Sony PSP REVIEW

Sony PSP REVIEW - I have had the opportunity to play with a PSP for two weeks now. It is amazing what these handhelds have turned in to. Remember the GameBoy? Seems like an eternity ago we were happy playing tetris.

The person I borrowed the PSP from has one main complaint about it and I have to agree. The sound level is very low. To the point where it is difficult to hear in noisy situations.

It is very slow loading games. At least Tiger Woods.... Not sure if it is the game or the PSP. Who knows! It is slow. The battery life isn't great while playing games or watching movies either.

The fact that Sony uses a proprietary format for the media (UMD) really sucks. Currently there is no such thing as a UMD burner. And you can't get blank media for it. The movies are pretty pricey for only being able to watch it on a PSP.
You can get large memory cards for it and copy ripped movies to that. The quality of the video will not be as good as the UMD disks and the conversion-copy process can be difficult for a beginner.

I do have to say that the picture quality is great on this thing. It is nice and bright. The only time I had an issues seeing the screen was out in direct sunlight with a glare on the screen.

If you have the money to burn, it is a neat little game – movie system. Hopefully the prices will come down for the movies and games. They are a bit high. We need another company to create some more competition in this space. Come on Microsoft…….. or any one for that matter.

My Xbox is Burning

Xbox 360 owners will happy to know that Microsoft and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing have announced that beginning in 2007 the Xbox 360 will get 65-nanometer (nm) Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) semiconductor technology. The most noticeable benefit of the change should be reduced power consumption which will help decrease the amount of heat generated in the console. This could mean the common problem of crashes due to overheating could be a thing of the past.

My guess is that Microsoft won't be refunding or replacing all the current Xbox 360's in the market. Makes this writer happy that I've yet to jump in buy my 360. It's amazing how many problems can get worked out in the first year of a consoles existence.

PlayStation 2 Price Drop

On Thursday Sony announced that they will drop the price of the PlayStation 2 to $129.99 USD in an effort to keep consumer demand high as it races to complete its next generation console.

Maybe I'm alone here...but who cares? I'll sell you a commodore 64 for $20 but that doesn't make it worth $20. Who wants to buy a system, for any price, that will be basically obsolete in a few months?

Latest reports still indicate that Sony plans to release the PlayStation 3 in November of this year. I'll just add my $129 to my PS3 fund and skip buying the soon-to-be obsolete PS2.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories coming to PS2

As reported by PocketLint:

"Rockstar Games, the makers of the popular Grand Theft Auto Series has announced that gamers will soon be able to play Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on PlayStation2.

Currently only available to PSP gamers the company has announced that the game will be available in North American stores on June 6th, 2006 and will hit European retail shelves on June 9th, 2006 for the UK."

The Grand Theft Auto series has always been one of my favorites...although I'm a PC / Xbox gamer. We'll see if the upcoming PS3 will change my habits.

Additional Payment Options for Dungeons & Dragons Online

Don't like having your credit card billed for your DDO subscription? Try PayByCash.

It is now even easier to play Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. To better service its customers, Turbine is pleased to announce a deal with Internet Payment Solutions, Inc. (a/k/a PayByCash), an online alternative payment service that will enable players to subscribe to DDO without using a credit card. PayByCash is currently offering a 60-day game pass on their site for $33.19, a convenient option for players who prefer not to use a credit card for automatic billing.

That's great news as my Wizard's Visa is a few days away from expiring.

HD Movie Previews on Your Xbox 360

Paramount Pictures is offering HD downloads for its upcoming films "Mission: Impossible III" and "Nacho Libre" through Microsoft's Xbox 360.

This effort reflects how eager entertainment companies are to reach a young, elusive audience whose attention is spread thinner with each passing day by television, computers, game consoles and cellular phones. It's also a great opportunity for Paramount to plug HD technology to this same audience.

"It hits the audience in a big way - the 12- to 34-year-old audience. That's the sweet spot of frequent moviegoers," said Gerry Rich, Paramount's president of worldwide marketing. "They're the early adopters. We think they impact and influence a lot of folks. They're gatekeepers of what's cool and what's not."

In terms of the broader plan...

"My guess is they want to sell high-definition discs. You want to get the high-definition monitor owners drooling," said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. "It's clever marketing. It's a good, solid, high-income, early-adopter niche."

I'm all for cool new stuff on the Xbox 360 as long as the fast forward button works.

1 Million Xbox 360's a Month

Xbox 360 chip makers in Taiwan have confirmed that Microsoft has asked local suppliers to double their output of several key chips for the Xbox 360 console during the second quarter of the year, according to the Commercial Times.

As a result Microsoft will be able to satisfy demand of up to three million Xbox 360 units in the second quarter, compared with 1.5 million in the first quarter, the paper reported.

I'm still waiting for the first big price drop;-)

Burger King Branded Xbox 360 Games

Yea, Burger King is considering offering branded Xbox 360 games.

"Hamburger flipper Burger King is considering a promotion that offers 3 exclusive BK-branded games. Each would feature their own characters (in this case, the actual Burger King) in “popular” genres (fighting, action and racing). The action game is apparently similar to Halo, while the fighter combines Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Just tack on a “with hamburgers,” and you get the drift."

And

"Still in the conceptual stage apparently, the titles would go for US $4 and be compatible with both the original Xbox and the 360. This all makes sense as BK has already jumped into in-game advertising feet first."

Quotes above from here.

I hope and pray I never see a Burger King video game in my house. As if there food wasn't bad enough. Make a Hooters Xbox 360 game and I might be interested.

DDO - The Dragon's Vault

The new Dragon’s Vault module is made up of 15 dungeons, all of which promise surprises and challenges for even the most advanced players. Turbine is offering The Dragon’s Vault module free to all current DDO subscribers. Subsequent modules will be released over time and will bring further improvements to the MMOG.

“The Dragon's Vault is a thrilling series of adventures, ending in an epic battle against the ultimate boss monster. We are offering this exciting new content free to our subscribers, in recognition of their enthusiasm Dungeons & Dragons Online.” announced Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc.

Having played a few of the new quests I'm pretty impressed. This game may take over my life:-)