dual-screen, yet portable, 3DS. Although I may seem a bit biased, I think that games like this will receive the most praise if they can be played and viewed in a bigger environment of a full-screen TV that the 3DS lacks. Unless the 3DS remake has some groundbreaking extra features or something similar to what the Gamecube remake did with Master Quest, I personally don't think that gamers will support this remake as well as the they did with the original. Of course, this is just an opinion, and this debate can go either way.

Overall, the 3DS and Gamecube remakes, compared to the N64 original, are the same game. Sales will depend on if the gamer wants to be more progressive and purchase the remake in anticipation of better graphics and better game feel, or if the gamer is feeling nostalgic and while he may still want to purchase the game, the charm of playing the original N64 version may be good enough to hold him back. Only time (seven years?) will tell...

Project Cafe': Hot Java or Just an Average Joe?

I've heard that Nintendo has disclosed another next-gen console, the Nintendo Wii 2, at E3 this past June; not surprising since Nintendo's fellow competitors have sadly yet effectively blown the Wii out of the water in almost every aspect. In order to keep with the times, it would seem that Nintendo's best interest would be to introduce its newest project as soon as possible.

But the real question is this: what's the deal about the new hard drive that the Wii 2 is going to have? This new hard drive innovation, called Project Cafe', is supposed to contain 8 MB of memory, approximately 16 times the storage capacity of the original Wii. In addition to this, the upgrade in storage will allow Wii users to not rely on SD cards as much for additional storage, since the extra hard drive space is said to provide more than enough room for storing retro games, which was the main extractor of Wiipoints on the system's Virtual Console.

While the extra hard drive space is a step in the right direction, it's still not up to snuff with the current hard drive spaces of Nintendo's competitors. Compared to the 250 GB hard drives of the current Xbox 360 and PS3, AND the 20 MB hard drive of the 360 when it first came out, the 8 MB on the Wii 2 seems very negligible. In my opinion, Nintendo is definitely making some good moves, I believe that they're moving very slow. So slow that not only has it's hardware been lacking, but also its software (with its relative demographic becoming more closely aligned with younger gamers) is severely lacking compared to the more solid and more edgy titles from Microsoft and Sony.

However, I believe the REAL problem here is how comfortable Nintendo has become in terms of its status over the years. Ever since the NES came out in the 80s, Nintendo has proven to be superior time and again to organizations such as Sega; but time flows like a river, and while newer and more creative companies go with the flow, it seems that Nintendo is traveling against the flow by sticking to its old methods and not willing to change in order to be successful. Let's hope that Nintendo has some aces in the hole which it can exploit to put its competitors off-tilt; I can't keep championing the organization that has been the staple of my childhood if there's nothing I can invest in.

Wii games and Wii 2 rumors

Rumors are that the following games will drop in price to $20 in the near future: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Sluggers. Wii Sports. The Wii is suppose to drop down to $150 with Mario Kart to possibly be bundled with it.

The Wii2 seems to be just beyond the horizon with major announcements likely from E3. Some rumors even say that there is a chance at voice chat option. The Wii is dropping in popularity and the Wii 2 will likely go the HD route to stay relevant. The success of the Wii was a surprise to Nintendo as it was suppose to be a last effort before fading to a third party publisher. With the huge success of the Wii they likely have a good deal of money to invest in their next system and thus great things can be expected.  Being behind for the last two generates from a technical standpoint is troublesome to gamers as they haven't been at the technical forefront in such a long time. It'll be interesting to see what happens, and I'll likely personally get the next product from Nintendo for Legend of Zelda games and the next Super Smash Bros games.

New Blog Writer: Joe

Joe's our new writer, a friend of mine and Ryan's.  He's a life-long gamer with a devotion to Nintendo going back to his childhood.  He currently owns a Wii, a Gamecube, an N64, and an NES.  He also formerly owned a Super Nintendo (SNES).  He has, in the past, written a few unofficial strategy guides, one for Final Fantasy I, and the other for Resident Evil 4.  He is currently working on solo runthroughs of old RPG's like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior.  He is debating whether or not to produce these runthroughs in a live-streaming format.

He is also a Blackbelt in International Karate, and, subsequently, our bodyguard.

He also plays Drums, and is trying to start a band.

Batman Arkham City/ Asylum

Despite intending to replay Uncharted 2, I've been playing Arkham Asylum recently. Played through a good amount my second or third time around (help other people with games so don't know exact counts). Noticing how while it does make you feel powerful, it doesn't make you feel like a super hero. It's just my opinion, but I would kinda like to be a super hero. Detective mode is the closest you get to a super power and it's useful to have on almost all the time. In combat you're a bit faster/stronger than your opponents which makes it feel believable. The thing to me is just missing the little touches that Batman has to be prepared for everything. When I'm sneaking around enemies trying not to get caught in the line of fire, I find myself thinking about how repelling down certain walls or throwing smoke bombs would be useful. Just my real complaint in one of my favorite games is that it doesn't quite capture Batman as the hero he can be. Just some thought and reflection. You may disagree or may not want to hear anything bad about this great game, but even this isn't necessarily a complaint about the game. The complaint is not being able to feel the superiority of Batman that I've come to know from other media not saying that the game isn't made as a great game, just saying that the Batman experience hasn't been fully captured. The boss fights, gang fights, clues, Riddler trophies, graphics, Easter eggs, and so on more than make up for my complaint that is only from the perspective of one who hasn't found much else to complain about.



Now to Arkham City. For those who don't know, here's some basic information/spoilers about Batman: Arkham City. Warden Quincy Sharp, the head of the Asylum, is a bit crazy and a vigilante who kills some of his patients. Quincy Sharp intends to become the mayor of Gotham and seems to have accomplished this by the sequel to Arkham Asylum. Warden Sharp also has moved Arkham to Gotham in a sectioned-off part of the city. There criminals are free to roam in there own gangs such as the Joker's or Two-Face's gangs. Order seems to be held by Hugo Strange (who knows Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne). Batman for some reason is within Arkham once again as is Catwoman, who you must save and then allies herself with you.

More info in E3. There's room for improvement in a lot of areas and it looks like they're doing it. You keep all your gadgets throughout the game and start with the main ones. Stay tuned for more about this game.

How to get the Strange Relic in Uncharted 2

For those of you who do not know how to get the strange relic, here's a video I just made of how to do so. Excuse the bad camera angle, I was doing this with a cell phone and no mount on my couch.




Hope this helps. Feel free to comment on the video.

Uncharted 2

Ted here. About to play some Uncharted 2 to see if I can attain the rest of the treasures.

Awesome game. Truly an awesome game.

League of Legends

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Riot Games came out with League of Legends a few months ago, and it is becoming immensely popular.  Riot Games is a new name on the online multiplayer scene, and it offers us a free, intense, and addicting game called, like I said, League of Legends.

Imagine playing a mixture between Age of Empires, or Warcraft, or any other fantasy RTS and the first-person shooter aspect of controlling one character with various moves in real time.

Out of a simple goal of the game (destroy the enemy's "Nexus," or home base), they've built a complex game system that includes leveling your character within and outside of games, "IP" points, or reward points for playing games and winning games (and other things as well) usable to improve your character before the game starts, multiple characters to play as, including a good number of free characters to choose from rotated regularly, a 5 on 5 game set-up, and a complex and challenging map worthy of this highly well-made games.

So lets go a little more in depth, shall we?

Let's start with the map.  This is the basic standard map:

The Nexus is the snow flake shaped thing in the top right and bottom left corner.  The goal of the game is to destroy this nexus before the other team destroys yours.

Sounds easy, right?  Not so much.

Between you and the enemy Nexus, you have 3 lanes through which it is easy to traverse.  Each of these lanes has 2 enemy turrets and another turret guarding the entrance to the base.  These turrets are strong buildings that can hurt your character and, eventually, send your character back to your home base, where you must wait to respawn.  Both teams have a set of turrets and constantly-spawning minions.  Minions are little mindless creatures whose goal is to advance in the lane and kill anything in their paths.  They aren't strong against your character, or "champion," but it is inadvisable to move forward without them being in front of you, especially towards an enemy turret.  You must fight with them to advance, kill the turrets and enemy champions and minions in your way, and make your way to the enemy Nexus.

Meanwhile, you are gaining in-game experience points from being around the minions and from killing minions, champions, and turrets.  Every game, you start at level one, and the top level to reach in a game is level 18.  The sooner you reach higher levels, the better spells you can cast, the better abilities you can use, and the higher amount of hits you can take.  This naturally makes you better for killing enemy minions and champions.

You gain experience points just from playing a game, and you gain extra experience points for winning games.  These experience points do not apply in-game, but outside of the game.  The higher your level outside of the game, the more in-game abilities you have access to.

Also, finally, another outside-of-the-game bonus IP points.  IP points are used to permanently unlock champions so that when they cycle through free champions at the free player's disposal, you can still use your favorite champion.  You can also buy runes to improve in game abilities and skins to make your champions look different from everybody else's.

Here's a common champion that a lot of newbies like to use:

Master Yi

This game is one of the most revolutionary and well-constructed free online games, and I would recommend it to anybody looking for a fun time.  You can play socially with friends, or you can play against people you don't know, but all in all it's a great experience.

Powerglove

My friend Joe turned me on to this awesome band not too long ago called Powerglove. They're a speed metal band with one focus: video game music. Iconic video game music.

They've done metal adaptations of things like Tetris, Mario, Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Megaman. Anything iconic from your childhood is fair game.

The concert took place at this hole in the wall in Cleveland called Peabody's. I mean, this place is such a crappy place that there aren't even doors on the bathroom stalls. Only one of the sinks works, and it only has cold water. The place is painted black throughout the whole inside, and, actually, it's kind of kickass, as long as you don't need to use the bathroom. Peabody's is in downtown Cleveland, and it is so popular the concert had a line stretching all the way around the left corner of the block (which is a feat considering that Peabody's is on the right corner of the block). And the place was so packed, their general rule of "no moshing" really didn't apply.

So Powerglove was opening for Symphony X, which is an awesome band, although I've unfortunately heard too little of their stuff to be a fan. There were also two standard hardcore opening bands from around Cleveland. Neither of the bands sounded particularly interesting enough to become successful. The metal and punk scenes are already overcrowded with hardcore at this point. Powerglove played their song "Storm Eagle," which is from the Megaman X bird miniboss if any of you remember (tell me if I'm wrong). They also played a song I hadn't heard yet that my friend had said was from Final Fantasy 6, and they played an adaptation of the Pokemon cartoon theme song (which isn't technically a video game song, but there are Pokemon video games, so we'll let it slide).

It was, for lack of a better word, awesome. I would definitely recommend to anybody these two bands:

Symphony X
Powerglove

A little about gaming credentials

Decided to list my gaming credentials as well as some of my partner's. We both own PS3s and PS2s. We owned a combined low to mid twenties of Playstation 3 games. My partner posses a 360 that I believe has red ringed (not to life, to death). I personally own about 30 PS2 games. I also own a Nintendo Wii with about 10 games and a Nintendo  Gamecube with another 15 or so games. Since we're sticking to more modern stories, I'm gonna leave out info beyond last generation  consoles. Most reporting will be PS3 centered as that is our system of choice. Doesn't mean we're not aware about things like Gears of War 3, Alan Wake 2 rumors, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the Wii 2, and so on. I regularly play Kongregate games despite my dislike for Gamestop (will likely explain that at some point) and will likely review/comment on some of them. I have a Dell Studio XPS 7100, which may be used to play PC games. My only game really for my PC is Mass Effect 2, of which I'm currently on my first playthrough as a Paragon Vanguard.

So that's likely more information than you wanted or needed. Just explaining that we're currently doing this with limited resources and a staff of 2, but we're video game fans with too much time. We'll try keeping you updated and give our opinion. One of the coolest things is that we may actually argue with you in the comments. We have opinions and time. We're not worried about how much time we spend as we're already not getting paid, and we plan on giving you more than your money's worth. Speaking of money, there may be a War for Cybertron review of Gamespot's review as it seemed like someone wasn't bribed to give the game a high enough score. So stayed tuned for that and more.

Sony announces compensation for downtime

Sony today announced that every Playstation user would receive a 30 day Playstation Plus subscription when services resume. Considering being hacked is a criminal action (much like robbing a bank), this seems like a fairly nice gesture. It won't make up for anything but at least it's something. Another thing announced was Sony reassuring that the PSN will be back up this week. So yeah, like it or hate it that's what's happening.


In the next couple of days/weeks I'll be playing through Uncharted 2 again (could be anywhere from 3-6 time through, played sporadically) and giving a critical look at it. Going to criticize what's wrong with it. Saying ahead of time that Uncharted 2 is a great game, but to me there seems like some obvious areas for growth. I recently got the dlc so I may comment on that as well, but the network has kinda been down since I got it so time frame is dependent on the PSN being up, my desire to play Uncharted 2, and whether my adhd lets me focus on one game long enough.

In other other news, comment to let us know what you want to see and what you like. We'll have a review of a concert (gaming related) up soon as well.

PSP 2?

Sony is currently developing a second PlayStation portable device.  They're currently calling it the NGP, or the Next Generation Portable.  It looks like it's truly going to revolutionize their portable gaming sector.

The PSP itself is a pretty disappointing product.  This isn't because it isn't user-friendly or capable, but because it was overshadowed by the Nintendo DS, which decided to add a revolutionary touchscreen that is actually usable for many of its games.  Also, the PSP has such a small selection of good games.  Sony focused far too much on making the PSP versatile and high-performance and not enough on getting contracts for successful games.  The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, revolutionized handheld gameplay.

The so-called NGP looks like it may actually be able to turn the tides when it comes to handhelds.  It offers a lot of new specs:

- Two Analog Sticks (the PSP has one)
- Front and Rear Cameras (DS and PSP have none - skype, anyone?)
- Front Multitouch display and a Multitouch rear pad (to be used like a laptop mouse maybe?)
- GPS (that's right.  lost?  Pull out the NGP)
- SIXAXIS motion sensors (the same technology PS3 uses in its controllers for games like Uncharted (one) and GTA 4 - I'm not a fan of this, but if you are, whatever floats your boat)
- 3 axis Electronic compass (yeah.  a 3d compass.  'nough said)
- 5 inch OLED display (far outshines DS - did I mention that this display is touchscreen?)
- Wifi and 3G connectivity
- Location-based multiplayer (find others to play against based on location - also completely wireless)

And they're already working on developing games for it, and they're advertising that they will actually be worth buying.  I'm still skeptical on this, but they are making a new Uncharted game for it, temporarily dubbed "Uncharted Portable," and I am definitely  excited for that.  So far the Uncharted franchise has yet to disappoint.  Let's hope they can keep it up.

For more information on this portable device, you can go to this link:
Sony - Next Generation Portable

We're talking about what essentially could be a iTouch for gamers, but made with Sony technology, which (in my opinion) outshines Apple technology.

Will it be successful?  Only time will tell.

I'm excited.

Dragon Age II DLC

Bioware announced that they will will be unleashing some DLC for Dragon Age II. There will be three separate DLC weapons' packs available for $3 or all three bought in a bundle for $5. Seems overpriced and to have been done just to make more money. This DLC should have come with the Collector's Edition and will likely be part of the Ultimate Edition. The DLC is currently available for the PC and Xbox 360 versions and would be available for the PS3 if the network wasn't down.

PSN Update

Sony has today said that they expect the PSN to be back up next Tuesday, though they were unclear what will be available. Sony also affirmed that they will be pursuing these hackers wherever they are in the world.

The good news: there's a date on when PSN is suppose to come back and it'll be more secure than ever.

The bad news: What functions will be available, what's happening with your personal information, and that Sony may not meet this date.

Update on PlayStation Network

According to various media sources, there is a class action lawsuit against Sony currently happening. People are now suing because their credit card information was leaked and Sony allegedly neglected to tell people about it for about a week.

And now Sony is rebuilding PlayStation Network. At least they're doing something right.

Playstation Network Down

Today, for the seventh day, PlayStation Network is still undergoing maintenance and about 70 million registered users are unable to play online multiplayer, a staple of this generation of gaming.  Also, news reports are now saying that some information may have been leaked in this security breach - information including people's credit card numbers.  I think I stand for all PS3 users when I say that Sony really dropped the ball on this one.  Sony is saying that PlayStation Network should be back online within a week.


Damn it, I just want to play MAG!