I’ve seen all that I need to see.

Honestly, I wasn’t terribly excited for this year’s E3. Interestingly enough, last year had me covering E3 on a relatively daily basis. I called E3 the superbowl of the gaming industry. And honestly, I still think that’s the case. However, there wasn’t anything really driving me to this year’s E3. Yes, Nintendo is probably announcing their new console and Sony is announcing their handheld. Other than that, I foresee nothing but sequels.

The two things that I was most anxious about was Assassin’s Creed and Battlefield 3. Assassin’s Creed brought me a ton of excitement to see, as it’s now my favorite game series – having toppled CastleVania after its 20+ year streak. While the gameplay trailer looked very familiar, I did see some new things that have me excited to play this game. The trailer is also very interesting, which I’ve embedded below.

In all reality, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is my big game of the year. If it’s going to be one game that I preorder, this is going to be it. The question is whether or not I’m going to buy it on the PC or the PS3. And below is exactly why.

Incase you didn’t see the text in the lower-right hand corner, DICE is saying that all of this is 100% gameplay footage … and it’s pretty damn impressive. Maybe it’s because I’m tailored to console gaming or because my video card isn’t very high powered, but all of the trailers that Battlefield 3 has presented has been absolutely beautiful – down to every last detail. If DICE can really promise on this, then they have just taken the top spot of the FPS world, no questions asked.

But, on the other hand – it begs the question … exactly what do you NEED to have the game run like that? There are a lot of rumors floating about, and I’m hoping they release the specs soon because I think it’s going to be a hefty investment for a lot of people. First off, almost everyone is saying this is going to be a game that runs optimally on a quad-core processor. All of the rumors floating around say that it can run on a dual-core, but ideally you’re looking at a quad-core.

The kicker is going to be the video card. The rumors are more split on this one – some say that what DICE is demoing on is roughly a $500 video card, so if you’re wanting to run it smoothly, you may have to invest in a device that could probably buy you TWO consoles. However, other people are saying that because this is merely an improvement on the Frostbite engine, that all of the optimization is really done in the engine. If that’s true – then you can probably run it on a $150 to $200 video card as opposed to a $500 one.

In my previous blog post, I questioned whether or not I was going to give up on my PS3 and invest in PC gaming. And to be 100% honest – the result will come when I see the official specs for this game. If this game can be optimized to run smoothly (that being between 30 and 60FPS) at a decent resolution and my upgrade will cost, at most, $300 – then I am pretty much sold to the PC market.

However, if I have to invest in a $500 video card, then the winner goes to the PS3. I’ve long stated that my issue with PC gaming is that it requires frequent upgrades. And it’s not 2002 anymore where you can get hardware cheap – hardware is pretty expensive now and most people can’t afford to do yearly/bi-yearly upgrades.

I understand that DICE is pushing graphics to the next level. And that’s great – and it’s also why this game is the decision game in whether I move to PC gaming – but if that leap is going to cost me at least half a grand, then DICE is unfortunately doing a huge alienation of their fanbase, in my opinion. Am I going to want to run Battlefield 3 at 1920×1080 with every setting put to high and have it run smoothly? Yes, but I know it won’t happen, and don’t expect it … but if I’m going to have to dumb it down ridiculously low, then I probably would have a more enjoyable experience playing it on my PS3.

So, to wrap everything up – let me say firstoff that DICE has done a phenomenal job with Battlefield 3 – the graphics are simply amazing. Stunning. I’m really impressed with how the game works, sounds and runs. I’d even argue it’s damn near flawless for today’s gaming environment. Let’s just hope the everyday consumer can experience what they see on the trailers on their own personal rig that’s hooked up with some fairly decent hardware.

Is it too late, Sony? PS3 vs. PC

About three years ago, I’d be saying that PC gaming is ultimately not worth my time. But here I am, actually thinking about selling my PS3, getting a new video card, a BluRay player with Netflix and going strictly PC gaming.

Why? Because of Steam. Steam has become a bit of an addiction for me. I look forward to their weekend, mid-week and sometimes week-long sales. Let’s not forget their big market of games that’s less than $20. Additionally, this almost month-long outage of the PSN has really put the dust on my PS3 as I play online games on my PC. Since then, I’ve further fallen in love with Steam, and I’d probably still be on my PS3 had it not been for Valve’s gaming hub service.

But now, the PSN is (as I’m writing this) on it’s way back into the online world. With this slow, eventual rollout, is it going to change my perception? Or am I still potentially lost to the PC world?

See, I have a bit of an OCD with gaming – I can only really contribute to one thing … I can’t balance between multiple systems, which is why I no longer have a Wii and don’t want a 360. Maybe it’s a lack of time … or maybe it’s an investment thing – but if I’m playing on one system, I feel like I should be playing on the other.

What does PC gaming have to offer? Well, the best thing is the idea that with Steam, all your games are tied to your account. You won’t lose them, documentation is online and you can easily play with your friends. It also acts like a portal (heh) to the bigger publishing companies like EA and Activision. I really like the idea of launching a gaming hub and being able to play any game I want with a mere click of the button. No physical media, easily join a game with a friend – and I’m right at a computer if I need to multi-task.

Sony’s bad reputation. Sony’s reputation is damaged for me. Throughout their time with the PS3, they’ve had bad luck – with BluRay pirating, the ApocalyPS3 and now the “It only Does Offline” scenario … Sony just does not seem to know how to protect their stuff, or they seem to half-ass it everything they do (they REALLY should have figured out that Leap Year bug). So, should I continue to invest in a company that may drop the ball again in the next six months? Or, heaven forbid, the PSN gets attacked again after nearly a month of downtime?

What does console gaming have to offer? Well, console gaming’s big benefit is the lack of having to toy around with video settings to get a nice smooth animation – it just works. Any game you put in – will work pretty smoothly. I also think console gaming is favored over PC gaming due to modding/cheating restrictions. PC gaming also has poor controller support – and I don’t care what anyone says … as controller is more comfortable than a WASD keyboard setup. Finally, consoles don’t require upgrades. You could quite possibly be upgrading your PC numerous times over the years. With a console, it’s ultimately a one-time purchase and you’re good until the next console comes out

Trophies/Achievements. I know this part sounds bad – but I love this aspect of gaming. Sony enforces it. Microsoft enforces it. Valve does not. With Steam, it’s entirely up to the discretion of the game company. It’s nice that game companies can bypass achievements if they’d like to, but I won’t lie and say that’s not something I look for in games. It offers me a reason to play the game again once I’ve cleared it. If I finish a single-player game, that’s essentially it – unless there’s a reason for me to go back … such as achievements.

So, what do you people think? In a rare occurrence, I’m asking feedback for people who read this blog to let me know what their console of choice is and why. Should I sell my PS3, controllers and games and go all PC gaming? Or am I just being tricked by this whole PSN debacle?

Things don’t look pretty for you, Sony

Look out for the PSN intruder! He’s climbing in your windows, snatching your information up, try’na rape ‘um …

I kid, I kid. I’m hilarious. Honestly, though, 2011 has been a terrible year for Sony’s online network. Sony has been hit with a tsunami of bad press and has probably permanently damaged the trust of many of their PSN subscribers.

I’ll even admit that I’ve been battling a PS3 vs Steam battle in my head, but ultimately I think the PS3 will win, because it’s hooked up to my bigger TV and when I try to hook up my PC, the text is all jarbled (any assistance about this in the comments would be greatly appreciated.) Plus, I’ve invested years in it with trophies, purchases and games, so completely abandoning it sounds like a stupid choice.  However, the fact that the PSN has been down for half a month and we got information that our personal data may have been compromised a week after the attack makes me wonder exactly how smart Sony is with their online network.

Of course, both Sony and [in my opinion] the hacker, Geohot are to blame for this. Sony’s crybaby fest about how all PS3′s shouldn’t be modded sparked this. In my opinion, once you buy the hardware, what you do with it is up to you – if you break the ToS, then so be it. You did it on your own accord. However, the elitist hacker Geohot opened the floodgates for Sony. On top of a massive fight between the two, Anonymous attacked Sony’s sites with DDoS attacks, pulling down most of the sites but not the PSN. And in my opinion, this attack is at the hands of some of the remaining Anonymous users who didn’t want to back down once they realized they were ultimately hurting the people they were “supporting.” And we have news reports that say that Anonymous was and was not part of this attack. And the thing about Anonymous is that there is no figurehead, no leader. It’s a band of … you got it … anonymous people all working together. So while it’s very possible that when Anonymous backed off like they said they would; it’s also possible that a band of people from that attack stuck around and plotted to do something even more drastic.

In the end though, this whole debacle would have been avoided if Geohot kept his discoveries personal AND Sony didn’t have a crybaby fest over the whole OtherOS thing.

But is Sony really to blame? Sure, and no.

And are the hackers really to blame? Sure, and no.

Review: Enslaved – Odyssey to the West

Enslaved – Odyssey to the West, from what I recall, got great reviews. Unfortunately, I just don’t agree with them. I think Ninja Theory have done some great things – but ultimately the combat is what destroys it for me. I was eager to finish the game – because the storyline, dialogue and presentation got me interested, but the combat alone is what made me throw in the towel – it’s just piss poorly done.

• Cutscenes are great – Facial animations are exceptional and voice acting doesn’t seem overdone, either. This was the game company that made Heavenly Sword and it appears this company pays particular attention to facial detail. I ultimately did care for the characters at the end of my playtime.
• Platforming is enjoyable – if you know where to go, then you can easily maneuver yourself to your next location. I wish more platforming games followed their style – of course, with the idea of the main character being a primal creature, it kinda’ fits.
• The game is pretty – and it’s cool to see what appears to be city landmarks in ruins (the imagery of the two bridges in New York) come to mind.

• The combat is terrible. I didn’t care for it in the beginning but hoped it would improve. The attacks feel clunky – and when you’re being swamped with enemies, you feel like you’re just moving too slowly – which is ironic for someone who can jump around like they’re a superhuman acrobat. Each attack seems like it has a little lag before you see it executed, making this a button-mashing game when it probably didn’t have to be. When being bumrushed, unless you do a ranged sweep attack to prevent the droids from getting close to you, your [already slow] attacks will be interrupted.
• Targeting with your staff for ranged “gun” shots is also terrible. Many times I’ve pointed the crosshair right at an enemy in front of me and it just seems to pass right by them. I then get attacked and killed.
• The areas where you had to maneuver through patrols without the assistance of Trip was more of a nuisance than a challenge – especially considering the shield doesn’t last long … even when maxed out.
• I did not enjoy the jerky camerawork. The best way to describe it is that if the camera were controlled by a mouse, the sensitivity would be at around 90 out of 100. And it would often switch to a “viewpoint” style, where you could just move the camera to look around you … which is actually a bit frustrating when you’re trying to find out which platform to jump to so you can activate a switch.

Positive Points: 3  |  Negative Points: 4  |  Final Score: -1

I gave the game a few days of so that my review wasn’t based on frustrations, but ultimately in the end, I felt like it was pointless because the same problem was always there. As stated before, I found myself button mashing when I ultimately didn’t have to. And I wasn’t button mashing to continue a chain attack, I was button mashing to make sure my sweep attack hit.

I have no doubt that had the combat system been designed and executed more properly, the my review would have turned out much different and much more positive. Unfortunately, it wasn’t – so it is what it is.

Review: Little Big Planet 2

Little Big Planet 2 is a coin toss for me. While I do like the additions that have been made to the game … I still ultimately feel like there was nothing extremely new brought to the table. Of course, when you see people creating levels that imitate first person shooters, you realize that the functionality of the game has expanded greatly. Kudos are in order to those who can utilize the creativity and once you watch some tutorials and see some user-created levels, you will be amazed at what you see.

• There are much more flashy effects in this game. Suits have a bit more style and uniqueness to them. The disco outfit comes to mind.
• The various new items are a welcome addition. Grappling hooks, Creatinator, amongst other items help bring variety to the game.
• Having created another level, the things you can do once you figure everything out are amazing. You can even create Sackbots that will have their own attitude, conditions, etc. Again, when you get a good understanding of creating levels, you’ll realize that outside of maybe specific development tools, levels created by Media Molecule could have been made in their level generator.
• New mode styles – versus mode, movies, linked levels add a nice touch to the game. People can now literally tell stories that link from one level to another as well as create movies, now.
• I have seen first-hand that this game has the tendency to rope in people who otherwise may not be completely interested in video games. And in an era where video games may be overwhelming to learn, that’s quite a feat.

• The game still feels and moves the same. Honestly, I think this game could have been released as a variety of expansion packs.
• It’s still very difficult to get your level seen. Even selecting newly published levels are hidden amongst a variety of choices. I really with Media Molecule would have come up with a new tiered setup for helping get new levels published. After a five minute window, your level could be thrown into obscurity fast.
• I wish there were more levels made by Media Molecule. While there are some really unique levels created by people, MM are the experts with level creation.

Positive Points: 5  |  Negative Points: 3  |  Final Score: 2