LOVEFiLM – Now on the PS3
Today is the release of LOVEFiLM on the PS3. Pretty good news, this and mubi gives quite a wide range of media – as well as the PS3 Video store for anything I decide to purchase (although I prefer a disc).
Hit by a block at the registration step, when being told my password is too long. Was accepted with the normal browser signup though, so not all bad.
First time trying to play a movie the app just crashed, second time it was fine.
The searching is a little annoying as it updates the titles every time I select a letter. This causes the app to freeze slightly. Also seems to be missing a lot of titles in the streaming catalogue but that will change over time.
Something else, nothing streamed in HD. I don’t know if this is permanent, temporary, an account option, only the movies I selected, estimated that my internet isn’t fast enough? I’ll look into that later. The streaming of what’s there does start almost instantly and does include pause & seeking functions, however, not via the blu-ray remote controls standard buttons. This is something I would expect to change in an update in the fairly near future.
£9.99 is a pretty good price assuming I continue to make use of it. Luckily my Unlimited internet (subject to fair use) actually seems to be unlimited, will know over time.
Call of Duty – Black Ops
The game, Call of Duty – Black Ops, arrived today (release day), after me ordering it with just one day to go…I forgot until pretty late. Demand can’t have been that high or just massive overstock, I don’t know. However, I can’t really say if I am impressed or not. It’s just another Call of Duty with the obligatory extras that keep the game “fresh”.
I played through a few levels of the single player campaign. The was an “entertaining” glitch on the first level at about the half-way point which caused two teammates to appear on a roof. As a result……stuck. Woohoo. Restart and, at least this time, it was fine but, after seeing that, my attention was waning.
After a couple of levels, I decided to call that quits and go to play zombies. Zombie Nazis from World at War are back and a lot of fun.
Maybe more of the classic online modes will be a bit more entertaining, only time will tell. I just hope it’s engaging enough the game doesn’t get left gathering dust. Regardless of how much it’s played, you can bet on being sucked in and doing it all again on the next release.
Another month – another post
I really had intended on getting out more than 1 post per month, but clearly I can’t manage that.
Left 4 Dead 2 now native on OS X. Finally, 5 months after the initial Steam OS X release we get Left 4 Dead 2 along with some new maps…sorry campaigns. I actually thought I would have been more excited, but I’ve only managed 1 1/2 hours … if that.
The Mac Steam store really hasn’t been that active for the previous couple of months either – oh well.
I’m sure there were several PSN+ releases I actually wanted but game-wise my PS3’s have been a little redundant.
That pretty much covers everything for the last month of my life…depressing huh. Actually it’s not quite check my other blog, a few boring, techie things this month.
The thumbnail image is unrelated, just a snap from my holiday.
Anime, Games and TV Stuff
Since my holiday, time has just disappeared. So much to do, what appears to be no time. Last weekend I attended Japan Matsuri in London, Japan away from Japan, somehow that is already a week ago.
So… anyway, lots in the world of Anime, Games & TV.
Tokyo Game Show 2010. I’ve not really had any time to watch all of the footage, but, things of note;
- Devil May Cry
- Kinect Sports
- Last Guardian
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
visually more impressive than the first and I’m assuming the story continues where the first left off - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I really hope that Trailer is the game engine rendering live, but I highly doubt it
Several upcoming blu-ray releases, a notable non-anime is a double box Death Note: Live action. Blu-ray Anime include;
- Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood – Volume 2
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Eden of the East
- Eureka Seven movie
- Rin (US only)
- D Gray-Man (US only)
thankfully my import PS3 has arrived for a couple of those.
- K-On ended
- Highschool of the dead ended (although seems open for a 2nd)
- Mitsudomoe ending (2nd season suggested to start January 2011) currently on Crunchyroll
American TV picks up again for me for the next couple of months as well, so I feel its going to be busy.
There is also MUCH more that I am interested in from each of the above, but there are not enough hours in the day.
Call of Duty: Black Ops – Multiplayer teaser
Today, I saw a new teaser trailer for the next Call of Duty game, Black Ops.
Similar gameplay to the previous games of course, along with some new additions. I saw a crossbow with exploding darts as well as what seemed to be an exploding remote controlled car. There also seemed to be some sort of knife..that was detachable??
Seems like the footage was all from the Xbox, lets hope there is an equally good PS3 version.
Cant wait.
PS3 3.41 Update
Nothing greatly interesting here. I heard there was a bug in this release when replacing HDD’s when using this version, which has since been updated but no version number increase.
The two changes I can see are;
- the beginnings of “You may like” which is going to suggest ways you can spend more money, based on the money you have spent so far.
- Incremental firmware updates, so you don’t need to download the full thing (about 160mb for 3.41) every time. I imagine this will only apply for some updates, an update for 4.0 would be the full thing…but who am I to say.
Day of Defeat: Source – Now on mac
Out of nowhere (well I havn’t seen anything recently) Day of Defeat: Source is released for the mac. Originally one of my favourite games, after Counter-Strike (which has actually made it to the bottom of the games I own on steam so far) but I preferred it to TF2 (now top, but there are a few missing) we will see if the game has been destroyed or improved but the updates that have been pushed into the other Orange Box multiplayer titles.
Looking over the achievements, MOST of them seem very easy, just play for a while and you will get them, a lot of Get X kills with Y.
With this games release, that’s it for the Orange Box titles (Team Fortress 2, Half-life 2, Half-life 2: Episode One, Half-life 2: Episode 2 and Portal). Well, HL2 deathmatch isn’t available yet, can’t wait for this. HL2 deathmatch is required but most/all? total conversion mods. Dystopia & SourceForts (TFC on the Source Engine) being two a played frequently. I am not sure if the process for mods on OS X will be a simple one, however it should defiantly be far more simple than a full game engine.
PlayStation Plus
Announced at E3, PlayStation Plus is a new subscription service to the PlayStation Network.
At release, I subscribed a year, costing me £39.99, the same as an Xbox Live Gold subscription for the year (from Microsoft directly). So, what did this get me (me personally, which I now own and have downloaded, not everything it offered)?
Free Games (usual price in brackets)
- Little Big Planet (£19.99?)
- WipEout HD – PS3 (£13.99)
- Destruction Derby – PS one (£3.99)
- Fieldrunners – minis (£3.99)
- Age of Zombies – minis (£3.99)
Game Packs
- Killzone 2 Game pack (£4.79)
Other stuff
- An orange icon next to my name
What would I have purchased even without the subscription?, well just WipEout HD. I would not have got the minis or PS one content att all, if I didn’t own a PSP though. I really don’t like looking at those graphics, stretched to 1080p on my 42″ television.
So far there have been no additions to this since release, however I do recall reading somewhere, this would not be a weekly thing like the rest of the games on the PlayStation store, but this would be a monthly update. Looking at what I’ve got so far it a bit meh.
Although the collection has been slim so far, I am still on the fence as to whether or not there will be a renewal, obviously being 1 year away things are likely to change.
Under the Account Management -> Transaction Management -> Services List, it seems to suggest that both WipEout and Little Big Planet expire at the end of the year, when my PS+ sub expires..really hope this is not the case.
What else?
Automatic updates. I find it strange this is a paid feature, but that’s not the point here. I downloaded WipEout HD and upon opening it told me there was an update. Instead of doing it then I decided to leave the update and turn off the console. 2 days later I come back and it asked me to download this update. I would have thought, during this 48 hour period, the auto-update might have done something.
COD MW2 – Resurgence Pack – Out Now
Another map pack is now out. Again on the slightly pricey side, but its not that bad.
5 additional maps. 3 new, 2 from Call of Duty 4;
New maps – Carnival, Fuel & Trailer Park
Updated maps – Vacant & Strike
The PS3 download for all 7 different versions (depending on the number of the box spine) comes in at a fairly reasonable 346mb. Thankfully I have my new 2.5″ drive to put into my PS3 as soon as I can be bothered to backup my current data.
Not much to say on these yet as I haven’t played them first hand, only seen videos, might post an update in the near future if I can get some playing time in.
Metal Gear Solid: Rising
I can’t believe that I missed this. It’s also quite an achievement for this to even be possible at the moment, billions of possible actions. This is on a completely different level to rag-doll physics, which was awesome when I first saw that.
Heres the trailer. Watch the whole thing, but specfically 1:45 – end… and I HIGHLY recommended watching @ 720p.
I have a feeling it will not quite live up to my expectations and I’m expecting the Xbox version to be somewhat crippled in comparison but…amazing.
