Consolation Prize

A demo of the forthcoming racing game Racedriver: GRID, the next game from Codemasters, the developers behind the really rather good off-road racing game DiRT, is now available to download from both Xbox Live Marketplace (795mb) and Sony Playstation Network (962mb).

The demo offers up a few juicy morsels of racing action. “Grid World” looks like the main single player experience as you pick and choose from driver offers which will reward the player with both money and a number of reputation points. Each offer also has a bonus condition (team objective), for example finish no lower than third to get an extra £1000. The three driver offers available provide a good example of the diverse racing that may be available in GRID and the game mixes things up nicely with some touring car racing at the Jarama Grand Prix circuit in Spain, drift racing around the docks in Yokohama, Japan, and finally partaking in a pro muscle car series event on the streets of San Francisco.

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Whilst agonisingly waiting to get hold of my copy of GTA IV earlier this week I thought I’d check out what the PSN store had to offer. There were a couple of PSP demo’s which I wanted to try out, namely Patapon and God of War: Chains Of Olympus but I thought I’d give the Everybody’s Golf: World Tour demo a whirl.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty it’s worth mentioning that this title is also known under a couple of different names. In Japan it’s known as Everybody’s Golf 5 and if you’re reading this on the other side of the pond from the UK it’s Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.

Although initial impressions suggest this is going to be a lightweight golf game with its large headed cartoon-esque characters once you’re actually in the game it becomes apparent that there’s a serious golf engine running behind the scenes.

The demo allows you to pick from a couple of characters, either “Jasmine” or “Felipe”, each with their own set of stats such as power, control, and spin and once chosen the character can be customised using the limited number of outfits and club types available. It’s apparent that more outfits, clubs and ball types will be selectable in the full retail game but the few on offer here provide an adequate taster of things to come.

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Every now and again I get the urge to play a decent old school style shooter that can provide a good gaming fix when you’ve only got limited time to spare. I’d heard that Super Stardust HD on the PS3 was a good classic style shooter and once I’d sorted out my credit card with the PlayStation Network, promptly downloaded it.

The game is very straightforward and at its heart this is similar to the classic Asteroids but with a 21st Century spin to provide fast and frenetic gameplay with the simple aim of destroying anything that moves. The player controls a spacecraft in orbit over a planet using one joystick for movement and the other for directional fire, similar to Robotron or Geometry Wars. However, unlike the aforementioned classics you’re not based on one 2D plane but on the curved plane of the planet you’re orbiting.

Your ship comes armed with three different types of primary weapon, namely the “Rock Crusher”, “Gold Melter” or “Ice Splitter” which are selected via the “L1″ and “R1″ shoulder buttons. Each weapon is not only more suited to certain asteroids and enemies, but slightly different in nature. For example the “Gold Melter”, a beam like burst of fire is more appropriately used against “Gold” asteroids whilst the “Rock Crusher” is best against standard asteroids but provides great fire dispersion.

Although it’s not essential to use the correct weapon type it certainly makes life easier and thus less likely you’ll be swamped with hundreds of asteroid fragments floating around the planet surface and your ship crushed between a rock and the proverbial hard-place.

Certain asteroids contain glowing green cores and when destroyed will leave various power ups to collect such as extra lives, shields or weapon upgrades. Power-ups gradually degrade over time and when left uncollected eventually deteriorate to bonus points.

The game is split into a series of five planets, with each planet separated into five phases culminating with a boss encounter. Each planet gets progressively more difficult and soon the planet atmosphere is swarming with asteroids and enemies to avoid. In the event of an emergency you have a limited number of “bombs” which can be used to clear the immediate area or alternatively a “boost” facility which is unlimited but takes a a few vital seconds to recharge.

The game is gorgeous to behold featuring some great explosions and special effects with some catchy background music tracks which take me back to some of the classic shooters that appeared on the Amiga in the days of yore. Super Stardust HD has all the qualities of a great shooter and at its core is a very playable game that is easy to pick up and play yet hard to master. The game not only provides a great experience but is exceptionally good value at only 4.99 GBP.

One of this years most anticipated titles has unfortunately been delayed until next year. It was confirmed by Take-Two yesterday that the title originally set to be released in October 2007 will now be released from Q2 2008, but no specific date has been given.

I must admit this was looking to be one of my “must have” titles of the year and I’m disappointed with the news. However, I will always prefer a delay to a sub-par product being released on-to the market, especially when its a games series as iconic as GTA.

Related links:
Kotaku - Take-Two Execs Explain GTA IV Delay
GamesIndustry: GTA IV delayed until 2008

The weekly sales for the US have been revealed for the week ending 14th July and as stated by Sony during their E3 conference the sales of the PS3 have indeed more than doubled since the
100 USD price drop on the 9th July. For the week ending 7th July 17,770 units were sold but the latest figures show that 41,005 units were sold the following week, a dramatic increase of 23,235 units. It will certainly be interesting to see if this is a short term burst or the start of a turnaround for the PS3.

Sales of the other consoles remained generally consistent with the DS, Wii, PSP and PS2 taking the top four spots whilst the PS3 snatches fifth place from the Xbox 360.

Sales breakdown after the jump.

Weekly figures from
VGChartz.com

From a lot of accounts Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was one of the highlights of E3 and looking at the footage I can see why. The game looks like it’s shaping up to be an amazing FPS and is due to be released on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

More footage after the jump.

This morning Sony announced that a new PS3 Starter Pack that will be introduced for Europe. For 425 GBP (599 EUR) you will now be able to get a 60GB PS3, 2 SIXAXIS wireless controllers and a choice of two first party games which includes Resistance Fall of Man and MotorStorm. The starter pack is rolling out across Europe as of today and should be available everywhere by 1st August.

Although this is not the price cut we really want, the bundle does offer you about £115 worth of savings (if bought at RRP). However my issue with bundle packs is that they really only offer you significant savings if you wanted the bundled games and hardware in the first place. From a personal point of view I would much rather see the price of the PS3 base unit (60GB + 1 SIXAXIS controller) reduced by 100 GBP and leave the decision of games and hardware to the individual.

Press release via
Sony Europe Press Center

13/07/2007 04:00
PS3 STARTER PACK ANNOUNCED FOR EUROPE

Santa Monica, 12th July 2007. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the availability of a high value Starter Pack for PLAYSTATION®3, comprising a PS3, two first party games and two SIXAXIS™ wireless controllers, at €599.

Rolling out across the SCEE territories from 13th July, and in all territories by 1st August, the new Starter Pack represents exceptional value for money as an entry point into the exciting world of High Definition interactive entertainment with PLAYSTATION 3.

The choice of first party games available in the Starter Pack will vary to suit the interests of entertainment enthusiasts in each country, but will include million sellers such as Resistance Fall of Man™ and MotorStorm™; titles specifically chosen to demonstrate the stunning graphics and enhanced gameplay of High Definition games on Blu-ray disc.

With an additional wireless SIXAXIS, motion sensitive controller provided for head to head and multi player gaming, the Starter Pack is sure to appeal to those seeking to enhance their entertainment experience with the best of 21st century technology.

“With sell through of over 1.2 million units in the SCEE territories to date, PLAYSTATION 3 has proved to be an instant and huge success”, said David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

“The exceptional value of the new Starter Pack will bring the excitement of PlayStation® gaming to a much wider audience. Add to this a stellar lineup of software titles for the second half of the year and we are confident that this amazing value Starter Pack will encourage many more keen gamers to join the PLAYSTATION 3 community”.

Sony’s E3 conference was held yesterday at 19:30 BST. As with the Microsoft conference I’ve extracted some interesting titbit’s of information.

Unfortunately a European price cut for the PS3 was not mentioned but apparently there will be some sort of announcement tomorrow.

PS2 Snippets
Now has an installed base of over 118 million, thus according to Jack Tretton (CEO and President of Sony America) makes it the most popular console of all time.

160 new games for the PS2 are scheduled for the US this fiscal year.

PSP Snippets
Weekly sales of the PSP have gone up by 90% since the introduction of a price cut.

A New version of PSP was unveiled and it will be available worldwide in September. Although the revision looks very similar to the existing model it’s apparently 33% lighter and 19% slimmer. It also makes use of a more efficient battery and loading times will be a lot faster too. It also incorporates a new bit of functionality in that it can now be hooked up to a TV (Sony Bravia) and output any of it’s content (videos, photos, games) directly to the screen.

The new slimmer PSP will be available in the regular black and the new “ice silver” colours in an entertainment pack which includes a 1GB memory stick. There will also be a “Star Wars Battlefront” entertainment pack which features a white PSP emblazoned with Darth Vader on the back. Both packs will retail for 199.99 USD and will be available in the US from September. Sony Europe and Sony Japan have yet to announce pricing and packs that will be available.

140 new games are scheduled for the PSP in the US this fiscal year.

PSP UMD sales are up by 35% since 2006.

PS3 Snippets
80 first party games are in development worldwide.

The PlayStation Network now has 2 million registered users, 950 thousand of which are from North America and the service has seen 20 million downloads.

PlayStation “Home” can now have client software running on mobile phones. The example given will allow you to take pictures with your mobile and have them sent directly to your “Home” lobby.

Sales of 60GB PS3 have doubled in North America at Sony’s top five retailers since the cut was announced on Monday and Sony are going to ship 11 million units by the end of the year. There’s no news as yet of a price cut for Europe.

Unreal Tournament 3 was announced as exclusive for the PS3 until the end of the year.

Metal Gear solid 4 was reconfirmed as being exclusive to PS3. Hideo Kojima has also stated that MGS4 would be the last in the series. The game is due for release in spring 2008.

The PS3 has helped the sales of Blu-ray and it is now approximately outselling HD-DVD by a ratio of 2:1.