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

A New Dawn

After all yesterday's Mac silliness, it's time to turn to the Windows side of things - Microsoft's CES keynote is this evening (if my timing its sort of right). Whilst gaming is likely to be low on the agenda (rumours say only Halo 3 ODST and Wars will be mentioned), there is likely to be a lot of discussion about Windows 7 both in the keynote and the rest of the show, which starts tomorrow. CES is always manic, and if you don't feel you can cope with all the gadgetry, or you're really just a gamer and Engadget is like a turd you'd rather not lick, I'll be back later in the week with a roundup of the best from the show.

That Time Of Year

Well its finally that time of year: no, Christmas is over and done with, its Nerdy Tech Show Week. That's right, because neither of the events organisers will back down from their 'first working week of January' schedule, the rabid Mac fanboys will be off to San Francisco for the Macworld Expo which starts on Tuesday, and the Windows crowd (and anyone thats not a Mac fanboy, really) will be heading to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, kicking off on Thursday.

This year, the shows will really be competing. Its Apple's last appearance at Macworld this year, and although it isn't Steve Jobs giving the keynote, there is likely to be lots of discussion of the upcoming Mac OS release (Snow Leopard) on top of the usual hardware announcements. At CES, Microsoft is largely expected to be plugging its own new system, Windows 7, which is expected to launch around the same time as Snow Leopard in the first half of this year. You'll likely hear more on both of these later this week from me.

But what has this week really got to do with games? Okay, so Macworld isn't at all relevant (Hey, make some decent gaming Macs, Apple; we might be nice! Also, when you do, send me one.). But CES is usually full of gaming related stuff, and at the very least there are always sexy new Bravias to drool over.

Well last year, on top of the Bravias and Vaios and Walkmans etc, Sony announced plans for a Digital Copy program (Blu-Ray films copied to PSP via PS3), which came into force late last year with Sony Pictures movies like Hancock, and should expand more this year; Skype got announced and added to PSP, and (ha!) Blu-Ray killed the hell out of HD-DVD. Teasers already released for this year's show suggest a massive coming-out party for the long silent Prototype for PS3 and 360, and there are rumours that the Movie Store will be coming to the EU, as well as a Music Store for everyone. Don't blame us if it doesn't happen that way btw, that's how rumours work.

See you later in the week for the latest from the two shows.