I can't wait to touch it...

PSVita coming up fast

Honestly I’m getting excited for the launch of this thing. The PSVita seems to answer so many requests of Sony’s handheld division. It releases on February 22nd – less than a month away, and I’m trying to figure out what accessories I’ll grab with it.

Question one: Wifi or 3G version?

This to me seems like a pretty simple choice. With the 3G version being $50 more expensive and not really adding anything new to the experience (there are no games that are using the 3G feature as of yet it seems) and with data plans for 3G in Canada being outrageous, the Wifi Model seems like the way to go. Playing online can’t be done on 3G so why not just survive on WiFi like the rest of the world? I travel a lot as well, and having to pay for a 3G plan when I’m not in the country seems like a stupid thing to do.

Wifi Model $250

$100 dollars isn't terrible... but it's not great either

Question two: Memory Cards

There’s no doubt about it, memory cards for this baby are expensive. Though they’re not as much as previously thought the 32 gig card is $99.99. This is a hefty price tag, but when you think about it and compare it to Apple iTouch pricing $199 for an 8 gig, and an extra $100 for another 24 gigs – it’s not that bad. But does anyone need 32 gigs on a PSVita? If you’re looking for a good amount of space but a cheaper price you can take a look at the 16gig card for $60. Still lots of room for games, but not the full hundred bucks they’re looking for. This does need some thought, but I have the 16gig card in my sights at the moment.

16 Gig Memory Card $60

Question three: Games

No boxart for me...

Vita games are the same price as new PSP games were, so you’re looking at $40 a title. The real question for these games it whether you’ll get them digitally or with physical cards. Personally I’m looking to grab my games all digital, considering you can never lose them and you can always download them again if your hard drive manages to crap out or if you change systems. Obviously there are a few PSP games that I have that I’ll be playing on the Vita day one (Because since the launch of the ill fated PSPgo I’ve been buying all my games digitally). Really though for me it’s all about the Uncharted. I’m a big fan, and I can’t wait to see what it feels like on a handheld. Already the game is looking great. Another title, Gravity Daze has peaked my interest. Maybe I’ll have to pick that one up too.

Uncharted Golden Abyss, Gravity Daze $80.

Question four: Protection

The last thing you want on your new console is a scratch. Now of course I’m not going to be putting it in the same pocket as my keys, but just incase that happens I better buy some protective plastic to cover up the screen. You can never be too careful and they’re cheap as hell.

Screen protectors $10

All my money...soon to be gone...

All told?

So all told we’re looking at about $400 (Plus tax!) of hard earned cash going towards this thing, I hope Sony is appreciating it. Really for me the thrill of getting a console on launch day is exciting, despite the fact that people in Japan have had it for over a month now. I’ve never had a console on launch day before, so I think it’s time to change that. As soon as I grab it I’ll be taking pictures and writing a review for the site, including what PSP games look like on that gorgeous OLED screen. Lets just hope that Sony adds in the PSoneclassic emulator soon (it’s not going to be there for launch), and that they add a PS2classic emulator as well. I think that’s everything I’m looking for in a handheld.

Anyone else looking to get the PSVita at Launch? I mean c’mon, Uncharted on the bus!

PSoneclassics.com

So Cool

Games finally get the Museum Treatment in Game Story: A History of Video games

I was lucky enough to catch an exhibit at the Grand Palace in Paris entitled Game Story: A History of Video Games. It’s not often that you see video games celebrated in such a way, and I was lucky that my Paris layover was on the last day of the exhibit. This was a really cool experience, and it was probably one of the best layovers ever, because this exhibit was not only informative and thought provoking, but also interactive, with tons of different games systems new and old (especially old ones) that you could play for free after paying your entrance fee of 8 Euros. I took a few pictures, and instead of giving you a whole run down of game history like the exhibit does (which you probably already know) I’ve decided to just post the pictures I took. I hope gaming gets more exhibits like this!

The first ever home console, the Magnavox Odyssey on the left and an original Pong machine on the right

The Originators! These were the first commercial gaming machines, sadly they weren’t for play, I would have loved to play Pong on a real machine. They also had a Pong table that wasn’t working… My Dad actually told me about the Pong table that he played in his college bar days. Sadly it wasn’t working either.

Pong Clones and Home consoles

These were the first forays into the home gaming market by Atari, they were licensed to department stores and were sold by the millions as Christmas gifts.

The Vectrex

The Vectrex with Mine Storm. This was playable, and actually it was loads of fun, and it ran so fluidly too! It was probably running at 60 FPS! Mine Storm is an asteroids clone for those interested.

Atari's bad bet.

The game that single handedly destroyed the American games industry, and allowed Japanese companies like Nintendo and Sega (originally American!) to dominate it even today… well… not Sega…

Megaman Origins

The exhibit did this really well, showing how games that were popular in the West were based off Japanese Manga, and other cultural influences like films. This one showed how games like Megaman were based off of (or influenced by) properties like Astro Boy, also Metoid and Asteroids.

Still playable and fun after 23 years!

I must have played Tetris for about 20 mins until I reluctantly set it down for others to enjoy it… I wish they still made these, and that PSMini Tetris game looks a lot more tempting now…

Forgotten and unpopular Consoles, All playable!

These were actually really cool to play, the different controllers were interesting to find as well. I never thought I’d be able to play an Atari Jaguar, sadly the only thing they had to play on it was the original Rayman, so you couldn’t see the embarrassing attempts at 3D graphics that the Jaguar had.

How could you have a games exhibit without Goldeneye?

This thing was probably one of the most popular consoles of the exhibit, with no surprise.

Fighting games! SoulCalibre on the beloved Dreamcast

I got my ass thoroughly handed to me in the fighting game exhibits. Especially on Tekken. Maybe it’s high time I grab that one as a PSOne Classic…

Crazy Taxi, still a ton of fun,

It’s crazy that all these games get me to look at more PSP games. Crazy Taxi made it to the PSP as Crazy Taxi Fare Wars. It’s only $9.99! Sadly I have way too many games and barely any time… damn… Looking at the text on the upper right, it says the “arrival of 3D”.

A fitting end?

So overall, was Game Story worth seeing?

You’re damn right it was. Game Story is sort of a mile stone as far as gaming history goes as well, there are museums for games of course, but what makes Game Story: A History of Video Games special is the fact that it wasn’t in a strange small place in the middle of no where, it was an exhibit in a respected and internationally renowned museum, and it was popular! As far as I know it isn’t heading off to any other museums any time soon, but that’s a great start for games being considered as a real art form. I hope to see more of this in the future. It was a lot of fun, but luckily there’s a museum in the rooms of many readers of this very blog.

PSOneClassics.com

If you’re looking to see something like Game Story come to a museum near you, talk to your museum! I’m planning on doing the very same thing where I live.

Brennan (PSoneclassics.com)

Priorities in check.

Posting shouldn’t be affected THAT much.

I’m off to France for work for two months, I’ll be posting still but there’s a possibility that I’ll be a little bit slower to get to some news stories, and that my posts will be at strange French timing. Luckily my NA PSN account should still work when I’m in Europe, so I can still purchase/review new PSoneClassics coming to the network, sadly though PS3 games will fall through my fingers, as taking my fat PS3 with me would be a ludicrous thing to do. Here’s hoping that the Vita will play PS2classics via emulator eh? That means I can be a mobile PSone/PS2 reviewing machine! (If only!).

See you on the other side of the pond.

PSoneclassics.com

Like this, but more spiky haired angst.

UMD Passport could get you to convert

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan released info on a new free app that Japanese PSN users can get on December 6th. This program outlines that you can take a UMD game and turn it into a digital copy for a fee, but oddly enough they aren’t set fees, and some range all the way up to the $30 mark, while others huddle around $1.00. There is also a set list of games that right now uses the service, (or will when it’s released) and there are no signs yet of the really desired games on this service, i.e. games like Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and Crisis Core : Final Fantasy 7. Still, this is encouraging, and even though there is no news on whether or not the App will be coming to North America or Europe, we can bet we’ll hear more about it after it’s launch in Japan, and closer to the PSVita’s release date of February 22nd of next year.

What games would you convert?

There are only a few games I would want to play on my Vita that I have on UMD, Peacewalker (but that should come in the MGS HD collection bundle), Chains of Olypmus, KH: BBS and the awesome Gitaroo Man (my first PSP game). Of course it depends on how much they want to charge for converting these games, but hopefully they won’t expect us to break the bank.

Why are you so slow on this PSoneclassics???

I wrote this article a few days ago but managed to forget to post it! Sorry!

Source (Japanese SCE)

Even a replacement laptop has broken... twice... in a month...

You probably won’t believe this…

Just a few weeks ago, with the invent of PS2 classics on PSN I decided that I would be able to extend the website in to three distinct flavors, PSoneClassics.com for PSone classic news, PS2Classics.com, and PlaystationClassics.com with news and articles about Sony gaming products in general, sadly I’ve hit a bit of a hiccup, which can be seen to the right of your screen.

This, the laptop I’ve been running the site off, has committed suicide, long time readers of this blog probably know that I’ve had numerous problems with my laptop(s) coming from Asus. The first of which was repaired by the facility 6 times in 6 months before it was deemed defective, and then replaced with this unit you see to the right. Which was broken on first delivery, and after it being repaired for the first problem, it bricked itself (it won’t even run windows, it just goes to blue-screen) a month  to the day after it was cleared by Asus to be in working order for the second time.

Legal battle

I have asked Asus for a full refund for the price of the laptop (original) because, not only because it was defective, but because they show an inability or unwillingness to repair it, even with replacement units being defective. Each time it was sent to the repair facility it went through Asus quality control. This quality control has since failed 9 times. Meaning that Asus is unable to service their devices, prompting my request for a refund.

I have spoken to the Canadian Consumer protection Agency, and they said if Asus does not comply and issue a refund that small claims court is the best way to move forward, the law stating that consumers are protected from buying defective products, and that they should be “of quality” considering the laptop(s) have broken 9 times, and the warranty “repaired” the units 9 times before, it is evident that these products were not of quality, and it would not be difficult to convince a judge of that fact. I’m not looking for huge damages despite Asus wasting my time with their defective products, just a refund.

Moving Forward

I have ordered a new laptop to be delivered to me from another company, Alienware, so I can keep up with the blog, and with a bit of gaming as well. I had to order this laptop now, before I received a refund due to the fact that I’m leaving on a two month business trip starting on November 15th, at which point I would lose the ability not only to blog for you nice readers out there, but to continue to work, and to communicate with friends and family. It was pricey but I hope it’s worth it.

I’ll try my best to keep everything going, and continue to work on this blog and building the new ones. (At the moment I’m working off my ancient desktop). Thanks a lot for your support, I hope this won’t slow down operations for too long.

Brennan (PSoneclassics guy).

Here's what you get, for sale February 15th

Would you grab the Vita a week early?

Over on the Playstation blog it was announced today that there will be a first edition package for the Playstation Vita, to be released one week before the announced release date of February 22nd of next year. Included is a 4 gig memory card (a mandatory evil for some games we have found, considering there will be no internal memory to speak of at this point), a limited edition case, and a copy of Little Deviants, a Vita title that uses the back touch screen of the device as a main part of gameplay. There are two versions, and at this point it’s only for U.S. and Canadian gamers. The U.S. version will be the 3g version, and retail for $349.99, the Canadian version will go for 299.99 and only contain the wifi version of the console.

Is the First Edition Bundle worth it?

Getting a game and a memory card for 50 dollars is not bad, but I think the biggest reason why people will grab this is because they’ll get the device a week early. I’m in Canada, and I’ll probably hold off until the official release date to grab the 3G version with a 32 gig memory card, and games like Uncharted. Sadly at that point I’ll be very poor, but most likely quite happy.

You can pre-order the device now but you’ll have to do it quick because there’s a limited amount of these bundles, and they’ll be going quick. My personal opinion will be to wait it out, especially considering the small amount of memory the stick will have, only enough to carry a few PSone classics, or PSP games, and we’re not even sure how large the new PSVita games will be if you decide to grab games digitally. There’s also no word on what games will be available with this early release, at least not yet.

Check out the Playstation Blog for more info on it, and tell me what you think, is it worth having the thing a week early or not?

PSoneclassics.com

We want MDK!

The MDK 2 HD version is being released on the big three consoles this year, but for those of us un-initiated in the world of MDK, it might be good to start at the beginning, as part of the weekly feature here on PSoneclassics.com I chose MDK as a game that should be released as a PSOneclassic, because it’s fast paced, has lots of character, and is just a lot of fun. I sent them a message about it today, here’s how the message went.

MDK request e-mail

Here is there reply sent out only a few hour later.

:S ok...

So, we got nothing, but I guess this will take a little bit more pressure, or perhaps I need more clout as a game journalist before I can get full corporate responses from these guys, but they were nice enough to reply, let’s just hope it’s passed on to some of the decision makers upstairs who can get the ball rolling… perhaps we can get in on this in an organized way…

I feel an idea-a-brewin…

PSoneclassics.com

Bass Fishing was released this week… and while it might do well with a certain demographic, it’s not the populous classic that we should see on the service. I actually received an e-mail from a great PSoneclassics fan yesterday asking why are there so many sub par games released on the network when there are so many great ones that haven’t yet been released. Here’s a taste, (Name has been changed to protect the writer’s identity).

Johnny Bravo, PSOneclassics fan, artist's rendering

“Johnny Bravo to psoneclassics, 

I’m just wondering if you could put on your site, information on how fans could contact vendors for support of classics not available.

It seems like easy money for companies to release on the PSN. There’s enough good titles out there to have a game released every week for the rest of the PS3 lifespan. Yet we go on weeks without a single game.

Do you know if there are certain road blocks that prevent games from moving forward? I’m not just talking about valuable games such as Suikoden 2 or the Tales of Destiny series, even a cheap game like Chrono Cross isn’t making headway. It’s apparent that they don’t spent much of an investment as Chrono Trigger still has that loading bug (not present in the Japanese version).”

 

I whole-heartdely agree with our friend Johnny Bravo,  Oddly enough I have tried to do some of these very things in the past, try to get from the horses mouth, what is the reason they’re not being released on the service. The most successful of which was my attempt to get some information from Blizzard on Diablo. After asking them whether they would release the seminal classic on the network this is the reply I received.

 

Blizzard Support , Artist's rendering

“Greetings,

Blizzard Entertainment did not actually make the game you have inquired about. We have licensed these companies to make add-ons for our very popular gaming worlds, such as EA with “Warcraft, the Dark Saga” and “Diablo” for the Playstation or even Nintendo USA with “StarCraft” for the N64. If you have any questions concerning any of these games, please contact the appropriate company listed above.

Blizzard Support”

 

 

This was a pretty great reply, and although it was strange that these guys said they didn’t own the license for the game (that they most certainly do). They sent me to EA, some might know about the unfortunate service that EA offers, especially since they changed all their online services to Origin, here’s what they sent me.

Ea Support, Artist's rendering

“Hello Brennan,

Thank you for writing to Electronic Arts customer support.

Please be informed that we don’t have any such information about it right now.we are only the customer support part of EA. However, I advise you to please post your comments/suggestions on our official forums. These forums are often visited by game developers and other officials. Our forums are located at http://forums.ea.com.

Should you require any further assistance, please visit our support knowledge base at www.support.ea.com for a quick reference.If there is                                                                     anything else we can help you with please let us know.

    Sincerely,

    Kach
    EA Online Support”

Sadly that ended in a dead end, and it was sent so long ago, that the EA account that I set up to ask the question with has been deleted (since they’re all now being cleared out and you need to re-register with Origin). I just today tried to make another account but of course it won’t verify, and let me post on the forums (except the fact that it says I’m verified).

So this is the reason why PSoneclassics are coming out so sporadically, back in the PSone days everyone was helping everyone out, EA was working with Blizzard, now that Blizzard merged with Activision it looks increasingly remote that a game that was developed by Blizzard will be released by EA. I’m actively trying to get info from other game companies, like Interplay on whether or not they’ll ever release MDK as a PSOneclassic at some point, but it’s a crap shoot really. There are some game companies that shouldn’t have any excuses though, like Square Enix, Sony, etc. Who own all the rights to their games, and are just dragging their knuckles.

I want there to be more games on the network, and as Johnny Bravo says, there are enough great games out there for a good one to be released every week. If there is support from you readers out there, I will contact these companies with a “press inquiry” to see if they’ll give me the info, just message below or anywhere on the site (I’ll see it) and I can keep everyone informed.

 

PSoneclassics.com

Also, a big thank you to Johnny Bravo for e-mailing me at the official e-mail address, PSoneclassics@gmail.com, if anyone has any questions they can contact me there, thanks!

Sony Japan seemed to take Nintendo’s lead on getting high class actors to push their product. Nintendo has made some amazing commercials with Robin Williams and the Zelda franchise because he’s been such a fan (he even named his daughter Zelda!). But Sony fires back with Harrison Ford playing Uncharted 3. Indiana Jones playing a game heavily influenced by himself! It’s like watching your dad play a game and loving it, but times it by the coolness factor of Han Solo. They may be spoilers! So if you don’t want anything spoiled, don’t watch!

PSoneclassics.com