Playstation 3

PS3 Skyrim lag to be adressed in 1.4 patch

Good news for anyone that has
encountered any of the lag issues on the PS3 version of Skyrim. It’s been
common knowledge for quite some time now that when playing the PS3 version of
Skyrim, players have encountered crippling frame rate issues where the game
runs at less than 5 frames per second once your game time reaches a certain length or game file a certain size. Which of course, renders it more or less
unplayable for even the most die-hard of fans.

SoulCalibur V: Preview

I never got into the original SoulCalibur. It was released at a time when I didn’t have much interest at all in fighting games. Fast forward years later to SoulCalibur II and all of a sudden I had found the series within this genre I had been looking for all along. SoulCalibur V is the latest entry in the now long running series and it is looking better than ever.

Unlike most fighting games, SoulCalibur isn’t about kicking and punching or, to an even lesser degree, focused on elaborate combos compared to others.  Instead, every character wields a melee weapon of some kind and is geared towards slow and powerful attacks, fast and nimble strikes, or a more unusual approach such as characters like Voldo who can fight facing backwards or Yoshimitsu who despite appearing in Tekken feels more at home in this series.

Amy Runs Into Pricing Debate

I find it odd that the most news that I have heard about the upcoming survival horror downloadable game Amy relates to the recent news that the pricing of the game has become a bit of a controversy.  For those who do not know, those who want to purchase Amyon the Xbox 360 were going to be charged $10 (or 800 points) whereas if you were to buy the game on the PlayStation 3, the cost would be $12.99.  This is the exact same game; the difference is that if you were to buy the game on the PS3, you would be charged more for (ostensibly) no reason.

The reasons for this extra charge were recently discussed by the CEO of the studio developing the game (Lexis Numerique), and the main point that Jose Sanchis tried to make was that, while 800 points was equal to ten dollars in the US, it was actually worth roughly $12.80 when converted to Euros.  Because of the following outrage, Lexis Numerique put up a Facebook poll that may end up changing the price of Amy on the PS3 to $10, but if this were to occur, Lexis Numerique would need an extra week to release Amy on the PS3.  Regardless of this odd news, Amy will release over the next few weeks, and looks to be a somewhat intriguing jaunt in survival horror

Mass Effect 3 Could Prove To Be One of the Best of 2012

Gran Turismo Gets Super Sized

Polyphony Digital and Sony are making the right moves with Gran Turismo 5. The new Spec 2.0 is soon going to be available as a full retail game as soon as January 17th.  Named the Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition and priced at just $39.99, it comes complete with the original version of GT5 plus the update to Spec 2.0 on the disc.  It also comes bundled with a $20.00 voucher that can be used to buy the DLC packs that have recently come out.  The XL Edition will also come with a reversible sleeve for the case that features the Red Bull X2011 Prototype designed by Adrian Newey, the Technical Director of Red Bull Racing F1.  The X2011 is an evolution of the X2010Vettel that was designed for the original version of GT5. 

Bright Light Studios Shut Down by EA

Developer of most of the Harry Potter games published by EA, Bright Light Studios has sadly been shut down.

While the cynic in me would jump to the conclusion this was because there are now no more Harry Potter books or films to “piggy-back” off, I imagine the real reason was the usual business decisions in cost management in the ongoing shaky economy. It’s not all bad news however, as some of the employees of the now closed EA United Kingdom developer have been moved over to companies like Criterion and Playfish.  How many managed to get new jobs is unknown, but it was believed that as many as 100 people were once part of the team.

Gotham City Imposters Delayed

While no reason has been given as to why, Gotham City Imposters – the unusual Team Fortress-esc shooter from Fear developer Monolith has been pushed to next month.

The game was slated for release on PC, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network later this month.  In case you haven’t seen or heard of it, the game is set in the Batman universe, though despite Monolith Studios being tied to the same publisher (Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment) Gotham City Imposters shares no links with Arkham City besides the obvious Batman context.  The title is a regular old first person shooter focused on co-operative team play similar to Team Fortress 2, but with its own unique set of modes and mechanics, based off the footage I’ve seen and the people I’ve talked to who managed to get in the beta.  It also boasts a creative cast of strange looking characters who are either aligned with Batman or the Joker.