Talk about some Bullshit

That's right, Bullshit with a capital B.

It's no news that Sony has been taking some serious shit these days. In fact their insane claims and statements are coming with such regularity it's quite astonishing. The backlash from the gaming community has been pretty substantial, but Sony seemed to be content to continually just brush those haters off as it were.

Well they finally got angry.

You can get more details at Kotaku, but the long and short of it is that Sony didn't like a (widely confirmed at Kotaku by very reliable sources inside the gaming industry) rumor that Kotaku wanted to publish. Well even after some nice asking from Sony, they published the rumor anyway. Instead of the "we do not comment on rumors or speculation," company line that Microsoft regularly dishes out, Sony sent a bitchy note to Kotaku saying that they were shutting down all relations with the site including interviews at future trade shows and the a request for the return of their debug PS3.

This is some serious blackballing if I ever saw it, and it freaking blows my mind. If you're a gamer and you follow the multitude of gaming sites and blogs that publish gaming news everyday, you know that there is nary a day that a rumor doesn't appear that was meant to be a secret. For example, recently it's become apparent that the developer and industry only test version of Xbox Live (known as Partnernet) is regularly being raided by certain sites to reveal unannounced games, despite very clear rules against such practices.

Sure all these rumors may run against your planned controlled release of news and information, but why would you go so far as to burn your bridges so completely? It's been widely reported that the biggest thing that is going to sustain Sony and the PS3 in thse critical first year is the Hardcore gamers, due to a lack of any substansial amount of somtware and such high prices. Well I may be crazy but the regular readers of Kotaku are generally pretty hardcore.

Here's the wierdest part: not only are the rumors almost certainly true(evidenced most clearly by Sony's harsh response), but they are about a feature which sounds like a beneficial addition to the PS3's somewhat uncohesive online experience. I mean if the rumor was actually damaging to your image that's one thing. Lesson here: pick your battles. Apperently Sony realised this, albeit a little late, and has apparently kissed and made up with Kotaku. After this though I'd pay good money to see the next tension filled interview of a Sony exec by a Kotaku staffer.

Comments

Mass Effect: First Impressions

So I finally picked up Mass Effect yesterday and popped it in. First impressions are pretty good. Like the look a lot, and LOVE the music. The much publicized conversation system isn't revolutionary, but it's fluid and seamless. Some people think there's too much dialog, but I feel like there's always a quick way out if you are so inclined. However skipping most of the dialog will make you miss how realized this world is. There's so much backstory it's nuts. How about the combat? Haven't seen to much yet but it's pretty solid. Could've used a little better cover system, but I'll excuse it for now. We'll see if it becomes an issue. I think I'll be taking the side of letting my team do whatever the hell they want for the time being. Seems to work alright. I do agree though that the whole item organization system sucks balls. You pickup TONS of crap during misisons, and it's not organized at all in your menus. I think I'll get over

How to relax, just a little

The game pictured above is Switchball , a puzzle game from Sierra now available on Xbox Live Arcade and PC. I downloaded it a few weeks ago and it's been my go-to for a quick gaming fix ever since. It's a deceptively simple puzzle game that's along the lines of Marble Madness or Monkey Ball , but with a clever twist. You're trying to get a simple marble past widely varied puzzles, but can change the ball into other states when the puzzle requires. There's a heavy metal ball for pushing heavy objects or getting past fans, or an air ball that can be inflated to float past spikes and other obstacles, and a sort of super ball that can be charged to jump, dash, or be magnetic. The puzzles start out simple, but get pretty complicated pretty quick. There's also a multiplayer race mode, but that's not my cup of tea. What's so amazing about this game is how clever the puzzles are. They're so good in spots that you just have to smile when you solve them. I&

Chuck Klosterman ignites a shitstorm

Before I say anything about the story he wrote, and it's snowball effect on the video game world, I will simply say that I believe Chuck Klosterman is a genius. His books and articles are insightful, hilarious, intelligent, and thought provoking, often all at the same time. He's a senior editor at Spin Magazine, a columnist for Esquire and ESPN the Magazine, and has written for countless other publications. You would do yourself good to go read some of his work, or all of it for that matter. Now that I'm done kissing his ass, I'll tell you the real story. Last month Klosterman wrote an article for Esquire titled The Lester Bangs of Video Games . The intent of the article was to discuss why there isn't a truly transcendent video game critic writing about video games for the masses, or any real writing in that direction. It's a fascinating read even for non-video gamers. To say that the reaction was mixed would be irresponsible, it was a torrent of applause

Replay Value

Search This Blog