zerolight

So the latest game to hit the PS3 Store is fl0w. A soothing and pretty thing. I say thing, because it’s not really a game, there’s not really much to do, and certainly no high scores to be chased. It’s a rather odd, if relaxing experience. I’d like to say I can’t recommend it enough, but instead I kinda feel more like I can’t recommend it. It’s not that I don’t like it, or is it? I don’t know. I imagine if you were stoned it’d be quite an experience. You can actually play a version right here in your web browser. Obviously the PS3 version is prettier, but it controls easier with a mouse than the sixaxis tilt sensor.

edit: I think I like it.

So, 1 day back from SA and a new gadget. What’s it like? Surprisingly good. I nearly didn’t buy one, but I’m glad I did. It’s certainly eye-candy in terms of looks, with a lovely hi-tech shiny look to the consoles casing. Once up and running the interface is simple, yet elegant. The same can’t be said of the PS Store where you can download demos, videos, etc… it’s simple, yet, well it’s simple… leave it at that.

The only disappointment on the hardware front is the pad, which is the worst I’ve ever used. The triggers are convex instead of concave… which results in your fingers insisting on slipping off the triggers. So you have to press harder than normal to keep a grip. Add to that the compact size of the pad and it just leads to arm and hand fatigue. This is lessened somewhat by using your middle fingers instead of index fingers on the triggers, though this feels so odd that you find yourself reverting to index fingers again.

The games I’ve bought are Motorstorm and VF5. First impressions of Motorstorm are very very good. It’s beautiful, smooth, and very hard. I love it. It’s a lot of fun, surprisingly deep for an off-road arcade racer, and has top notch physics and handling. Definitely the best launch game on the system, and one of the best next gen games on any console. VF5 is again a beautiful looker with a smooth framerate. Disappointingly though, you can’t choose a preferred resolution for the game, so it defaults to the dashboard resolution. Not a big problem, though games tend to run better at 720p whilst movies and the dashboard are better at 1080i. My one gripe after a short time with VF5 is around the controls. At times, pressing the buttons did nothing. Button lag? A bug? A one off? I don’t know, I’ll boot it up again tomorrow to see if it’s still there. It’s certainly a gamebreaker… so the jury is still out on VF5.

I’ve not tried any media playback yet, but like the 360, it only plays certain formats. Unlike the 360 you can’t stream though, unless you install Linux on the PS3, which I’m not inclined to do. When you first register your PS3 and select an online ID it makes mention of the Blu Ray Disc offer. A google suggests that the first 500,000 registered users get a free copy of Casino Royale on Blu Ray… so here’s hoping. For now, I have no Blu Ray Discs so can’t comment on performance. I’ll wait for the R2 version of T2.

All in all, very happy. It’s keeping me away from Crackdown on the 360 at the moment, which is telling as Crackdown is superb. I’m unlikely to be lured back to the 360 in a hurry, that is, until Forza 2 hits the 360 in May. Motorstorm rocks. Who said the PS3 didn’t have a killer app?

Update: I’m not seeing any button lag in VF5 today, so that must have been a one off. It’s a lovely game too, but very complex.

Forza 2 is really starting to look absolutely essential if you’re a car nut. The original Forza already had a terrific physics system and by all accounts this has been improved in Forza 2, as has it’s frame rate, locked down to 60fps. The new Forza 2 website reveals a lot of nice and deep features which should improve things further, including an ebay style auction system that allows users to buy and sell cars for whatever price they choose, online, with in-game virtual cash. If you can tune your car to be a race winner then you might find it’s worth a lot more than you paid for it. Combine this with a huge array of online stats, scoreboards, tournaments, all accessed through the internet via your PC or Mac, and it’s pretty much covering more bases than any racer before it. It looks rather pretty too.

Gamespot have posted a video review for Gears of War. Entertaining enough to watch, as it shows some new gameplay features, and clearly the reviewer is really into this game. No scores in the video, though a leak on CNet suggests 9.6/10. The video review suggests that it’s strong both as a single player and multiplayer game. Really looking fwd to this one.

It’s kinda hidden away on their site, so follow this link and then click apply changes and it should start right up.

edit: There’s a review from IGN here.

I discovered a new site providing a means to get your Xbox Live Gamercard into your forum signature or avatar. It’s called Live Gamercard. They are unique in that they provide a means for you to design your own gamer card rather than using a handful of premade templates. I’d been hunting around for a way to get my xbox live gamer pic as an avatar without the rest of the gamer card. Via their site I was able to do just that, and made a personalised forum sig too.