New week and I am ready for it! I have tons of demos and stuff that I need to play and I likely won’t get through them all but I certainly will make time for a few new games this week.

LIMBO is releasing this week on PSN and Steam. This game was previously released on XBLA last year but within a years span, I have turned on my 360 all of two times. So whichever platform I go for, I think I will have fun!

LIMBO

Whats different about this next game is that yes, it is a PS3 exclusive title BUT it is exclusive to PlayStation Home meaning no downloads from the PlayStation Store. Unfortunately, I did not get to play this game during E3 in the E3 Home space but I have heard people say lots of good things about it. Just check out the video below.

Scribble Shooter

So it appears that Sony is looking at putting tutorials on the XMB. My first response is “duh.” I am not exactly sure how it has taken someone this long to think of something like this. My first inclination of them doing something like this was with the PlayStation Move controller. At a friends house, when I updated their firmware and hooked up my move controller, I was taken to a little guide that told me how to control the xmb with the move controller. I thought that was a great way to inform people who don’t visit forums, in how they can use the controller.

Another thing that I have longed for was for short video clips after updating the firmware, or a short picture/text presentation of the new features. Sony has a lot of real estate to inform their customers and are only just now realizing it. I hope they too realize that we would like XMB customization options, such as hiding or deleting applications we don’t use from the XMB or just better organization in general.

Joystiq

Well, this is a little creepy. I get a Daft Punk sensation when watching the video but can’t help to think they look like a giant pleasuring device.  Yes, I will be buying one.

Honestly, I think this was just Lifehacker’s excuse to use the Double Rainbow song. Either way, the song is awesome and Google Instant is awesome. I certainly can’t wait til they make it native in Chrome.

Google Instant Shortcuts
Tab/Right arrow = selects the first suggestion
Up/Down arrow = selects a suggestion from the list
Right arrow while selecting a suggestion = I’m feeling lucky
Enter or Esc = ignore the suggestions and find the results for your query

Now this is cool:

Of course you have heard about the increasing interest in using one time online authentication codes for new copies of games sold while selling additional keys, for online access, to used game owners? Right. I have no problem with that. If you want to restrict used game owners from online functions of a game, go at it, but don’t tell me that by purchasing a game used I am equivalent to a pirate and that used games are cheating you.

Cory Ledesma was quoted by CVG saying: “We hope people understand that when the game’s bought used we get cheated.” Really? Really? How exactly are you being cheated? Person A purchased 1 copy of your game. Person A sells it to a friend and Person B purchases that game. That is still 1 copy of a game and 1 person playing that game. Person A no longer plays that game, therefore, the transaction is transparent to you. What is the mathematical formula that takes me selling my game to equal two copies?

Do you really have that much of a problem with GameStop that you choose not to fix it and continue to work with them? Are you saying we have no right to sell the product we purchased? Are you going to just ignore your outdated business model and force everyone else to pay, pun intended? Do you honestly believe that your game is worth the price you are asking? Is the DLC milking train not netting you enough?

So many questions and not enough answers. If you want people to purchase new over used, then provide a superior product and continued service to new customers. Take their product authentication and net them discounts on sequels, DLC, or other items. Give them boosts, double points, or extra cash for multiplayer titles. Give them first access to Beta’s! Look at MAG. Own the game and get access to the beta. You want me to keep my disc, and you want me to buy new, provide outstanding and ongoing service for you product!

I can go on and on and I am sure many can argue against me but these are just my thoughts.

With it’s new tag-line “It only does everything”, Sony is riding on the success of it’s latest marketing campaign. Determined not to let this opportunity slip out of its hands, this fall Sony will adopt the new tag-line “It only removes everything” with the launch of firmware 3.5 that disables blu-ray playback. Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, had this to say when asked about the upcoming firmware:

“Our consumers are important to us and when they rallied for PS2 backwards compatibility, we removed it from our consoles. They enjoyed the many usb ports and memory card readers and we too removed those features. With firmware 3.21 we responded to our user base by removing the “Other OS” option after they showed dissatisfaction that the PS3 slim models didn’t have it. I think disabling the Blu-Ray drive within every PS3 console will be the next important step for our company.”

This isn’t new to Sony. In early 2009 Sony released some stupid piece of shit that didn’t work. Loaded with all the latest tech and features, it was programmed to never work. After further customer feedback, it was found that removing features, as opposed to making it difficult to use them, was optimal to the user experience. When questioned on details of future firmware Tretton did say to expect some “apocalyptic weekends that leap beyond your imagination.”

I was born into Mac and was forced to leave when my iBook died a few years ago. Because I needed a new PC for school and I was too poor to afford an Apple product, I purchased a Dell Dimensions PC. Oh man was this thing a beast 5 years ago. Celeron 2.53ghz and 512mb ram. Whatch out! Today this bad boy rocks the same specs with 1.25gb of ram. Hot stuff.

Today that all changes. My first time PC budget build will give me 4 cores, 4 gig of ram, and the biggest smile I could ever have.

Sometime ago the Sony Networked Product and Services Group was merged with the Gaming segment. Now Sony is renaming Sony Computer Entertainment to Sony Network Entertainment Platform only to absorb the company into Sony and then split off its Gaming business into a new company called Sony Computer Entertainment while Sony Network Entertainment, SCEA, SCEE, and SCEI watches from abroad.

Yeah.

I really want to believe. I stopped playing Sonic after Sonic and Knuckles. I skipped all the 3D Sonics because…well, you know why. I really want to believe in this but I just can’t given the past history. What do you think?