But for now, parts 1 and 2:

1 Month free rental, PS3 games, BluRays.

DVDs and Streaming Movies.

Embed Code:

<object width=”622″ height=”375″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/p/2B00A1738F3C4940&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0×5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hd=1″>
</param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param>
<embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/p/2B00A1738F3C4940&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0×5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hd=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”622″ height=”375″></embed></object>

1 Month free rental, PS3 games, BluRays.

DVDs and Streaming Movies.

I want to see what homebrew developers can do with the PS3, I want new visualizations, I want new dynamic themes.
Imagine the power or the Cell processor being finally handed to the masses.

I suppose that most people probably want the same, and even more will want ISO loaders, and free pirated games.

Now thats where things turn bad, I dont condone piracy, but I hate being ripped off. Modern Warfare 2 to me was more of the same, nothing new. It kept me busy for a few weeks before I got bored and swapped it.
But activision were going to ask £70 for it. Thats when piracy can help, it’s a big Fuck You to the GREEDY developers.
But it’s also gives the smaller or indipendent developers the shaft too. Imagine flOwer being the success it was if everyone pirated it.

I also think that some of the developers and publishers that are exclusive to the 360, might be furious with Microsoft for not making the system more secure. And they’ll be eyeing up the PS3 with envy, just waiting for their contract to end.
You see, when the system is unhackable, more devs will want to make games for that system. It’s a simple matter of money, they get a bigger return for their time and hard work. Some will be furious with themselves for putting their eggs in the wrong basket, other will just accept their fate, and try their best.

But imagine a world where all the games you want are free, all it costs is the price of a blank disk, or some hard drive space. Whats the point of developers and publishers continuing work when their returns are smaller and smaller?
Corners will be cut, games will be buggier, and people will complain that they paid for their last buggy game, and start downloading free ones in future… and so the circle tightens.

So if the PS3 is hacked, and piracy becomes rife, is this a good thing?
If we can run homebrew, and get a decent web browser on the PS3, will people still want more, and more for free?

So I ask again, is hacking the PS3 a good thing or a bad thing?

1 Month free rental, PS3 games, BluRays.

DVDs and Streaming Movies.

So the creation:
It takes about 2-5 minutes to create a track from new, then you start to tweak it, add buildings and obsticles.
I’ve made 2 tracks so far, total build time, about 30 minutes. And trust me on this, it’s soooo easy.
But it’s also fun to build tracks, so there’s no doubt going to be enough to last a lifetime once the game is out.

so far all the video’s are still processing, so they might look a bit rough right now. They will be in HD enventually.

This one my nephew built – Alpine Chaos:

This is one I built – Drift KING MK2:

Dave (theENIGMATRON) has also made one – Spinners, and it’s er… challenging.

1 Month free rental, PS3 games, BluRays.

DVDs and Streaming Movies.

So in the meantime, practice drifting. What do you mean “whats drifting”?

Drifting is the art of going sideways around corners without using the brake to slow down.
Do it right, you earn boost, get it seriously right, and you can earn tons of boost and points.

So how do you do it?
Dead easy, turn left or right, hit X to jump, and keep pressing X.

Try it in the lobby, like this:

So now you know how to do it, download my Drift KING track:

1 Month free rental, PS3 games, BluRays.

DVDs and Streaming Movies.

So I completed the single player last night, played some multiplayer, and revisited some of the earlier levels.

Here’s Drake playing Marco Polo with Chloé:

I also made a video from one of the multiplayer replays.
The playback is excellent, I really like the replay feature, and it’s automatic, it just records without you having to think about it.
This vide has no tweaks to it, and it still manages to look great.

This next one however, has some visual tweaks to it, focal length, apperture, and other tweaks. Now it looks nightmarish!
It really seems to add a sinister look to it:

Track listing …
1. Scarface – [04:37]
2. Trex – [04:05]
3. Vectribe – [04:18]
4. G.R.P. – [04:31]
5. Torment – [04:54]
6. Krayola – [04:45]
7. Andromeda – [04:52]
8. Vectribe – Style over Substance Remix – [04:24]
9. Cliff Diver – [04:24]
10. Pantheon – [05:42]
11. Querk – Off Planet Remix – [05:28]
12. Carpaureum – Digital Prisoners Remix – [05:28]
13. Querk – [05:01]
14. Crash Punk – [04:15]
15. Scarface – Six Five Eight One Remix – [03:42]
16. Carpaureum – Super Avilyn 1984 Remix – [04:35]

“Gravity Crash Anthems” will be available for £9.99 as a multi-format download from http://coldstorage.bandcamp.com and features 16 tracks, including choice re-mixes in styles as varied as laid back drum’n'bass, orchestral ambient and Commodore SID Chip.

Loading...

This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.

“Gravity Crash Anthems” features album length versions of the music from the PS3/PSP game “Gravity Crash” – one of a series of ‘new skool retro’ games from Sony Computer Entertainment. Wright was more than qualified to rise to the challenge of providing audio for the game, not least because his association with computer games goes back as far as the 1980’s, where he began his career penning memorable tunes for many well-known games such as “Shadow of the Beast” and “Lemmings”.

“Writing the score for this game was a total joy for me!” says Wright, “…although I have to compose in all manner of styles based on the requirements of each project, my musical roots are firmly planted in the 80’s where I first discovered a love for electronic music”.
Stewart Gilray (Managing Director of Just Add Water (Developments) Ltd. said, “When we started to think about the audio for Gravity Crash, there was no one else I wanted to get on board.”

“Gravity Crash Anthems” will be available for £9.99 as a multi-format download from http://coldstorage.bandcamp.com and features 16 tracks, including choice re-mixes in styles as varied as laid back drum’n'bass, orchestral ambient and Commodore SID Chip.

Track listing …
1. Scarface – [04:37]
2. Trex – [04:05]
3. Vectribe – [04:18]
4. G.R.P. – [04:31]
5. Torment – [04:54]
6. Krayola – [04:45]
7. Andromeda – [04:52]
8. Vectribe – Style over Substance Remix – [04:24]
9. Cliff Diver – [04:24]
10. Pantheon – [05:42]
11. Querk – Off Planet Remix – [05:28]
12. Carpaureum – Digital Prisoners Remix – [05:28]
13. Querk – [05:01]
14. Crash Punk – [04:15]
15. Scarface – Six Five Eight One Remix – [03:42]
16. Carpaureum – Super Avilyn 1984 Remix – [04:35]

Get your listening gear around these two tracks: Scarface and Cliff Diver Remixes.

www.thesixthaxis.com – “Beautiful “modern-retro” art styling and well-realised soundtrack.” – [8/10]

Official PlayStation Magazine AU – “Streamlined and pretty, this is an example of a simple idea being the best idea.” – [9/10]

www.videogamer.com – “It is a game that, like the best retro games, fuses eye-catching retro visuals with high definition graphics.” – [8/10]

www.wonderwallweb.com – “Overall Gravity Crash is an excellent, addictive retro style title which old school shooter fans will love” – [8.5/10]

Retro Gamer Magazine – [89%]

[About Tim Wright aka, CoLD SToRAGE] Tim has been producing music for computer & video games since the late 1980’s. His work on prominent titles such as Shadow of the Beast II & III, Lemmings, Sensible Soccer, Sony’s Wipeout Series and Colony Wars to name but a few, has earned him awards and accolades from industry peers and consumers alike. Wright’s contribution to the industry has also come in the form of designing and developing highly regarded music sequencing products such as MUSIC 2000, MTV Music Generator and the eJay music series, giving him a unique understanding of the marketplace.

[About Just Add Water (Developments), Ltd.] Based in West Yorkshire countryside, JAW is a collective of veteran game developers specialising in download-only game and application projects, since 2006. With over 100 years’ collective game development experience spread among the core team, working on titles such as; “Power Monger”, “Pinball Fantasies”, “Spec Ops: Ranger Elite”, “Soldier of Fortune”, “Dune 2000”, “Little Britain”, “Flock” and “Gravity Crash” to name but a few.

Editorial:
Before you go thinking that £9.99 is a bit steep, just think about how many game soundtracks there are out there to buy.
There’s PixelJunk Eden, Pixel Junk Monsters, and thats it. There is a soundtrack to Battlefield Bad Company on iTunes, but it’s not exclusive! This is. Not only that, but you get some great sounding remixes and original music too. Plus £9.99 is not a lot to spend on keeping a niche market alive and kicking.
I have to say that I’m looking forward to hearing all the songs tomorrow.

Loading...

This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.

Next up, after finding shotguns a fairly easy challenge, we decided to really slap down a really worthy challenge.
But, we wanted something tough and we managed to find one: Pistols only!
Throughout we decided that pistols and grenades were fine, but main weapons where what designated and HAD to stick too.

And thats it, despite the 2 video’s we had hours of fun taunting one another, eventually we ended up with knives only, and well, I deleted that video, we got hammered! I think Chris lasted the longest, but only by a few seconds.

So do something different, get some mates around and see what you can do?

I have to say, if he needs a game like this to score, he’s doing something wrong.!

Lance Henriksen will appear as Karl Bishop Weyland, a descendent of Charles Bishop Weyland, the founder of the infamous Weyland-Yutani corporation from the Aliens universe.

AVP is due in February 2010, so not long to wait.

Trailer:

Loading...

This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.

Dark Void is a new sci-fi action-adventure game that combines an adrenaline-fuelled blend of aerial and on-foot combat set in a parallel universe called “The Void”. Players will take on the role of Will; a pilot dropped into incredible circumstances while on a routine air cargo flight crashes in the Bermuda triangle leading him to be trapped in the Void. This unlikely hero soon finds himself swept into a desperate struggle for survival at the head of a group called The Survivors. Trapped in the Void, these resistance fighters are battling to hold off a mysterious alien race that plans to threaten Earth.

Dark Void’s unique combination of in-air and on-ground combat creates a thrilling new gameplay dynamic to the third-person shooter experience. Taking 3D action to a whole new level, Dark Void’s vertical combat system allows players to dangle from thousand foot drops as they take cover and drop enemies from above and below, bringing a whole new sense of vulnerability and thrill to the player. Defying gravity in vertical combat is only half the battle as, over time, Will is upgraded to a powerful rocket pack which allows for fierce in-air combat as gamers are able to fly through the void at unparallel speeds shooting down anything that gets in their path. Blasting away at massive bosses has never been this much fun as Dark Void offers a unique grip system made up of a variety of grip-based mini-games including skyjacking UFOs mid-flight.

• Sci-Fi Action-Adventure combines aerial and on-foot combat for unparallel 3D third-person shooter experience
• Gravity-defying vertical combat system where moving up is the only way to bring your enemies down
• Unique grip system that allows the players to scale walls jumping from surface to surface or hijack UFO’s while in mid-air
• Explosive hover and rocket pack and special in-air moves allow players to fly with reckless abandon while performing hair-raising stunts
• The Void- a mind-bending parallel world where an evil alien race called, “The Watchers” are waiting…
• Mysterious thought-provoking storyline based on conspiracy theory and strange phenomenon
• Main character, Will, is a regular pilot turned unlikely superhero in a wild ride to save humanity

Sony currently has the Cell Processor, a powerful beast, that has yet to reach it’s true potential. Sure there’s some truly brilliant games like Uncharted 2. But lets think about it for a second, the PS2 did’nt hit it’s limits for around 5-6 years, will it take that long for the PS3 to do the same? I hope so.

But the 360 is’nt a slouch either, and while both were devoloped and created at the same time, the 360 has an advantage over the PS3 for software developers.
You see the 360 borrows a large amount of it’s software development from the original Xbox, but Sony had to start from scratch with a completely new set of instructions. Thats why it’s been tough to get the PS3 off the ground.
But fear not, devs are getting used to it, and we are seeing some astounding titles. And there’s more to come.

While the 360 may eventually run out of steam before the PS3, most devs will keep cross platform titles looking and playing about the same. Why? Because it’s easier to make one game on two platforms identical, than one game on two systems, but one of them very different from the other.

So what about the future consoles?
We’ve already seen that Sony have made it very easy to change the hard disk in a PS3, it takes 2-3 minutes to swap HDD’s. While the xbox is locked to expensive upgrade paths, swapping a HDD on a 360 is rediculously expensive. Not only that, but with a drive caddy, you can re-use the PS3 HDD again.
So it’s a step in the right direction for Sony.
But what about the CPU or graphics cards? Or what about RAM too?
Well, there’s no real reason for stopping a user for upgrading them, other than they are hardwired to the system boards.
If they were interchangeable, just like PC’s, then you couyld dramatically increase the life, and useabilty of a system.
When they get to the end of their life cycle, just drop in another CPU, graphics card, and more RAM. and suddenly, you have a new console. You’d eventually have to replace the system for a new one as this upgrade path is still reliant on technology that was developed when the console was new. I’m taking about chipsets.
A chipset is the main controller on a system board that controls everything else. See image:

So eventually, you would need to replace the sytem all together. But this increases the longevity dramatically, and seeing as you would have to buy Sony or Microsoft branded parts, you’d know that you were getting true compatabilty, and it would help keep the developer going a while longer.

But what other advantages does having a PC like upgrade path have?
Game developers could make a version of the game that works on both paths, but works and looks better on an upgraded system. Eventually you’d have THE ONE game that you must have, and you could upgrade then.
It also gives you an option to use the system as you see fit, right now the PS3 has a viable second operating system in the form of Linux. But it’s severely limited in the amount of memory it has, 256mb system memory and 256mb of graphics memory, or near as damnit. It’s not a lot, even if you know linux and know how to get the best out of it, it’s not enough. So how about adding more?
If you could add more ram, Linux is’nt the only thing to benefit, the entire system would too. Games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 would’nt need to constantly access the disk, it could load all the textures at once. This would reduce wear and tear on the blu-ray drive, making it last longer. Also more memory for textures means better textures too, which means better looking games.
Which in turn brings us to the graphics card.
You see, everything you see on screen is constructed by the graphics card. So if you have a better one, it stands to reason that games will look better. You’d have higher frame rates, better textures, better and more polygons and more details.
The CPU would also help in this department, but seeing as the CELL has’nt met it’s potential yet, this point may be moot.

So what are the Pro’s and Cons?

Cons:
1. Well, you might get left behind if you can not afford the upgrades.
2. If upgrades are too minor, why bother with the upgrade?
3. You just dont need it, the system is fine without it.
4. The temptation by game devs is to code only for a platform that looks best. Making the lower end non-viable.
5. Fewer games for the lower end – see 4.
6. Why not buy a PC instead?

Pros:
1. Better performance.
2. More choice
3. A console that runs better as a PC and is also a gaming console.
4. It’s cheaper than buying a new console.
5. It’s easier for game devs to code for new hardware than learning to code for a new console.
6. You get to keep all your old games, and enjoy new games without buying a new console and loosing compatability.

Summary.
It’s a tough choice for Sony or Microsoft to make, new console, or upgrade?
Or is it? You see they could create a new revenue stream from an old console by offering upgrades, but when a new console eventually comes, what will the uptake be?
Then you have the argument that you may as well buy a PC.
Thats fine, but PC monitors are very expensive, so you have to include that in the price, then there’s the actual hardware and software to run it, and it suddenly starts to get very expensive. A minimum price for a gaming PC is around £500 + monitor. With top end upto well inexcess of £1000.
Then there’s the noise, PC’s are very noisey, and keeping them quiet means spending a fair amount of cash. That’ll be another £150+ for water cooling.
So is it a no brainer?
You decide.

Right now though, I’m wondering if trying to save EVERYTHING from the old forum is the best move?
What about starting a new one completely from scratch?
Save the old one, but no new registrations on it, just keep it for reference for a few months, then eventually, pull that completely.
Dave seems to think he can save it, to a degree, and that it will take a fair amount of time and effort.
I think that over time, that may cause more problems than it solves.

Sometimes you just need to say fuck it.
This is one of those times.
But do we fuck it, rebuild and start again with a completely new board?
Or do we say fuck it, and not bother?

Personally, I think fuck it, rebuild the bastard, but do it better than before!

I’m sure Dave will have some more input, as he’s the one who thinks Steve Austin can be saved.
Better not cost $6,000,000 though, I will be pissed then.

But wait, there’s more.
Last year he did the same sort of thing, and this is incredible.

They also make some truly amazing looking theme’s for Windows too, for XP, Vista, and now Windows 7.
I’m sure you’ll agree that they do look very very good.

Loading...

This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence.