2.5.07

My PS3 just killed my 360

I keep my PS3 and my Xbox 360 in an entertainment unit in the living room. It's a big wooden thing with glass doors, and while it looks cool, I guess it's not exactly what I'd cool well ventilated.

Anyway, this morning at some ungodly hour, both my kids got up and wanted to play videogames. My older son wanted to play Cars while my little guy wanted to watch, and fiddle with another controller while pretending to play. The pretend option turned out to be the Sixaxis (this is relevant, I'll come back to it.)

Now, the 360 on it's own doesn't run so hot that it can't handle being in the entertainment unit with the door shut. I've had it on for hours and hours and hours before, and it never gets so hot that the fan goes into turbo bastard mode. The PS3, on the other hand, is another story. If I keep that sucker in a confined space for too long, I fear for the safety of my family. Hence, whenever we play PS3 games...the door to the unit stays open.

So (back to the narrative) while pretending to play along with his brother, my little guy hits the PS button, and the PS3 springs to life, inside the closed entertainment unit, unbeknown to Mrs. D and myself.

Needless to say, temperatures rise, fans kick in, then more fans kick in, then some new, untold level of nuclear reactor-grade cooling kicks in deep within the bowels of the PS3, and the first thing I know of this is when a little voice cries, "Dad, something's wrong with my game."

Conditions in the confined space had become so super-heated that the 360 red-ringed out, big time.

So. Bottom line, my PS3 killed my 360. I have learned a very valuable lesson from this.

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Apparently the lack of a built-in Blu-ray or HD-DVD drive in the Xbox 360 means that the year and a half old console is already starting to feel growing pains.



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The History of Video Game Console Logos

A comparison and witty commentary of console logos throughout the years, starting with the Atari 2600.



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DMC4 on 360 and PS3: identical


Speaking to IGN in a video interview, Devil May Cry 4 producer, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, dropped some interesting info. Firstly, he describes the game's lead character, Nero, and his weapons -- a big sword called the Red Queen and a revolver called the Blue Rose. That's all well and good, but the real sound bite concerns the game's multiplatform status. Regarding the disparities between the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Devil May Cry 4, Kobayashi says, "Our plan is to make them pretty much identical."

In the unending flame war of console superiority, this is quite a statement. Kobayashi notes that there may be some functionality in the PS3 version not included in the 360 version. The statement is poorly translated though, so we're not exactly sure what that functionality will be (motion control, perhaps?). At any rate, the upshot is this: if you have to play Devil May Cry 4, you might as well do it for $200 less, because you won't be missing anything on the Xbox 360.

Watch your head, PGA Tour 08 screens incoming

"The Gamertag Radio guys every so kindly wrangled up a few newly released Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 screenshots that hit the web today. And, as a bonus, they smell like freshly cut grass! Cool huh? Our overall impressions are that the screens show off PGA Tour 08's soothing lighting effects and nice face mapping, but we feel the grass and anti-aliasing are quite 'blah'. Though, we'll leave the fate and overall opinion of Tiger's latest golfing venture in your hands. So, is anyone actually pumped getting their golf"

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"Frankly, we're still miffed that SEGA refuses to add online play to its flagship fighting title, Virtua Fighter 5. Of course, that doesn't mean we won't ravenously devour every scrap of information about the game that comes our way. Today's latest on Virtua Fighter 5 comes to us from Gamertag Radio in the form of three new screenshots. Yeah, it's not exactly earth-shattering (like, say, announcing fully integrated online play), but it's better than nothing. Besides, the game is just damned pretty.

VF5 hits (and kicks) the Xbox 360 this summer. Anyone out there plan on picking it up?"

Splinter Cell Conviction Revealed

"The latest issue of Finnish video games magazine Pelaaja has revealed the next installment in the Splinter Cell series. Conviction will be developed by Ubisoft Montreal and it will be released exclusively on PC and Xbox 360.

This is the first time that Ubisoft uses the name after it filed, and had approved, two trademarks for 'Splinter Cell: Conviction.'

Speculation leads to rumors that NSA Director Williams will be the enemy in this fifth installment. "

New Forza Motorsport 2 Screenshots

"Forza Motorsport 2, the sequel to Microsoft Game Studios’ award-winning, fully customizable driving simulator “Forza Motorsport, speeds its way onto Xbox 360 this summer. With authentic simulation physics, bone-jarring damage, photo-realistic graphics, and licensed tuning and customization options, the franchise improves on the unprecedented features gamers enjoyed in its debut installment. Loaded with more than 300 of the world’s hottest cars for you to collect, personalize and tune, Forza Motorsport 2 gives you a complete racing experience.

Made possible by the power of Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 2 burns rubber at 60 fps with 4x full-screen anti-aliasing, motion blur, and high-dynamic-range lighting in crisp 720p high-definition glory. And you can feel every nuance of your car and the road thanks to support for the official Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. "

Christmas comes early to 360 Elite owners: free HDD Transfer Kits for all

It looks like Microsoft has decided to return some of its record-breaking profits back to the consumer in the form of a free Xbox 360 Hard Drive Transfer Kit for Elite owners -- although some will look at this gesture as less of a gift and more of a hassle to get a one-time-use product that already comes bundled with the standalone 120GB drive.



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Final Fantasy Creator Slams Sony

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has criticised Sony’s Playstation 3 console insisting that it is too difficult to develop for, and accused Microsoft of failing to promote the Xbox 360 efficiently in Japan.



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A more accurate way to predict the console wars?

The video game industry has looked to analysts for sales predictions each month. A prediction market called "The simExchange" allows gamers to trade virtual video game stocks to predict NPD game sales. This editorial examines "the challenges of predicting trends in the video game market" and how a prediction market can provide better forecasts.



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