Excited for the impending release of Duke Nukem Forever? Of course you are. That much should be obvious. With the long awaited return of the undisputed King of ass kicking, gamers far and wide have taken to countless video game retailer outlets, hoping to pre-order themselves their own little slice of the action. Any self-respecting gamer will understand how HUGE this release is going to be, particularly for fans and collectors who have suffered for 12, Duke-less years waiting for this. However, ordering in the Balls of Steel Collectors edition will soon be an impossible task, with order limits already being hit worldwide.
That said fans of the series that are still determined to grab themselves some form of collector memorabilia for the Duke Nukem release have another option available. EB Games Australia has recently announced the addition of the Duke Nukem “King” edition, for those fans who still want to be able to obtain Duke Nukem collectible merchandise. Enclosed in this sweet little package includes the exclusive bonuses that can be seen below:
The limited edition ‘King’ edition Duke Nukem Forever game.
A limited edition pack of Duke Nukem Bubblegum. So now YOU can kick ass while chewing bubblegum.
A set of Duke theme playing cards (The same kind that Duke typically uses in his favourite casinos.)
The “Ego-Boost” DLC which increases Duke’s in game health 2-fold.
Additional bonus costume DLC for Duke to be worn in-game.
And, you NOW it’s likely that there are a few hardcore fans that won’t even OPEN that gum… Regardless, it’s an impressive little package, and is available as an EXCLUSIVE to Australian customers who order from EB. Now, while the bonuses are nowhere near as extensive as those of the BoS edition, the King edition is currently being run for the same price as the stock standard edition, which means that the enclosed bonuses are essentially free for customers that pre-order well enough ahead of May 6. If you missed out on the Balls of Steel edition, then make sure you don’t miss this one!
Best get the orders in ASAP, and get ready to hail to the King baby.
Pokémon White Developer: Game Freak Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokémon Company Platform: Nintendo DS (Reviewed) Release: March 6th, 2011 Price: $35.00 US, £34.99 UK, $70.00 AUS
Overview:
How many game franchises can you name that are recognizable from the youngest child to adults graduating out of college today? I can guarantee that Pokémon would be at the top of that list. Pokémon itself is so widely recognize today that whenever a new game to the series is announced fans everywhere clamor to see what has been added or changed.
With the latest installment being the Pokémon White & Black games we see perhaps one of the most upgraded pair of Pokémon games to hit the market since the series’ creation. Have all these improvements changed the formula or only improved upon what we know and love. Let’s find out.
Storyline:
As with every Pokémon game you begin your journey in a small town that would be better named as a village due to having only a few residents living within its borders, the town itself is called Nuvema and will be the home to the Unova region’s next Pokémon master. This is where some changes are immediately noticeable however considering the fact that rather than have just one friend, you start with two.
Cheren and Bianca are the characters that fill up the role as best friends/rival trainers this time around and play a much more active role as the game’s story progresses further than what fans of the series may have experienced in previous games where they’re rivals only showed up to fight here and there.
In your house there sits a gift box and inside are three starter Pokémon that have been given to you by Professor Juniper. They allow you to have first pick between your standard fire (Tepig), water (Oshawott), and grass (Snivy) Pokémon and then begins your journey (after numerous tutorials) into a world full of new Pokémon you have never seen before and log them into your Pokédex.
But all is not peaceful in the Unova region. A large organization named Team Plasma has sprung up in the Unova region and with them comes their legion of grunts wearing medieval soldiers’ uniforms. They preach about the way that Pokémon have been treated unfairly and that the best thing for Pokémon is to be free. To do this they will stop at nothing even if it means stealing Pokémon away from any trainer that they come across.
Team Plasma is perhaps one of the biggest delights about the story in Pokémon White because of the way they so closely mirror PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in the real world. Though PETA can claim that they are helping animals occasionally their methods can be seen as extreme if not damaging to the animals they are trying to save, and that is exactly what Team Plasma is doing as is demonstrated by immediate the abuse of a Munna Pokémon that they are trying to “save.” Now what exactly Team Plasma’s motivation is for their freeing of Pokémon everywhere is a mystery to even the sharpest minds of the Unova region.
Graphics:
If anything has seen a huge revamp from previous Pokémon games in Pokémon White is the presentation of everything. The whole world has seen an entire revamp from standard 2D environments to a 3D world unlike anything we have seen before in a hand held Pokémon game. The camera itself is the best part of this advancement into the realm of 3D environments due to the fact that the angles isn’t content to simply stay at the same angle it used to in previous games.
For the majority of the game you will find yourself with the standard camera angle that the game has featured since its creation. This all changes in certain areas as the camera angle changes to depending on where you are and how your character is moving through the environment. The camera isn’t even content to stay in one position when you enter buildings, instead zooming in as you enter to provide a sense of entering the building. This change to the camera angle really brings out the 3D environments and highlights the advancements the series has made graphically.
This translates extremely well into the battles. Gone are the days of static Pokémon with only slight movements depending on their attack. Now you will find yourself entering battle with an entirely animated Pokémon. Every single Pokémon has specific actions that they do while on the screen for a battle and though some may simply be wagging a tail, others are full body actions. This breaks up what would otherwise be the standard monotony of turn based battling into a visual delight. Oh and that active camera that I mentioned earlier returns and slides around the screen during a lull in battle, but when your moves strike home it provides a closer look at your enemy.
If only they were able to make your own Pokémon look great from behind. While your opponents’ Pokémon may be a sight to behold the view from your side of the screen is not a flattering one. The Pokémon on your side of the field often look pixelated and are a far cry from the level of quality seen everywhere else in the game.
This quality can especially be seen during the Xtransciever calls you receive occasionally during gameplay from other characters in the game. During these calls you are treated to a hand drawn looking portrait of each characters’ face (reminiscent of a Visual Novel) involved in the communication. These character portraits are impressive to look at and almost seem out of place after you leave the call and return to the standard exploration mode.
Audio:
There have been a few changes done to the audio presentation as well. Sure there is no actual voicework being done (besides the signature noises of each new Pokémon) and everything is still text based but the background music has seen an upgrade. This is significantly noticeable during battles as the music changes tone and becomes more dire as your own Pokémon are about to faint. Then immediately changes back when you heal/switch your active Pokémon. The world music itself has seen an upgrade in quality and is actually worth listening to instead of turning down your volume to avoid it.
Gameplay:
Pokémon White continues the tried and true structure of all previous Pokémon games. Pokémon appear whenever you are venturing into tall grass and when one appears in front of you, you must do battle with it. Using your own Pokémon you can either choose to capture the Pokémon or make it faint. Any Pokémon you do capture using your Pokéballs will either stay with you, or if you have more than six they will be transported into the box system.
The battles themselves, while they look great, have undergone practically zero change. They are turn based affairs and even against other Pokémon trainers you will find yourself undergoing the same exact process that you have gone through thousands of times before. Ironically the best thing that the developers could have done was do nothing to the battle structure and that is exactly what they did.
One thing that has changed in Pokémon White is the fact that there are 156 new Pokémon between the two versions of the game. This has been done before of course but there is another change that makes these new Pokémon quite interesting. Every old Pokémon that you would normally come across has been removed from the game and will not appear at all during the story of the game itself. Instead the Unova region is full of fresh faces and new opportunities to pick which Pokémon is your favorite.
Earlier I mentioned that battles had stayed the same at heart and that is true. But there has been a new form of battling introduced which adds a bit more spice to the equation. I am talking of course about the triple battle feature which, as it sounds, places three of your Pokémon against three enemy Pokémon. The structure of the battle is roughly the same but instead of being able to target whichever Pokémon on the other team you want to, it varies depending on the position of the current Pokémon. Meaning if you are selecting an attack for your middle Pokémon it will be able to attack any of the enemies and the ones on the outside can only attack the far left two or the far right two respectively.
This is a nice addition and the restriction of targeting your enemy’s Pokémon creates an interesting barrier for those who do not think ahead. Also added is the Rotation Battle which places three Pokémon on each side of the field but instead of an all-out brawl you will only be able to fight with the Pokémon on the front ranks while the other two sit in the back and wait until you decide to rotate the battleground and bring a fresh Pokémon to the front.
These additions to the battle are a nice touch but another nice change is the fact that TMs have received a change in formula. Rather than vanishing the instant you use them on your Pokémon they now are re-usable and can be taught to as many Pokémon as you wish which removes the worry of wasting a TM on a Pokémon you may find a replacement for hours later.
Pokémon also features a new C-Gear which functions as a focus for the WiFi and Wireless abilities within Pokémon White. This provides a more streamlined way to access a number of Pokémon’s online features but a number of them, including trading and battling other players, comes from within the various Pokémon Centers spread across the Unova region. There is a small problem attached to using the C-Gear however as it provides a heavy strain on the Nintendo DS’ battery and can shorten battery life significantly.
Overall:
Pokémon White has seen a number of upgrades to the standard Pokémon formula with little change to the basic structure and this has worked extremely well for the game’s fanbase. The inclusion of the triple battle system adds some spice to the already upgraded visual style of the battle system while the fact that new Pokémon faces are everywhere to be had equals a large step forward for the series while only stumbling over pixelated back sprites.
Game Name:Pokemon Black Version Platform(s): Nintendo DS Publisher(s):Nintendo Developer(s):Gamefreak Genre(s): RPG Release Date: March 6, 2011 (US), March 4, 2011 (EU) March 10, 2011 (AU) Price: $34.99 BUY NOW!
Since Pokémon Red & Blue’s release well over 15 years ago, just about no other franchise has evolved more than the main Pokémon series. After producing 12 titles so far in the main series (not including remakes), Gamefreak and Nintendo have now released Pokémon Black & White for the Nintendo DS.
These two titles come with the promise of starting “A New Beginning” for aspiring trainers everywhere with newly added gameplay mechanics as well as a cast of over 150 new monsters to catch, train, and breed while on yet another quest to become a Pokémon master. The question now is does this new start actually feel fresh, or is the series starting to lose it’s luster. Here is my review for Pokémon Black.
Story
As with every Pokémon title, you start as a young trainer in a small town, ready to embark on your own journey to become a Pokémon master. After some standard introductions via Professor Juniper, you soon meet your two close friends, Cherrin and Bianca, and quickly it becomes time to select your first Pokémon to embark on this new quest which are all wrapped up neatly in the form of a gift. The three starters consist of the water starter, Oshawatt, the fire type, Tepig, and finally the grass type, Snivy. Making this decision is a big one as the Pokémon you choose will somewhat effect challenges and events later in the game.
When you are finished completing the basic training tasks and tutorials, you then set off on your quest to conquer the brand new region of Unova. Unova is much farther away than any of the areas players have traversed through in the past, being completely cut off just about from any of the previous region’s Pokémon and characters alike. This means however that everything, from trainers to the monsters themselves feel brand new and makes the journey much more fulfilling not knowing what is around the next corner.
As for the plot, you still must try to discover every crevice of the region, filling up your Pokédex and aiming to “catch em’ all”, while taking on Unova’s eight gym leaders and Elite Four. That part has stayed relatively the same aside from the varied personalities along the way. There is also an evil team for Black & White by the name of Team Plasma.
Team Plasma are very different from any of the previous teams in the past, as they are actually fans of Pokémon themselves and see trainers as evil for keeping the creatures in Pokéballs for use in battle. Plasma play a huge role in the game’s story and you will be seeing a lot of them as you move from town to town on your journey. This plotline feels a bit more mature and political in a sense while adding some of the most in depth “villians” I have personally seen so far in the series.
My favorite part of the series as a whole has always been the whole exploration factor though, and the many offbeat characters that inhabit the region make this as fun as ever with quick, witty dialogue and interesting little side-quests in which you can partake in. Locations, trainers and citizens of Unova alike make it easy to want to progress futher in this title and ensure there is never too much of a dull moment ahead.
Gameplay
For Pokémon Black & White, many elements of gameplay have been added and enhanced for the overall battling experience as a whole, which does wonders to make the system feel fresh despite it’s age. The first thing to talk about would be the way you go about catching Pokémon to start with. As you travel Unova, patches of grass, caves, and water all are home to the many various Pokémon which are needed to fill up your Pokédex. Nearly all the Pokémon in the game can be caught standardly in Pokéballs, so staying stocked up at all times is essential if you want to capture each wild encounter you may come across. Catching is nearly exactly the same as it was in past titles, relying on the specific ball used as well as a little luck and how much HP is remaining for your potential catch with up to six being used for your team, and as usual, the others are sent to the PC storage system. I will say for the first time ever in my many years with the series, I caught my first shiny and nearly fell over with excitement. Little rare quirks like that in my opinion boost the demand to hunt for Pokémon in general and make exploration a lot more rewarding.
Battling has grown even more complex than what we seen in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum from a strategic standpoint, but still relies on the same system of type advantages and grooming the proper moveset to best ensure victory over whatever foe you may be up against. Each Pokémon has a distinct nature, which can be completely random and slightly effects the way they perform in battle. As you progress and win each battle, experience is given which is used to level up your team’s stats and level, and the great news for this title is that overall is that it is easy to keep a balanced level team with all of the wild battles as well as trainer encounters you come across. Random battles do seem a bit more frequent this time around, but due to the varied Pokémon you can encounter, these never become overbearing or monotonous.
Brand new to the series are Triple & Rotation Battles. A standard triple battle is exactly how it sounds and plays nearly identical to a double battle, but with the extra Pokémon in tow. The only thing is that Pokémon on the left cannot hit the opponent’s team member on the right, and vice-versa. Pokémon in the center are free to hit all three opposing members, however. Rotation battles work quite a bit different. While still using three team members, only one is allowed to attack at a time. To use another party member, you must rotate the field left or right, moving your Poké right into the battle zone, enabling it to attack. Both of these new additions are not utilized all that much within the game, but make for a great change of pace (and strategy) when encountered.
One of the most important elements of battling is each Pokémon’s own moveset. As you level up, you are rewarded new moves to use in battle. Each Pokémon on your team still can only have four moves, so upgrading techniques throughout the game still is yet another important feature to stay on top of. Each monster’s movepool still consists of offensive, defensive, and status effecting techniques which can change tip the flow of battle in an instant. For instance if you are unfamiliar, a move like Sleep powder will lull the opposing Pokémon to sleep, incapacitating it for a set number of turns, or moves like Toxic will Poison the foe and slowly drain their HP while they are active in battle. Other attacks and maneuvers are mainly used for quick, HP reducing moves, or simply raise stats when applied in battle. This whole layout has been perfected and fine-tuned in Pokémon Black, and keep battling at the forefront of the entire game while adding in many brand new attacks in the process.
Pokémon still have separate abilities which can be used in battle as well. Each ability takes a trait from a specific Pokémon and then uses the said trait to that monster’s advantage. A good example for this is Sandile’s Moxie, which increases the attack stat after it faints an opponent. This title does a great job of utilizing these even more so with this release, adding in even more strategy to be applied to a player’s technique for battles in general.
Along with the quite hefty battles comes the tools that assist you on your quest. Items in the game can be purchased at the shops (which are now conveniently located in Pokémon Centers), as well being found scattered throughout Unova. Potions and status curing items are the most common, but the hold items are still very present and can give your team some much needed assistance for training and battles as well. TMs and HMs are also back with full force, but now with TMs possessing infinite usage, lifting the one-time-only restrictions of the past.
Battles are not where the gameplay ends though, as there is plenty to do other than just toughen up and fight with your team. There are a few mini-game like opportunities which come along which are a great break from an intense route or gym. As you make your way through the game, many puzzles also come into play which can be found in caves as well as gyms and require completion to move forward. These are not too complex, but battles found along the way give these the challenge they need to make it all the more rewarding when you make it to your destination.
Menus have also gotten a small face lift, but not really much has changed other than the mapping of Key Items, which let you hop on your bike, go fishing, ect. by just hitting the Y button as a small menu pops up letting you quickly choose an option. Sometimes certain things still seem like a chore to do, such as using the PC or accessing online functions, but honestly, this hasn’t changed since the start so I can’t find too much room to complain, though it is one minor thing that could use some polish in the future.
Online/C-Gear
Near the beginning of your journey, you are given a device by the name of the C-Gear. The C-Gear is always displayed on the bottom screen (unless you are in a menu) and controls a good portion of the online functions of the game. Each cartridge has infrared sensors built in, which makes swapping friend codes extremely easy as now you can point your DS at a friends’ and swap data instantly. There is also a wireless/wi-fi video-chat feature labeled the Xtransciever, and while small, it is a great distraction and has some features such as voice modification and doodling which are fun to play around with. Up to four players can use the Xtransciever wirelessly, or two can go over Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi mode does require the extra steps of actually adding a friend code in the pal pad, then accessing the wi-fi room to be used, but I encountered hardly any lag whatsoever on the device and felt like this is what the DSi/DSiXL has needed since release. The C-Gear also boasts many new features to toy around with as well, such as wireless battles, trades, and other minor add-ons which make the interactivity between Black & White come full circle.
Graphics/Audio
When it comes to graphically changing a game, both Black and White have definitely evolved the series in major ways due to the small visual touches applied to just about everything in the game. While in battle, each sprite is fully animated and gives life to each Pokémon. Even the smallest details such as a Pokémon blinking and even finally closing their eyes when asleep have been applied which just makes the game feel like no others before it. When I first jumped into my first battle though, the back sprites did seem a little pixely around the edges, but after spending so many hours with the game, this became more of an afterthought. The camera also zooms out and in, making the battles much more intense with the fully animated battle seqeuences
As well as the Pokémon and battles, each city and environment has gotten a huge boost in presentation as well. The second I walked out of my house near the beginning, a couple of Woobat flew over, with the wind blowing Autumn leaves overhead. It really was a sight to see as since Platinum, Gamefreak have been enhancing small touches in towns with minor touches like animated windmills flashing lights on buildings, but Black and White seems to have captured the full on environmental feel and improved vastly from that, adding a huge exclamation point to the whole experience. Camera angles also play a huge part of the game as they add a lot of depth to each location, pulling back and zooming in to put off a better feel of each location making everything feel like much more 3-D and full of life with detailed buildings and environments, animated citizens, and seasonal changes which occur every month.
Music has always been an important part of the Pokemon series, and Black & White offers quite a soundtrack that should keep fans happy for years to come. Each tune is perfectly adjusted for whatever situation or town you may be in and quite memorable as well. A really nice feature was how the battle music can change instantly, such as when a gym leader is down to their last Pokémon or your team member is low on health. This boosts the feeling of intensity with each battle dramatically and keeps you on the edge of your seat during crucial moments. Sound effects have also never been better. Environmental sounds such as wind blowing or raindrops tapping in puddles add a lot of depth to each area and work with the visuals to tie in a full on feel for your location. Pokémon cries also sound sharp and do a great job of capturing the essence of a Pokémon’s personality.
Overall
Pokémon Black & White really could have been just clones of previous titles we have seen on the DS and still would have been great titles, but the finished product we were given should be any Pokéfan’s dream. Everything feels fresh and new, leaving excitement around every corner and is still easily accessible to those who may be new to the series. Battles are more of the same and have not changed a lot, but the new presentation make this aged system feel modern and pushes the series towards the future. I felt very involved throughout the whole story as well, which made it hard to even turn off my DS at times and left me running to my charger on several occasions after hours of gameplay.
It seems with these titles, Gamefreak and Nintendo now officially know that most players that pick up Pokémon titles are going to invest a lot of time into the games, and they did a spectacular job at making this time spent well worth it with many past features being fine tuned and perfected while adding in an even more interesting and diverse world to explore. All of the extra online features are just icing on this sweet-Pokéball shaped cake. Pokémon as a series has came a long way and matured a lot since Red & Blue, and the future is looking as bright as ever now for the series with the release of Pokémon Black & White.
Jean-Karl Tupin-Bron, Game Designer on Top Spin 4, has recently sent us over a copy of his developer diary #6 which details the World Tour component of the game Top Spin 4.
The World Tour mode is open to any player-created character and is basically a ranked mode, with players scores accumulating over the course of a week with the best being ranked number 1. At the end of each week the scores are reset and the best players are marked as the season champions. As with real tennis, there are separate seasons for each gender. So male characters would have their own season and female characters also have their own season. In the World Tour game mode, players will still be able to accrue XP, unlock new coaches and increase tennis strategy levels.
Each season has Seven Tournaments, 4 Major Tournaments and 2 Master Tournaments and a Grand Slam. Each Season always ends with the Grand Slam event. Each Tournament can only be played through once per season, so make sure you win as losing will yield no extra chances. Tournament matches are also worth the most points for your character, so it is highly advised that you partake in all the tournaments each week in order to maximise your score. Apart from tournaments there are also regular events, such as Sparring Partner Training and Quick Matches.
Tournament Events.
Quick Matches earn you a little bit of points per season but not as much as tournaments would. The upside to these is that you can just keep playing them without any kind of maximum playable restrictions. Quick matches are one set of three games, much shorter than tournament matches.
Event Information.
The Sparring Partner Training is a way to gain XP online without facing any human opponents. You train against AI players to increase your personal skill and your characters XP. It doesn’t look like this mode would increase your overall ranking score though.
Top Spin 4 also features a player lobby of sorts to facilitate in the match finding process. The lobby has a news bar at the bottom of the screen which shows information to all players, information such as: who the current champions are, player scores, how your friends are doing and things like that. There is also a history section that allows you to check the stats of any player on the rankings board. But that’s not all that there is, there is also a chart that shows the amount of each players searching for a game in each gametype. Having a hard time finding an opponent, switch to a gametype with more players.
V8hilux has redeemed over 6,000 cube points and is probably enjoying his prize, or will be if he hasn’t received it yet. As you can see he is no longer on the top of the leaderboards, but I am sure we will see him up there again soon enough. Pity the 6,000 cube points weren’t Microsoft Points because then he could have easily bought Torchlight and every single piece of discounted Lara Croft content out this week. I would like for everyone to now take a moment and congratulate V8hilux before continuing to read what is coming to the Xbox 360 this week.
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I Said Congratulate Him!!!
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I’m still waiting…
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Ok, if you haven’t congratulated him yet then you are one sad little person; enjoy the list of stuff coming to the Xbox 360 you big meanie!
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Continuing the Xbox Live house party, Torchlight will be available this Wednesday the 9th of March for 1200 Microsoft Points. This Diablo type game looks like tons of fun, and I will definitely be trying out the Demo and possibly even buying it.
A plethora of Lara Croft content is also going on sale. Check out the half-price deals available for Gold subscribers until March 13th:
Additional DLC is also coming out for a few games, one of which isn’t even out yet. You can pick the DLC up when they are released on Tuesday March 8th.
Dragon Age 2: Exiled Prince – 560MSP / $7 (USD)
Dragon Age 2 The Black Emporium – 800MSP / $10 (USD)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Porsche Unleashed – 560MSP / $7 (USD)
We finally wrap up this week with every game coming out, and this time I have as many of them as I can find around the world; so it doesn’t matter where you live!
What more could you ask for when it comes to The 3rd Birthday than a very large amount of screenshots showing everything from cutscenes to the Over Energy chip system. All of the screenshots have also been completely translated into English which means that you will be able to finally understand the menu screens and the conversations that the characters are having via the subtitles.
These screenshots also show how Aya Brea isn’t the last hope against the Twisted, but it is the only one that will avoid a tactical nuclear strike to avoid complete annihilation of the Human race. Players will make use of the over dive system and take their fight to the Twisted on March 29th when The 3rd Birthday comes out on the PSP in the United States. Check out all of the screenshots below.
The latest installment to the Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn) series is now available on the PSN and Xbox Live in the form of Zune. The third episode to the series is called The Ghost of Laplace and is an hour long, featuring the Federation as it attacks the Palau stronghold. Also as Banagher encounters the Cyber-Newtype Marida the Unicorn Gundamn reveals a power hidden deep within itself.
The Blu-ray of the episode will be available on April 7th and for those who do not know what the Mobile Suit Gundam UC series is, then you need to go back and learn about your giant robot series. Mobile Suit Gundam UC is a series of high-quality hour long episodes that continues the pedigree of the Mobile Suit Gundam series with its action packed giant robot battles and intricate storyline.
It sounds like at least some developers are willing to stand up for the rights of consumers, even if these consumers buy their games used. EA has confirmed today that Crysis 2 will not be coming with an Online Pass to access online multiplayer. The Online Pass system has become quite a nuisance to the gaming community due to the fact that it requires used game purchasers to buy a $10 access code to even play multiplayer for an extended period of time.
Though EA hasn’t released an official reason for the removal of the Online Pass in Crysis 2 it is thought that Crytek did not want to have a barrier put up between people who want to play their game. According to CVG the reason for Crytek’s ability to refuse the Online Pass is due to the fact that the company is having their game published under the EA Partnership program instead of being owned outright by EA.
It seems that with the amount of hacking that happens to the PlayStation 3, the games that are most popular often suffer the same effects. Modern Warfare 2 has been under siege from hackers and modders for long time. So much so that the PS3 version of the game has previously been stated to be “unplayable” due the amount of cheating that is happening.
The patch will be arriving tomorrow on the PS3 and with it will fix a number of holes in the game’s security and will also patch a geometry exploit that allowed players on the map “Fuel” to be able to hide inside of a rock on the map, unable to be hit by anyone but able to shoot everyone. The patch is also being proposed for the Xbox 360 version of the game and the PC, but anyone who has played MW2 on the PS3 knows that the game is in dire need of a patch.
It has been hard to understand Sony lately as far as their handheld division is concerned. First they dropped their PSP-3000 to a price of only $130 for the brand new handheld and then they release a sales line saying that the PSP Go would also be dropped to a $150 price so it would only be a $20 difference between the two versions of their portable game player.
However this is no longer the case because the PSP Go has went back to it’s $200 price range and Sony’s website no longer has the line that stated the double price drop of both systems. Either it was an error in marketing or a pre-mature update but regardless of that, I foresee the sales of the PSP Go to be even worse than they were now that there is a significant price difference between the PSP-3000 and itself.
