sprites & bites

Gaming, iPads and a few biscuits on the side…

Monthly Archives: March 2009

Downloading Full Games

Downloading additional content for games for your consoles is a multi million pound business. From small arcade titles to map packs and older games with backwards compatibility. This multi million pound business is here to stay and will only grow. But what about downloading full games? Sony and Microsoft are of course aiming to get everybody to download games and in the future we will no longer have a physical disc to play them on. They hate the rental market and the second hand trade in market – it costs them sales but that sort of business model requires the support of both the consumer and the retailers – retailers who have supported them for years by selling their consoles and games, are the console makers really ready to bite the hand that feeds them?

It is not just retailers who would die but other sectors aswell. Rental companies like Swap Game or Gamesfrenzy would die, disc manufacturers and disc pressing companies would lose millions and the retailers like Game or Gamestation would shut up shop because there is no point in stocking just consoles. Could they live with themselves for making all those millions of people jobless? Money matters more than morals so maybe that point is dead too.

Having a physical disc is also a reminder that you own the copy of the game. I have countless games downloaded on my PS3 and Xbox 360 that I have never finished. I never finished them because within all the tabs of the interface they got lost and I forgot that I actually bought them.

Top 5 reasons why discs should never die

1) Most customers want a physical disc which shows they have something for their money.

2) Rental markets and second hand markets would fail. Consumers will not accept the lack of right to sell their games on when they have finished with them.

3) With no retailers to sell the games they would have no retailers to sell the consoles. Instant kill.

4) People want to be able to take a game to a friends house to play, they won’t want to lug their consoles around.

5) If I want to buy a game for someone as a present there is no way I am going to buy them a download voucher.

I started out making a top 10 but couldn’t think of any more reasons, if anyone wishes to add some reasons please feel free :-)

Peggle on Xbox Arcade

Peggle has had a huge following in PC gaming for years but I was never into PC gaming so its appearance on Xbox Live Arcade this week was very tempting. For a mere 800 Microsoft points you can snap up one of the most addictive games ever in the history of ever.

The concept is very simple and requires you to shoot balls to knock down the orange pegs but you only have a limited amount of balls (10) to use in a standard game. You can gain extra balls by reaching certain scores.

This game is so addictive I spent a solid 4-5 hours on Wednesday with no break and completing the story mode fully. I am now on the challenge mode which means you have to meet a certain score for that level. This is where the game is getting increasingly hard. I just about managed to finish the 300,000 score levels but now I am on the 350,000 score levels they seem impossible. I dare not even think about the 400,000 and upwards levels.

The game also offers online multiplayer where you can challenge your friends to get the highest score. My experience of that last night though was not great. The game was very laggy and something I would expect to be fixed in the next few days/weeks.

On the whole it is an extremely fun game and is a steal at only the 800 points requested.

Killzone 2 Review

 

 Over the years, the Killzone name has come under fire for being an underachiever. It has been in the centre of many fanboy flame wars on numerous internet sites and forums. The original was branded a “Halo killer” before the first screen shots were released to the public; this made the anticipation sky rocket and overall expectations sensationally high. For the sequel, the expectations were once again high. But this time, Killzone 2 is worth every ounce of hype and sensational expectation it deserves.

 So let’s start with the story, you play as Sgt. Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko, a new character with a fresh new background. You play through the entire game as Sev, unlike the original Killzone that had you controlling four different members of your team. You are part of Alpha team, a group of soldiers tasked with invading the Helgan capital and taking down Visari. Every cut scene is expertly created and really helps push the action and the story. Although Killzone’s story isn’t the hottest in town, it defiantly engages you and gives you something to fight for. The voice acting is pretty good; there are no overly intelligent sounding marines but a more realistic grunt that really bleeds into the story and makes it come alive.

 Killzone has always been known as a pusher of the Playstation brands graphics, and it’s no different with Killzone 2 offering some of the greatest graphics and screen presence I have ever come across. Some would argue that Crysis for the pc is a much more worthy candidate for best graphics, and although this is true in some areas, Killzone 2 just oozes top notch build quality and amazing effects. Killzone utilizes some very cutting edge technology in a bid to make it the most visceral and entertaining battle experience to grace gamer’s hands. It’s a game that must be played to be fully understood; watching game play videos just doesn’t do the job of conveying a true war experience. Sound, especially if you have 7.1 surround, is a true treat for the ears as every snap, crackle and pop fleshes out the experience even more so. The weight of your character, the kick back from your gun, the rush to cover and the blinding grey scale of your bullet ridden corpse immerses you so much so you truly forget you’re playing a game.

 For AI, this game is no idiot. On higher difficulties the Helgast act as a team, always thinking ahead it seems. It’s a real challenge at times to break through, but when you do it’s so very gratifying. I’m sure it isn’t normal to be tricked into thinking you are playing against human counterparts, especially in multiplayer when you realise after 20minuites of playing the enemy team are all bots. There is the odd, very rare time when the AI does something wrong, but perfection in this area can’t be expected.

 The gameplay coupled with the grand presentation and production values sets this game apart from the rest. The controls for me are spot on, but do come with the chance to change them to suit particular styles of play. So far I have spoken very highly of Killzone 2, but there are some small things that could be improved on. The addition of Co-op would have been great, especially online co-op. Who knows what future updates could give us, maybe whole new singe player experiences. Some parts of the excellent multiplayer could be improved like party support, but overall, the multiplayer feature of Killzone 2 really shines through and is sure to be one of the most immersive online experiences this year. At first it is slow and seemingly hard to get into, but as you play through it the full flavour of the multiplayer starts to kick in as a bevy of options show up. The experience is extensive and easily customisable to suit your needs on the battlefield. Stats and an amazing replay option on the Killzone web site are real advancements in multiplayer, as is the way game modes change on the fly in matches. Killzone 2 can truly be seen as a new bench mark in multiplayer, although not a total evolution, it has plenty to it to define itself from the rest.

 To sum up, Killzone 2 is the FPS the Playstation 3 has been waiting for. This game helps to push the console apart from the competition. If this is a taste of what’s to come this year from Playstation, we are in for a treat. This high quality gaming experience cannot be missed, so grab it now and join the battle!

 Excellent/10

By E-ROLE