Posts tagged Sony
A History of Violence: The future of the God of War series
Dec 16th
Even if subsequent God of War games flop, Kratos could always make a lucrative career out of chiropractic work
After recently completing the fifth entry in the God of War series, Ready At Dawn Studios’ PSP title Ghost of Sparta, I find it difficult to believe the franchise is little more than five years old. God of War is now such a tent-pole first party franchise for Sony that Kratos is arguably as iconic as Halo’s Master Chief. Though games in the God of War series are usually released in March, they are essentially the summer blockbusters of video games — and to be honest, you’d likely be better off watching someone else play God of War III than trying to sit through a screening of the recent Clash of the Titans remake.
Why Google needs the PlayStation Phone to succeed
Dec 8th
The purported Sony-Ericsson PlayStation Phone. Click the image for the original story and video.
When it comes to consumer-oriented smartphones, there’s no greater rivalry than Apple versus Google. With Apple’s iOS devices, including the iPhone, selling extraordinarily well and Android catching up in regard to United States market share, it’s clear that other phone systems aren’t competing on the same level.
There’s little doubt why both platforms are popular among the average consumer. Each boasts high-quality audio and video features, a sophisticated web-browsing experience and a diverse library of apps, many of which are free. But when it comes to mobile gaming, there’s no question that iOS is the dominant platform.
But with the news of a real, working PlayStation Phone having surfaced, that might not always be the case.
Rising Sun Rising: The Reinvigoration of Japanese Developers
Sep 21st
The 2010 Tokyo Game Show, which concluded last week, may have showcased the re-awakening of Japanese gaming innovation
If you’re a big fan of video games, there’s a very good likelihood you have played and enjoyed the fruits of Japanese video game developers’ innovation. From Super Mario Bros. to Final Fantasy VII to Street Fighter II and back again, many of the highlights of gaming have come from the land of the rising sun.
However, it wouldn’t be controversial to say that, for the last console generation, the games that have set the standard worldwide have come from Western developers — both American and European. One of Japanese gaming’s most prominent developers, Resident Evil creator Keiji Inafune, even said as much to the New York Times: “I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games; Japan is at least five years behind,” he said. The same article estimated that Japanese developers, publishers and manufacturers owned as much as 50 percent of the gaming market in 2002; this has fallen to just 10 percent. While this lull is due to many reasons — including a dearth of creativity and the shifting Japanese market — what was shown last week at the Tokyo Game Show may be indicative of a real revival.
Daily Recap: June 8, 2009
Jun 9th
Ubisoft's James Cameronstravaganza really was the most boring thing about E3 — but we promise to post the older (and much more interesting) info later this week
So that whole triple-E expo thing is over, right?
We still have our Nintendo and Sony conference impressions on-tap and ready to be served, but we’re simply terrible at sliding that frothy information down the counter to you, the frustrated consumer.
Look for those articles later this week with a comp for your first few Jägerbombs.
Yesterday’s news ran quite the gamut of topics: Sony’s trophy system isn’t happening on PSP, Satoru Iwata “scuttles” when it comes to new handhelds and playing a game might just help lower your car insurance rates. Read the rest of this entry »
E3 2009: Welcome!
Jun 1st
Today’s the big day, folks. The annual and mega-flashy Electronic Entertainment Expo starts in less than an hour, and Microsoft dutifully kicks this PR party into high gear with its press conference at 10:30 a.m.
Now let’s be honest: every other website has some kind of intimate E3 coverage planned for videogame fans and followers of the industry. You have your liveblogs, live video, exclusive interviews, previews, hands-ons and podcasts. We, a fresh and puerile (but not juvenile?) website without access to E3, can’t provide the coverage like bigger media entities can. However, what we can do is offer our analysis and summations of big E3 press bombs and try to cut the fat the best we can.
So stay with us throughout E3 and think of our content as the delicious Andes mint after a filling dinner — a complement to a main course of news from the hundreds of other videogame journalists doing the real work this week.
We’ll be posting our recaps of each big press conference and attempting a few interesting things this week in terms of feature articles. Next week you’ll see more thoughtful content, as post-E3 lends itself well to in-depth analysis and status reports of individual genres — even the consoles themselves.
I’ll leave you with the times and dates for the five major press conferences.
Enjoy E3…we’re besieged like this only once a year, or twice depending on how interesting the Tokyo Game Show will be come September.
Press conferences for Monday, June 1st:
- Microsoft: 10:30 a.m.
- Electronic Arts: 2 p.m.
- Ubisoft: 5 p.m.
Press conferences for Tuesday, June 2nd:
- Nintendo: 9 a.m.
- Sony: 11 a.m.
Daily Recap: May 14, 2009
May 14th
Today Nick posted his review of Fable II’s second downloadable expansion, See the Future. He wasn’t exactly impressed.
The criticisms largely echo mine in reviewing the first add-on, Knothole Island, and it’s an overall shame to again see Lionhead botch its DLC. Costumes and potions will only get your game so far, you know.
You got all excited for nothing, pup
It’s also unfortunate that my predictions of See the Future being more worthwhile turned out wrong–that’s what I get for speculation, I suppose.
News for Thursday: Sony loses cash, a lack of funding shutters another development studio and Telltale Games sells a lot of Strong Bad. It’s all very money-oriented today. Read the rest of this entry »