Games and Gadgets: How I See It!

PS3 Firmware update 2.52 is now available.

2008-11-06T17:38:00.002+08:00

Following a short few weeks, Sony have released Firmware V2.52 for its PS3. Citing some improvement is some software (not mentioned which games), some text entry issue within PS3 and corrected some TV display issues of with regards to the PS3 refreshing at 59.94Hz.

So its not as big as the V2.50 update, but you will still have to get it..... so go on.

Asian version of UNCHARTED: DRAKE'S FORTUNE patched to V1.01, Trophies added.

2008-09-18T22:52:00.009+08:00

Our Asian version of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune finally receives a patch to version 1.01 on Sept 15. The patch adds the long awaited Trophies (all 48 of them) to the game.

However, you must play the game again to unlock the Trophies even if you have collected all 61 treasures and 1000 medal points in your previous saves.

Happy Trophies collecting!!

Latest games in MY stores.

2008-09-18T22:52:00.002+08:00

PS3:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (EU) - Action

Xbox360:

Infinite Undiscovery (JPN) - RPG
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (EU) - Action
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (US) - Sim
TNA iMPACT! (US) - Wrestling
Warhammer: Battle March (EU) - RTS

Wii:

Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli (US) - Racing
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 All Play (US) - Sports
Mario Super Sluggers (US) - Sports

PS3 Officially Launches in Malaysia, on Sept 20th.

2008-09-13T01:38:00.003+08:00

Its finally here, Sony Malaysia have announced that PS3 will be officially sold in Malaysia. It will be launched 10am on Sept 20th at 1U at Ground Floor Highstreet New Wing (that's a popular mall in PJ, locals will know how to get there) and there is even a 24hours Soul Calibur IV tournament before the launch day.

For the launch, Sony Malaysia will be selling a special launch bundle:

80GB PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) Bundle Early Birds Promotion

1 x 80GB PS3™ (CECHK06)
1 x DUALSHOCK 3® Wireless Controller
1 x Soul Calibur IV™ game
1 x Selected PS3™ game (Resistance, Ratchet and Clank Future, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Assassin's Creed)
1 x Custom made PS3™ Tote bag
1 x Soul Calibur IV™ CD holder
Price: RM 1,799

To sweeten the bundle further, Sony Malaysia have generously added special gifts for the first 120 buyers of the PS3 Malaysian bundle, as detailed below:-

1st - 3rd customer - RM 1,000 Sony Cash Voucher
4th - 21st customer - RM 500 Sony Cash Voucher
22nd - 50th customer - RM 300 Sony Cash Voucher
51st - 120th customer - RM 100 Sony Cash Voucher

To facilate for those who wants to be 1st in line, the queue line will be opened at 8am, so plan your day/night well.

And not forgetting those of you who don't ever leave the house, Sony Malaysia have generously made the same PS3 Malaysian bundle available as an online pre-order purchase. The first 20 online buyers will get a bonus Blu-ray movie thrown in. However, details on the online purchase, delivery method and the free Blu-ray movie are not included.

All these details (except for the online pre-order deal) are available from here (http://corp.sony.com.my/3/main.asp).

What this means is that Malaysia will join HK, Singapore and Taiwan as the 4th country to officially have the PS3 (Japan is a whole region as far as PS3 distribution, and its not Asian region). All these while, the PS3s in MY stores are simply parallel imports (usually from Singapore) and the warranty is from the country of origin only. With the launch, Malaysian PS3s can be repaired by Sony service centres in Malaysia itself.

Hopefully, this will lead Sony Malaysia to bring in PS3 games directly as well as any PS3 peripherals and accessories, and that the prices will be cheaper than the parallel imports.

US Xbox 360 price cuts now official.

2008-09-04T18:47:00.004+08:00

With the rumors and leaked info being rampant over the past month all pointing to Xbox360's imminent price cut, Microsoft have finally made it official.

With effect from September 5, Xbox360 Arcade is priced at US$199 (RM650), lesser by US$80. The standard 60GB Xbox360 is now cheaper by US$50 to US$299 (RM1000) and the 120GB Xbox Elite gets the highest price cut, from US$449 to US$399 (RM 1300), a cut of US$150.

Microsoft's latest move is seen as it's effort to boost stagnant sales especially with Xmas season coming soon. This effectively makes Xbox Arcade as the cheapest next gen console in the market.Will Sony and Nintendo follow suit? With Wii's leader position and sales not seemingly letting up, its highly doubtful, but hey.... anything is possible.

Also, be mindful that prices in Malaysia may not come down so soon as prices in Asia have not been announced and due to existing stock levels.

Latest games in MY stores

2008-09-04T18:12:00.002+08:00

It's been a while since new games appeared in game stores, but the flood gates for Fall 08 games have started.

PS3:

Vampire Rain: Altered Species (US) - Action
Disgaea 3: Absense of Justice (US) - RPG
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (US) - Sports
Siren: New Translation (Asian) - Horror
Soul Calibur IV (US) - Fighting

PSN:

The Last Guy - Puzzle
Racthet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty - Platformer

Xbox360:

Too Human (US) - Action RPG
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (US) - Shooter
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (US) - Sports
Spectral Force 3 (US) - Strategy RPG
Tales of Vesperia (JPN) - RPG
Soul Calibur 4 (US) - Fighting

Wii:

Order Up (US) - Simulation
CSI: Hard Evidence (US) - Simulation

PSN game: The Last Guy available now.

2008-08-29T13:35:00.004+08:00

The Last Guy, a highly addictive PS3 game that uses googlesque map and "follow the leader" type gameplay, is now out in Playstation Network for all regions. I have played the demo and absolutely love the concept, simple yet challenging to get everything, especially the hidden VIP on each of 15 levels.

Its retailing at SG13.99 (RM33.00) while its US9.99 and Pounds4.99 for US and EU regions respectively. To buy the game from each region, you will need to top-up your PSN wallet to the currency of that region. For SG, I got the top-up card and bought the game this way.

PS. Am currently playing Heavenly Sword (patched) and it feels very different with vibrations. Even the cutscenes vibrates. Cool.

I'm back..... from the Twilight Zone

2008-08-29T13:01:00.003+08:00

I have been missing from the cyberpages, due to personal and work commitment. Also that it has been a very slow period for gaming in MY, and not much new stuff are emerging.

However, as this is the Fall season, more games and gadgets are coming out to MY. As such, I will work harder to update the local info, and be active in these pages again.

Thanks for visiting, and keep the comments coming in.

Firmware 2.40 removed from PSN, temporarily according to SCE.

2008-07-03T22:53:00.004+08:00

Due to some reports of buggy installation causing some PS3s experience problems. These problems range from reports of bricking, PS3 restarting itself halfway during installations, and even claims that the update wipes out the whole HDD.

SONY have responded to this complain by removing the firmware completely from PSN, and issued a statement in their Playstation.blog. The full statement there is as below:-

"As has been reported on many gaming blogs and websites, we have temporarily taken Firmware v2.40 offline. We’ve received a limited number of calls from consumers experiencing an issue with installing the system software update on their PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to providing the PS3 community with XMB access features delivered in the v2.40 update. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.

We’ll provide further information as necessary here on the Blog."

However, there are also numerous PS3s that have been update with no problem whatsoever. For those of us that have not update the firmware yet, we can only wait for SONY to fix this snafu and hopefully get their act together and not release buggy firmware.

For me, there is no hurry as most of the new features (custom music soundtrack, Trophies) only work in ONE game so far. With the already released games not supporting it yet, and only games coming after fall supports it, there is no hurry to update the firmware.

GTA4 patched to V1.02

2008-07-01T12:14:00.004+08:00

Last week, GTA4 was patched to version 1.02. The patch is mainly to improve the online multiplayer experience by fixing the following:-

Fixed an issue where players were unable to enter or exit vehicles in GTA Race.
Fixed an issue where scripted vehicles were causing games to unexpectedly crash.
Improved reliability and frequency of PS3 online leaderboard updates.
Fixed a rare hang some players encountered when moving from a Race or GTA Race lobby into gameplay.
Fixed a hang that would occur when players were switching teams during the countdown in the lobby.
Fixed an issue where players were able to get ridiculously high scores from Cops 'n Crooks matches.
Changed GTA Race and Race so that the last player remaining always receives a reward of $250.
Fixed an issue where spectating players would prevent the game from finishing.
Fixed an issue where players were unable to spectate in Round 2 of Cops 'n Crooks games.
Changed countdown timer in lobby so that it no longer resets when new players join a game.
Changed the kick option so that kicked players are no longer brought back to single player.

The patch retrieval is done automatically when you launch the game and is connected to the internet, and the patch is small download at 19MBs only (if you are using broadband). Now let me get back to MSG4....

PS3 Firmware update 2.40 to be released July 2, 2008.

2008-07-01T11:01:00.005+08:00

PS3 will get the much awaited Firmware 2.40 tomorrow. This latest update is different Firmware 2.36 (released last week) which improves "system stability when playing select PlayStation format software titles," but not mentioning which games.

With Firmware 2.40, SONY finally adds in-game XMB, custom soundtrack options and their own version of Xbox's Achievement system, known as Trophies.

The in-game XMB is a full scaled XMB, with new options to quit game, go online, access Playstation Store, change headset settings and even checking on which of your friends are online, all done without ever leaving the game. Note that the XMB will only work for PS3 games, so accessing the XMB by pressing the PS button on the controller while in a PSOne or PS2 game wont work.

Custom music option for games are also added to the XMB to play your own music, and SONY have added a control panel within the Music category with buttons to play, pause, skip and even to control the volume if its affects the game's audio effects. This feature needs to be added to the game, so it wont work on existing releases but it could be easily patched if the developer chooses to.

The biggest addition to Firmware 2.40 and to the PS3 itself is the Trophies system. Similar to Xbox360's Achievement system, PS3's Trophy system goes a few step further. Instead of points, different type of Bronze, Silver and Gold Trophies will be awarded for completing different tasks. Each game will also have one single Platinum Trophy is available for completing all Trophies in the game. You can then compare your Trophy collection with your friends, and the collection will also be added to you profile for all to see.

To make things more enticing, Sony have added a Level system to the Trophies. Gaining Trophies will level up your profile in PSN, giving gamers more incentive to collect as many Trophies they can find. This will definitely improve PS3's online community draw, as there are much more reason to getting Trophies as opposed to simply having Points to show.

All this and more will be available to PS3 users come tomorrow, so be ready to fully embrace SONY's new online community direction.

Metal Gear Online patched to V1.01.

2008-06-13T01:23:00.004+08:00

Well that was fast. With the game available to the mass market just within one day, Konami have already released a patch for Metal Gear Online. Version 1.01 will help "Lighten the strain the game places on our server" as well as "Adjustments have been made to the character's moving speed", as per screen shot above.

You will need to download and install the patch to run the game, via two options given by Konami, namely Peer to Peer (Bit Torrent) or direct http download. It should be a 40-50MB download, based on my speed of download (as described below).

Strangely, I initially used the Konami's recommended method (which is the peer to peer Bit Torrent method and supposedly faster) but found it too slow. After few minutes and being at 3% with download speed of averaging 14-20kbps, I canceled it and tried the direct http method. I got the file in 4 minutes. So try both methods to see which works for you.

BTW, I do manage to get 10MB files per minute (thats 150++ kpbs average), that's how I estimated the patch to be 40-50MBs in size.

Metal Gear Solid 4 for PS3 arrives in MY!

2008-06-12T22:04:00.003+08:00

Here it is, available on the exact worldwide launch date! Yes, it's the Asian version (with English and Chinese language options) of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 for Sony's PS3 console. It was available in KL since late last night and with every purchase of the game, you get a free poster (pictured above with the game at the lower left corner). Its very cool to get some freebie especially with a game that's expected to be sold out very quickly.

The game is actually brought in by a local company (as opposed to importing from SG, which usually means that we get the games few days later after the street dates). Lets hope that this company will continue to bring us the games at such fast pace in the future. Kudos to them.

Note: Asian version refers to Sony Entertainment HK (which that covers territories as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) - and not Sony Entertainment Japan - which western sites (like Engadget, Joystiq) are referring to as Asian. Lets hope they pick this info up.

Latest Game Titles in MY stores now.

2008-06-10T20:36:00.003+08:00

Here are the latest games available in MY stores, but obviously the most anticipated and biggest release for the PS3 ever arrives on Thursday, Solid Snake's first and final appearance on Sony's console, and I hope to bring you impressions as soon as I get my hands in it the same day.

PS3

Haze (US) - FPS
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure
Singstar (game and mic) (US) - Singing

Xbox360

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy - (EU) - Action
Ninja Gaiden 2 (EU) - Action
Grid (EU) - Racing
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure

Wii

Kawasaki Snow Mobiles (US) - Racing
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (US) - Adventure
Wii Fit (US) - Fitness

3G enabled iPhone goes official, available in 22 countries on July 11, 2008.

2008-06-10T18:42:00.011+08:00

The highly leaked but much anticipated iPhone 3G is official, revealed yesterday during Apple's WWDC 2008.

iPhone 3G will be available in 2 flavors, 8GB at US$199 (RM700) and 16GB at US$299 (RM1000), in the US via AT&T in a 2 year contract, beginning July 11. 2008.

In a strange move, the new iPhone 3G will not be available from Apple's online store nor can you activate it yourself from home. You will now have to walk into an AT&T store to buy and activate it in-store while you are there. AT&T have said that activation can be done in a few minutes, but its still a departure on how Apple traditionally sells its stuff.

Packed with new features are: 3G (duh), Firmware 2.0, GPS (A-GPS that uses cellular signals to complement satellite signals), Wi-Fi (still at 802.11a/g, no N support), new dock (to fit the new shape), 300 hours standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio, 3.5mm flushed headphone jack, and the back is completely in black plastic. Better still, it is also available in full WHITE, way cool!

Pic from Laptogmag.com.

It will be available in 22 countries by next month July 11, 2008. These countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US.

Another 48 countries have been identified to receive the iPhone 3G "later this year": Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, C. African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.

You will notice that Malaysia is not listed, damn! Look like I'll have to wait for the unlocked version then.

Wii Fit (US) is available at selective MY stores

2008-06-09T08:56:00.005+08:00

Wii Fit (US) is here. Its not as widely available as other games so you will need to do some walking to find one. It's retail price here is much cheaper than in Singapore, so get it here if you can find one (if you are wanting to get one).

It was here several months ago in the Japanese version, but as I dont read Japanese, I have not bought that version. I will be collecting one unit soon and looking forward to testing the unit out.

Dark Mist themes are to be bought, no longer free?

2008-05-17T01:53:00.007+08:00

Oh no!! If this are the shape of things to come, then PS3 users will be lighter in the wallets from getting new themes to dress up their PS3s.

In order to dress up your PS3 with the new Dark Mist themes, users will have to fork out SG1.29 or HKD7.00 (RM3.00) to get it from Sony HK, as per screen shot above. This is an unprecedented move and this may signal the end of Sony PS3's free online content?

Whats even more strange is that Sony HK is asking you to pay for Themes! I really hope that they will not start charging for their online multiplayer, as this is their key difference from Xbox Live, a paid user online service for Microsoft's Xbox360.

It seems that US and EU PS Stores have not started this, perhaps it will soon?

Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition bundle for US official.

2008-05-16T23:38:00.002+08:00

US gamers can stop hating their Japanese counterparts now. The limited edition gunmetal grey Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 hardware bundle is official for the US market.

Setting your wallet lighter by USD600 (RM1980), the bundle will be available from March 19, 2008 but ONLY exclusively from Konami.com website. The bundle will include a 40GB gunmetal PS3 console, a matching color Dualshock3, Metal Gear Online starter pack, an exclusive blu-ray disc containing "making of documentary" and production team look, and the Metal Gear Solid 4 game disc, of course.

As the set is limited in quantity, better rush to Konami's website on March 19 if you want it.

PS3 Firmware updated to V2.35, but dont fix GTA IV's freeze.

2008-05-16T23:15:00.008+08:00

PS3's latest firmware patch is now at V2.35, available as of May 15, 2008. Sony was pretty vague about what the patch do, only stating "System stability during use of some PLAYSTATION(R)3 format software has been improved."

Users have reported online that the patch DOES not fix the problems with GTA IV, and Sony acknowledges it while saying that they are looking the problem and may have a solution soon.

You can try calling Sony's customer support in your area to check.

GTA IV PS3 gets patched to V1.01

2008-05-08T13:17:00.004+08:00

Rockstar have released GTA IV patch for PS3. Weighing in at 18MB in size, the patch is said to improve online experience by fixing some server related issues and stuff as mentioned below.

"Rockstar Games has released a GTA IV patch for Playstation 3 today that prevents Gamespy's servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up. This update will ensure that everyone will experience Grand Theft Auto IV the way it was intended. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused," statement released by Rockstar regarding the patch.

Online forums users have reported that the patch also helps with the lock-ups on single player mode, especially the one dealing with the auto saved game load. The patch seems to have fixed that too.

I personally do not have any lock up issues in both single and multiplayer mode, so I cant tell the difference. Will play the game more to see if I can see any fixes done.

My wish list for Rockstar if they are reading this (yeah, fat chance), if the player thats hosting a multiplayer game (the one with the "crown" icon who decides on the settings) is idle for extended periods, please kick the player out automatically. I had several instances where many players are waiting to get into the game but is hampered by the host not being ready. Fix that and the multiplayer will be much much sweeter.

Also, why is the PS3 version darker than the Xbox360 version, even if the PS3 version have better shading and looks more realistic??

PS. I have been playing multiplayer so much that I have neglected the single player mode....

GTAIV Xbox360 is region locked.

2008-04-30T20:21:00.003+08:00

A warning for all Xbox360 owners, Rockstar's latest humongous game, GTAIV, is region-locked.

This simply means that you have to get the game region that corresponds to your Xbox360. It means that you cant import the game from locations that have released the game (ie. Australian and Asian gamers cant play US or European version of GTAIV, imported or otherwise).

You have been warned.

GTAIV arrives in MY, and along comes problems!

2008-04-30T17:33:00.005+08:00

The much awaited and anticipated open world game from Rockstar arrives in MY, but only the Xbox360 version for now. Unfortunately, the PS3 versions have not arrive so there will be more waiting for PS3 users, and this means that I could not compare the two versions yet. Even as the game just arrives, the internet boards have lit up with several problems being mentioned.

The biggest problem so far are reports that GTAIV is locking up during or after the FIRST cutscene! This problem appears on both consoles, and Rockstar is working hard to find out the problem. The other problem mentioned is specifically for PS3 players only. It seems that the system is having some problem in connecting to the multiplayer portion of the game. If players try to connect the multiplayer by dialing the option on the phone, users will get the messages: "Cannot connect to game provider, please try again later". This could simply be due to the massive amount of players trying to connect to the servers, but Rockstar is also looking into this issue.

There you have it, GTAIV finally arrives in MY(even if only the Xbox360 version, so PS3 owners sulk a few more days, like me!), but it seems that there are some bugs that have followed it too. Also note that the PS3 version requires a 3.4GB HDD install while not for the XBox360.

Let me know if the problems happens to you.

PS Store new look, and PS3 Firmware 2.30 out now.

2008-04-17T23:36:00.002+08:00

Sony's brand new layout for the PLAYSTATION Store is now live. Also tagging along is PS3 latest firmware update to version 2.30, which brings DTS-HD Master Audio sound reproduction to the console. Cool stuff.

Playstation Store revamp starts today.

2008-04-03T18:47:00.006+08:00

The above is the new re-designed Playstation Store layout and look. To facilitate the revamp, Sony will not be updating the PSN Store with new content for two weeks with effect from today. Users will still be able to access to existing contents while the revamp goes on.

The new revamped Playstation Store is expected to be go live "mid April" in all regions. The redesign will not affect existing PSN accounts or their virtual wallets.

Dualshock 3 finally reaching US shores, Sixaxis phased out.

2008-04-03T16:43:00.005+08:00

Sony announced that the Dualshock3 will hit US next week, one whole week earlier than the April 15 2008 expected release date. In the same announcement, they have released a list of PS3 titles that are compatible with the Dualshock3, click here to check the list.

This will also mean that future PS3s will be shipped Dualshock3 in the package, which will be very good news for future PS3 purchasers.

With Dualshock3 already available in Japan and Asia, it is not shocking news that Sony is plasing out of Sixaxis. Existing stocks is estimated to be cleared by summer 08, so buy now if you wish to have rumble-less controllers for the PS3 in the future.