Retro Wednesday

Thanks to some feedback I received on the format for this blog, i have come to a daily schedule that people can look forward to based on the day during the week.

Monday - Weekend in gaming
Tuesday - Gaming News
Wednesday - Retro Gaming Day
Thursday - Hype Machine (Taking a look at upcoming games)
Friday - Game review Friday

Hopefully this brings some diversity to the posts and is able to connect with many different readers who can find a day that they enjoy.  So without further ado, the first retro Wednesday for this LS PlayStation blog.

Jersey Devil

There was a time that is starting to fade from memory that kids today will never experience: Rental stores.  It was the best memory I have always had of going on Friday after school to the rental store, whether it was my local grocery store that had a movie department, the mom and pop rental place, or the chain Hollywood video and Blockbuster that opened later on in my small town.  This was back when I didn't have a ton of access to game reviews and information that lead to a lot of blind rentals. Every Friday I would rush to the game section and browse completely based on the game cases.  This is what lead me to my first retro title for this section: Jersey Devil.  

That cover grabbed me that day in the store and made me choose it to take home and enjoy over the weekend.  I don't remember the game itself super well, but after watching some videos on the game memories kept coming back.  As platformers go it wasn't the greatest game, in fact it was a pretty bad game.  Clunky controls and bad camera angles plagued the game at every turn.  I always thought when i was a kid that Jersey Devil was just his name and truly he was a bat ala Batman.  i think this kinda drew me to like the game being a batman fan.  You could punch kick and glide as Jersey Devil to defeat the antagonist Dr. knarf.  you fought some weird mutated things and solved puzzles just like any other platformer.

  

Back then like I had mentioned before there was not easy internet access for me, so games that became difficult almost became impossible due to getting stuck and having no idea how to proceed.  With no guides available I remember getting frustrated and being unable to proceed to finish the game.  Honestly a lot of games in my childhood were not completed due to this fact as well as time that I spent with rental games.  It makes me wonder what I missed in regards to games I didn't finish.

This game popped up in my head recently when I heard it referred to on a gaming website, so i figured it could be a decent start to my retro Wednesday series.  Did you guys play Jersey Devil and have memories of it?

PS News Tuesday

July PS Plus

It's another Tuesday, and another day of news.  Not a ton of big news was announced, but with it being the first Tuesday of the month, it now means new PS Plus games for all!  This month PS4 sees a strong showing of Strider and Towerfall.  Towerfall originally hit it big as the best game available on Oyua, now there is no reason to even keep the thing out with a free copy on PS4.  And Strider is a very well reviewed game about Ninjas... what more do you need?!

On PS3, Sony is giving the decent Dead Space 3, which is not as good as the first two but a decent AAA title.  Also, PS3 will be getting Vessel, Which I have not seen a lot of or know a lot about, but free is free.

Finally the beloved Vita get's a couple of good games including Muramasa Rebirth and Doki Doki universe.  both these games are great pick up and play games and continue the strong lineup of Vita PS Plus titles that continue to fill my memory cards.

 

FIFA 15

FIFA 15 has released a beautiful trailer showing off the new graphics and animations for the game and boy does it look good.  I am very excited seeing all the sports games up their game for a second go around on next gen systems.  Not sure which game i will prioritize, but i am definitely leaning either NHL or FIFA after what I have seen.  Check out the trailer below if you have not seen it and look forward to playing the game this Fall!

Sales

A couple big sales going on this week at different retailers for Playstation owners.  The big sale is at Best Buy who have the Sony Gold Stereo Wireless headset on sale for $69.99 from the original $100 price tag!  These are the best wireless headsets for the price, so go pick them up before the sale ends!

Sony gold wireless stereo headset

Another game that I just finished that is definitely worth the price is Wolfenstein The New Order.  You can pick it up from almost any retailer this week for $39.99, and it is very much worth it at that price.  Very under rated game.

Wolfenstein: The New order

Weekend in Gaming

Another Monday... another weekend in gaming journal for everyone out their in Sony land.  Spent the entire weekend finally working on Watch Dogs after finishing Wolfenstein last week.  If you are in need of a game to play please grab Wolfenstein, very underrated.  As for Watch Dogs, at first I was very confused with this game and its controls.  However after playing for a while it finally started to make sense and actually become fun.  I am not looking forward to the Plat solely on the online luck trophy traced which requires you to be tailed by 5 other gamers.  This is completely random and there is really no true way to track this.

After Watch Dogs I am not sure what to sink my teeth into as I have so many games right now since I got my PS3.  I have Uncharted 2 and 3 to clean up a bit more with trophies.  But also games like L.A. Noire and the entire Batman Arkham series.  I really want to try for some more trophies in NBA 2k so that I can trade in before it becomes worthless in trade in price.

I do have the Last of Us preordered for PS4 and look forward to sinking more time into that.  What are you guys playing and what do you think I should move onto next?

Tuesday PS News

Every Tuesday I will run down the last weeks worth of PS news and give my opinion on what it may mean or why you should be excited.

The Last of Us Lowers MSRP

It looks like The Last of Us has lowered its MSRP to $49.99 instead of the regular $60 for new games.  This is big news as a lot of remastering complaints centered around the $60 price tag.  This edition also comes with all DLC, a current $20 value that includes the wonderful single player DLC Left Behind.  This is a must own for all PS4 owners and has even gotten some rumors of a PS4 bundle that includes the Last of Us.

New DS4 Controllers coming Stateside

New blue, white, and camouflage DS4 controllers have shown up for preorder by Amazon finally bringing a little change to the regular black controller provided with the system.  We of course figured white was coming with the inclusion in the white PS4 bundle that is coming this fall.  One controller not announced yet is a red colored one seeing as Asia already has the blue but also has a red one as well.  Good for Sony to finally bring this over as people have been clamoring for a little color.

Update 1.72

Another small update came to PS4 for stability improvements, but many are wondering when we will get the next big update.  We know youtube is coming in the fall, which could lead many to believe that big update will include that and others in the Fall.  Otherwise we are just left speculating about things like online takeover, a possible new sound update, or heck, even the ability to change PSN names?  I can dream right?

Weekend in Gaming

Here is the first installment of Weekend in gaming, and what a weekend it was.  My trophy hunting continues as I was able to rent South Park Stick of Truth from Redbox thanks to a free rental.  Was hoping to play through and Platinum the first play through, but thanks to a dumb trophy that has no way of actually tracking, I was unable to get the platinum without a second play through.  With the game being a rental I wasn't able to do that so the platinum will have to wait.  My thoughts on the game are very high as I feel it takes the essence of South Park and completely recreates it with you as a character in an episode.  It is definitely not a very appropriate game, but when it's South Park what do you expect?  Without the constraints of TV censors, This episode of South Park can include Nazi zombie fetus's, tons of fart jokes, and plenty of sexual innuendos.  It deserves its M rating one hundred percent, but also brings plenty of laughs I have never experienced in a video game.  This is an early contender for my game of the year, just too bad they aren't porting it to next gen.

After that I moved on to Wolfenstein, which I have been waiting to play since I got it when it was first released.  This game was quite a surprise as I am thoroughly enjoying playing through being my first first-person shooter in quite some time.  I had heard the buzz which caused me to pick it up, and it deserves all of it.  The story is great and engaging for a WWII type shooter.  Truly though, it isn't a World War II shooter at all since it is set after WWII in a world where the Nazi's won.  The hero is likable with good dialogue and funny one liners.  The thing I love most about the game is it does not take itself seriously, but instead embraces the ridiculousness of the story, but also asking the what if question with a different outcome to WWII.  I should be able to finish in the next two days and will give a full review for the blog since it was a more recent release.  Just an FYI, seems like this week many retailers have Wolfenstein on sale and for around $30 I think it is a must have in this current drought for games.

After I move past Wolfenstein, I still have a brand new Watch Dogs to open, as well as a growing backlog of PS3 games I want to attempt to Platinum.  Feel free to comment with suggestions for games I should play, and use my backlog tab at the top of the page to see what else I have.

The Advantages of PlayStation Plus

PlayStation Plus, the service many people were scared of when it first started has become one of the most rewarding services for the price to date.  A service that gives 6 free games a month, many discounts, and also allows you to play online this generation.  What Plus really is though is an evolution of gaming that is bringing a similar situation to consoles that steam brought to PC's.  When it was first announced many Sony fans were not happy as one of the big draws to the PS3 was the free multiplayer gaming and video apps, whereas Xbox gamers were being required to pay for their service.  Although, most will say Xbox live was worth the money due to the stability, Sony fans were still thinking Sony was going to way of Microsoft and would no longer allow for free online gaming. What Sony did next was probably what got them ahead of the 360 in regards to sales and why the PS4 has been such a success: free games!

Sony added the Instant Gaming Collection to the service as well as discounts and sales with up to 75% off on some games.  The first year alone brought a number of great titles, and they weren't just older games from previous generations or simple downloadable titles either.  Games like Uncharted, Infamous, Resident Evil, and Little Big Planet have been free through the service.

The first year of PlayStation Plus

Now with the success of Plus, Sony could have backed off and still beat Microsoft with value by taking some games away or even raising the price, but instead they gave even more games away with the PS Vita and extending Plus to the other platform for free.  Each Plus subscriber has been getting 60-100 games a year, which with the cost of $50 a year comes to a total of a $1.20 per title for games like Demon Souls, Sleeping dogs, and Borderlands.  A lot less then buying the games separately.  

With the release of the PS4, Sony did make a surprising move by requiring PS Plus to play multiplayer just like Microsoft, except yet again they did not take away any of the other features of the PS Plus subscription.  They even added PS4 titles to the Instant Game Collection, bring the total to 2 games per platform per month.  However, unlike Microsoft they did not charge people to use apps such as Amazon or Netflix.  Since the release of the PS4 PS Plus subscriptions have increased exponentially.  The biggest thing I have found from people is that they never realized what a value Plus was.  Even I didn't purchase Plus till this past October, which makes me a little bit mad about all the games I missed out on.  It is a must for any Sony lover, PlayStation owner, or bargain finder.  The success of PS Plus is noted and Sony really hit it out of the park regarding the service.

The program has been so successful, it has caused Microsoft to change a lot about the Xbox live gold subscription, now including games and also taking video apps out from behind the pay wall.  But is it enough for Microsoft?  We have already seen a large number of Xbox users jump over and be won over by the PS4 and PS Plus.  Only time will truly tell, but since I am one of those people I will say it is amazing what Sony has done for core gamers and the value cannot be ignored.  Not to mention that the $50 price tag being $10 cheaper than Xbox live gives it an even better leg up on the competition.  However, you can get it even cheaper than that during the holidays when sales for $20-$30 is fairly common.  If you own any PS platform, I recommend you get Plus right away, you will not be disappointed.

Why Sony Fans should be Happy Post E3

One thing I don't hear a lot of people talking about when assessing Sony's E3 press conference is the number of games in development that weren't announced.  For whatever reason studios like Sony Bend, Sony Santa Monica, and even Media Molecule were no where to be found (LBP3 is actually being developed by Sumo Digital).  However, Sony has already stated they are all working on PS4 games, which means even after all the announcements that were made there is still more to be revealed in the coming year.  Whether that means Gamescon or the Tokyo Game Show, PlayStation gamers are in for a heck of a year!

Now the question is what games are in development?  One of my first blogs talked about 2014 and what games could be coming and now I feel like I can revise that a bit due to some more news and some changes at developers.  One of the biggest question marks comes from Sony Santa Monica.  The God of War developer was working on two games before some recent layoffs and the cancellation of one project (rumored to be the open world space game I talked about in my original preview).  So then is the other game a next gen God of War?  Or could they surprise everyone with a new original IP?  Only time will tell but keep an eye on Sony Santa Monica, any day we may just find out.

Of course the talk of E3 was Uncharted 4, but a Naughty Dog employee did state that another game is being developed on the same size as Uncharted 4.  The obvious idea would be The Last of Us, but what would happen if Naughty Dog surprised us and did a totally different game?  After the most impressive video game trailer ever, and the news that it was in-game, in-engine footage means Naughty Dog may have already found a way to unleash the power of the PS4.  I can only hope we get another Naughty Dog game soon after Uncharted 4 is released to bide a little more time with an amazing developer.  Honestly, even with all the turmoil at Naughty Dog can they do no wrong?  Below is the trailer again, with the new information that this will be very close to the final product, I can't help but watch over and over!

The biggest mystery as far as Sony's studios go are Sony bend and the trademark Kill Strain.  Recently several trademarked game titles were leaked including Guns up.  At E3 Sony revealed the game Guns up coming to PS4.  Also leaked at the same time was the trademark Kill Strain, which many associated with a possible Syphon Filter reboot.  Could Sony Bend be bringing back a classic?

These are just three studios out of a handful that have yet to announce their next gen projects, which to me spells a good outlook to PS gamers everywhere!