The SIXAXIS 06.19.07
Posted by Andrew Mellick on 06.19.2007
A price drop for the PS3, Sony and the church make nice, a look at Time Crisis 4, blockbuster back Blu-ray, and a PS3 owner becomes a man. All that plus new releases and Fred Willard, in this edition of The SIXAXIS!
My girl wants to play Sony all the time, Sony all the time, Sony all the ti-ime!
Cavaliers be denied! (What is a cavalier?) It is the year of the Spur once more. Paris Hilton be jailed! No medical treatment for you! I wonder how many times other inmates mock her with "That's so hot" while giving her a blanket party? President Bush be thieved! Mr. President gets watch stolen by dirty foreigner. Ok, enough side show stories, onto the main event!!!
Sony News
Drop it like its…high?
Rumors are aflutter that Sony may be looking at dropping the price on their next gen wonder machine, the PS3. Sony CEO Howard Stringer went so far as to admit that gamers don't want to pay the hefty price tag for the system. (The first time I've ever heard Sony admit that).
Industry analysts have looked over the cost of production and think that with the reduction in costs, Sony could shave off as much as $100 off the price tag. This would bring the system into a slightly more reasonable price range, although still significantly higher than Microsoft and Nintendo.
Now don't get too excited here, the price drop is expected to happen sometime this year, so odds are Sony will hold out to cash in on holiday sales. I think that would be their best bet, while a price cut at anytime is a good thing, to wait until the holiday season is the obvious choice. Also, by then the library should have bulked up a bit more as well, so there will be a decent reason to buy the system.
Sony says sorry
As reported last week, the Church of England has been up in arms over the inclusion of their Manchester Cathedral being used as a back drop for a portion of Resistance: Fall of Man.
"It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem," Manchester bishop Nigel McCulloch said "For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great Cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible."
Well, Sony has apparently seen the error of their ways and released a heartfelt apology. "It was not our intention to cause offense by using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter eight of the work," said Sony's letter to Manchester Cathedral dean Rogers Govender according to Associated Press coverage. "If we have done so, we sincerely apologize."
The church had asked for a variety of things from a donation to the education department, to the actual removal of said portion in the game. No word has been released on whether any of these requests will be granted.
Well there you have it, a happy ending. Let's just hope this is the end of it, because if Resistance gets pulled from the PS3's already meager line up, then we'll have big trouble.
PS3 exclusive?
The Time Crisis series is one of great mystery and intrigue. The mystery of course being, why make a really solid weapon controller (Guncon) and only have like one game for it?
In any event, the arcade hit is coming to the PS3, and those of you used to the blocky graphics, and construction paper looking blood are in for a treat. The graphics look really tight and smooth. The characters are incredibly realistic and stylish. But the piece de resistance, the new Guncon looks better than ever!
This title is set to drop in November, but take a look at this video and you can see that saving your pennies up for this one could be well worth it. Let's just hope more titles release for the Guncon.
Spirit of Cloud, guide me
In one of the coolest stories I've heard in a long time; a boy was able to protect his PS3 from thieves with…a sword! That's right, Damian Fernandez was at home with his sister Deanne, when two burglars broke into their Miami home and started snatching stuff. Once they saw the empty PS3 box they began to look for the system.
"I jumped off my (bunk) bed and I grabbed my sword... and I just waited for him," said the 15 year old brown belt. When the burglar approached the boy leapt out and struck them man in the chest. "In the name of Frodo!" cried the boy (not really I added that).
The man "freaked out" like you would when 15 year old boy comes at you like a hunger crazed monkey with a samurai sword. The man fled and was apprehended later when police dogs found him down the street hiding in some bushes.
You see that, the PS3 is a man's system, and this kid defended it like a man. Thank God it wasn't a Wii, the boy may have tried to throw his pet turtle at him or hop on his head.
Blockbuster backs Blu-ray
In what is great news for Blu-Ray and ultimately the PS3, Blockbuster has decided to rent only the Blu-Ray form of high definition discs in over 1450 stores next month.
The decision was made when a 250 store test was conducted. These stores rented both the Blue-Ray and HD-DVD discs to see what customers preferred. What was discovered was the Blu-Ray was chosen over 70% of the time. "The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," said Matthew Smith, senior vice president of merchandising at Blockbuster.
I have to admit, when I heard Sony was going with the much more expensive Blu-Ray I was skeptical to say the least, but it looks like they made the right decision. New Releases
PS3
Keep your guns out of the church!
PSP
Transformers: The Movie: Hopefully it doesn't transform into crap.
Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground: Can you create an environment depressing enough that your prisoners will kill themselves?
PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient: Hmm…a Japanese brain teaser. "How many math problems can you answer correctly before you bring shame upon your family and ancestors?"
Hot Brain: Who cares what it's about, it's got Fred Willard!!!
Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007 Can you get all five of the necessary drops of growth hormone into your cyclists water bottles without the judges knowing?
Puzzle Scape: So you've played all 160,483 puzzle games for the PSP and want more aye?
What do you think of pirating and homebrewing on consoles?
Its good for gaming 31%
Its cool, these companies make enough money 46%
Its bad for the industry 8%
Its wrong and needs to be stopped 15%
Well the majority of you seem to like to stick it to the man. Looks like I've got a bunch of revolutionaries reading this thing.
The water cooler
Sony vs. The Church of England
On the one hand you have to consider the concept of free speech and what that entails; on the other hand you have to consider the ramifications of using a sacred location as a backdrop for violence. It's an issue that will come to light more and more in the industry as the realism is cranked up in every new game.
How real does it need to be?
Gaming has always enjoyed paralleling real world issues. Games such as Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto and others have questioned everything from duty, religion, and politics, to morality, and the moral majority.
Enter Resistance: Fall of Man. A title which takes place under the concept that WWII never happened, but rather an alien invasion occurs and threatens the human race. Now, if this game is looking to ask some question or send a message, I fail to see it. That's just fine; games don't always have to make a statement. But the inclusion of the Cathedral was not meant to make a statement about religion; it was included only to give a sense of realism to the game.
Now, I'm all about realism. I love when games venture into locations that actually exist. However, I think Sony was asking for trouble when they ventured into a church. While I know a lot of people out there are going to say that it is just the religious right, looking to find something to complain about. I think it's more than that. A church, synagogue, mosque, or whatever is a holy location and thus will always be held in high regards to whoever attends it. People's faith is very important to them and while I feel that challenging the beliefs of a particular faith in a video game is acceptable, using a religious location as a setting, especially in such a violent manner, brings about a lot of aggravation for no real reason.
But that's just my thoughts.
Youtube Theatre
Here is a look at the incomparable Fred Willard in Hot Brain.
Pictures for Ashish
Well the UFC had yet another successful Pay Per View this weekend. Here at the Six we couldn't be happier. So what better time to put up a picture which really captures the rugged manliness that is ultimate fighting?
Now that embodies all that is man. Thank you Joe Rogan!
I don't want to cram pimpage
Angry Gaming takes a look at the nerd world of RPGs.
