September has come and gone and US PlayStation owners were left wondering why the long awaited title Trine was a no show.  No worries. The PlayStation Network still got some new titles such as TMNT Turles in Time and re-release of PSOne classic Final Fantasy Tactics. Here are some of my musings.

What’s New
TMNT: Turtles in Time as well as NBA 2K10 were both new releases that made their way onto the PlayStation Network in early Aug. Both titles have seem to claim their spot as the top picks for September. Zombie Apocalypse got a late start with its 9/24 release date on PSN but it managed to snag the #7 spot. It will be interesting to see how consumer interest in the titles continue.

You’ve Been Dethroned
Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was a new title released to PSN in August and ruled the #1 spot for the month. It seems this title has fell to the #4 spot and has given away it’s spot to the newly released Turtles in Time. Shatter, a personal favorite, released in late July has made its exit from the monthly top 10. Shatter debuted in the #5 position in July, with a two spot drop to #7 for August. I do hope it makes a return for future top 10 lists.

I’m Not Going
Other titles that continue hold their ground in with the onslaught of new games is Fat Princess and Battlefield 1943 who not only had to make way for two new titles, but were also edged out my Final Fantasy VII moving up to the third position.

Top 10 PSN Downloads (Sept. 2009)

1. TMNT™: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
2. NBA 2K10: Draft Combine
3. FINAL FANTASY® VII
4. MARVEL™ VS. CAPCOM® 2
5. Fat Princess
6. Battlefield™ 1943
7. Zombie Apocalypse
8. Silent Hill™
9. Final Fantasy Tactics®
10. SimCity 2000™

*Blue indicates new releases.

A special thanks to Sony and Porter Novelli for providing the data.

So PSP Go is going all digital and will be in your hands on Oct 1. Launching with it will be the new PSP Minis section that will feature small, cheaper download-able games. Several iPhone developers have made the jump over to port some of their titles as well as get started on original titles. The long awaited GT Mobile will be launching that day as well. This all got me thinking; if the Go is all digital, what will happen to those pre-orders that everyone seems to love?

Paper or Plastic?

Recently you would have noticed that more and more PSP games are being offered as downloads. You should have also noticed that for some download-able titles an empty box is placed on a retailers shelf that includes a game manual, some other random item and a redeem code for an extra fee. So you get to keep an empty box with no disc. This is still a good idea, outside additional price but it’s understandable, as consumers can still see that there is a product available even if it is for download only. You also have some titles that are still present via UMD disc for all current PSP models. How long this practice will stay up is beyond me.

Pre-Order Please

So now that you know the delivery methods for future PSP games, what about those pre-orders? A PlayStation.Blog user asked that if he purchased the upcoming Motorstorm Artic Storm from PSN, how could he get the pre-ordered items? The response was that it would be made as a download the first 30 days for those that purchase the game via PSN.

More Than Just a Pre-Order

If a publisher chooses to release a PSP title digitally and opt out of releasing a retail copy of the game, I hope they would still feel inclined to provide a pre-order bonus. How will this work? Simply give a deadline to pre-order the game before it is released.  I am thinking of a two step pre-order process:

1. Make pre-order available before game release date with an additional item for user that ends on game release date,
2. Make a second pre-order gift available for a limited time after the game release date.

The main goal I see is to spur first week sales and garner attention pre and post release. Most titles can do this but if the pre-order items are compelling enough then maybe you can get many to commit before they get the game. Since Fat Princess was announced, I knew I would be purchasing this game and I would have plopped the money down earlier if I could.

How Do You Pre-Order

Another thought running in my mind regarding pre-order is pre-loading.  When users pre-order, they can download the game that requires an unlock key to activate. This activation key can be a manual download or simply a timed activation similar to the video store movie rentals. The pre-order can even be the activation key itself with users downloading the full game on release.

Enough Rambling

This certainly isn’t restricted to PSP titles or PSN titles as well. Sony could offer their own pre-order bonus from the PSN store by providing a discount code for that retailer, or actually allowing you to select your retailer of choice via PSN to pre-order. Well, I am getting ahead of myself here. Let’s see if they head in this direction or pick up on some of the things Valve’s Steam does. I can dream can’t I?

My initial thoughts on the PSP Go weren’t great. I didn’t like the look of the device in leaked pictures and just wasn’t all that impressed.  After seeing countless hands-on videos and reading the specs I am left really wanting one but being slapped in the face for having such lust for the device. Apparently, Mr. $250 does not want me to get the device.

Hardware

Sony has sacrificed some features such as the larger screen for overall portability. If I didn’t own a PSP 2000 this would not be an issue but since I do, it is kind of hard to downgrade in screen size, but all the impressions of the screen are positive. My next thought moves into touch screen territory. Unlike many who have expressed interest in touchscreen for this device, I am not looking to play games with the screen. As a system that hides its controls through a sliding screen, what could provide a more friendly user experience than being allowed to control your media through the  touch screen interface? As it stands now, you will need to continuously open and close the device to navigate around the system. None of the hands-on impressions I have seen tested out using the shoulder buttons but it is a question I have submitted to Sony.

I then have to ask why are they still using 802.11b? Why not upgrade the system to 802.11g for wifi connections? Where is the navigation add-on we were promised a year ago? Where is the camera? This may not be a true PSP successor but these are certainly additions that could demand the premium they are asking for the device.

Software

As far as games, the line-up is ever so impressive but what about everything else? During E3 Sony released Media Go, an iTunes like application that allows you to manage your PSP media, games, music and access to the PSP PlayStation Store. While Media Go certainly seems to be more responsive that the previously used Media Manager, I still run into one glaring issue; I cannot queue downloads. For a device that allows the user to be on the “Go”, if a user downloaded a demo or purchased a game, their PSP or store visit will be halted until  said download is complete. To expand on this the downloading of content from the Store requires the PSP be connected. Certainly not a big issue but to the average iPhone, iTunes user who is accustomed to downloading to their hearts is content and syncing later, this does present somewhat of a inconvenience.

Price

Everyone has made it fully aware about what they think of the price. Sony claims that price is not a barrier of entry and that the PSP Go is positioned to be a premium product. Sony is also trying to rid themselves of the rampant PSP piracy while also pushing digital downloads. So why is the PSP Go priced $80 over the standard model which comes in a bundle? One could assume that they are building a better pricing structure that benefits retailers much more. One again could also assume that the Go is no more expensive to make than the PSP 3000 due to a smaller and lighter packaging with removal of various parts such as the UMD drive.

Overall

It seems Sony has not learned their mistake with the $599 PS3 fiasco. “Value” seems to be a word they have used often but unfortunately for them consumers do not walk in a store with a check list to determine the value. In one step Sony has has announced a product that could make headway in digital distribution and cut down on the rate of piracy for the PSP while simultaneously providing an expensive barrier of entry that will do nothing to help DD, or piracy.

During the E3 conference I started to fall in love with the device. I love that it has blue-tooth support for tethering as I can now access the PS Store from my mobile phone. I love the new memory support and the large on-board memory. I was set to upgrade to the PSP Go this fall and give my 2000 to my brother but that isn’t happening now. The value just isn’t there. A trip to Dell’s website can net me a PSP for $119 while another trip to Amazon can get me 16gb memory for $40.  For now, the PSP 2000 is good enough and does everything the Go can do and at a cheaper price to boot!

Life In SCM continued…

One of the things that always freaked me out about my new job was that I was automating it. I was preparing the development team to move to an automated process that would do 75% of my work. That left me wondering where I would go once the automation was complete. That is certainly never a good feeling to have, and it doesn’t help when your co-workers start asking you that same question.

I pressed on with the automation because it was something sorely needed for the development team and myself. Our code-base was growing, our projects were growing, and our development team grew.  Project managing our semiweekly and large monthly releases, while training developers, upgrading our web environment, and going to school full time took its toll on me. 10-12hr work days were the norm, and sometimes even went beyond that. Manually cross checking our code-base and reviewing check ins, revision number changes, deployments to delta, dev, and beta platforms was just a chore. Though the automation was the light at the end of the tunnel.

What is this automation I speak of? It was a true CM System with change management controls in place. This tool replaced one major document I used that tracked all changes, approvers, and testers…sorta. See this release management document kept track of all bug fixes and enhancements. It tracked the reason we were making changes to the code-base as well as tracking the files and revisions used for that particular change. With this new system I no longer had to do this manually. The developers tied their change to a request and it automatically tracked it through automated reports. This automated report was updated several times a day and only took minutes to create while my manually created code analysis reports took 3-4hrs per release and I updated it weekly. This system also enforced code reviews, code security, and proper deployment procedures as well. To me this tool was all I could ever ask for and more. After spending 1 year on the job, I went from loathing my work to now enjoying it.

Oh, you think that was all? You think the implementation of this cool automation tool sprouted flowers with singing birds and dancing squirrels? No, not in the least. If anything, it made my cube a red target. I became the guy to hate. Yes. The developers hated the new process. They hated the restrictions. They hated change. It didn’t matter that this process re-inforced our audit procedures. It didn’t matter that this new process guaranteed us a solid code-base. It didn’t matter that this new process gave them all the tools and reporting they ever wanted. It didn’t matter that they went from being supported by 1 guy, me, to a team of 7. None of that mattered because the process sucked, and I sucked for forcing them to use it.

This is where the real battle began…

When looking at the US and EU PlayStation sites, I am taken back a little in how one is superior in features over the other, namely the EU site. One would think the two regions would be collaborating with each-other or providing a single team to push changes to both sites. Instead they have their own teams for each that are pushing their own changes to the PlayStation sites. What this does is allow an inconsistent design across regions, and allow one region of users to get features before another region. We should be used to that right? Here is a breakdown of some things I noticed between the two and why I vastly prefer the EU services:

Connecting PSN data to PlayStation.com went live the end of last year and they are continuing to roll out several phases. The first thing users were able to see was their profile:

US Friends List

EU Friends List

The first thing you notice is trophy data that appears besides your friends ID on the EU site while you see nothing on the US site. Another feature that is missing is filtering for the US site. On the EU site you can sort by online presence, online ID, quick friend (favorites), or trophy level. 1 point goes to EU for a much better friends list.

Now you are wondering, if you can see your friends trophy data like that, then where can you see yours? Easy just click on the My Trophies tab and you will be taken there:

US Trophies

EU Trophies

Europe gives us another thing of beauty. Can you tell what’s missing from the US site? That is right, sorting. Having the ability to sort your trophies is something that is welcomed by all trophy whores. As you can tell by my profile, I am not a trophy ho.What about those portable IDs? How can we pimp out our PlayStation presence online? Let’s see what they offer:

US Portable ID

EU Portable ID

When utilizing the EU version I get a game character theme, and trophy data, what more could you want? Can you believe that when the US launched portable IDs Europe had a fancier version right out the gate? This is another example of the two teams not utilizing each-other.

EU Quick View

Sometimes you just don’t want to be buried under a list of menus trying to get to your profile. Sometimes you just want a 1 click button that gives you a snapshot of everything. That is what Quick View is for. If you are logged in and on the EU.PlayStation site, just hit Quick View and the above will be presented to you.

Due to the reason above, the EU site is certainly more functional to a user such as myself. Not to mention the very quick PS account access from the EU Blog:

From there I can do all my account management activities on a single page visit while it will take a few more clicks to accomplish the same task on the US site. That is, if you know where to look.

So why do the two regions not leverage each-other if they ultimately have the same goal? Sure, the content they may provide to the end user may be different but the core technology and features they will use to deliver that content is there. Why not talk to each-other? I hope the US site can certainly catch up in these features the European region provides to it’s users.

Yes, there was no day 1 post but there is a day 2. I finally got inFAMOUS on the 27th but I only got to put about an 1hr or so in it. Yesterday, I played for a couple of more hours and I am having a ton of fun.

After getting 20% through the game I find that I am much more interested in completing it compared to other sandbox games. GTA, I get bored shortly after getting the game and I never finish the story because I get bored. What I like about inFAMOUS, so far, is that the reward for me to do the missions and some of the side missions is to gain new abilities, open up new levels and get more power! So I find that I am skipping the side missions to stick with the story to find out what is going on and gain new abilities. I also must say the powers that are given come in very good intervals. It seems right when I need something a mission gives me a new ability. That is just great pacing as far as upgrades and story.

One thing that I am having a big issue with is…staying good. I can’t power drop in fear of killing innocents. I have to becareful throwing cars around, and throwing bombs so I don’t hit any citizens. I have to restrain myself and not succumb to the power. Is this what Cole is going through? Reminds me of my all time comic favorite, the Phoenix Saga. Jean trying to contain the power that is surging within. Like the Phoenix, I want total destruction.

Every year it feels as if I should put myself on a E3 blackout. Why? Well, there are always company leaks leading up to it. Typically, I hate surprises because a surprise to me is actually a setup or trick from a friend which puts me into a moment of rage but I digress. When it comes to big events such as E3, I want to be surprised about what the company will talk about. I want to be surprised at what the company will show, even if I may think they will show it. What depresses me is when people start leaking product information, or start recording practice conferences so they can leak to Youtube.

Why do I hate company leaks? It’s because I then lose appeal, and lose excitement in the actual event. Companies don’t restructure their plans or presentations based on leaks so you find yourself say “Is that all?” Because everything was spoiled for you ahead of time, you then come to expect something more grand or outrageous to be announced. That’s really not how it works…in most cases.

If I was a company trying to keep certain projects under wraps until that big moment, I think I would threaten everyone who is involved first child. If the janitor sees something and leaks it to the news before we are ready to announce, I will take everyone on the projects first born. I would then continue with outrageous threats and follow through with them if things are leaked. I wonder if that is how Apple does it? Does Steve send his ninjas to take out anyone who leaked information, or does he just chain everyone to their desk not allowing them to leave, or talk to anyone until their project is complete and ready to be announced? Even then, some things still leak.

There really was no point to this than to really express that I dislike when company leaks happen, especially before big presentations when you are supposed to be shocked and awed, because the excitement is done and over with as soon as I finish reading my RSS feed.

Sony’s 08 fiscal year numbers went up and afterwards a slew of goals were released. One interesting enough was that Sir Howard Stringer stated the PS3 would become a platform for web services and to expand the PSN to other hardware devices. Interesting.

The thought of putting PSN on other hardware means, Sony TVs with ethernet or wifi-cards plugging in to the PSN video store, my cellphone connecting to PSN to stream video, or connect to my friends list and send messages. I can move right along to my PC, and purchase the latest game releases off PSN, connect to my PSP to play the game and finish off with my PS3 downloading said game save file and letting me finish on the big screen. Even so, making PSN available to other devices  is great. Accessing the PSN video store, game store, and hopefully music store from any device under a single ID is more than welcome. First Sony must get those divisions talking to each-other.

I am getting kinda crazy with my thoughts but that is the future I envision. Maybe this is the future Stringer sees as well but finding it hard to get everyone to accept it? Let’s face it, this economy is making everyone think twice about what they are doing but during this time is an opportunity to shine.

So what do you say Sony? You already have the PSN on the PS3 and PSP. You had it on the PC. What do you have up your sleeve?

Although, the weekend is over here is the game concept document I promised. If you have ever been curious about what a game concept paper looks like, where here it is. As stated before, it is not a showing on how to do something but rather how to not do something. This was my first document ever written. Not only that but I wrote it an hour before deadline and I didn’t do a good job. Take a read and see: Game Concept: LastSong

To fill my work day, I listen to podcasts. Sometimes I don’t get a chance to keep up on all the news and they allow me to catch up on whats been going on as well as get their take on the most recent gaming news. This requires me to subscribe to a lot of podcasts and sync them to my iPhone. Sometimes I forget and curse myself the next day when I want to listen to the latest PSNation podcast. That is where Furious Gamer Radio comes in:

Furious Gamer Radio is an iPhone, iPod app that you can download for the low price of $1 USD. This application streams various podcasts to your phone over edge, 3g, or wifi. I of course recommend you not stream this over edge at least as it will be a bit choppy. The app lets you continuously move from show to show as if you were actually listening to the radio. FGR retrieves the most recently released episode for your listening pleasure while also providing an archives tab to view the 1 show prior. Another great feature is the Games tab. This tab will allow the user to view what podcasts are talking about specific games. If you want to know who is talking about Killzone 2, just select Killzone 2 in the Games tab and choose your podcast of choice. Your selection will take you directly to the time marker they discuss said game.

One last great feature for this app is its web integration. Say I am at work, going to town compiling code listening to PSNation. Uh oh, it’s 4pm, time to go home. I stop the podcast, drive home, hop on the computer, navigate to FuriousGamer.com, and I can pick up exactly where I left off listening to my podcast. That is simply great and has been a welcome addition at work (until they ban the site for having ‘game’ in the title).

Overall the quality of the app and website have been great and it surpasses my expectations. As more podcasts are added to the network, I expect the overall quality to remain high. For only $1, I strongly suggest you giving this a try. If you keep forgetting to sync your phone at night or the shows you listen to are released during the work day, this app will allow you to stream it right away…or at least faster that the RSS feeds can deliver!