Welcome to the Monday edition of the UFie Gaming Corner! Below the block, Arivia's Gaming Garden has returned, and we'll discuss Sony's gaming/computing/wallet eating juggernaut.
Discussion of any and all types of gaming are welcome here - console games, PC games, pen and paper games, board games, it's all on the table.
If you mention or link to a game that other people might like to find later, please toss it in the Online Games or Download Games diary as appropriate. (And of course, head over there periodically to check out what's new!)
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If you have a topic you'd like to see covered in the Gaming Corner, or an article I ought to check out, feel free to email me at Ravenlock (put the little at symbol thingy here) inbox (put the little dot symbol thingy here) com. Time permitting, this will be posted daily, but anyone who wishes to cover it on a day when I'm being slow is of course welcome to do so - just copy the TLP from the previous day. :-)
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First thing's first - Arivia has begun updating The Gaming Garden again, with a new post about selecting the proper setting for your next campaign. Check it out! :-)
Okay, so, the Playstation 3. It's hitting the USA on November 17th, and to say that the press reaction to it has been unkind would be - ironically - kind. It's been pretty abysmal. First there was the infamous collection of Youtube videos mocking their (quite mockable) E3 conference, like this one.
They've been further plagued by reports of production issues, derision over their motion-sensing controller (which some reported was added less than a month before the E3 2006 conference to try to make their control system look comparable to the Wii's), and now reports that even the games may carry exhorbitant prices.
Citing "multiple information sources," the article states that the price of PS3 games will be concentrated in the 8,800 to 9,800 yen range. The primary reason given is the rising cost of development. Note: 8,800 to 9,800 yen is $75 to $84.
Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to buy a PS3, but I also don't mean to just bash Sony here. I think they need MUCH better PR - the guys who occasionally pop up saying the PSP is actually beating the DS through some made up system of numbers need to be fired, because they make Sony look like idiots. But the PS3 may actually be a very good gaming system, who knows. The video for White Knight Story looks amazing (WMV video or Quicktime), and I'm sure there'll be lots of stunning titles.
But will people be able to justify the expense? I know I won't be able to - it'll be hard enough for me to justify getting a Wii and a few games early next year. I love my DS, but part of the reason I love it is that it entertains me affordably. At the end of the day, they're still just games, and I hardly ever have time to finish the ones I play.
How about you guys? Picking up a PS3? Laughing at those who do? Opine. |
