What'SOP? I'm sorry for the bad punn at the beginning but I have finally found out what the S.O.P. system is in MGS and MGO. It's the Sons of [the] Patriots system. Why should you care well you probably don't. Unless your a gamer, MGS fan, or wanting to be a piece of the biggest PS3 release this year. MGS4 is definately going to be released on the 12th June 2008 all across the world. The hype is madness but I'm completely sold on it, due to being part of the MGO beta test. It gave a real feel for the final game being able to play as Old Snake. As well as having fun in the actual MGO when it's released. So I've bitten the bullit and pre-ordered my Limited Edition copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots from play.com. Have a look at it on there site and you'll see what you get for the incredibly high price of £79.99. I can't belive I'm willing to spend this on a game with 90 minute cut scenes. Oh wait, that's exactly why and why time off from work will be well spent. Now where did put that £1K for a 1080p TV?

27.5.08 05:05 Permalink / 1 Comment / comment

Backup against a wall Lacie 500 Gig USB HDD £64.99 Staples  I bought this drive due to my original PS3'd Blu-ray rom drive no longer reading PS3 discs. My aim was to be able to hook the device up and use the PS3's Backup utility that is located in the System under XMB.   Sadly after waiting 2 hours for it to back up the 50 Gig worth of information on my PS3's HDD it failed. And gave an error code.    So I thought may be it's due to copy righted material ie music or Divx's. So I manaually copied all the files over in batches to the HDD. I had very little trouble transfering the movie files, some music failed due to copyright issues. All the pictures transferred without issue. The main sticking problem was Save data files ie Game update files and Cache files. So I deleted all the ones I was not using and all the files that had sucessfully copied and tried running the Backup utility again. This failed at 86% with another error code.   As my machine was due to be exchanged that day I copied all the games saves manually, well all the ones that would allow me to.     I contacted Customer services with regards the back up error no. and was told that it was due to copyrighted material , ie SingStar songs and games.   Also certain games saves stored on other users couldn't be backed up to the HDD as they had the same file name so had to be backed up on additional devices ie MS Duo's, and USB keys. This issue was also noted when backing up the internal PS1/2 Memory cards.   The strange thing was that the HDD did show an amount of information had been stored from the backup but would not delete as it it hadn't finallised the backup.   So My machine was exchanged and all the data I could keep was stored fine. As I noted when I booted the new machine but wouldn't Restore The HDD was read and I could see the files. Strangely you cannot create playlist for files stored externally to the internal HDD. Which seems to be a bit of an oversight. The device is viewable via Remote play on the PSP.   My biggest issue is the way the files are stored in folders. These folder are based on how the files were organised on the PS3 HDD before backup, so unless they were all backed up in one folder the files tend to be all mixed up. The only I found to resolve this was to transfer all the files of a specific type back tp the PS3 HDD Organise them and then copy them back to the external HDD. Very time consuming.   The drive it's self is a black metal box with four rummber feet.   It only has a USB plug that connects to the PS3's USB connections (this actually works with the PS3 stand I have so is nicely out of the way, so no hanging wires. The Drive is a powered unit requiring it be plugged into the mains via an adaptor.   The drive is releatively quiet when in operation but I tend to turn it off when I don't require it. In therory this drive should be usable on a PC / Mac as it's FAT32 formated which is what the PS3 required.   I had asked about swapping out the PS3 HDD before replacement and was told that this wasn't possible. This was confirmed by a friend who tried to install the drive in another PS3 and was told all he could do was format the drive. This makes me think that due to copyright and ownership of games and files that internal HDDs are keyed to each machine.   If you need an external storeage solution I can recommend this as a quick and cheap option but there are lots of other types of devices including media server HDD that can be shared via a router.

22.3.08 13:37 Permalink / comment

Indy without his whip... Uncharted: Drake's Fortune £33.98 play.com An action adventure game in the vein of Lara but with more of the game based around shooting rather than solving block pushing puzzles. The lead character is certainly resembling Indian Jones in his action abilities but seems to be missing his whip and hat. Nate is a rather smart character, if a bit full of himself at the beginning but soon start to like him. This may be in part to his female character who's filming his trip to locate Sir Francis Drake's forune as he's an ancestor of Nate. The graphics really are something special and show that the PS3 is a truely next gen game and I've only played it on a Standard Definition TV. There are some amazing camera and motion effects when you pan the camera to get a view of the area you're in. The story which I won't spoil for you, but starts with Pirates attacking Nate and the camera woman on the boat they've hired. This really throws you straight into the game which doesn't let up until you either turn it off or you play right through. The game flows beautifully without the need for loading screens and each chapter rolls into the next, which means you can spend hours just playing through the story. Sadly if you do you may find playing this on easy then you'll clock it in less that 12 hours. I chose Medium and it's taken a fair bit longer mainly due to dying repeatedly on certain levels. The controls work really well and are simple to get to grips with. O being the go to button when bullits start to fly as it sticks you to the nearest surface so you can return fire either blindly or with a more precise aim. You can also fire whilst moving but has no crosshairs. There is also the punch combos that Nate can perform. This is simply done by pressing [], Triangle, []. These moves are context sensitive and depending on the angle of attack and position of the enemy. My favorites have to be the punching someone against a wall or a running flying kick. The guns which tend to be the basis of this game work well and each feel slightly different. Handguns aren't very powerful to start with but can be used to hit people from varrying distances. The rifles fire quickly but aren't acurate over distance. There are a few special weapions ie desert eagal, sniper rifle and grenade launcher. Powerful but carry far too few shots. Keeping the game balanced. The enemy AI that you shoot at are really smart and tend to provide each other coverfire and will move to flank your position. My biggest issue is that enemy's don't die very quickly and can take a lot of shots to down them. You also have the ability to throw grenades which sadly uses the motion control to aim with so I spent most of my time blind throwing them rather than standing in the open and being shot to bits. You can also shoot and throw grenades whilst hanging from a ledge which works really well. There are a couple of vehicles in the game. A Jetski that shows off the water effects wonderfully and my favourite being the gunner on the back of a jeep, launching greneades and firing bullets at enemy's on quad-bikes. To add to the replay value you have to collect treasure dotted randomly around the levels and challeneges such as getting certain number of kills as headshots, with specific weapons, or collecting a ceratin number of treasures.   The climbing parts of the game are never too difficult but do work really well and look amazing, sadly not requiring the mental taxing that Tomb Raider games do but still wrok really well and can feel like an acheivement when you have spend 5 minutes repeated jumping and falling. If you don't at least play through this game you are doing yourself a diservice. Well worth the price paid and I'm aiming to go back and finish more challenges.

5.2.08 20:41 Permalink / comment

Just one more go... Super Stardust HD PSN £4.99 This game is like a very addictive narcotic. It starts off simple and you think I'm not really into this and then with 20 mins your are hooked and determined to beat all your Buddy list. Well I was at least. The game is a beautifully simple 2 stick shooter were you have to destroy meteors that are orbiting a planet. To do this you have a choice of three weapons which can be upgraded as you collect tokens for them. Rock Crusher (green) destroys rocks, Gold melter (red) melts gold and Ice Splitter (blue) splits ice. Inside asteroids you'll fine green gems if these are destroyed they either release a pickup (ie weapon ugrade, shield or extra ship)  or points. you also have the ability to drop smart bombs which are obtained by destroying ships carrying them and the abilty to do a speed dash. The trick to scoring big is to use the right weapon on the right meteor and keep destroying everything whilst up grading weapons and trying to avoid debris that loses you lives. Sounds really simple but can be really intimidating until you get the hang of moving and shooting. The game's soundtrack isn't all that but does have the option to allow you to use music stored on you HDD. Pocket Symphony by Air has been working well for me allowing me to get over 28 million points. The game has an arcade mode, as well as a planet select, and a co-op mode, which extend the play life of it. A brilliantly simple game that had me sat infront of the TV for hours trying to beat 27 million. Cost per hour rating £4.99 / 25 hours = 20per hour. You never used to get that kind value for money at the local arcades in Bridlington.

2.2.08 15:58 Permalink / comment

Simply more of the same? Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow (PSP) Play.com £17.99 I'd given a brief overview before when I first got this game. I can now say that I've completed the Story mode and I was impressed. Yes it is more of the same shoot from cover action game but it works brilliantly. The game engine from Dark Mirror is still there but has been tweaked to allow for the under water levels. Also the PSP processor now runs at 266 I believe for this game. The water levels are hard and require a different approach but look rather special and the effect of water on the speed of shots is rather smart. For those who have no idea what Syphon Filter is, it's basically a Special Ops game were you control an agent named Gabe Logan. A super action spy, who basically has to go places and do certain things, mainly shooting lots of Terrorist. Think Jack Bauer from 24 but more kick arse. The game's played in an over the shoulder view and works really well the stick to cover system is easy and solid as it the ability to aim from behind cover, pop out and cap enemies. There is also a blind fire option now which allows for shooting without looking at who you are aiming at. The ability to chose weapons is simple, as is the choice of vision aids. Done simply by hold down a direction on the Digi-pad and the pressing the required button for that weapon / deviece. Unlike Metal Gear you don't need 15 thumbs to be able to play. Mainly down to the fact of context specific button presses, ie pressing up on the digi-pad to climb or holding up to swap weapons or pickup equipment. There are also some hand to hand moves which have been expanded on from the previous game, meaing you can now use enemies as human shield, slit their throat with you knife or simply break their necks. The story on this one is that you are lead to believe that you partner has gone rogue but you are only given half of the story. Which unfolds nicely and transports you to various locations around the world. With a rather shocking ending that I didn't see coming but I won't spoil it. The game also features a multiplayer mode like the last one but sadly I keep being told my account has been suspended, so need to contact customer services again, which is a pain. There is also a demo of Combat Ops the multiplay game that allows for level creation. It looks lovely and fairly simple to make maps that can be shared but I've still not had enough time to have a proper mess with it's functions. I'd really recommend this game if you've ever play an SF game. If you haven't you may find yourself rewarded with a rather beatiful if at times a little difficult game. I currently playing back through on Hard to try and unlock the bonus levels and extra guns. So I'd say so far I've put in well over 20 hours which means this game runs at a 90p per hour cost. Which when you consider going to cimema is about £3 per hour you have a real bargain.

2.2.08 15:45 Permalink / comment

It's got a mono brow PlayStation Eye & Eye Create Software £24.99 Play.com Playstation Eye:  The update to the PS2 Eye-toy, that looks like it's got a mono-brow due to a rather smart set of mics. Above the lense. The camera quality is dramatically improved along with the above mentioned mic makes it a rather useful tool for video chatting to buddies via the PS3. The camera also has two zoom options wide and close which help depending on what you're filming. The camera also copes with low light far better than the orginal Eye-toy ever did. But still requires some light tobe able to film things properly. The mics can be used for chatting in games to so you don't have to use a blue-tooth headset or SingStar mic. As well as for recording audio in Eye-create The mics help to focus on vocals rather than background game sound effects or music.  The major bonus was the fact that it came with a Blu-ray disc containing video creation and editing software Eye-create. Which has been available as a download for sometime now. I've previously mentioned the PS-Eye downloads I purchased but Burnout: Paradise uses the camera to send Sanpshots to people who get a Takedown against in the game. It also works as a streaming camera for chatting as well from what I can see from the demo. Sadly I've not played any of the actual games but they look pants so haven't paid for something I won't play. Sony give us a PS3Ninja cos that game kicked but. The previous Eye-toy game packs were great fun and really could be added to the store. Eye-Create  This may look a bit Fisher-Price but this simplicity is amazing. It allows for alsorts of experimenting and has a few tricks I've not seen on anything other than expensive digital cameras. You can choose to take pictures, videos or record audio and edit them together to create movies that can be exported to the Movies section on the XMB. The movies that are recorded can be edited and dubbed with new audio or have effects put on them. Sadly no transitions or titles are included to make things look really professional. But you can revers and mirror images as well as adding ghosting effects and many, many others. Recording movies can be done in a few ways: recording just what the camera sees, recording time delayed images (eyery 5, 30 or 60sec) great for Sunrises or my personal favourite Stop motion which can be used to make standard animation or for creating that strange visual effects. This function allows for skinning (which gives a ghost image of the previous frames so that things can be lined up how you need them. I'm working on a few ideas at the moment and as soon as I'm able to get them on youtube feel free to comment. In my opion the camera is a must purchase if you intend to use it for video chat or haven't bought a headset for game chat. If you like making silly films like me then you'll find that the PS3 is rather adept in that area too.

18.1.08 19:42 Permalink / comment

"We're not gonna take it" SingStar (Solus) PS3 £17.99 Play.com If you've ever played a PS2 SingStar game you'll know exactly how to play the new next gen version. If anything this version is even simpler and all the options such as SingStore (allowing for additional songs to be downloaded), My Media (photos, videos and audio playbacks) taken during the game, My SingStar Online (online profile and place to store and rate your own and other media). Simply press Start and you can also access your Friends list on the XMB. Thus sending them, messages or read ones sent to yourself. The game also allows you to change a few basic option but not enough that need to be adjusted ie menu music volume. Before I start getting on my soapbox about how bad certain aspects of the game are I should just say this game is most fun when served to a room full of drunken family and/or friends. Hook up either a PS2 Eye-toy or PS3 Playstation Eye and the fun really begins cos you can record yourselves singing. This also takes photos during the game and shows star moments. These efforts can be uploaded and shared with the world (well Europe for the moment) or just with your friends. You can also view you friends or anyone elses profile and rate there stuff. You should be able to comment but for some unknown reason this doesn't work. Now I'm going to list all the issues I've found so far: The camera image is a mirror image of yourselves which means that logo and writing are all backwards. The servers are appauling and keep timing out when trying to connect to SingStore, My SingStar Online. Pages take an age to update, especially if you're uploading or downloading at the same time. The Meet SingStars hasn't been updated in months. "Hundreds of songs available to download" is what the Online page says. This is not the case the disc comes with 30 and until today there were only 41 additional tunes for download. Of which all of them have been on other discs. Which you can't use to credit your account as promised. Another 14 tunes were added today but are mainly Blur and Supergrass. Which is good for me but not for others. There is also another update planned in 3 weeks. But this is still some way off the 350 songs promised on launch. The game seems to have reset my network settings meaning my system is now on NAT3 which is preventing me from uploading anymore videos as I get a "FT0 Error". My PS3 now crashes when I try and change my router settings. I bought the Solus version meaning it doesn't come with mics. The version that does, doesn't come with the much promised Blue-tooth mics. Not a big issue for me but would have, had I spent the extra amount on somethign I already have.  I cannot save my media to my HDD or transfer it to my PSP as promised.  There has been an offical response to some of these issues but it looks like yet again Early adopters are being used as unpaid beta testers. Sony get your acts together you get have it both ways. By getting us to pay for something yet you expect us to test that it works. These issues may be addressed before the US release in May but I'm not sure they will be completely ironed out. I'm expecting that SingStar 2 will be due by November and fix alot of these problems if not Sony you had better get a patch ready for one of your updates. It's a shame that these issues have spoilt for me what should have been a beautifully seemless experience. The store is great but space and poor selection. I'm guessing greedy artists asking for more money cos they're content is being used differently than originally intended for SingStar on PS2. It's great fun seeing some of the creative videos that people creat and has inspired us for parties to do a few special things for uploading.

18.1.08 19:19 Permalink / 2 Comments / comment

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