Sony Steals E3 2013

Damn, it feels good to be a Sony fangirl this morning.

Sony announced to THUNDEROUS applause at last night’s E3 conference that they will NOT be placing restrictions on used games in any way. HUGE news after Microsoft got the gaming world’s panties in a bunch after announcing they were enacting DRM policies on Xbox One.

Also coming in at a price tag of $399, undercutting Microsoft’s Xbox One by a hundred bucks, I think it’s safe to say that Sony won this year’s E3 conference–hands down.

I watched both the Xbox One announcement and unveiling, and their conference at E3 yesterday, and was genuinely impressed at the exclusives they had available. Game play and graphics also looked excellent. Other than that, there was really nothing to cause an uproar. Until the Sony conference begun.

Seems like Sony is really getting in-touch with the consumer this-gen. They listened to what gamers wanted, and they delivered. They are making it easier for indie games to get published–actually encouraging it– and they are making it easier for the consumer to have access to these games. Awesome. Just awesome.

Let’s just list the facts about both consoles:

The Xbox One –Custom eight-core x86 CPU, a 500GB hard drive, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0, HDMI in and out ports, and WiFi.

The Sony PS4 — Single-chip, eight-core AMD Jaguar custom, low power x86-64 APU with a Radeon based graphics engine, 8GB of GDDR5 RAM and a Blu-ray optical disc drive.

“Both firms have gone for custom AMD chips, and Sony has the graphics edge with an 18 compute unit GCN graphics core configuration,” says Dave Neal from The Inquirer.

Sony has kept backwards compatibility (available early next year through the cloud), something that Microsoft has left behind.

Not yet confirmed are Sony’s hints at charging for an online experience.

During the conference, they hinted that only PlayStation Plus members would have access to online play, costing about $5 per month.

Not too shabby considering you can purchase a PS4 and two years of PsPlus for the same price as an Xbox One.

Not to mention people have issues with Kinect’s “spying eye,” and some feel like it’s almost an invasion of privacy to be REQUIRED to have your console connected to the internet at all times, looking–judging. Selling things to you.

PS4 will work without an internet connection. So you can play games.
Without being online.

Imagine that? A console…meant for playing games…that can actually PLAY OFFLINE GAMES…while remaining…OFFLINE. MIND. BLOWN.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love games. I love gaming consoles.
However, in my opinion, the choice this-gen is clear.

Sony wiped the floor with Microsoft.

It’s a great day to be a gamer.

Black Ops 2 Will Have Futuristic Nuketown

Score! Nuketown was easily the most fun and active map on Black Ops, and it seems as though we will be able to play it again in the November release of Black ops 2. They are adding it “at launch as a pre-order bonus”. Basically, anyone who pre-orders will be given  the DLC of this new…well, revisited map.

Apparently, it will be set in the year 2025.

Along with the newly-announced re-release of the ‘Terminal’ map from MW2 into MW3 soon, I think Treyarch is onto something promising, here. Dedicated Dutyers like myself really enjoy purchasing new DLC for the game, and the fact that the ‘new’ DLC is an old favorite makes it even better.

I think it’s safe to say anyone who’s been Dutying for the last few years is eagerly anticipating the release of both these maps. And the new game. And anything else they throw out there for DLC. No one can resist a new map!

See ya on PS3!

Click here to see the Modern Warfare 3 leaked Terminal Footage:

https://drnikkiblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/modern-warfare-3-terminal-footage/

If You Don’t Like The Olympics, You Might Be A Terrorist.

As I watch The Today Show this morning, I can’t help but get a little excited. Yes, it’s stupid, I know. But I LOVE the Olympics. Summer, winter–doesn’t matter. This hasn’t been a lifelong thing for me. This all happened four years ago at the last summer Olympics held in Beijing. I was 22, and I think you have to be a little older to really appreciate the value of the Olympics. Or it coulda been the fact that I was old enough to drink for those Olympics, thus, making them much more interesting and fun to watch. Either way, there’s something about watching these athletes that compels me like no other sporting event.

Don’t they make you proud to be an American?

I don’t like watching sports on TV. There’s a disconnect that happens there. For me, anyway. The idea that these people get paid gajillions of dollars to–well, what amounts to throw balls around–doesn’t sit well with me. Yes, they are good at what they do. They can run, and catch, and swing bats, and whack balls and all that jazz. There are doctors in the world. They save people’s lives. And nurses. And truck drivers.They get paid fractions of what professional athletes get paid, and they make the world go ’round. Just sayin’.

Aaanywho, Olympians pour their heart and souls into representing their countries in a fight to the death tournament to see who is the best in the world. How can other sporting events compare to that? These guys practice for years just to get the chance- to get the chance- to get to the Olympics. I don’t understand how anyone could NOT watch. Even the most boring of the boring sports–like synchronized swimming–is awesome when it’s to decide which country can do it better.

During the previous winter Olympics, we got hugely into curling. Like, bordering on obsessed. I remember going to see my Dad, and saying, “You’re not watching CURLING? Turn that shit on, Dad!” And then we proceeded to get HIM in on the curling action…once we explained how those granite stones worked, and the object of the game–once you see the actual strategy and talent that goes into it–simply awesome.

Canada’s got this one–For Now…

My point is this–the Olympics rock. Whether or not your country wins, you feel a swell of emotion for these athletes. You see them standing on that podium and you can feel the pride, you can see the emotion and the hard work they’ve put in, and you know they deserve their moment of awesomeness. Well, that’s what I feel, anyway.

It never stops amazing me how many tears I have to hold back while watching the Olympics. They should plan them around my menstrual schedule more accordingly, so this doesn’t happen as much.