3DS 2nd hands-on

Check out this vid... GameSpot UK got a bit of a hands-on with the Nintendo 3DS in London:



Even though they weren't allowed to film it turned on *_* there's a little bit of action with the analogue nub slide pad which looks pretty cool. They keep saying that it's "better than the PSP" but I'm not sure why people think that... because it's larger, or it feels better? I wonder with its smooth top if the thumb will grip it as well as the PSPs textured one, especially during a marathon session of gaming when the hand gets sweatty....

At this point, about all I got left to say about the vid is.... why, helloooooo Ms. Jane Douglas.....


later
don

Wii games to get rid of

Man.... I need to free up some space. I've been going through my games stockpile, and there are a bunch I think I simply need to get rid of. Some of them I've played, enjoyed, but I'm pretty sure I won't play again-- like Deadly Creatures-- others I've played, did not like them nearly as much as I thought I would-- like House of the Dead: Overkill-- and others are games that I just couldn't really get into.... I don't think I'm an RPG fan (Jeanne D'Arc) or an RTS fan (Field Commander)

So here's my pile of games to get rid of... there are more PSP games not pictured.



This is just maybe 1/4 of my game collection? I don't know. All I know is I keep my Wii/Xbox games in a cabinet, and this pile are games that can't fit in there. I need to sell off some games before I can buy more....

There are 2 must-buy games on my list for the rest of this year: Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) and Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP). Hopefully I'll keep my games impulse-buying to a minimum before then....


later
don

Charlie's Angels code?

A follow-up on my previous posting about the PS Store promo where they were giving a free download for Canadian PSN members who visited the PS Store between July 1-14, 2010.

Yeah.... about that code for the Charlie's Angels free download..... I suspect I'm not going to get it.


It's July 28, and still no email from Sony with the code. I've heard other people got their codes. But so far, I've gotten bumpkiss.

I can't explain it, but I feel like I'm on a "no freebies list" for some reason. I've talked about how I signed up and got emails saying I was getting free UMD demos 3 times-- and *none* of them were sent out.

And recently, I got an email from Sony about changes to their TOS or something.... the email was ENTIRELY in french. I've NEVER listed french as my language, nor clicked on any french options with any Playstation site. It wasn't even a bilingual email, with english & french... it was all french.

Sometimes when I get email updates from Playstation, they overcapitalize my name, like as if someone hit the CAPS LOCK key by mistake. What's bizarre is that it happens sometimes, not all the time. Is someone at Sony seriously typing out my name EVERY time they send out an email? This isn't all in their account records?

Things like this make me wary of Sony Computer Entertainment... my experience with them has been clunky, to say the least....

I did get the code for the free demo of ModNation Racers (PSP) and amazingly it worked, so maybe that's why I had my hopes up. And who knows, maybe I will get the Charlie's Angels code soon.... I'll go check my email.... but it's not that I'm dying to watch Charlie's Angels again, it's the principle of the thing.

Sony, just try not to suck so much.



later
don

Ace Combat Joint Assault demo (Japanese)

Awesome... PS Forum member Gamble_STARS posted a link to a PSP demo (in Japanese) for Ace Combat Joint Assault! (he posted 2 links, but they are just mirrors of the same zip file)

[Check out the post here]






Direct links to the demo:

http://playable01.bandainamcogames.co.jp/ace-x/acex2_trial.zip
http://playable02.bandainamcogames.co.jp/acex2_trial.zip

The demo is 117 MBs big(!)... I'm downloading it as I type. Can't wait to play it-- I've said it before, Ace Combat Joint Assault is my most anticipated game... out of all my consoles even... though I must admit Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) is also right up there on my drool-meter.



later
don

Update 6.30 fixes PSPgo pause game feature?

A followup to my post about the PSPgo's PAUSE GAME feature: I mentioned that every time you use it, it erases any previous save points in VIDEO, MUSIC, etc.

It seems that the latest PSPgo firmware update 6.30 seems to fix that. I noticed that after pausing a game, I could go back to my previously watched video and it would resume where I left off, same with music (very handy when we're talking about hour-long+ podcasts)

I don't think it was mentioned that 6.30 fixes this issue, I guess it's a little hidden bonus. I'm using the PAUSE GAME feature a lot more now!





later
don

PSPgo creaky Dpad

I recorded this video because some idjits on the PlayStation forums denying that the PSPgo has a creaky/squeaky Dpad. So this is my PSPgo:




I wouldn't say it's any worse than the PSP-1000 or PSP-2000 squeakiness. And despite the noise, the buttons & Dpad do feel different on the PSPgo than those models... the PSPgo has a much shorter press & a click feel to them than the PSP-K series.

Man, it's embarrassing to be a PSP owner sometimes... I seriously have to wonder how low are the I.Q.s of many PSP owners??? Sometimes I chalk it up to them being 13-year-old boys.... American 13 year old boys....

• American
• 13 years old
• Boy
• Gamer
  

=4x the dumbness?? Sorry for being a jerk, but they just piss me off so much sometimes. (and to be fair you can also substitute "Canadian" for "American" in that equation also) The point is that even if YOUR PSP does/doesn't do something, it doesn't mean that EVERY PSP is like that.

Anyway, how bored am I that I have to make a video like that & post it to YouTube. Oh well.


later
don

Excitebots:Trick Racing

I bought Excitebots: Trick Racing from Walmart a few days ago for $20.00.... that's the lowest I've seen it, though I heard Rogers Plus has it for $15.00-- I couldn't find any at my local ones.

Excitebots: Trick Racing is an arcade style racer with a very weird theme. You're racing with robots that are based on animals: frogs (see cover), bats, birds, grasshoppers, etc. these robots have wheels, but they can also walk (run) upright when you get a wrench power up. Speaking of power-ups, there are a bunch of neat ones that score you stars (points) while racing... you can knock a big soccer ball into a net, or run over a bunch of bowling pins, and there's a race mode where you race while playing Poker.... like I said, it's kinda weird. And they don't explain WHY you're racing with giant animal-themed robots, you just gotta go with it. Why? Why NOT, eh?? Fair enough...

One thing I really like is that it's not entirely about winning a race. You have to get a certain number of stars to get a good score to unlock the next round of play. You can collect stars by using power-ups, doing tricks and of course winning the race. But you could not win the race and still "win" by having enough stars.

It's a fun game that's fast with cheesy music.... unfortunately there's no custom soundtrack option like there was with the previous game Excite Truck..... probably stupid Nintendo's fault for removing mp3 playback support on the Wii.....

But the game overall feels sort of like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up; what is here is good, but there's not a lot to it. The race tracks are not bad looking-- there's one in Canada, yay!-- but they are a bit generic, and there's not very many of them. The game really counts on players replaying the same tracks over & over again.

If this game was $10.00, it'd be a great deal. For $20.00, it's a little high priced, compared to the play value I got out of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle which was the same price.



later
don

PSP deals at Rogers Plus

I've just heard that Rogers Plus stores have some really good deals on PSP consoles right now:

PSPgo (not sure if it's the 3 game bundle) - $124.99

PSP Rockband bundle - $99.99

Other PSP bundles, PSP games & accessories - 50% off


Killer deals! I will be checking it out ASAP though I *won't* buy another PSP console, because I have too many already!



later
don

PS Video Store finally comes to Canada

July 1 marked the debut of movies/tv on the Playstation Store for Canada. Right now, there is a promotion where you can get a copy of Charlie's Angels if you visit the PS Store between July 1-14, 2010 (with your account logged in)

I'm not sure if it's a rental version of Charlie's Angels or we can "own" it, and I'm not sure how we get the redemption code, it's supposed to be emailed to us after visiting. I bet it won't happen for a while.

But to access the PS Store, PSPs need to have the latest firmware update, 6.30. It only offers a very minor update to the GAME folders, apparently to seperate Neo-Geo game content from PlayStation content..... but that's not the REAL reason for the update, of course. The *real* reason is to block the Patapon 2 demo exploit that can be used to load homebrew-- even on a PSPgo.

So that's why there's been such a long period of time without any PSP firmware updates, then this one comes along. Sony forgot about the PSP until someone hacked it again. But if you're not interested in this homebrew exploit, then it's probably worth it to update especially if you intend to access the PS Store. As annoying as it is, I will be updating right after I type up this post....

I'm not sure how I feel about buying video from the PS Store. I was looking at the rental section and the prices seem to be around $4.99 (plus tax) I want to see Paranormal Activity, but when I did a search all it came up with was an option to buy it for like $19.99... I don't want to *buy* it, just watch it once. I don't get why there would be some movies that you can only buy & not rent... I dunno.

UPDATE: I was just logged into the PS Store on my PSPgo, and one of the "frames" of the page had a message saying thanks for visiting the Store! Your voucher will be emailed after July 14.... something like that.



later
don