Windows 8 and the new PS3

Windows 8

Well when I first started seeing screens and news of the new windows 8 I can honestly say I was less than thrilled. Good windows builds tend to skip generations, this one is looking to continue the trend.

I do not have a computer that I am willing to mess up then rebuild with a good OS so I have not spent any time with this versions beta. But honestly my reason for not liking the system actually has little to do with the OS itself as much as it has to do with what Microsoft is pushing along with the system.

This will be MSs flag ship for their new "App Store" which will be a closed platform exactly like Apples app store. What this means is that any application looking to get support on the new OS will have to get approval from MS to launch through the store or build for the OS as a whole. Meaning there will be far fewer reasons to run a windows system in the coming future. Having a closed system is not only a tool to cut out or leech off the competition but also a way to entirely squash the little guys.

I think this move will further push Googles power in the OS scene. They already have enormous power in the mobile arena, it is only a matter of time before their "Chrome Books" catch on.
Personally I hope this push for a closed platform flops entirely.

New PS3 Slim

PS3 Mini perhaps?? Either way I am pretty excited about it! It means PS3 is finally pushing towards more and more out of the box space! There will be two versions at launch, 250gb and 500gb. 

Though this is a move in the right direction, Sony still hasn't learned the lessons that Microsoft and Nintendo have as far as sales and getting market share.

Sony for years has been a leader in all things technology, they still haven't got software figured out yet I think. 

It is the games that sell the systems, they need to focus on their core franchises, they have only just started doing just that with bundles. Uncharted and God of War are reasons to own a PS3. Those should have been selling points and launch titles, not the albeit impressive list of capabilities that the PS3 had at launch.

They also need to do more special editions linked to their key franchises and bring more of them outside of Japan. They had GoW and MGS versions of the PSP 1k 2k and 3k, why not PS3??? I know I would shell out my gas money for the month for a GoW trimmed PS3!! Microsoft has this sales trick down to a science. I can't even count how many times friends have gone out and bought a new 360 simply because it had Halo plastered all over it and a few extra bells than the standard version. That is the reason why the 360 has a huge sales lead on the PS3, not to mention that few of them fail so there is much less need to go buy a new one.

Lets hope with that with the new generation of consoles on the horizon that Sony will not only have learned their lesson on software over hardware, but will be willing to spend a little money on fan service. I wouldn't mind having a few extra PS3s or PS4s around the house if they were a limited edition type build.

LittleBigPlanet PSVita Beta - Impressions

When I got the email that I had been selected as a tester for LBP PSVita beta I was pretty excited. Even though I was never very skilled at creating levels, I enjoyed trying to make some of my own ideas come to life. Most of the time they ended up limping out the gate though. Some of the levels created by the community could easily be considered full fledged expansions to most other games though.
When the download and install completed there was an immediate update to the build I had downloaded. This tells me they are still constantly working on the systems that we know and love from the PS3 LBP games. The first thing I was impressed by was how great the game looked graphically. Besides the small screen, the game could have easily been mistaken for its console predecessors. All the controls were the same, as were all the animations. Everything we have come to know and love from the console versions was there.

There was of course added functionality for the equipment that the Vita boasts. Specifically the touch screen and rear touch pad. There were four developer made levels to play on when I logged on to play the game. All played brilliantly until I had to use the touch features. When something required me to drag/pull on it with the front touch screen obviously my hands had to leave the controls I would normally be occupied with.

The rear touch pad didn't seem to get as much use, at least with the levels that were present at the time. One of the levels is however controlled entirely by touch. It is interesting but doesn't feel like the LBP I grew to love.
The other thing that really bugged me was the completely broken nature of the net code. Now obviously this is a beta, but the game is built around playing with others and community involvement. I was honestly hoping that I could enjoy slapping other players while I was waiting around at the airport or wherever non-productive waiting is done. Sadly this is not the case as of yet with the beta anyways.
All the advanced level building features we saw added with LBP2 are still present. Thankfully the touch screen controls shine like a diamond when used here. No more slowly moving the sack boy around the screen or constantly pressing directional buttons for menus. Everything can be done with a simple and quick swipe or touch.




Overall I completely enjoyed my time with LBP-V beta. Lets just hope they have everything ironed out before launch. One thing that might become a problem though would be user generated content using up a lot of space on the vita storage card. There's a lot of user generated content already which means the community is already alive and kicking for plenty of new and interesting ways to play.