Digital Gaming Is Expensive
So there I was browsing the Playstation Store. I didn’t have the intention to buy anything I just like browsing every now and then. Just to keep myself up to date. Anyway, during my browsing I noticed Rayman had been released and I was like “HELL YEAHZ” and then I saw the price £47.99.
WTF! £48 (it’s called rounding up get used to it) for a fucking game. But not just any game. A platformer. I’m not going to go off on a massive rant going on about how platformers typically don’t have the most amazing graphics or story line but I do know they are cheaper to make than most games.
Anyway £48 for what is essentially a platformer. But it’s not that that pissed me off noooo. It was the fact that this was a digital version of the game. A digital version that for all intents and purposes should be cheaper for so many reasons. You don’t need to pay for warehouse space to keep the games, you don’t need to pay for production onto a disk, stores don’t need to pay money to clerks who need to sell the game whilst making a profit and best of all it can be bought a virtually unlimited amount of times.
If a store can sell a physical copy of a game for £39.99 and make a profit, why on earth does Sony feel the need to charge such a cast amount? Maybe there is something deeper that I don’t understand. Maybe not. I’m just a consumer who won’t be switching to digital anytime soon.
On a side note I’m not ridiculing platformers. They’re amazing games and some of my favourite games are platformers like the original Rayman on the PS1.
Dayum to iPad is sexy
When the iPad 2 was announced I have to admit I was underwhelmed. Sure it improved on it’s predecessor and added new features but something about it bugged me. It just didn’t seem worth the money to upgrade if you already owned the original. I still feel the same way. I’m still very much attached to my iPad even if it is starting to show signs of age.
One things about the iPad 2 that I’m jealous of however is the case. Before I got my iPad I was always staring at pictures of the iPad with major awh. I was going mental. But the very day I got it it went in a case straight away and that’s where it has remained for some 98% of its life time. It’s there after all too protect the screen. So why am I jealous of the iPad 2 case? Well it’s because the case is stylish, it covers up the delicate screen without sacrificing any of the all important design. My case however turns my iPad in a bulky ugly thingy that does cool things.
I want to be able to show off damn it. But the iPad 2 case doesn’t work on the iPad. I haven’t attempted it yet but I’m 200% sure it won’t work. Which is sad really. So basically if I ever upgraded it would be purely for the case. I’m so sad.
In all seriousness. I still stand by my previous comments that I won’t upgrade until either the new gadgets exceed the capabilities of my current laptop (2.5Ghz Processor 4gb ram) or my device becomes so slow that it won’t be efficient for college work anymore. This goes for my iPhone too which plays a big part in my day to day college life.
Don’t hate on Call Of Duty
Call Of Duty. It’s the nerd equivalent of football. We shout and swear at the TV, judge all the players and boast we could play better and most importantly we are sat in front of a huge TV drinking cheap lager from Tesco. Or in my case Fosters or Stella (wife beater).
Call Of Duty (COD from now on) is by far one of my favourite video game franchises. We can buy each new integration without having to worry about learning new controls and over the top maps. That’s what I love about it. It’s the simplicity of it. No matter how old you are you can easily pick up this game and have fun. The only learning curve is finding your way around the maps.
With this in mind why is it that so many people hate it? Well I have been reading through many comments on various articles covering the upcoming game Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Here are a few of the comments I came across!
Oliver Clothesoff
Who in there right mind is going to buy this game. It’s only going to be exactly the same as the previous titles albeit a few graphical improvements.
Homer Sexual
The fanboys will be eating this shit up from day one. Have they realised they are just buying the same game over and over yet? They are almost as bad as the chavs who buy FIFA. They would be better off buying battlefield 3. Now that is a proper game.
I.P Freely
Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Now a common complaint in the comments is that all the COD games are the same. Now, while many might find it shocking each game in the COD series has guns and bullets I would like to point out that there’re loads of things different with each new game. I have decided to list a few off them.
Each game has a new gripping story that takes away the whole (let’s kill everything) and has you noticing things in the game you wouldn’t otherwise notice.
Each game has had a graphical upgrade, not always drastic but always noticeable. Which is always welcome in any game.
Improved weapons and attachments to make you feel like your a gun expert. Btw I’m a gun expert. I play COD.
New killstreaks. Most complain about kill streaks. But they can’t complain considering there’re loads of modes dedicated to either limited or no kill streaks at all.
Multiplayer. Everything in general is improved. It becomes more reliable, match making is better and you can usually find a game within seconds. And thanks to migration you don’t have to cut your game time short. Unlike COD4 where the game would end completely.
They are the main improvements to each game in the franchise. But as we know each new version has it’s own unique updates too. Black Ops has the money system for example. The next common complaint is that it’s not Battlefield. Well too them guys, SCREW YOU! can’t we enjoy our games in peace without you bugging me about your personal taste?
I prefer COD over Battlefield. It doesn’t make me a fanboy or a sheep. It just means I make my own choices. Why yes Mr Steve Jobs I would love to pay £400 for a monitor with an Apple sticker on it.
CALL OF DUTY – Destructible Environments
Recently whilst playing Call Of Duty I noticed something. Did you ever wonder when playing demolition or search and destroy as to why you are blowing shit up?
It just seems to me a but silly that 2 teams are fighting over who should blow up the little box first when all that happens afterwards is a tiny explosion that (let’s be honest) hardly feels like it was worth all the tactical planning to you put into it.
Me and my clan (#TWIT) often spend hours in a party simply discussing how awesome we are. We know we are awesome at the game and that is simply because we know how to use all of our perks effectively. We know what levels to use marathon on, if we should use ninja or not and if we should get cocky and whip out our ballistic knives. Our clan is very strategic and we put a lot of hard work into winning each individual game (though Paul doesn’t know the different between a Airstrike and a napalm).
My point being is that would it be nice after all the hard work we put into blowing up a little box came to something? For example let’s say we are playing demolition; you and your team decide to blow up box A. You manage it and then OMFG it blows up the entire building. The building collapses and creates an entire new play field to work your way through.
Yeah that’s right. I want destructible environments. If detonate a C4 on a wall I want it to leave a hole there for my RCXD to drive through and win the game. It would be a whole new strategic twist to the game.
Just think if in demolition and you blow up one of the bomb sites. You need to get out of there BEFORE it blows up but at the same time make sure the other guy running in doesn’t disarm it in time. A whole new strategic twist
Just think if you’re playing capture the flag and the enemy is running towards a bridge. Well it’s a good job you planted some C4s because *click* BOOOOOOOM!! steal my flag why don’t you.
Imagine how cool it would be when you smash a window and then rake away the odd bits and pieces with the butt of your gun (an idea put forward by Jo). A whole new convenience in the game.
That’s just a taster of what destructible environments could be like in Call Of Duty. Sure it’s already in battlefield. But it’s not in it for a particular use. It’s just there to look pretty when something hits a building. Oh and let’s face it. It’s not exactly realistic that when a bomb hits a building you’re in for the whole building to demolish and have you standing there unscathed.
But seriously. Think for a second. How cool would destructible environments be? It would also give the n00b tubers something else to aim at.
Why the iPhone 4 is manly
So today I got the critically acclaimed black iPhone 4 into my big manly Yorkshire hands.
First thing I noticed upon holding the phone however was how manly the phone was, it’s got a metal frame and a glass screen. If that wasn’t manly enough apple went and made the back glass as well. I almost went into testosterone overload. I also noticed how it’s black. The most manliest shade on the Market. It’s so manly that’s it’s not even a colour.
The second thing I noticed was how well made the phone looked and felt in my hands. This is clearly a homage to the many men that helped build and shape the world into what it is today. It also helped gain the manly audience that the iPhone 4 was obviously going to acquire. Kudos (it’s a manly word) to Apple for seeing into the future.
The third thing I noticed when holding the phone was that the signal was dropping at an alarming rate. Why? Because it simply can’t handle the combined manliness of the itself and me. In fact it got to be so much for it that not only did it reach “No Service” but it started heating up. Presumably because it’s about to blow up. WHICH IS SUPER MANLY!!
The phone also makes you look manly as you squint to look at the individual pixels. The face is so manly in fact that people may think your a having an incredibly testosterone filled crap. But they will never understand.
Of course like all men we have an annoying younger sister. This one comes in form of a White iPhone 4 relying on just it’s looks to make sales happen. Typical of women.
As a result the iPhone 4 is the most manliest phone on the Market. The iPhone 5 however will not have any of this manliness. it will be more cooled down and have better signal. WHO WANTS A SISSY PHONE!!
Xperia Play (First Impression)
So far ever since turning this phone on I have had nothing but issues (granted some of them are down to the carrier).
First of which is the signal. I’m not able to get any signal what so ever. I managed one bar at one point. This is strange because at first I was able to make calls etc fine to Wayne. But ever since the Orange network told me to remove and reinsert the phone battery (so I could get 3G) I have not been able to get any signal at all. I not sure what the problem is and Orange as of yet are not able to solve it. In fact they are brushing it off as a First 24hr Bug on all new contracts. Bullshit. I still haven’t managed to get 3G.
My next problem is Twitter (a big issue for me). (Before you this paragraph however remember this is just me not understanding what to do and everything here might be just me over looking something simple). Twitter is a nightmare. I can’t view just my @replies and main tweets separately. I have to view everything at once. Not only that but writing a tweet is not one touch away like on an iPhone. It’s now five touches away with a 30 second pause. Also when trying to reply to a tweet it feels the need to take me into the Twitter mobile site rather than just letting me tweet from within the app.
Facebook isn’t much of an issue as I only use it for random shit that no one reads so I don’t have much to say on that.
Gaming is fantastic on the Xperia Play. Which is the main thing that pulled me towards the phone in the first place. The main game I played was Crash Bandicoot (epic) and a Bruce Lee game which was iffy and slow. But I won’t judge a phone on a game. I’m better than that.
So far I have a voicemail I can’t listen too, a text I can’t reply too and a phone that I can’t make calls on. Currently I miss the iPhone. But I’m willing to put all these problems aside. A few hiccups aren’t going to deter me. I remain optimistic that this might still be the great phone I imagined.
This was extremely short and not very much in depth. Just remember first impressions are always based on the persons previous phones and therefore everything is compared with it. In this case the iPhone 3G.
Don’t let this First Impression put you off. Just about all the reviews I have read are very optimistic about the phone and I think after I get to grips with the phone I will be too. It’s just hard right now.
You should expect a full written review on Sunday afternoon. Toodles.
Why The Xperia Play Will Fail
Remember a few months ago when I wrote an article called ‘Playstation Phone Vs IPhone’? Well the phone has since been announced officially and all the juicy details have been given to us. Problem is, I’m not getting it.
During the all the publicity stunts before the official announcement (let’s call them leaks for arguments sake) we were all under the assumption that this would be the playstation phone we have all been dreaming about since the 90s.
Problem? Well it is a playstation phone. But it’s not the playstation phone (PSphone) we was expecting. Most of us (including me), was expecting an Xperia Phone with a PSP attached. A concept that was the recipe for success. Suddenly we all dreamt of finally putting our psp in the drawer and replacing both it and our current phone with what has come to be known as the Xperia Play. But the thing is that we can’t transfer all our downloaded games onto the system. Nope we would have to re-download them, basically buy all our games again at full price.
Sony Exec said
“[Xperia Play owners] will have to repurchase the games, so it’s not totally integrated. I think the exciting thing is that there are games which people are very, very aware of.”
Sounds silly to me. What could have been the phones biggest selling point turned out to be just a dream. I guess we all got a little to excited and thought Sony would get it right. Instead the Xperia Play is just a machine specifically out to nab our money. Which I understand a company wanting to make money. But this is just being greedy. Do they really think people will fall for this? DO YOU REMEMBER THE PSP GO?!?!
Currently (according to play.com) the price of the Xperia Play is £519.99, that’s a lot of money for a phone which only has one major USP (slide out JoyPad). This compared to the £505.53 (according to o2.co.uk) for the iPhone 4 which is clearly a better phone. Plus it has retina display that the Xperia Play doesn’t have. Maybe if the Xperia Play was £400 or less then it wouldn’t feel like such a rip off.
So why will the Xperia Play fail? Due to too many assumptions that it will be a PSP-PHONE we have all been left disappointed. It can play PSP games, we will just have repurchase them.
Now just to clear things up. I’m not being all “oh the Xperia Play is shit let’s troll it”. I never once said its the worst phone on the Market. I’m very confident in saying that it will be the best android phone on the Market and if you don’t already own a PSP then this phone is perfect for you. For the rest of us though, this is a no go and we will wait and see what the Xperia Play 2 will offer next year of later.
My iPhone story
It’s 2008, I’m happily texting away on my Samsung e250. A great phone, it had MP3, games and was extremely small. It was everything anyone could want in a phone. That was of course until I saw the advert on TV showing the iPhone.
The advert simply showed a hand and an iPhone demonstrating what it could do. And I just sat there watching the advert with my mouth hanging open. It looked amazing. I wanted one. I didn’t have any use for one at this point. All I knew is that I want a touch screen phone. That was literally the only reason I wanted the phone. Touch screen was a new thing and having a touch screen phone just seemed like a dream come true to me.
Of course at this point in my life I wasn’t into social media. I never used Facebook and had never heard of twitter. I didn’t use email much, I wasn’t much of a web browser (due to extensive gaming). The only website I actually used was YouTube. Apart from that, the iPhone had literally no use to me at all. BUT IT HAD A TOUCH SCREEN!!!
So basically I went out and got an 18 month contract for my iPhone 3G from the Carphone Warehouse (I was working at Mc Donald’s at the time). I remember as soon as the paper work was done I must have spent a good 10 minutes looking at the box. I was so used to getting small things in huge boxes that I was beginning to doubt whether the phone really worth the £55pm contract. Basically “how could something so cool be in a box so small”.
I opened the box and inside staring at me instantly was an iPhone 3G. I picked it up instantly realising how heavy it was. Though it wasn’t heavy. I was just so used to my Samsung phone that most phones would feel heavy to me. I hit the power button and the famous silver Apple logo appears on the screen. But what happens? Nothing. I needed to synchronise it with my computer.
I do this whilst thinking how similar this was to my iPod and needless to say, as far as getting music and pictures on my new phone. It’s exactly like the iPod. Which is brilliantly simple. I wouldn’t change that for the world.
The phone is now synced and I turn it on.. Again. It’s amazing. Everything I could ever want in a phone. A camera, iPod, videos and the Internet all combined into a simple phone. Just genius.
And now this is where the real fun began for me. You see, like I said earlier. Social media wasn’t my thing back then, the main reason for this is because I couldn’t be bothered turning my computer on to update my Facebook. It just seemed utterly silly. The iPhone changed this. I no longer even needed my computer for it’s main use (YouTube). I could now do everything from my phone. Suddenly I literally had the world at my finger tips.
I went crazy with social networking, downloading every app I could get my hands on. I ended up using MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube and even Bebo 100% times more than I would have in the past. I ended up using just FaceBook and Twitter religiously however. The other apps just didn’t feel right on a phone.
Let’s not forget the actual Internet on the phone. Remember when I said I wasn’t much of a web browser earlier? Well this changed that. Due to the ease of getting out my phone and instantly googling something that had been bugging me for ages was now just a few touches away. Instead of waiting 10 minutes for my computer to turn on. This convenience is something expected in phones today. But back then it was an entirely new concept and reinvented browsing the web with touch screen.
Another great thing that stunned me during my early iPhone days was the amount of pointless things you can do with it. With the help of the app store of course. I will never forget the first time I drank a pint of beer in 5 seconds with my iPhone. Though it might sound stupid now. Back then it was an amazing trick and pleased people endlessly. There was even an app where all you do is open a bottle of pop. Madness.
I should now mention the phone part. On my Samsung phone I never really bothered with info. Just the first name would do. But with the iPhone when transferring all the info, suddenly a whole new concept opened to me. I could add addresses, extra phone numbers, nick names, birthdays. The list is endless. I have been known to go mad with info. In fact me and @waynesworld1984 (twitter) spent an hour texting each other individual details just to have a complete contact bio.
Calling is standard, the only difference to the older phones is that the screen turns off when you put it to your ear so you don’t press the screen by accident. Other than that it’s all same old. One new thing though is voicemail. It went from “to hear this message again press 2″ to having an actual visual answering thingy ma jig. It’s like an iPod specially for your answer phone messages. It’s brilliant and makes going through your voicemails quick and easy.
So yes, as you can imagine the iPhone is by far my most favourite phone in the world. We have had many adventures. Like the time when I got lost trying to get to London. I somehow ended up in Montrose… Don’t ask. Well thanks to my iPhone I managed to get to get a train to London using the the Internet. It was quick and easy. If I didn’t have my iPhone I would have had to ask the guard which would have resulted in me paying for another ticket home which would have cost me over £100. Money which I didn’t have.
Or the time I went to Blackpool with my then girlfriend for my 19th birthday. We couldn’t find our way back to the hotel. So I whipped out my iPhone and hay presto. Turned out we was A, walking away from it and B, it was now a 3 hours walk away. So I used my iPhone to find the nearest tram to take us back. IPHONE IS MY HERO. That is all in reference to the maps app by the way.
The first film I watched on my iPhone was The Hulk. I sat there in bed one night with my iPhone proper against my knee watching The Hulk and even today, watching videos on the iPhone is brilliant.
Considering the fact that I have had my iPhone since it’s 2008 launch month, I’m confident in saying that it has had a good for its money. There is just one noticeable scratch on it and even that is small.
But 3 years on from getting the phone and it’s finally starting to show its age. It takes ages to download or update apps. It struggles running twitter or facebook. When it comes to web browsing it’s extremely slow. Took 15 minutes to load up the Ian is bored blog. It can no longer read the sim properly, the signal is never above 2. In fact the only thing it can still do flawlessly is watch YouTube videos. Which it’s only just starting to slow down on.
I personally think all these problems are only because of when I dropped my phone sim side up on the table. It had a huge crash and that is when it stopped reading the sim. And due to this its constantly trying to read the sim thus slowing everything else down. So I guess the iPhones slowness off late is in part my own fault and I will probably end up getting it fixed out of respect for my beloved iPhone 3G.
So why am I writing all this now? Well due to the current state of my iPhone I feel it’s life is coming to an abrupt end. It’s got to the point where it can’t read the sim at all anymore at times despite reinserting the sim. So soon it will be time to let go.
Also, I’m looking into leaving the iPhone peoples and getting an Xperia Play. But that seems unlikely as I recently discovered that the Xperia Play isn’t essentially a Playstation Phone. It’s just a phone with a PlayStation JoyPad. So unless it gets monster hunter, god of war and all of the other PSP games I love. I won’t be getting it. I have also decided to wait till the iPhone 5 is announced to make my final decision. I expect the iPhone 5 to be more groundbreaking than the iPhone 4. Guess I’m an Apple fan boy of sorts.
Playstation Phone Vs IPhone
Yes, I’m fully aware that the Playstation Phone (PSphone) hasn’t been announced yet and so it’s impossible to compare the phone with anything. Well, if that’s what you think then read on. Because I’m about to prove that anything is possible… with imagination.
Basically what you are about to read of not a list of comparisons between 2 phones, but what I would want the PSPhone to do compared to what the iPhone can already do. Ya Digg?
The iPhone as we all know is one of the most revolutionary phones on the Market. It made most things we now take for granted a standard in mobile phones. Be it; Internet, email, apps, touch screen.. The list goes on. So what will the PSPhone need to do to better these already standards in phones? It will have to do these tasks better than any other phone and more.
So what kind of things are we talking about?
Well the iPhone 4 already has a 5MP camera, so the PSphone will have to either match this or better it. Something I don’t think Sony will have any problem doing since all there latest phones have a much higher pixel count.
Video Calling: we know this happening mainly due to the camera on the front of the phone (unless sony are releasing an expensive mirror). Video calling (if they want to match the iPhone) will have to be either free or extremely cheap. I remember my first video phone being crappy and extremely expensive.
Apps: the PSPhone will be running on an android OS (rumour) and as well all know android have a very well established app store. Not as vast as apples but still pretty impressive. If the PSphone wants to succeed in this department then Sony should start releasing more apps to make the phone more fun and easier to use. Like apple did by releasing editing software etc.
Calling: it needs to be able to make phone calls.
Backwards compatibility: being able to play my old PSP games and PS1 games is a must (considering I download mine). I would love to be playing monster hunter, receive a phone and just be able to switch from game to phone in an instant rather than pulling an entirely different device (iPhone) from my pocket.
Controls: the iPhone uses touch control 99% of the time. The only time you need to press a button is to go to the home screen, lock the phone or adjust the volume. This makes gaming on the iPhone tedious because your fingers end up covering half the phone. With the slide up buttons on the PSPhone I think it will not have this problem… assuming the buttons don’t stick after long gaming sessions.
MultiMedia: The iPhone can already do pretty much everything media related. Music, films, photos, books etc. Apple even has dedicated stores for each of them things. Sony already have a dedicated store for films but the others are kind of not there. Though there is a comic book store which is damn awesome.
Price: The iPhone 4 is currently priced at £500+. Pretty expensive but that’s the price you pay for a quality phone. If the PSPhone can do all the above then I will happily pay that amount. Though I do hope they will make it affordable. But don’t hold your breath.
Well anyway, for me to really switch from my IPhone to a Playstation Phone it would have to do all this and do it better than the iPhone. I have no doubt in my mind that the iPhone is the best phone on the Market. The rest all seem confusing and the touch screen is just iffy and slow. I really hope the Playstation Phone turns into the phone we all need in our pockets.
