Funny how Sony cannot keep it together in lieu of some minor hacking. Though PSN is definitely a great target: if you happen to buy DLC and stuff like that, there's a good bet that your credit card info is in their system. Of course, you can have them not save it (as I have done), but it's not a default option. How many credit cards were stolen? Gaming is a shaky ground for Sony, as they are often the target of criticism and hacking. Never forget, however, that Sony is fairly aggressive in their business tactics. Granted, Sony has to be shrewd, it does other products too and has for a long time.
The attack on PSN is not the first thing to go wrong with the PlayStation 3. I have had my Slim long enough to witness other issues with PSN. However, I am not a huge online gaming fan, so I sacrificed PSN for CFW. Sony is not the only company to have problem, though. The Nintendo Wii's launch was a scary one too. The first patch that went live for the Wii bricked a ton of them. I, having sat in line for 23 hours for one, narrowly missed the death patch because I was driving 150 miles home for vacation that day.
Speaking of bad console issues, let us not leave out the 360. My exroommate's Xbox 360 RROD'd on Halo 3's launch date. Say what you want, but Microsoft is a good sport. They refurnished his console for free. He just had to wait some weeks to play a game he had been hyping for months. Harsh times.
This is definitely a weird Generation of gaming. All the consoles are practically dumbed down but highly specialized computers. This makes them especially vulnerable to piracy now. Also, they are all more sensitive and prone to break. I mean, I can still get my NES to play cartridges. Who will be able to turn on an Xbox 360 in 15 years? The lines between console and PC gaming are blurring. Where will the distinction end?
GAMING MUSIC
Lemmings just cannot be Lemmings without its smashing soundtrack. Originally comprised of simple chiptunes of classical music, Lemmings eventually came into its own musically. You cannot help save those bastards with this stuff in the background.
So, I have seen the credits for Pokémon Black Version. All I can say is "OK, what?" They screwed with way the Elite 4 works, but apparently after beating them at level 48-50, I can now challenge them at 71-78 with a proper champion. Kill me now. However, there are three more towns that I have not seen, as well as a mission to find the remaining big-wigs of Team Plasma. I suspect that the level plateaus keep going up. That is to say if I do not use my sister's Action Replay first. This is dragging on. I admit, I dawdled, but 39 hours is quite a bit. I would say it was worth the $35. At least I can now start loading over Pokémon from the old DS games now. You know what that means? Ditto! Breeding ahoy! People may hate the new Pokémon, but like I said when everyone hated on Diamond/Pearl/Platinum's set... At least these are better than the Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald set. I am sure I will derive new favorites from these. People should really take off the nostalgia glasses and give the rest of the 649 a chance. What is funny is that Team Plasma's entire platform is the assumption that trainers are inherently evil by abusing their Pokémon. Unfortunately for all that jazz, there is more going on behind the scenes. Too bad you do not get an idea of what until the Elite 4. I am not sure I liked combining the plot elements of the league and the gang, but I buy it. At least you see the Gym leaders do more than be lame.
In actual news, Nintendo and Sony have given $7,000,000 to Japan. Count the zeroes, that's millions. How nice of them. Namco also donated $1,200,000. I guess that is to say that these gaming tycoons are not heartless. I cannot help but feel there could have been more. Nintendo, alone, generates over $2,200,000,000 a year. Am I alone in thinking there are more zeroes there? Do not even look at Sony (since they do more than video games).
Also, lately there has been new talk of the Wii 2. As you may or may not know, Nintendo is regarded as always releasing the next gen roughly every five years. The "Wii 2" is up next and everyone is concerned. The Wii and the end of the DS marks a time where Nintendo stops paying attention to the gamer market and taps the supposed casual market. People are mad. It happens. Frankly, I remember the day the name "Wii" was announced and knowing at that moment that it may not be what we expect. There is a lot to say about a name. The Nintendo Revolution had you pumped, but the Nintendo Wii? What is that? A flaccid penis, methinks. Nintendo can either sell out or return to quality, but who cares? I certainly will not stand the shame of waiting in line 21 hours for a Nintendo console again. Though, it was amusing driving by the Best Buy line and showing them the very system they have to wait another eight hours for.
GAMING MUSIC
I have not played this title in particular, but I enjoyed this song on their commercial. Something about the attitude and laid-back music that amuses me. At least gaming does embrace humor on occasion. We really should not take ourselves so seriously.
Disclaimer: Yargh! Pirates be bad, me mateys. Be sure to keep a wethered eye out fer them scoundrels. Never tary into pirate behavior and commit crimes of piracy, lest the gallows be for ye!
So, as video game technology gets closer and closer to the standards of a PC, we see shared features. An advent of these shared features is the ease of recoding the complicated firmwares to play whatever "back-ups." That excuse loses weight as the homebrew community managed to use the Jailbreak and then softmod the OFW to be a CFW. This means you can play back-ups on your PS3! Oh my God! Wait, aren't games ranging between 3-50 gigabytess? Only half of them really work so it takes forever to find something cool? The games are Blu-Ray anyway and that means they're scratch-proof? Come on, don't let us fool you. If you want to keep up to date, read into this stuff, it's interesting.
I do not condone or condemn piracy, as it is not my prerogative and I will not disclose whether I participate (yeah, right). However, I do not want more pirates out there. Ease of piracy means increasing numbers. Increasing numbers means the companies fight back. Also, you want your favorite game to have a sequel, right? They only do that if there is money. Even though we put the info out there, because it would be hypocritical if we do not, but we definitely do not need more pirates running about.
That said. What about you that are vehemently against piracy? Not my problem, pay for your games. However, if I will keep my mouth shut if you also stop renting, selling, and buying used games. That is the same thing as pirating a copy. What of that do the developers see?
The funny thing about piracy is that Nintendo is the only company new to that game. However, who blames them? They were a generation behind on CD's, which is not a complaint. I do like cartridges more. Sony has been handling piracy with the PSP for years and held off the PS3 piracy for a very long time. Microsoft handled piracy well, considering it is used to the PC issues. The Nintendo Wii' System Menu was cracked in no time as soon as the buffer overload was figured out in the Twilight Princess save file. Now, every new System Menu update attempts to wipe out the Homebrew Channel and the exploits, but it usually takes Bushing and Team Twiizers roughly 6-12 hours to get the new System Menu cracked. We have definitely come a long way from GameBoy Advance flashcarts and the Sega Dreamcast bootdisc.
GAMING MUSIC
A great way to lead into this psycho adventure. Easily containing the most anti-climactic end-boss ever. However, the quirky humor, rugged gameplay, and amusing cooperative make things worth blowing away some hours. New game+ merited some replay, but you really have to like the environment and World of Warcraft elements, which is admittedly weird for an FPS. This game was worth it. Get it cheap now.
