PlayStation Move review. W/ Sports Champions

Just a few days ago I got the new PlayStation Move controller. I already had the PsEye for some other games. The move is something that not only can help the PS3's life cycle be extended but also give use for the PsEye that has had very little support from it's launch.

Some of the claims that Sony has been making is the 1:1 tracking that the move has. If you don't understand 1:1 tracking it just means it shows your movements on screen at the same time and same movements that you are making in real life. Some might think that the Wii does this, but this is not so. This is why with the Wii you can make very small movements or large movements and get the same effect. The Move is not like that. It tracks your movement in 3D space with the PsEye. This also allows them to do augmented reality, or basically put things in your hands or things you can interact with that can only be seen on the screen. So does Sony meet these claims? Yes they do. Although some things will need to be fixed or tweaked, this will be in game and not the move controller it's self. the tracking is done very well and follows you everywhere as long as the camera can see the controller.

To go into more depth of this new controller they have a handful of games out at launch with more on the way. One of these games is Sports Champions. This is in all respects the PlayStation version of Wii Sports. All the controls are smoother and more accurate that the Wii though, even with the Wii plus attachment the Move out performs it.

Wii champions has 6 sports/games that you can play. Frisbee Golf, Gladiator Duel, Archery, Beach Volleyball, Bocce and Table Tennis. All of these have their strengths and weaknesses but still perform very well.

First if Frisbee Golf. This is like what you would think . But with the move controller you get the same movement as you would with a real Frisbee. If you tilt the controller or twist the controller the Frisbee will show that on screen. So if you want to throw the frisbee upside down for some reason you can. If you throw it at an angle it will curve and yes you have to do the full movement and strength. (I just would not let go of the controller as we have seen videos of the is happening with the Wii controller) All the rest of the game is basic Frisbee golf.

Gladiator Duel is a basic fighting game. You have a sword and a shield. This game also allows for use of a second Move controller, Although it is not needed it could make things interesting. This is the game with the most weaknesses. The 1:1 tracking if still there and done very well. But after you hit someone if you follow through it does not mean your character will. This does not last for long though as you can quickly readjust and keep hitting. or blocking with your shield. If you have 2 Move controllers one is your sword and one if your shield. this could make for some fun later on. But I personally only have 1 controller as of now.

Archery is one of the more fun games for me in Sports Champions. This is also one that can use two Move controllers. It is very quick paced especially if as you move up in the ranks. But the best part is all the variety of games that you can play. from quick shots and target ranges to a form of tug of war. This is very fun and I could see how a 2 player competition would be fun.

Beach Volleyball is one that I have not played as much. But is pretty good for a 4 player game. Although I wonder how you would get 4 players in the PsEye view. You do 3 main moves: bumps, sets and spikes. This allows for a fairly realistic Volleyball game.

Bocce is one of the best of the group. It uses the motion sensing very well as you can put a spin on the ball and it senses your speed when throwing the balls. This would be great for a 2 player game also as you compete with each other in a very golf like manner.

Table tennis is the most realistic of the group. The Paddle lets you hit the ball at different angles and put spins and other tricks on the ball. You can hold the controller any way you want. So if you hold a paddle upside down you can and it will show it that way in game. This can be very fast paced also depending on your opponent. A 2 player match is also something I am interested in trying sometime.

Graphics in this game are well done although not state of the art. They are crisp and clean and give you everything that you need to play the game and not think of this being downgraded.

Audio reminds me of going to Epcot in Disney World. Its very epic type of music. makes you think of something new and innovative. You can put your own song selection into the game if you don't want to hear the default music anymore. I do wish it would do playlists though.

Game play. This is a new experience for PlayStation owners, and in some ways for Wii Owners. This is easy to pick up and very intuitive. The little tutorials are quick and easy but help you get either the idea of what the games rules are or just little basic movements to help you figure things out.

Presentation. This game is presented very well. When I said the Audio made if feel new and innovative, that nailed it. Everything feels clean and give you that awe struck feeling when you first launch the game. there is plenty of variety so you will not easily get bored and you are always moving, so you will get tired before you get bored. I just have to say, watch your extension playing the games. you could over extend your arms during a big swing and possibly hurt yourself.

My First try at Kinect

So I was at the state fair yesterday and was able to test out Microsoft's new Kinect camera. While I have to say that the idea of this technology is amazing, I cannot say that it works to anyones expectations.

Now I will admit that I did not get a long chance to play. and I only played one game. It is a roller coaster obstacle course, one of the games that will come with the new system. This is a game they they showed at the E3 conference and you can find videos of it on YouTube amongst other places. It started off a little oddly, first it was me and my wife playing and it did not pick her up at first. we had to move around a bit in the room for it to finally see her. But the big issue is we could not tell who it was seeing and who it was not. so we walked around like idiots for a second trying to figure it out. Since the girl explaining it to us could not figure it out either. But then it finally picked us up and we were able to start the game.

It starts out by having you put your hands out and pretending like your grabbing a pole. Then it counts down and you pull back as fast as you can to get yourself moving forward. you move back and forth and jump up and down dodging the obstacles. This seemed to work great at a slow speed. But then you can speed it up by doing little jumps. This is where the issues start. my first jump over something my character just hovered in the hair for a few seconds extra. This would not have been a big problem except for the fact that I hit the next two obstacles. of course by then I had to jump again and had the same issue. By then I was getting frustrated and was trying to move as fast as I could up and down and side to side and kept hitting everything. The lag was just killing me. Basically they just need to slow down the game so the camera can keep up. We finished up and found my wife had beat me by 2 coins and walked out.

We were met right at the door by a lady that explained to us about the system. I know most of the information from watching the E3 conference a few months ago when they officially announced it. My wife had not heard that much about it so I sat quietly and let the lady explain it. My wife really liked that it is voice activated. The fact that you can say "Xbox, Play movie" Is something that both of us admit is really cool. She also really liked the idea that you do not have to have the controller to play the games, even though she had the same complaints about the lag that I had.

So my conclusion is that I think somewhere the Kinect needs to fix it's code so that it will be appealing to more people than just the very casual player. I do not see a hard core player tolerating this for more than 5 min. I could see my nieces and nephews enjoying this because they do not care as much about how correct the game controls are. They just enjoy that the characters would do something when they moved in front of the camera.

Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain is a relatively new genera to gaming. Created at Quantic Dream studios a division of Sony Computer Entertainment. and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. This is a game best described as an interactive thriller or drama. Most of the game is very dreary. There are very few times that you see sun during game play. This is also a game that if you have the mental endurance you could finish over night.

Graphics - The game is very well done, and in between scenes they do not hide the fact that they are proud of that. The rain in this game really helps get you in the mood they want. The areas are rendered out really well and the little details seem strong enough as to not distract you. Each character is well done and rendered in game very well. You sometimes hope that the 3d artists did not have to much fun making some of the female characters.

Story - Well this game has a very well thought out story line, although you do see little holes once in a while. To be honest though I found myself very irritated at the first of the game with the father and the Son Jason wandering around the mall. If you play the game you will understand what I mean. I honestly do not see me having that issue with any of the kids that I know. I can see the situation happening but not that way with a kid of that age. The rest of the story has little to do with that situation except to reference it. You follow a few story lines throughout the game trying to find out who the Origami Killer is. You follow a few main story lines. One is of Ethan, who is the father of the kidnapped boy. You also follow around a FBI agent and a detective, along with some other once in a while that help push the story along.

Game play - for those use to regular games this one is different on how you use the controls. It took me a little time to get use to moving the character around and it caught me off guard a few times during the game also. Basically you point your character in the direction that you want them to go and then hold down the R2 button. this is not all bad but sometimes I just wanted to forget about having to use the R2. Not a complaint though just took some getting use to. this game is also allot about mini games. you have to hit buttons in the right way at the right time. sometimes you will have to hold down 4 or 5 buttons and if you did not start out right you might wonder how you will get that last button or movement with the stick.

Audio - Well if you read my last review of God of war you would know about the Audio issue that I have. Well Heavy rain is the same. I wish I did not have this problem since it would make the experience that much better but I do. But the voice acting is another thing that is well done in this game. I have always said that they have nailed water graphics in games. Well they have done the same with Much of the voice acting. You do not have the issue of a bad translation in most games anymore, and the voice actors are getting better with every game. I did not notice and problems with the Audio for this game. The music fit the mood of the game well and any time a character walks or something moves it makes that appropriate sound. Very well done.

This game plays out like a movie. If you want someone to be able to sit and watch a game while you play it. This is one of those games. It is very interesting and uses allot of camera angles and other little tricks to make it look like it should. Once again this is not a game for anyone under the age of 18. There is some Nudity and Violence along with a few other things that you would not want children to hear. But this game provides all the things that you would want from a thriller movie or game. There is plenty of suspense and with a possible 22 variants on the ending it might keep you playing for a while.

UPDATE: Move Integration.

I just downloaded the Move support for Heavy rain and for me it was a mixed bag. Picking thoughts and questions are easier but some of the controls are a little more complicated. You will have to use the Move controller and the separate navigation controller(although you can the the normal PS3 controller.) Some of the controls are a little more complicated but many of them are more simple and make more sense than with the normal controller.

Honestly I recommend you putting the PS Eye camera on normal view instead of wide view when playing Heavy rain. Otherwise your going to be making some large stretches to get the movements right.

God of War 3

OK so this review is a little late, but I thought I should post it and stop slacking on my game reviews.

God of War 3 is the third game in the series created by David Jaffe and the team and SCE Studios Santa Monica.

Graphics - This being the third game in the series and the first game in the series created specifically for the PS3 makes it graphically the most jaw dropping. Everything is just really well done. Although I do not get some of the grittiness that I would hope for in some of the areas that I would have liked. But this game shines in just about every respect. The rooms and hallways of Mt. Olympus are very well done and well lit. The depths of Hades and the Styx river are in their own way very eerie. Every main boss character is very well detailed from start to finish. Zeus is worked out almost as well as Kratos. Basically if you can find many if any faults in the graphics of this game. You are just looking to hard and missing out on the fun.

Game play - To say this game is gory is an understatement. I found myself cringing at some points and my wife refused to watch the game because of all the blood and violent ways that you kill things. The controls for this game are accurate and generally you should not have any problems with pulling of an attack or just jumping from one area to another. Although I did have some issues with wall climbing when I had to move really fast. I guess I must have been pushing slightly up or down on the stick because when I wanted to have him quickly jump to the side he didn't always do what I asked. But that would be my only big complaint during the game.

Story - Well after the first game the story just got better. The first games whole story line seemed like it was written by a teenager that had just discovered what a breakup was like after just discovering sex and violence. Not that the games have veered to far away from that path. But how they tell the story and how much you actually care about the character and finishing the game has been greatly improved. Especially from the first to the second one.

You don't just hate Zeus because he is King of the Gods. You hate him because he wants you dead just as much as you want him dead. This is a battle that goes back and forth throughout the entire game. neither of you deserve angel wings after this battle is over and done with. All the backstabbing and betrayals that happens in this game makes for a good Greek myth.

I do not want to give away any plot lines for anyone reading this. But you have allot of boss battles and there is a reason for everything other than just to kill someone for the hell of it.

Audio - Well the Audio for this game is pretty good. Although I was not able to get the benefit of most of it. I do have surround sound. But I have a cheaper end surround sound system. This makes it so that I connect through the TV with the HDMI and then I go to the audio receiver with optical. I have found though that with some games they will not utilize the optical cable if I am going through the HDMI also. I have tried other routs also but it still does not work. I do not know if this is a fault of Sony or the game makers. but I am surprised that it is still an issue so late in the game. But despite that the audio and voice acting is done really well.

Extras - Well there are plenty of extras attached to this game. You have the mini games or challenges that will test your skills and sometimes tolerance. they have the videos of how they made the game. You will see from these videos why there is so much bad language and violence in the game once you see and hear the game designers. All this is very interesting, especially if your looking into making games yourself. It will give you a good idea of what skills are needed.

The one thing that still sticks around from the first of the series that really serves no purpose at all for the game are the sex scene games. Yes these are voluntary but still do they really need to be there except to get horny teenage guys to buy the game? This game is not for the weak of heart or someone that is easily offended by violence and nudity since you get a healthy helping of both. This is not a game that parents should let their kids see or play. Honestly if you are under 18 go find another game to play and come back to this later in your life.

Flower

Well I finished Flower the other night, I bought it off of the current promotion that Sony is doing with it's fall game sale on the PSN network. I have been curious about this game since it launched this past spring. But I have not had a chance to play it until now.

The basic thing about this game is on each level you start off as one Pedal. As you go threw the Level you fly by flowers that bloom as you go by giving you more pedals. After a while you will have a bunch of pedals following you around making a pretty cool effect. There are no deaths in this game. But you can get hurt but that mainly just pops you up in the air and makes you try again.

Controls: This game is all about the motion control of the Sixxaxis controller. Holding the controller face up you can tilt if forward and back and tilt it left and right. You do not turn the controller. All you have to do to make it go it hit one of the buttons. I used the X button as it was the most convenient. You then Fly around. Going threw grass and other things.

Story: This game does not have a story per say. But it does have a basic story of cleaning up the environment. You turn countrysides green and lush and you clean up broken down city streets and make them beautiful again. I kept joking to myself that this is how I go green.

Graphics: The Graphics are not a system showcase. That is more in the hands of the game play and controls. But the graphics do not take away from this game. They are very artsy in form. Never a glitch or skip during the game. The visuals in this game were very soothing at times. I am sure that is what the developers intended.

Conclusion. This game is very much worth playing or at least giving a try. The programmers over at "That game company" Did a quality job. This might not be a AAA title or a game that everyone loves and wants to play over and over again. But at the current price of $5 this is one of the PSN exclusive games that is worth playing.

Garphics = 8.5

Gameplay = 8.5

Story = 9

Presentation =9

Overall score = 8.75

Fat Princess Demo

I know this is a little late. But better than never right? I downloaded the Demo for this a week ago and had not played it until yesterday. I was not sure what I would think about the game at first but I continued playing it allot more that I thought I would.

This is a fun little game. Something that I want from a something I would Call a multi player mini game. The graphics are fun and smooth. The concept is simple and basic. Something that everyone can pick up and play. I have to face facts as possibly many others do. Not everyone is an avid gamer. So this is a big plus to have a game that your parents could pick up and play if they wanted.

The controls seem quick and responsive. although at first I was dieing off like crazy. I got a hang of some of the basics and got together a strategy that worked for me rather quickly. The basics of the game is you run around capturing areas and trying to get to the opponents castle, at least in the demo anyway. You have a variety of different characters. a Warrior, Ranger, Priest, and Worker that help you get threw the game. You can switch threw these characters at about any time, you just go back to your castle or in many cases die and you re spawn there. They all have different things they can do. The Warrior has more health and is a great fighter. The Ranger is a distance fighter with a little less health. the Priest is an ok fighter but can also heal their own teammates, and the Worker gathers wood and minerals to help upgrade everyone else and the castle.

This is a game that I would recommend buying for anyone interested in either an online battle or something for your friends and family to join you in a little game.

Graphics = 9

Game play = 9.5

Story = n/a

Presentation = 9.5

Overall score = 9.33

Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

This is an older game. The first one came out at launch or close to launch of the Ps3 system and was able to show some of the power behind the PS3. Motorstorm Pacific Rift took everything that was good with the first and added to it.

I have had this game for a while. Graphically it is still one of the better looking games out there. I still pull it out once in a while and play it and love to see the wrecks. But also the jumps and the all over visuals of the game.

Gameplay: This is smooth and I love how this series has used the motion control of the Ps3 Sixxais controller. The addition of the 4 player split screen was very welcomed since I have stated I much prefer to smack talk with someone bedside me than to someone over my blutooth headset. The single player can be pretty intense. But can get repetitive after a while as the difficulty of the game comes from the limitation of your vehicle that you have to choose. But they did allow a much more robust vehicle type selection to this game that helps it from getting to old too quickly.

Presentation: This is not a story based game. But based more on a festival. Similar to maybe a baha race or rock climbing competition. This just adds a reason why your in the middle of nowhere.

There are some downloadable tracks that I have not tried as of yet. I do hope to download them off of the PSN store someday. But as of now I cannot give an opinion.

Garphics = 9.5

Gameplay = 8.5

Presentation =9

Overall score = 9.0

PlayOn Media Server Review.

This is not a game Review. But it is a program meant to be helpful for Consoles(PS3,Xbox360,Wii). As many know. Hulu and many other websites are not able to play their movies, trailers and T.V. shows on the PS3 web browser. Also Youtube videos although they do work Generally do not look that great if you try to make them full screen. I was looking for an alternative so that I could enjoy these sites on something other than my computer. Of course I wanted to watch them on my big screen TV. I bought the T.V. to watch shows on. I did not buy the computer to watch TV shows.

PlayOn is not perfect. It does not support everything. You have to get plug ins developed by independent programmers (PlayOn gives you a link to one independent site). PlayOn it's self will stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD and YouTube. Hulu and YouTube work very well. I do not have a Netflix or Amazon VOD account. So I cannot give an honest opinion on how those work. I have some plug ins for PlayOn and they work with mixed results. But Hulu provides most of the shows I would like to watch as it is.

I have not been able to stream any of the HD videos to my PS3 But I have not found any on Hulu offered. The Hulu screen shows up like one of your media servers on your PS3 media bar. You just need to go to the Video section and you should see the PlayOn media server. If not look for servers. Do this of course one you have the program installed on your home computer.

PlayOn has a price tag of $40. Not really worth that price. So if you can I would look for the deals that they are giving. Currently they are giving it for $20 if you sign up for Gamefly. I did not sign up for that since I do not currently want Gamefly, although I have used it in the past. But I did find a coupon online that gave me $10 off.

They also give a free 2 week trial period of their program. Which I highly recommend if you are curious and would like to try this program.

There are plenty of other options out there if you do not want to Buy play on. You can always hook your computer or a computer you have built specifically up to your TV. I was not able to do that myself for many reasons, or can use your current Cable or Satellite company and use their DVR and on demand services. For me PlayOn was the most convenient of the three.

I do not intend this to be an advertisement for PlayOn. They have not given me anything or asked me to write this. This is my personal review of the product for anyone that is curious about PlayOn.

Trine Demo

Trine is a basic platformer game similar to that of Super Mario Brothers or the Original Sonic the hedgehog games. But as most games recently it is built in a 3D world. It is very much Story based and has a narrator threw most of the demo. This is what made the game interesting for me. It told the story in a fun story book way. The basics is you switch between 3 different characters on command during the game. The demo I actually felt like I could get threw the whole game with just one character if I wanted to. But some characters allow for faster access or just a way to take a different rout.

The game is based around 3 characters. The Thief, The Wizard, and the Warrior. All of them have a back story of why they are there. all of them wanting something different. But all of them now wanting the same thing, to be set free of one another.

The game play was interesting. But nothing really new. The controls did feel solid and easy to use. although I found myself switching from character to character on accident allot because of using magic or other abilities being up with the switch character buttons in the trigger button area. Not really a complaint. But personally gave me issues while playing.

Graphics were nice and smooth. I was not expecting anything spectacular, but they gave me what I was looking for.

This game looks interesting to me. But I do not see myself playing it multiple times. I do not think this game is really got the staying capacity for me to justify buying it. The Demo was fun and interesting. But from what I saw in the Demo. I do not see myself playing this more than one time threw. For some that is just fine. For the budget minded this does not seem like a great investment. I would say this would be a great rental. But it is a PSN title only. So no way you can rent it. I would like to see it do well and the developers maybe bring out some more games like this but with maybe more depth.

Garphics = 9

Gameplay = 8

Story = 9

Presentation =9

Overall score = 8.75

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Review.

Ok. All the reviews I have seen on Uncharted 2 have been fantastic. I would have to agree with them. Uncharted 2 is one of the best games of this generation. The controls are great with only a few issues. The graphics are top notch and the story just gets better and better as you play threw the game.

First we will go into the story. I am not going to give away any spoilers. But the game goes in between game play and cut scene so well. that if your not the one playing. You might not know that there has been a change. The game starts off with allot of flashbacks. So be prepared. But without the flashbacks you would have no idea what your doing. They play between characters is fun and interesting.I really like how Nathan and Chloe banter back and forth with each other during the entire game. You know that there is a history behind the two of them right from the start. But to see how they react to each other through out the game tells you allot about the two of them. Then when you Add Elana from the first Uncharted into the mix. You get to see a good amount of confrontation that adds to the fun of the basic story. You cannot complain too much about the story and defiantly not about the acting.

Graphics were amazing. Everything was wonderfully detailed. The backgrounds were gorgeous. The up close and personal details are emasculate. Everything Is well done. There are parts where you get to look over a whole valley, and you see how much work Naughty dog put into this game. There is not another current console game out there that can match Uncharted 2 Graphically.

Gameplay. This is the only area that I had issues. The controls were great. My complaints was sometimes Drake would not post up against a wall until I had rolled into it a few times or he would completely roll past the wall into harms way when I was in a hurry to avoid getting shot. I also did have the game freeze up on me once. Then another time I was shot threw a wall. So I was not dead yet. But I had no way out. Then another time. I got caught in an obviously scripted part of the game. and got stuck behind some rubble that was more meant to keep me on the side that I was not on. I did also have a complaint about the hand to hand combat for this game. Although I liked it at first. I did start to find it tiresome at times when I would constantly get counter attacked. So although it was an improvement. I also felt at times it took away from the feeling I got from the first game of just running up and beating the crap out of someone. That would be more of my personal preference so I would not expect naughty dog to fix that.

Online. This is just a great addition to the over all game. Sometimes the match process can get unfair. Or the wait can tend to be long depending on how many people are playing in your area. But once you start playing. its so fun to run around and just find people to shoot, climbing walls and buildings and ladders. Your almost always going to get shot and killed because everyone comes from anywhere on the map. But the whole process is so much fun that it keeps you wanting to play.

Naughty Dog has brought out one of the best action packed experiences that you can have on a console. That includes watching a movie or playing another game. With Uncharted 2 you get both. With only a very few flaws. This game deserves the high praise that everyone else has been giving it.

Garphics = 10

Gameplay = 9.5

Story = 10

Presentation =10

Overall score = 9.9

Mission

My mission is to review every game that I play. Every Demo that I try and give it a fair and proper score. Graphics will only be a small part of the final score since most games currently have amazing graphics already. But the attention to detail in both game play and story will be highly looked upon.

Story: Needs to make some since. Not that it needs to be an epic novel. But I don't like to be told one thing and then do something else or have the topic dropped altogether.

Game play: Is about controls and missions. To many games out there have you do the same thing over and over again. Making them boring. Assassins creed would be an example of a bad game play mechanic with every mission being the same with only what a character says being different. This is what made the game boring for me.

Sound: This will not only go into how good a shotgun blast sounds but also how well the music mixes with the game. The Prince of Persia sands of times music mixed with the game so well. But the sequels rock music took away from the final feel of the game. Music should bring you more into the story not just be entertaining.

Online: Something that is mixed for me. Although I do like a good online match once in a while. Sometimes the human factor and the fact that some people just do not care about the quality of the experience will tear down on the overall fun. So the quality of the game over all will tear down on the online score. If a game is an online only it will be looked down upon as something with limited replayability.