[Arwin]

Originally Posted by wco81

But there are double-taps along with drags and flicks.

I three-starred all paid levels with just drags and single taps ... What do double taps and flicks do in Angry Birds?

This is good news, it's a great game, my most played iPhone game by far. I had actually thought about that it could work well with Move, but apparently they're even bringing it to PSP's analog nub (should probably work, all levels work with full dragging power anyway iirc)

[wco81]

I only had the free game but thought you double-tapped to get 3 bird shots in one launch.

Also some of the bigger birds accelerated better if you double-tapped as you launched.

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by wco81

I only had the free game but thought you double-tapped to get 3 bird shots in one launch.

Also some of the bigger birds accelerated better if you double-tapped as you launched.

Afaik all of these features (split the small blue bird into three at any point in their trajectory, accellerate the yellow bird, trigger the explosion of the big black bird early, or activate the boomerang effect of the green bird, and even just the battle cry of the default red bird, activate with a single tap.

[patsu]

Yeah, I only use single tap plus drag-n-release.

[wco81]

It's interesting if smart phone games make their way back to consoles, even as arcade games.

Not demanding graphically (though with some physics modeling) but addictive gameplay rules the day over graphical prowess.

No wonder PSP is in trouble.

[patsu]

I don't think graphics is the problem. When I showed Uncharted 2 to non-gamers, they were all wowed. And 1-2 asked me how to get the game after the party. Great graphics is also not mutually exclusive to addictive gameplay, especially after devs become familiar with the platforms. Also it's possible to have addictive but "average looking" games for core gamers too (see Demon's Souls).

I think it's the demand/workload we placed on the users (e.g., number of hours, difficulty, price point, theme) that keep casual folks away. Then again, there are fewer core gamers, but they tend to buy more. It's up to the game companies to position themselves.


PSP does not do well in US because it's not marketed well, and it is falling behind competitor's hardware. In Asia, I still see it more often than other portable consoles on public transport.

[Sigfried1977]

I think many people simply ask themselves why they should pay a premium for watered-down PS2 games with crappy controls. The thing, unlike the DS, just doesn't have a clear identity.
I bought Peace Walker recently and after cursing at the controls for 5 hours I finally gave up. A shame really.

[goonergaz]

Originally Posted by Sigfried1977

I think many people simply ask themselves why they should pay a premium for watered-down PS2 games with crappy controls. The thing, unlike the DS, just doesn't have a clear identity.

You sort of contradict yourself there - clearly the main identity is that it's a PS1/PS2 'on the move' it also offers a heck of a lot more - maybe the problem is it just does too much - a bit like the PS3 ads saying 'it only does everything'!?

I really need to try MGS, I heard the controls were fine.

[wco81]

Originally Posted by patsu

I don't think graphics is the problem. When I showed Uncharted 2 to non-gamers, they were all wowed. And 1-2 asked me how to get the game after the party. Great graphics is also not mutually exclusive to addictive gameplay, especially after devs become familiar with the platforms. Also it's possible to have addictive but "average looking" games for core gamers too (see Demon's Souls).

I think it's the demand/workload we placed on the users (e.g., number of hours, difficulty, price point, theme) that keep casual folks away. Then again, there are fewer core gamers, but they tend to buy more. It's up to the game companies to position themselves.


PSP does not do well in US because it's not marketed well, and it is falling behind competitor's hardware. In Asia, I still see it more often than other portable consoles on public transport.

Graphics are fine but in a handheld, expectations may not be as high as on a console.

Plus, with cheap iPhone games, people just may not be willing to pay a premium on games for handheld devices, other than most Nintendo handheld titles and a handful of PSP games.

[Arwin]

I like the Clock dynamic theme that we got free for Playstation Plus this month! (and we're also getting the full season of Sam 'n Max, the Devil's Playground! not bad)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHKzlW8FfHw

[deathindustrial]

That is the first theme I have seen that actually proves that "dynamic themes" are something beyond canned video files.

Cheers

[patsu]

Originally Posted by wco81

Graphics are fine but in a handheld, expectations may not be as high as on a console.

Yap, devices like iPhone 4 have extreme high resolution for a reason though. The content still needs to look vibrant and pleasing for a quality product. PSP's resolution is a little low compared to newer hardware. I can see the jaggies rather clearly. It would be nice to be able to see the screen clearly under the sun too.

Plus, with cheap iPhone games, people just may not be willing to pay a premium on games for handheld devices, other than most Nintendo handheld titles and a handful of PSP games.

Yap, but there is no reason to think that Nintendo and Sony can't follow or change their business model.


EDIT:

Originally Posted by deathindustrial

That is the first theme I have seen that actually proves that "dynamic themes" are something beyond canned video files.

Cheers

W00t W00t ! Which is why we were wondering why no real video/trailer background, or some of Life for Playstation background in XMB.

[goonergaz]

Originally Posted by Arwin

I like the Clock dynamic theme that we got free for Playstation Plus this month! (and we're also getting the full season of Sam 'n Max, the Devil's Playground! not bad)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHKzlW8FfHw

lol, it's so cool I called the Mrs into the room and asked her what the time was

[Arwin]

I hope it is clear though that none of the dynamic themes so far have been actual videos? That's probably not even supported. All of them are 3D graphics rendered in real-time. It's just that many of them so far have been looped animations rather than anything interactive. Note that a theme like the LittleBigPlanet one does also use time of day information to change the position of the stars and moon, and lighting, so that was not different from this clock in any way, except that this clock is much more obvious.

[goonergaz]

Originally Posted by Arwin

I hope it is clear though that none of the dynamic themes so far have been actual videos? That's probably not even supported. All of them are 3D graphics rendered in real-time. It's just that many of them so far have been looped animations rather than anything interactive. Note that a theme like the LittleBigPlanet one does also use time of day information to change the position of the stars and moon, and lighting, so that was not different from this clock in any way, except that this clock is much more obvious.

yes, in a way the very first default one was dynamic in that it's colour changed with the time of day!

[RenegadeRocks]

I think the clock theme is lame, but thats just me !

BTW, the Deathspank demo looks reaaly really good ! The 2D world in 3D is very well implemented ! I got bored of his slow speech though. The gameplay is fun and dialogues funny. Looks like a winner ! Does it come free for PSN + subscribers ?

[patsu]

What's Deathspank ?

The Clock demo may be a precursor to more Internet widgets, like those on Sony's Bravia TVs.

[RenegadeRocks]

Originally Posted by patsu

What's Deathspank ?

is that u , patsu ? Or has someone taken over ur account !?!?!?
Its a beautiful RPG PSN game. Hilarious dialogue, stupid hero, brilliant graphics. Chk out the demo NOW !!!!

[patsu]

Ha ha, I'm stuck in Asia. Will be back in US to catch up on my PS3 download and updates.

[Shifty Geezer]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRocks

is that u , patsu ? Or has someone taken over ur account !?!?!?
Its a beautiful RPG PSN game. Hilarious dialogue, stupid hero, brilliant graphics. Chk out the demo NOW !!!!

I didn't get into the demo, but a friend bought it and I played it. 100%

[Gradthrawn]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRocks

is that u , patsu ? Or has someone taken over ur account !?!?!?
Its a beautiful RPG PSN game. Hilarious dialogue, stupid hero, brilliant graphics. Chk out the demo NOW !!!!

I swear that's Captain Quark. Not just the voice, but the personality too!

[AntShaw]

What's the pricing going to be for PS3 Angry Birds (link blocked for me)?? It will be laughable it it's $5. With that said...Angry Birds is an amazingly fun and addicting.

Deathspank - These kind of games are right up my alley. This was very polished IMO. It's like Dungeon Siege meets Fable and WOW. Great amount of quests and side quests. Fun and challenging combat. Wide variety of weapons and items. Lot's of item collecting. Big map that has easy travel points. And...it's downright HILARIOUS. Comedy in video games rarely speaks to me, but this title sure does. Never takes itself too seriously and pokes a lot of fun at itself. I got about 12 hours of gameplay out of this title.

[Shifty Geezer]

12?! I was done in 450 minutes. The loot was copius but also somewhat suprefluous. Like lots of these games the ideas seemed unbalanced and not really thought through. There are loads of potions and special items like firestorms and blackholes, but virtually no need to use any. The elemental crossbow bolts did less damage than my crossbow typically, and were a faf to use.
Lots of weapons but typically you equip the best physical weapons you can which do more damage than the elementals, and the elementals don't have much more effect than physical damage save for resistances. Charing the Weapons of Justice was a good idea, but lots of the Weapons of Justice were pointless AFAICS. The stun one had an obvious effect. The spinning one was the most devastating by far and one I used. Other big-hitters did about as much damage as my normal weapons, so what's the point? And the idea of combining weapon attacks in Attacks of Justice is great, but for all the runes' intriguing descriptions, they barely did anything that I found, save the Spinning attack with fire and ice. And again, combat didn't need it much of the time. Plenty of opportunity to eat the near limitless supply of food and quoff potions if you needed to, which is only if you're being reckless.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fun time-passer, but pretty shallow, and not at all difficult on medium setting. Button mashing galore was the order of the day; I even found the chained attacks a nuisance, as the bigger hits were slower and left me open to attack. I took to deliberately not chaining attacks when I was against a tough foe like the giants. The visuals and humour helped elevate beyond the mundane rather than the gameplay. And the humour was very funny in places. The thing that beats the big End-of-game Boss was pretty hilarious.

[Sigfried1977]

Originally Posted by Gradthrawn

I swear that's Captain Quark. Not just the voice, but the personality too!

The single high point of the game (okay, so it does look quite nice as well). In terms of gameplay I just found it painfully boring. It's basically all the low points of Sacred2 with almost none of that game's high points (the endless depth of the character development process and the huge variety of environments and monsters)

I picked up Earthworm Jim HD 2 days ago. Still tough as nails, still slightly broken in places, but also still just as delighfully bonkers as it has always been. Jim is one of the few anthropomorphic animal heroes from the nineties that doesn't feel completely irrelevant in this day and age. Trophies are a real bitch, though.

[patsu]

Hoard added 4P co-op:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/...-op-confirmed/

Since our last post, we can confirm four-player co-op play has been added to the game — thanks for all the comments! That rounds our feature set out with Treasure, Princess Rush, Hoard (Survival), and Co-op modes. We support up to four dragons in any combination of couch and online players.

This is one game I hope can be "Moved". Would like to control my dragon like playing House.
Basically, the controller is the dragon. I can swoop or dive it any way I want. And breath fire by may be voice activation or trigger ?