[Flash content, no longer playable]
This old Computer Chronicles episode provides a nice look at the gaming industry as it was about to collapse. Some good games were still being made though. That Space Shuttle game was a work of art, considering it was made for the Atari 2600. The Pinball Construction Set was also extremely creative.
Fun fact: The original air date of that episode was on my 20th birthday. Phooey.
Reading this Wolfenstien Gameplay review by HardOCP. In the conclusion is this statement…
Wolfenstein comes to us as yet another entry in a growing catalog of games which bare distinct signs of being console-focused titles. The lightweight graphics, memory, and processor requirements, the nonfunctional anti-aliasing, the clumsy menu system, and the mere handful of customizable graphics options all combine to show us that this chapter of B.J.’s World War II exploits was geared for the console and only adapted for the PC. While it can be argued that it makes sense from a business perspective for developers to focus on console development first, it does leave PC games wondering what exactly is next for us.
Further, it throws into sharp relief the dubious value of escalating the GPU arms race yet again. We are rapidly approaching the unveiling and launching of new silicon from both AMD and NVIDIA, and we are forced to wonder exactly what the point is. If a $200 video card will play so many new games (Wolfenstein, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Ghostbusters, Demigod) so brilliantly on a 30″ monitor with the highest resolution and graphical fidelity right now, and if this trend is going to continue (which it seems to be), why do we need to invest in new graphics cards with the frequency at which NVIDIA and AMD would have us believe we should?
Valid point… why spend big bucks on a PC, when most of the PC titles coming out run just fine on low to middle quality hardware. The good side of this trend is it gives you the luxury to focus on energy efficient cards and CPUs, instead of focusing on performance.
The bad news is that PC titles are definitely not what they used to be. Kind of explains why I am transitioning into a console player, instead of PCs.
After months of rumors, and even longer dreams of fanboy waiting, Sony finally announced that yes, there is a PS3 slim. Available the first week of September, the new PS3 is coming to your hot little hands for, wait for it, $299. Here’s the details:
In addition to this announcement, Sony also dropped the price of the currently shipping PS3 models as well, to help clear out inventory. So if you have a thing for the old George Forman Grill look-a-like, you may want to get on the stick and snag one while you can. Back to the new slim model though…
One thing to point out is that Sony has made NO MENTION if they are adding backwards compatibility for PS2 games into this model. Recent filing show Sony being issued a patent for a method of software emulation of the Emotion Engine used in the PS2, so we may see a 100% software solution in the future. But honestly, who knows? I will say this though, this little unit is quite the looker, and shows that while Sony may be third in the console war, they still know how to make beautiful electronics. Finally, the console battle really heats up: Sony and MS have similarly speced systems for $299, the first-place champ Wii is still hanging in at $249, and the stripped out 360 brings up the rear at $199. It’s going to be an interesting holiday season. Hit the gallery below for more shots of the PS3 slim.
Oh, one last thing…
It was discovered today on the FCC website that Sony may have a 250 GB PS3 model in the pipes as well. No real confirmation yet, other than the graphic above that was found on the site, but rumors are putting this at as a $349 model that may well indeed contain the PS2 software emulator everyone is salivating for. A $50 price hike for PS2 emulation and a larger drive? Sure, but the price may be a bit steep for this late in the console war, especially since the less-than $300 price barrier has been broken. We’ll have to wait and see.
This is a video I took of Billy Mitchell and Steve Sanders playing Donkey Kong in Ottumwa Iowa. All right, this wasn’t that much of an exclusive. This video was part of a photo op at the Launch Party for the International Video Game Hall of Fame & Museum.
