Playstation 3

A Return to the Golden Age

Chances are, if you are reading this, then you have
officially made it through the draught season.  Every summer, video game releases seem to slow down to a
trickle, with the triumphant return of games marked by the release of
Madden.  Perhaps two of the biggest
releases that come out today (September 6th), are Resistance 3 and Dead
Island.  Both of these titles look
to do incredibly well, and for first week releases, it’s easy to see that Sony
is coming out swinging for the fences trying to win the holiday sales
wars. 

Considering
that shares in Sony have dropped roughly 55 percent since late April (according
to this Reuters report), a strong lineup is definitely needed going into
October and November.  Playstation
also plans to keep the games rolling out all month, with releases such as
Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, NHL 12, God of War: Origins Collection, and Ico
and Shadow of the Colossus Collection all being released throughout
September.  Keep it locked here, as
we will have many of these games reviewed, but until then, never forget to
revel in the fact that we have returned to the golden age of releases, and from
here on out, the releases are only going to get more explosive.      

The Blight of a One Handed Gamer

I still remember the first game
that I ever played.  While Donkey Kong Land on the Gameboy Pocket was not
necessarily the greatest game, and I specifically remember not being able to
get past the 6th level, at the time it was unlike anything I had ever
experienced before.  The world was exotic (for my 7 year old eyes), the
characters likeable, but most of all, I could easily play the game without
using my right hand.

I have a disability called Cerebral
Palsy, which if you don’t know, is a disability that impairs motor
function.  From what I have been
told, my cerebral palsy was onset by a prenatal stroke, and left me with the
ability to only use the left side of my body (I can use the right side but it
is very impaired).  Because of this
impairment, I have needed to adapt to a different way for holding the
controller using only my left hand.  
Luckily (for me), up until 2006, this had not been a problem.  For the most part, almost every
controller that I had played on until the Wii was released in 2006 followed the
similar “horizontal brick” design. 
Because of this, it was easy to sprawl my fingers across the front of
the controller and be able to succeed with relative ease.  In fact, many of my videogame endeavors
proceeded with me holding the controller something like this:

September is a great month to be a PS+ Member

Along with announcing some changes to the update format
regarding Playstation Plus, Sony has revealed that this month will be chock
full of freebies and deals for their subscribers. This comes as great news to
me, being a pretty big fan of Resident Evil in all its glorious forms. Below is
a complete list of the offers that are due (as well as their run time) for the
month of September. Even if you’re not a Playstation Plus member, this month is
definitely worth the price of admission.

Sony is ready for TGS and it’s packing Vita.

Sony is prepared to blitz the upcoming Tokyo Game Show (TGS) with Vita.  Fresh off the momentum of the PS3 $250.00 price cut announcement at GamesCon, Sony is not taking its foot off the accellerator going into TGS. Sony had already announced 13 games for the cutting-edge portable console, posted on the Japanese blog Andriasang, that are set to be shown off at the show. Today Sony announced they have 18, no that is not a typo, 18 more titles that will be announced at TGS. 31 games just wasn’t enough for Sony though. They will also be showing off PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable software. IGN’s Colin Moriarty reported the titles will include Street Fighter x Tekken, Battlefield 3, Ninja Gaiden 3 for PS3 and the PSP line-up will headline Final Fantasy Type-0.

Get Your First Taste of Infamous 2: Festival of Blood

Originally announced at Gamescom, Infamous 2: Festival of Blood will be a downloadable game that stands apart from Infamous 2. 
Scheduled to be available later this year, think mid-late October, the
game will still take place in the city of New Marais.  In this alternate
story, vampires have run amok and Cole has been bitten.  Cole will have
24 hours to save the city before it’s lost and taken over by the
blood-suckers. 

Free Co-op Coming to Space Marine in October

While initially planned for launch, the co-op portion of next week’s Warhammer 40k Space Marine has been left out until October.

PS3 Sales and PSN Usage Way Up

It’s been a week of great news for Sony in regards to the
PlayStation 3. Not only have sales increased massively since last month’s price cut, resulting
in a 400% increase in PS3s sold, but PlayStation network accounts have gone up
by 3 million new users since the hacking incident. Managing
Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, Michael Ephraim announced
the sales increase stating: “This new price point really represents fantastic value for money as PlayStation
3 delivers full HD games, Blu-ray capability, plus music, movies, catch-up TV
and more on demand. Australians love not only games, but also the quality
home entertainment PS3 provides.”