Weekend Roundup XIV

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Hola there internets, Octopus here with yet another roundup of the weekend variety. It's been an interesting week on the blog, mostly for reasons we can't talk about yet, but it hasn't been too bad a week on the rest of the internets either.

Oooh, which story to pick to babble about. Hmmm....I'm gonna go with this one from Joystiq on the topic of the PlayStation Phone, which is apparently now not happening. Whilst the Sony Ericcson rep they spoke to told them that current phone specs would not be suffucient to do the PlayStation brand justice, it appears that there is a different, more concerning, issue behind this. Joystiq (and a number of other sites) are reporting that Sony Electronics wont lend the PS brand name to a phone made by Sony Ericcson, and in fact a PlayStation Phone will only happen when Sony Electronics makes a handset themselves. This seems to suggest that Electronics is at least considering making their own phones, which would lead to two divisions in one company making competing mobiles. What gives? However, if such divisions do exsist in the company, it does explains the current lack of a PlayStation Music Store (of which one would think Sony Records would be a launch supporter), and may also explain why the Sony Pictures-backed Movie Store has yet to find it's way outside America. Anyway, my advice: sort it out Sony, you need to bring everything together to make the PS3 the victor at the moment, and right now these internal catfights are leading to wasted resources.

Elsewhere in the gaming internets this week: Harmonix apparently is interested in making a PS3 version of their awesome old game 'Amplitude', which was one of the main inspirations behind Audiosurf; Free Radical is still just about alive in a broken state, and really needs to find a publisher for TimeSplitters 4; a stronger focus on the PC version of new kid-friendly Sony MMO Free Realms has led to a delay for the PS3 version; Final Fantasy XIII wont make it's way outside Japan until at least April next year; Patrick Keplek talked about the intriguing Silent Hill iPhone controls; Media Molecule teased some new LBP content; and PixelJunk Eden is getting a new free patch and an Encore pack of DLC.

Another thing I wanted to mention this week is Windows 7. I've been running it full time for just over a week now, and I will be talking about the new features and other enhancements later next week, and hope to get a video tour online. For now though, I will say that after spending some expended time with the system, it doesn't seem anywhere near as essential an upgrade as XP or Vista were from their predeccessors. There are some situations where 7 really shines (on portable devices, computers with lower specs, and those with SSDs) but there isn't enough to recommend it to anyone else as a must-buy. As I say, more in the week. For those interested, the first supposed screenshots of an alpha build of Office 14 have leaked onto the web too.


In terms of what we've been playing, things have been pretty Crash Commando-centric. I actually managed to complete Mirror's Edge, and in a prefect example of Trophies suggesting a different way of playing than I normally would, I managed to do so without ever firing a weapon (that's another silver in the bag). And you know what, I'm damn proud of that. But most of my gaming time this week has been devoted to playing shitloads of Crash Commando. The game is so fantastic, and although I don't want to say too much, as Armadillo will likely be writing a review up this week, but it has occupied myself, Armadillo and Aquatic pretty much all week, and that is praise enough. Oh and Fryingpan defied us all. Guess what amazing action-packed game he's been playing this week? Football-frigging-Manager. I also hear stories that he now refers to himself as the 'Special One' and has developed a love of big long coats. He needs to get out/on Crash Commando more.

Finally, for those looking for some 'bizarre' this week, click here for a strange story on MSN News about a girl selling her virginity to pay her college tuition fees.

Good luck Obama!

Fluorescent Octopus