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

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.”

Embargo is lifted and the press are pushing out their previews of Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain is a unique title if you have ever watched any of the videos and for many that represents an intense need to gage others opinions and thoughts on this game. So, I have been reading some of the previews today and thought I would share a few select quotes.

PSNation - “Gameplay between the 4 characters is as unique as the characters themselves. They all have human flaws that you have to deal with when controlling their actions. Control can be construed as quicktime’ish in nature, but it goes much deeper than what you’ve experienced in the past. Depending on what is happening, and where the interaction is happening in association with where your hands etc are to the situation, the button presses, action on the controller, or stick movement is based on that interaction contextually.“

Kotaku – “What was building by the time my preview build reached its end was a decent mystery about who this killer was but also a deeper interest, in me, as to how these four main characters would wind up. I want to know what happens next, what I can make them do and where their emotional journeys will land them.“

Joystiq – “When people find out I’ve been playing Heavy Rain, the first question that generally pops up is, “Is it anything but a series of Quick-Time Events?” The problem with that question is that it inherently assumes that a QTE necessitates a lack of player control. While it’s true that the majority of player input is done via on-screen indicators, to simply call them quick-time events is a bit derogatory, ignoring the innovations that developer Quantic Dream has made.“

Eurogamer – “To my great delight as well – Heavy Rain isn’t a mature game because it has unhappy families and moody lighting, it’s a mature game because it anticipates an adult response from the player and is prepared to receive it.“

Interested? Hit up any of the above sites and find out more about Heavy Rain!

PS3 themes aren’t limited to what is released on the PlayStation Store or what is made available in your Qore download. Early on, Sony released a theme builder tool that allows anyone who can to create their own PS3 themes. Since then I have created 1 theme to test the compiler. After several excuses such as school, work, and time, I have never released another theme. I did work on a second theme but I canned it after dumping too many hours in designing a wallpaper, only to hate it once I was done.

Anyhoo, here are just 3 of my most used themes. I will sharing more cool themes and wallpapers for you to use.

Aniom Project by Nevada: http://www.nyleveia.com

Aniom

Download 720p. Higher resolution at the site above.

Aniom Taiga

Download 720p. Higher resolution at the site above.

Clear Glass Evo by Mr Evo: http://pspxmb.pspuae.com/ (url no longer active)

Download here

Rumors are true. Here is what to expect in the next update!

Continuing with PC/PS3 announcements, SOE is partnering up with Wizards of the Coast to bring the title to the PC in early 2010 and PS3 at a later date.  There are a few other SOE titles that are baking in the oven that have yet to make their way to the PS3. One of SOE’s titles, The Agency, has yet to be confirmed if it would have cross-platform play. I wonder if Magic will be another?

Another title that I am looking forward to is a Crack In Time. The Crank demo was recently released on PSN and this week the Ratchet demo will be released. Another title that peaked my interest was Forza 3. Unfortunately, I will be holding off from this title as I do not plan to renew my Live account anytime soon. Otherwise, here are some noteworthy releases.

PS3

• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
• Tekken 6
• DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable

360

• Forza Motorsport 3
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
• Tekken 6
• DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable

PC

• Borderlands

PSP

• LittleBigPlanet

Wii

• DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable

PS2

• DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable

DS

• Nostalgia

I’ve been absent all week but I always come back to the joy that is the store update. Trine is coming next week, which unfortunately for me is getting lost in-between the great retail releases. Back to Uncharted 2 I go.

Sales

• Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars ($4.99)
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty ($9.99)

PS3 Games

• Topatoi ($9.99)
• BUZZ! Junior: Monster Rally ($4.99)
• Mushroom Wars ($9.99)

PS3 DLC

• BUZZ! Quiz TV Space Pack ($5.99)

PS3 Apps

• .detuned ($2.99)

PSOne

• Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation ($5.99)

PSP Games

• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike ($15.99)
• Manhunt 2 ($29.99)
• Midnight Club L.A. Remix ($19.99)
• Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition ($19.99)
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max ($19.99)
• Astro Boy: The Video Game ($29.99)
• Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl ($14.99)
• Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon ($14.99)
• Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors ($14.99)

Remember Linger In Shadows? A demoscene experiment that proceeded to freak you out with flying dogs and masks with tenticles?

Great. That also means you remember that the next demoscene project, .detuned, by .theprodukkt is making its way to the PS3. Actually, it has made its way to the PS3 in Japan as it was released for their PSN Store update. There has been no updates since the announcement in May of this year.

Rusty Buchert @ PlayStation.Blog

.deTuned is a bit of an odd beast that offers an abstract and surreal interactive experience like nothing else. It is not exactly a game or an art piece like Linger in Shadows. It allows you to create your own visual to accompany your favorite music tracks on the XMB, and using the SIXAXIS™ Wireless Controller, you will be able to manipulate the given scene by interacting with and modifying a man and his world. It even lets you tweak your music as you play with it.

According to Eurogamer, one of my favorite PSN titles is coming to retail overseas. The release will include the recently released Fury add-on pack. In the US you can have such an amazing futuristic racing game for only $19.99 while the Fury pack will run you an additional $9.99. Honestly, this is a steal considering what you get in the game.

SCEA, where is the US Blu-Ray release? It deserves to be in as many hands as it can be!