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PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits Buyer's Guide
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playstation/PS3_Greatest_Hits_buyer_s_guide'; Today marks the launch of the PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits collection, with nine games given a (slightly) new jewel case and an attractive $30 price tag. Warhawk MotorStorm Resistance: Fall of Man Call of Duty 3 Need for Speed Carbon The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Ninja Gaiden Sigma Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas Assassin's Creed But which of these games are worth your time and money? Our friends at PS3 Fanboy have done the research for you. Check out their Buyer's Guide to see recommendations, and which online retailers currently have these budget games in stock
SCEA trademarks 'Resistance 2'
A trademark has been filed by Sony Computer Entertainment of America for the name Resistance 2. Although this writer initially assumed SCEA was prepping an educational game on introductory circuitry, the rest of the Joystiq staff quickly reminded him of the well-received Resistance: Fall of Man that launched with the PlayStation 3. Wow, we did not see this coming -- it's a holiday miracle! Is Sony laying groundwork for a sequel? Do they really think it financially wise to make a sequel to one of the best, most critically-acclaimed titles on the PS3? (Answer: probably.) Perhaps they're just protecting the name before someone else claims the title for Resistance 2: Fall of Hen, which is in fact a sequel to the 2000 film Chicken Run and a direct competitor to the equally punful, and equally fictional, Deers of War. (Answer: No, they're not.)No formal announcement has been made. According to the game's lore, Chimeran forces have invaded all of Europe, giving developer Insomniac a vast number of prestigious churches to anger.[Via Trademork, PS3FB]
Euro rating system PEGI goes online
The Pan European Game Information, or PEGI, rating system is currently used for all offline video game releases in the United Kingdom and Europe. Now it's looking to tackle online, too. The PEGI Online has been a project eighteen months in the making. A multi-language website has launched to inform about the new initiative and provide resources to explain online gaming to the not-so-tech savvy parents. Additionally, a PEGI Online symbol has been created to go on the back of games who adhere to the PEGI Online Safety Code. The code insists that license holders (developers, publishers) use their "best endeavors" to prevent offensive material from proliferating through the online service. We applaud the clause for a coherent privacy policy, but are cautious toward a call for disallowing all game content not appropriately rated through PEGI, BBFC or German USK from a website. Pending interpretation of the wording and the aptitude of lawmakers regarding technology, that could be applied to user-made content such as Halo 3 replays or entrants in the Unreal Tournament mod competitions. We want a code to protect children, so long as it's not inappropriately used in a detrimental manner.
Long-delayed Resistance update coming Friday
An update to Resistance: Fall of Man that Once Upon a Time was to be released at the end of May is finally coming this Friday. The download, so far confirmed only for Europe, will enable global multiplayer matches. Servers will be down for 16 hours, from 2:00 am to 6:00 pm BST, while they are updated, according to Eurogamer. Also coming tomorrow is the first Map Pack, which includes maps Westmorland and Camborn, for £2.99 GBP and US $7.99. No word on the map pack or update outside of Europe; we've contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America for information on the status of the update in the US. [Update: Included US information care of Sony's shiny new blog. Thanks for the heads-up!] [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Resistance update finally bursts out of the trenches this week
After a seemingly endless amount of delays, the much anticipated Resistance: Fall of Man update will be hitting our PS3s this Friday. In preparation for this, Insomniac will be taking down the online servers starting at 2:30 A.M. UK time while they work on integrating the servers for international online play. That night the servers should be back online and people will be able to connect to them to download the update. Coming in alongside the update is the Resistance Map Pack, with two new multiplayer maps available for purchase. At this point, it's not confirmed that the Resistance update will be available worldwide this Friday, or if it's going to be rolled out first to the UK and then here and Japan. We'll update this post as soon as we know more.[Thanks SpiderMike!]
Japanese hardware sales, Jun. 4 - Jun. 10: E-scandal Edition
And so, the Church of England vs. Sony saga at last seems to be inching towards a resolution. How did it ever turn into such a mess? The answer to that question, obtained only through ingenious hacking techniques, lies after the break (that place we put all the nonsense that has nothing to do with sales charts). The lesson to be learned, of course, is that when you're creating a work of fiction or designing a game, it's best to avoid any real locales. Actually, just make sure the whole thing takes place in outer space. There's nobody there. - DS Lite: 117,193 5,947 (4.83%) - Wii: 64,529 5,219 (7.48%) - PSP: 24,711 1,647 (6.25%) - PS2: 11,097 717 (6.07%) - PS3: 8,776 222 (2.47%) - Xbox 360: 2,533 314 (14.15%) - Game Boy Micro: 481 171 (55.16%) - GBA SP: 302 55 (22.27%) - Gamecube: 167 59 (26.11%) - DS Phat: 35 36 (50.70%) - GBA: 16 -- 0 (0%) [Source: Media Create] See also: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts
Sony vs. Church of England, meanwhile CNN has field day
This weekend the news broke that the Church of England was unhappy with depictions of Manchester Cathedral in the Insomniac developed, Sony published, game Resistance: Fall of Man. The Church had issues with Resistance's use of guns in the virtual cathedral and called the whole thing "highly irresponsible." Sony went ahead and finally issued a statement stating that they take the matter seriously: "Whilst we believe that we have sought and received all permissions necessary for the creation of the game, we will be contacting the Cathedral authorities in order to better understand their concerns in more detail." So, that's that, until dialog begins between Sony and Church of England; however, while the two groups work out their issues, CNN's headline writer is having a field day with this story. The best example is the first story they ran about the Church's issues. The headline reads: Cathedral shootout game under fire. Who knew that Resistance was all about a cathedral shootout? Then their latest story had the headline: Church wants cash for 'sick' game. Funny thing is that the word "sick" never shows up once in a quote, it's merely a word supposedly used by the church to describe the situation, but there's no attribution. Get ready kids, the mainstream media might spin this story off its axis.
Resistance & Motorstorm updates further delayed
Technical issues befall updates to PlayStation 3 titles Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm. The content was originally supposed to be on the PlayStation Network today alongside currently-available trailers for Heavenly Sword, MLB 07 The Show and Stranglehold, which did come out.The MotorStorm 1.2 update has now been slightly split up. A Sony spokesperson told IGN that the patch, which promises to improve online play, will be available on June 11. The new Time Attack mode will be made available June 14. The update was initially due in mid-May.Resistance: Fall of Man was to have new content pack that includes new maps and the game modes Team Conversion and Assault, as well as allow for global online play. "The delay will not be long, and we'll have a firm date to share with you shortly," said Alyssa Casella at SCEA, citing "a few last minute issues ... during the final testing of the global server" for the game. The update had already been pushed back to today, initially promised for the end of May.
Resistance padding files only 420MB per region [update 2]
[Update 1: We got our answer. The entire thing is blown way out of proportion. There are still padding files, but they're a relatively meager 420MB per region. 2: We've removed the original headline which read "Resistance = 17.75GB of garbage?" We've maintained the original post below for accountability, but remind readers that the speculative remarks about the game's size aren't accurate.] Resistance: Fall of Man was billed to be the defining game for why Blu-ray exists in the first place. Resistance developers Insomniac stated that the game took up 22GB of space and that all those bits and bytes were necessary to make the game work. It would seem that ripping the disk in Linux shows otherwise. A NeoGAF forum member by the name of squatingyeti posted a long list of padding files on the Resistance disk; the padding took up approximately 17.75GB of space. Padding is frequently used to push data to the outer edges of the disk to improve read times, but Blu-ray is supposed to be a constant read over the entire disk. It's possible that the data isn't fully true and we would like to see some confirmation; however, if this report that 81% of Resistance is just empty filler and could fit on a single-layer DVD is accurate, will this put a hole in Sony's claim that Blu-ray is absolutely necessary this generation? The padding isn't needed to make the read speeds any better and (if true) is a lame way for Sony to justify Blu-ray for gaming.
