Results tagged “PS3” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

According to reports, Nintendo's profits have plunged in the last six months.

The figures, showing a 52 per cent drop in profits, were described as 'disappointing' by commentators, and blamed on waning sales for the Nintendo Wii console.

Apparently price cuts to the Playstation 3 have hit sales of the hitherto all conquering Wii.

My own opinion on this is that you can only sell so much of one thing before everyone who could possibly want one, er, has one.

Don't forget that the Nintendo Wii has sold 56 million around the world.

Also don't forget that it was launched in the UK in December 2006 - and three years is a long time in the gaming industry.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Nintendo Wii 2 was imminent - after all, manufacturers rarely give much away before bringing to market a new item of technology because it will hit the last sales of their previous product, which are still clogging up the shelves in the run up to the launch.

Alone in the Dark Inferno
Eden Games
£44.99

MORE scare the pants off you action from the latest in this long running series which first saw the light of day in 1992.

I suppose horror never goes out of fashion, and this one is clearly trying to move with the times, placing an emphasis on giving people episodic action for those in need of a "quick TV-style fix".

There are a number of changes which have been brought in on the PS3 after the Xbox 360 version received some criticism - including a 360 degree camera view solving one of the biggest niggles.

The absolutely impossible racing section has also been updated - now there is a checkpoint you can save at, which stops you throwing the controller through the screen.

It looks absolutely superb with excellent character models and overall design is great - I particularly enjoyed one sequence involving a race away from a massive fissure opening up in the city.

It has to be said that the replayability probably won't be that high, once you've got to grips with all the twists and turns in the plot, and when you're talking about £40 plus that might be a problem.

But overall it's an improvement on the XBox version and a pretty effective frightener.

74 per cent

Tomb Raider: Underworld
Eidos
PC, PS3
£39.99

IS Lara Croft the most iconic computer games character ever?

Well quite possibly, and a testament to her popularity that the latest instalment has just been released - a full 12 years after the original made its debut.

Of course, familiarity can breed contempt and there have been some less-than stellar releases in this series over the years - with complaints including each didn't do anything new.

Tomb Raider: Underworld doesn't do much radically different.

The combat system has been tweaked - it's now possible to shoot at two targets at the same time, if you're engaged in double pistol action, which is fun.

You can even hang by one hand, while shooting with the other.

Underworld continues the story started in Legend, which has Lara in search of Avalon, no, not the Roxy Music album, rather an ancient underworld which could hold the key to her missing mother, and ends up covering a whole bunch of Norse mythology, including the whereabouts of Thor's hammer.

It's a great addition to the series, with infuriating puzzles and excellent combat.

****

I got a press release through the other day from IGA Worldwide "the leading independent in-game advertising network".

They've just signed a deal with EA, or Electronic Arts, to provide all their plugging for the Playstation 3.

According to the bumph the contract means the 13 million PS3 owners will now be bombarded with in-game advertising.

The release says: "Sony recently opened its PS3(TM) platform to allow brands to advertise dynamically within games played on the popular video game console."

Well that was nice of Sony wasn't it? (I particularly like the TM thrown in like a breeze block emphasizing the product).

I enjoyed the explanation of why gamers would actually benefit from the experience: "The advertisements are integrated within the gaming environment in order to deliver a seamless and more authentic game environment."

Well, I suppose they're right - being bombarded with product placement is certainly part of normal everyday life.

I remember when the only ads in games were spoof ones - often in something like Duke Nukem there'd be pics of naked women advertising something - god knows what - it wasn't big, it wasn't clever, but at least it was (slightly) funny (if you were an adolescent male that is).

Will this 'advance' keep prices down for PS3 gamers (normal release price £49.99) - errr, no.

And EA, for god's sake. They are hardly famous for insisting on finished products being released.

Who can forget Battlefield 2 on PC - still getting massive bug fix patches YEARS after its release.

Elizabeth Harz, EA's Senior Vice President said: "EA is committed to providing both great entertainment experiences for consumers and effective advertising solutions for marketers."

It's come to something when a games publisher says it's 'committed' to a concept like 'creating effective advertising solutions'.

I await the first in-game ad break.

Adverts - coming to a game near you!

SO the latest 'next big thing' has arrived - and already Grand Theft Auto IV is making the news.

The BBC reports that it has already smashed through all sales records.

Not only has it beaten any previous video game with UK sales of £24 million on the day of release, but it's already been critically acclaimed with huge review scores.

I've been off work this week - but hopefully on my return a review copy will be waiting!

Mind you, there have also been many reports of faults - suggesting Rockstar might not have tested things propertly before going to release.

Some PS3 owners haven't been able to install it on their hard drives, with others revealing crashing problems on the same system.

It's not confined to the PS3 either - on the XBox 360 a 'faulty batch of disks' (according to Rockstar) mean that it freezes every time you leave the base apartment.

The slightly ironic thing is that now that consoles can connect to the internet, they're getting the same half-finished releases that PC gamers have been putting up with for years - after all why test something properly when you can get it in the shops asap and then cure the many bugs with a host of 'patches'?

One more thing - games are still somewhat ghettoised. Compare the sales of GTA IV to many cinema releases.

The simple fact is that games are bigger business than films these days. But if you look at the coverage in newspapers you would still think it was the other way around.

My own games review column in Saturday's Birmingham Mail is dwarfed by the film coverage.

But consider this - in the link it shows that top UK opening WEEKENDS(not days) for films as of 2001 was Harry Potter £16.3 million, Fellowship of the Ring £11 million, and The Phantom Menace £9.5 million. For a more recent update Spider-Man 3 took £11.5 million on its opening weekend.

GTA IV's £24 million puts it all in perspective - and shows how what used to be a genre for nerds and children is now for the mass market.