Tuesday, November 28, 2006

PS3 pics

Here are some latest pics I took of the PS3, courtesy of Wega Enterprise in Sungei Wang Complex.



1) PS3 out of the box being hooked up. The PS3 and movie discs slot into the silver front loading slot.


2) Side view. Notice the very shiny glossy surface, very presentable, but its a fingerprint trap.


3) The AV connections at the back. From the right: The AC power, main power on/off switch, multi AV out for composite or RGB component cables (only the composite, yellow,red & white, cable is provided), optical audio out (5.1 Dolby Digital, DTS or Dolby Pro Logic II), ethernet (gigabit) broadband connection, and HDMI output (for max output of 1080P to supported screens).


4) Sixaxis controllers. Two are supplied in the bundle, so you and your friend can duke it out.


5) The Cross Media Bar (XMB). Similar to the PSP, this is where you navigate the PS3 to do everything you want it to, from playing games, MP3, viewing photos, and stuff.



6) The 3 bundled games. From left: Ridge Racer 7, Gundam and Genji.



7) Ridge Racer 7: Full colored blu-ray disc artwork, and full colored booklet insert.


8) Ridge Racer 7 in action. The game look fantastic even in regular 480i output, wait till u hook it up to a 1080P output.


Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Wii is out in US.

The last of the "next-gen" games console have hit the streets of US on 17th Nov 2006. Reports were that the console's launch was smooth, with none of the PS3 launch problems (muggings of PS3, robberies and even BB gun drive by shooting.... haha).

The system is shipped with the Wii, a Wii-mote, a Nunchuk attachement, standard AV cables, power cables, and one game, Wii Sports. This allows you to unpack, hook the unit up, and play games immediately (without getting buying any extra games). Wii Sports contains 5 games, all designed to utilise the Wii-mote fully. Tennis, Baseball, Golf, Bowling and Boxing are featured and all require you to swing or move yr Wii-mote to play them. Boxing requires the Nunchuk attachement too to simulate 2 handed boxing. Cool and extremely useful way to learn how to use the motion sensitive Wii-mote and the Nunchuk.

The biggest issue of the Wii is of the updating of the firmware, with some report that the Wii "bricked" (literally meaning it turned into a brick, coz the console died due the upgrade), which is the worse any gamers want to find their spanking new console to be. Allowing to run the initial WiiConnect 24 update on the Wii have created an error code when you boot up the system. The most common codes reported are 110213 and 32002, but there seems to be some other codes as well. Worse case, the units will be unusable and needs to be returned to Nintendo for repair (if u wan to keep the data saved in yr Wii), or you can opt for a swap.

Thats for the US only. So if you do land yrself a Wii, and updated the Wii via online, cross yr fingers that it will not "brick" itself. If it does, then you are totally screwed.

Other smaller matters, some units fail to load games (!!), the Wii-mote not registering motion detection, and cases of the Wii-mote flying off sweaty palms and crashing into the TVs in front of them. Hahaha..... that will be very costly.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

New PS2 games

There were many games released for PS2 in MY the past week. Did not bother to jot down the entire list (yeah.... i was lazy), but will do that soon. Chose for myself 3 games from the bunch.

1) ATV Offroad Fury IV (SCE, Sony). The fourth installment (isn't it obvious from the title??) of Sony's own dirt racer. You can choose to race in an ATV (duh...), bikes, buggies and trucks. Offering many offroad tracks, stadium tracks, motocross tracks to race on, and you can even pull off tricks when your vehicle gets "air". Cool. Graphics is real smooth, and beautiful. The vehicles handles nicely, and the AI is good despite some rubber banding (where the games don't allow the AI racers to fall to far away from you).

Overall, a very fun racer. My rating: 7/10

2) Eragon (Vivendi Games). The game based on the soon to be out movie based on a fantasy novel. Now where have we hear of this before?? Yup, the LOTR games. This games follows the plot of the movie, and not directly from the book, the exact same setup as the LOTR games by EA. Players take control of Eragon, and repeated hacks and slashes (with very limited moves) the enemies that fill the screen to progress. Some jumping is required, but nothing too hard. Oh yeah, there are secret eggs on each level to be found too, so its not just blind hacking alone. Graphics is pretty enough and minor slowdown do occur when too many enemies fill up the screen. Dont worth much of your time, unless you are a HUGE Eragon fan.

Overall, its a boring game to hack thru, similar to the LOTR games before it. My rating: 3/10

3) Mercury Meltdown Remix (Ignition Entertainment). This is the PAL (Region 2 version) of the game. This puzzler game appeared originally on the PSP, and now we are getting the PS2 updated version. The game will have you maneuvering a blob of mercury from the start to the end point, with many obstacles in the way. U can physically change the condition of the mercury with several gates (heat - makes it easier to break and moves faster, cold - makes it slower but harder to break, solid - makes it solid like a ball, and even color gates to pass... uhhh.... matching colored gates). To complete the level, player have to tilt the mercury to the end gate, with the amount of mercury required as indicated by a gauge on the left of the screen. Lose the required amount of mercury and its game over. There is a timer too, but that's mainly for gathering more bonus points. Meaning you can still finish the level even as the timer runs out. Visually, the game is the same as the PSP version, so its very beautiful on the big screen as well.

Overall, a very addictive puzzler. My ratings: 8.5/10

Monday, November 20, 2006

PS3 display hitches.

Barely had the PS3 launched in Japan and US, there are some problems with the uber games console from Sony.

From what limited info I do have at this moment in time, there are some HDMI failure with certain brands of TV (which? I do not know.), meaning the HDMI handshaking fails to establish a connection with TV and the display goes blank. Strangely, this only happens when the games are played while the XMB (Cross Media Bar, the PS3's menu) works fine.

Also, there are some backward compatability issue with some PS2 and PS1 games.

But the biggest issues has to do with the PS3's inability, or refusability, to upscale the display to fit the TV. Seems that if the PS3 cant display 720P to TVs that dont display 720P resolution, it wont upscale the 720P display to 1080i, but pushes the display down to 480P only. In layman's term, when the PS3 cant display at certain resolution to the TV(namely the 720P), it wont turn up the resolution (to 1080i) but take the safe route and turn down the resolution to 480P. This means a lot of lost details for those that do care abt these stuff. Most PS3 games do support 1080i, but for games that dont display at 720P, the PS3 will reduce the resolution to 480P, thats a bummer.

So its better is to check if your TVs do display 720P as to ensure that your PS3 can play, and display, all games in its full glory. Esp if you are planning to get one so-called "HD" LCD/plasma TVs in the market. Point to note, not many Msian sold TV support the mid-range 720P.

Now you know what to ask for when u shop for a "HD" TV.... psst.... "ada 720P output ka??"

PS3 in Malaysia NOW!!!

Went to my favorite supplier of videogames, and something caught my eyes to jump outta the sockets. After groping the floor to pick up my eyeballs (haha), I stared closely at the display. It was a Playstation 3!!

Picture taken using K790i.

The Playstation 3 is now available for retail in Malaysia. The best news of all, its the Asian version, a Region 3 unit. What's the big deal of this, I hear u asking?? Well, if we get a Region 1 (US, recently launched last Friday 17th Nov 2006) or the Region 2 (Japan, launched on 11th Nov 2006) units, they come native for 100V-110V power consumption, while Region 3 (Asia, not known to launch yet) comes standard for 220-240V power. In layman's terms, Region 3 PS3's do not need a step down transformer to power it, meaning you can directly get power from the wall sockets. The biggest advantage to this is that you dont have to worry of power fluctuations killing your spanking new (and ultra costly) PS3, or that your transformer will be super hot that it may burn a hole thru your display stand (I am assuming that you will wanna display your PS3 next to your HD TV.) I was lucky enough to be able to view the PS3 up close as well as getting prices for the bundle.

Ridge Racer 7 look absolutely stunning, had the priviledge to preview it live. The game moves at a blistering pace, and the graphics is very very good. Textures are sharp, movements are well handled, and many many special effects on screen, esp when you drift or lose control of the car. Aliasing (jagged edge found in digital graphics) is non-existant, and motion blurs to enhance speed is also employed. Admittedly, RR7 does not have extremely impressive graphics but the game, the beauty of it, and the pace is all very very good.

Did not get a chance to preview Resistance: Fall of Man as it was sold. Too bad, perhaps next time.

Now for the juicy part, the price. At RM4000, you will land yourself a Region-3 PS3 with a 60GB HDD, two Sixaxis wireless controller, and 3 games (Genji, Gundam and Ridge Racer 7). All are plug and play, ready to run from the box. This is now available in Sungai Wang, in a shop called Wega Enterprise, located at LG, near the side entrance to Parkson. Look for a fat chap called Kenny Gan, tell him that u got the shop info from the internet and he will know u read my blog.

So now, the PS3 have just climbed to the top of my Xmas (2006 or 2007??) game console wish list, 2nd being Nintendo's Wii, and lastly the Xbox360. That wish list is gonna burn a really huge hole in my wallet.... sigh...

PS. Will try to get pics for the full bundle soon.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Casino Royale


Watched the highly anticipated 21st installment of the James Bond series, Casino Royale. Adapted from Ian Flemings 1st book on Bond, this film was produced Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Martin Campbell, who also directed Goldeneye - Pierce Brosnan's first Bond appearance. Why is a Bond movie doing in my blog? Coz its my blog, and many gadgets are in the movie, and c'mon, its a Bond movie.

Much of the plot have been cover in the mass medias and internet, so here's a summary. James Bond (played perfectly by Daniel Craig in his first Bond outing), having just got his double-0 licence (licensed to kill, and kill on behalf of the government without prosecution!!), is tracking down Le Chiffre, a money launderer for "freedom fighter" (American calls them terrorists) cells all over the world. When Bond stops Le Chiffre's plot and causes the villain to lose his clientele's money, Le Chiffre sets up a high stakes poker game, at Casino Royale, in an effort to win back the money. And Bond is out to stop him. Why poker? Coz evidently Le Chiffre is very good at numbers and is a show off. Why Bond to stop him? Coz he is the best poker player the British govt has in her payroll, and that he is at good at reading characters. Geez...
Much of the key plot points from the book is retained in the movie. Bond's change from being cocky to suave, from raw brutalness to slick efficiency. The gambling. The torture of Bond. And surely the women. But many things was changed too. The Cold War villains are updated as international terrorist groups, the gambling game is now Texas Hold'em Poker. The gambling in the book was in the form of Chemin de Fer, a variation of Baccarat.

Lets get the bad out of the way first. The time line of the movie confuses me, and this hurt my enjoyment of the movie initially. This movie is about Bond just receiving his double-0 status, thus he should be in the 60s-70s era (at least to me). Also, this movie is when Bond meets his first love, and she was the one that drove him to be the detached, unemotional and cold Bond years later.

Yet he drive a 2006 Ford Focus, an Aston Martin DBS, and the latest 2007 Range Rover Sport was also featured. Also featured prominently are Sony VIAO laptops and latest Sony 3G hand phones (the Bond silver limited edition K800i, and M600i). I know this is a Sony Pictures movie, but the product placement was too blatant. But what confuses me was if this is the time and plot that defined Bond to be who he will be known to the world later, the gadgets are too up-to-date, as are the vehicles.

I have to give up on the confusing time line, and decided to enjoy the movie as an action movie, not as the first Ian Fleming Bond book movie. And soon i was enjoying it.

Now the parts of the movie i liked. Very nice plot, very capable Bond played by Daniel Craig, very believable character (namely Bond's) development, very stylish action sequences. Its rare for a Bond movie to have character development, and this movie breaks all Bond stereotyping movies, all 20 of them in the past. Daniel Craig is a very capable actor, you can see his cockiness in the early part of the movie (egoistic as he just got his double-0 status) turn into suaveness. This Bond is raw, and don't even care how his martini is served. Haha.

The first action sequence (after the black and white flashback sequence) is very nicely paced, unbelievable stunts (Parkour in action, also featured in the movie Yamakasi) and wire work that can match any Jacky Chan movies of late. You will believe that this Bond is actually capable of kicking ass, and does suffer from cuts and bruise after each fight. Man, he even bleeds and needs to wash up. And he has the body and looks to show too.

Eva Green (pronounced as "grain") is very capable as Vesper Lynd, the sultry beautiful confident woman who falls for Bond, and later betrays him. You can see her change in character very well in the different times within the movie too. Add to that mix is Mads Mikkelsen playing the cold, arrogant and calculating villain Le Chiffre (no first name given), the cast is very well cast for their roles, and they are very convincing in character. Also given screen time is Felix Leiter (Jeffery Wright), a recurring CIA agent in Bond stories (Dr No, Live and Let Die, and Licensed To Kill).

The centerpiece of the movie, the poker game, is planned, organised and filmed to perfection with prefect tension levels and emotions shown with very little words. This is the magic of cinema and great directors understands the concept of "show but not tell". This sequence was designed by producer Michael G. Wilson, just to give him credit for a job well done.

Overall, I had tremendously enjoyed Bond in Ian Flemings first Bond story, filmed 21st in sequence of the Bond series (see, told ya it was confusing). The impressive action pieces, the very well directed character and plot, the tense gambling centerpiece and the shocking twist to Bond's heart are all very enjoyable, befitting for a new Bond.

My rating:

Story: 8/10
Action/Acting: 8/10
Length: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Note: To fully enjoy the movie, assume that this is a new, present day Bond action movie with present day gadgets. Ignore the marketing hype that this is the movie that shows a newly acquired double-00 Bond, forget the time line, you will enjoy it better.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

PS2 SEGA Genesis Collection Review

Recently found in shops is "SEGA Genesis Collection" for the PS2. For those uninitiated, SEGA released this 16bit console at Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990 under the brand "SEGA Mega Drive". It was launched in US in 1989 as "SEGA Genesis" due to name branding complications. This compilation is similar to Midway Arcade Treasures or Taito Legends, as they feature old style 16bit games by a certain publisher.

SEGA Genesis Collection for the PS2 contains many classic games such as Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2, Phantasy Star II, III, and IV, Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe I, II, and III, Kid Chameleon, Comix Zone and Vectorman. Included as well are Shinobi III and Virtua Fighter 2. Total Genesis games found in this collection is a whopping 32 (27 featured and 5 unlockable).

As old style 16 bit games goes, they feature dated graphics but still retain the excellent gameplay. Sonic feels as fast as I can remember, and Golden Axe is still as hackable as in the past. All graphics have been retouched to accommodate the latest LCD/Plasma screens, so even as they are in 16bits, they are not very badly pixelated (big ugly box pixel as the graphics is stretched to fit higher resolution screens).

Although the choice of featured games will not please everyone, there are many variety of games to suit most needs for classic gaming. I am very pleased that SEGA have included the excellent Phantasy Star IV, hugely considered as the best RPG for SEGA (they released PS2 Phantasy Star Unlimited recently) in this collection. There is also a puzzle game Columns thrown in for variety.

This is a budget title for the US market, retailing at USD19.99, and the presentation shows. The menu is simple but it accomplishes the task of allowing you to choose yr favorite game to play. Also included is a "museum" feature to showcase details of the games history, and some interviews too.

All in all, its a very good collection of games, and if you are a fan of the old Genesis console, this is one collection you wont want to miss.

My rating:

Presentation: 3/10 (bland menu)
Graphics : 6/10 (16bits retouched for HD TVs)
Gameplay: 9/10 (very good games collection)
Overall: 8/10

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Sony Bravia Xseries LCD TV

I was walking past some electrical shop recently. It turned out to be a Sony Centre, the place where they showcase the latest Sony gadgets in. What caught my eyes to this was a screen so clear that the images seemed to pop out in real life.

Now, I am not promoting Sony (but I do like the PS2/PS3, their HP, their TVs.... haha), but the Bravia X-series LCD TV was something that you really need to see it with your own eyes to believe.



Sony Bravia KLV-40X200A is in a soft silver finish, with an elegent floating glass design, with removable stand and two 11watt speakers.

Sony's marketing have tagged the X-series with "Full HD", meaning the max screen resolution is at a very impressive 1920X1080 and 1080P refresh. Using the new Bravia Engine EX, Sony have smartly used it with the built in HD tuner and "live colour creation", the TV increases the resolution by 4 times to fit the max resolution. This new feature is the single one most prominent feature of the TV. Also featured is the S-PVA (Super Vertical Pattern Alignment) technology, the screen is viewable from 178 degrees too.

The screen display is very impressive, being hooked up to a HDMI output from a DVD player and resolution set at 1080P (I asked the sales rep as I cant see the setup at the rear), I was salivating at every image displayed on the 42in TV. The clarity and details was really impressive as the images was almost 3D to my untrained eyes. And imagine hooking this baby up to the HDMI PS3 1080P games, heaven!!

Featuring dual HDMI, component video, s-video, Dobly(R) Surround Pro-Logic II, this baby is fully loaded and ready to go. You can even hook it up to yr PC and play yr fav games on it as well, but this cant be verified as it was not hooked up to a PC. I am looking forward to finding someone in MY that will use this baby as a home media center.

As Msian free and paid air TV channels go, the images are not broadcasted in HD (yet, as RTM plans to go HD in a few years, but I wont hold my breath for it), so the max resolution will only be impressive with the proper setup as above. Watching regular Tv or Astro will still bump the resolution lower, but its still much more impressive that other brands. Still some consolation as Sony boasts to have an "Astro Picture Enhancement Mode" that will clean up the smudges of Astro images usually found in regular HD LCD TVs.

Still, there is a massive hurdle to get this baby back to my living room as my centerpiece, the cost. The 40inch KLV-40X200A retails at RM15,999.00, the 46inch KLV-46X200A at RM19,999.00 and the 52 inch KLV-52X200A is at a whopping RM50,000.00. Comparatively, the new 40inch V-series KLV-40V200A retails at RM9,999.00.

Now you know why I am depressed when I eventually left the outlet...

Monday, November 13, 2006

New PS2 titles over the weekend

Got my hands on some new PS2 games over the weekend. Did not spend too much time on the games (still playing much of Splinter Cell: Double Agent), so just a simple preview for now.


1) Call of Duty 3 (Activision)

The latest version of the First Person Shooter (FPS) is set during the World War 2's Normandy Breakout campaign, the one that liberated Paris from the Axis (Germany and its allies). This campaign starts on 6th June at Normandy, and finishes in Paris on 25th Aug 1944. The game allows players to play as American, British, Polish and Canadian armies during the 14 missions (the last 2 being the new addition). Great looking grapics, very accurate controls, good AI interaction, and impressive story telling.

2) SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Combined Assualt(Sony Computer Entertainment):

The latest in the best selling tactical assualt series, SOCOM, returns with a four player online cooperation mode, as first for the series. Pretty graphics, intelligent enemy AI but team mate AI is still not as good.

3) The History Channel's Civil War (Activision):

The original design of this game was supposed to be similar to the PC version, which is a Real Time Strategy (RTS). However, upon loading the game, to my surprise, its a First Person Shooter (FPS), complete with slow loading guns and loading animations and slow shooting enemies. This is was an era way before automatic weapons, but the animation is as cool. Graphics is very good, detailed and stable framerate.

PS3 is out in Japan.

Great news to gamers fans all over, the PS3 is out in Japan for over 3 days now. 80,000 units was launched in Japan, as all were snapped up very quickly.

Early impressions of the unit was as good as the hype, but minor gripes are to be found. Overall, the PS3 is said to be very good, great graphics and very slick.

However, the PS3 launch was marred with several moments of chaos, un-organised and stranger still, profiteering for the early purchasers. Seems that the enterprising Japanese resellers (or profiteers) employ Chinese immigrants to line up on their behalf to get the PS3 units. Even a bigger embarrassment is that there were TV crews lined up to interview the first few "adopters" of PS3, only to find that they don't speak Japanese well. It was spotted that they later "hand over" the PS3 to the real purchases, for a fee. So i suppose I should be shopping for a PS3 on Ebay??

All these are hearsay and reviews read, as we Msians cant get our hands on a PS3 yet, we have to wait till March 2007 for an Asian version - the same fate that befalls the European launch. The Asian and European launch window is still unconfirmed, as Phil Harrison, president of SCE Worldwide Studios, have declined to guarantee that the PS3 will indeed launch in Europe come March 2007. This is due to the production shortages for the PS3 worldwide (for those uninformed, the PS3 is a region free game / Blu-Ray DVD console). Given that even Europe's launch is not guaranteed at this moment in time, our Asian launch could suffer the same fate.

So all I can do now is gawk at the other sites for pics, reviews and tidbits on the system. Sigh.

Friday, November 10, 2006

The PS2 games I got recently

A list of the PS2 games I got recently:

Guitar Heroes 2 (RedOctane): A really good music game (not from Konami’s legendary Bemani series) that allows players to mimic playing a guitar instruments to 50+ songs. The song list is very good, and much fun to be had with the proper Guitar Hero SG controller which has a pluck device and 5 colored buttons to mimic the playing of the…. errr… guitar. However, the game sucks while playing on a PS2 controller, so I am desperately hunting for the Guitar Hero SG controller now. My rating: 8/10.

Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix): A very nice story, a new battle system plus loads of new features. With impressive graphics to boot and many hours of explorations and story to get to, this will take a long time to finish. That all I can say about it, as I have not played it long enough to tell much more. My rating: 9.5/10.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft): Love this game, loved the new things Sam Fisher (the protagonist) can do and love the retained old features. The graphics are improved and taxes the PS2 to the limit. I am currently playing this game most of my time, wanting to finish it before going on to other games. My rating: 10/10.

Phantasy Star Universe (Sega): Good looking game, but rehashes the old gameplay from the series. Not much time spent on this game either. My rating: 6.5/10.

Need For Speed: Carbon (EA): Similar graphics as the previous NFS entry, at least to my eyes. I hated the speed trails animations added to the cars to simulate speed, looks cheap for a non increase in actual speed animation. The actual racing game is good, with the added Drift races which is a blast to play. My rating: 8/10.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision): A symmetrical top down view beat-em-up game, with control of one member in a team of 4 within the Marvel comics’ universe of superheores. You can change team members on the fly to take advantage of the individual prowess. Nice graphics and bash-em-up type of gameplay, although it will get repetitive with later levels. My rating: 7/10.

Bully (Rockstar Games): Rockstar’s latest sandbox game, but on a much smaller scale. Revolves around a problematic boy and his days spent in a lived-in high school, it’s been called “GTA in a high school setting”. Again, not much time spent on this yet, will be digging deeper into the game actual when I complete Sam Fisher’s missions. My rating: 9/10.

The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ): Based on the hit HBO series, you play a fictional character, Big Pussy’s son, and work to climb your way up Tony’s family. I just got this game recently, so has not played much of it. But from what I have, there’s good but jerky-at-times graphics, mission based gameplay (go here, fetch this, do this type of missions). My rating: 8/10.

Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi Games): Similar to GTA, The Sopranos: Road to Respect – sandbox type of game. Also have not spent much time to review this game. My rating: 8/10.

There you have it, a list of some of the latest PS2 games I have managed to get my hands on. I am planning to do a longer review for some of the games, maybe for the future entries.

Have a good weekend.

Xbox 360: Time to get it now?

I have been contemplating buying myself an Xbox 360 for some time now, and now with the launch of PS3 in Japan tomorrow, the itch to get myself a next-generation gaming console grows even stronger. Let’s list the reasons to get, or not to get, the console now.

Pros:

It’s already proven to be stable console to be used in MY. The system have a one year head start to PS3, and I have yet to hear any Xbox 360s exploding in a Malaysia home, or have the news been covered up my MS??

The are several really good games exclusive to the Xbox 360 console out now, like the latest release of Gears of War that is highly rated on gameplay and graphics. Other notable games are Elder Scrolls IV: The Oblivion, F.E.A.R, Prey, and Project Gotham Racing 3 (PGR3), to name a few. Admittedly these games are available on PC, but u need kick ass spec-ed up PCs to play these games on the best graphics settings. Xbox 360 handles them straight out of the box (pun intended).

On the topic of having a kick ass spec-ed up PC, the cost of the Xbox 360 is much more competitive. And you can hook it up to a kick ass High Definition 42inch LCD/plasma screen output with a 5.1 channel surround sound and find yrself in gaming heaven, now.

(On another note, the kickest (not a real word) assed HD TV now is the Sony Bravia X series which offers full 1080P!!! But let’s keep that for a different day.)

The availability of “compatible” game discs which is much much more competitive that the real deal. Moreover, the system is now stable to run these discs without the before mentioned exploding issue. This alone is the one biggest reason to get it now.

The Xbox 360s sold now are of the Asian version, which has the base unit, one wireless Xbox 360 controller, HD video AV cable, and a 20GB HDD, all for the base price of less than RM1600.

Cons:

Cost is very much an issue, as the market flooded with PS2 selling at below RM900 per set. The Xbox 360 is almost as twice as expensive as the PS2. Perhaps a wait till past New Year 2007 will bring the Xbox 360 prices down slightly. (I recalled getting my PS2 at RM1700 way back then, purchased as the “compatible” discs are available in the market.)

With the Xbox 360’s new ability to read “compatible” discs, it has lost the ability to go online and join the online community at Xbox Live. Seems that Xbox Live could detect “modded” Xbox 360s trying to infiltrate the online community, and to many horrors of those who had done so, Xbox Live is also allegedly able to kill “modded” Xbox 360s that invade the online community. I have not seen it personally, but have been told that this is entirely possible. My views, Xbox Live may have sent a flash ROM erase code and killed the execution code on the “modded” Xbox 360. Now unless you never wanted to get online to play Xbox 360 games via Xbox Live, this is a unavailable feature you should be able to live by. To me, it’s perfectly ok.

There you go, the pros seem to outweigh the cons as of now, but the final factor of cost should see some reduction after Sony’s PS3 and Nintendo’s Wii reaches the Malaysia shore. So I suppose I’d pucker up, and keep my savings for few months down the road. But then again, who knows, my itch to own a next-gen console may be too unbearable to hold out to??

PS3

This new gadget, about to be launched in Japan tomorrow in the morning, have been occupying most of my mind.

I have been reading plenty of games sites on some news of the new bedazzling system by Sony, and most of the news I read is rather depressing.

Official launch systems available to the general public in Japan is tagged at 100,000 units. However, there are much rumours that the actual quantity may be at 80,000 units. And with the launch in US another week from now, it seems the PS3 is not faring too well. Admittedly that most systems launches have been marred with lack of systems avaiable off the shelf during launch dates, as far back as to Sony's own PS2 and Micorsoft's Xbox360 too.

Also, news that the lack of software for tomorrow's launch will also be detrimental to PS3's launch success . Only 5 titles are avaible at launch, namely Sony's Genji: Kamui Soaran, Bandai Namco's Kidou Senshi Gundam Target in Sight, Sega's Sega Golf Club featuring the Miyazato Siblings, Sony's Resistance -Fall of Man- and Bandai Namco's Ridge Racer 7. Of these 5 games, Weekly Famitsu (the Japanese magazine devoted to games in Japan) gave Sony's Resistance -Fall of Man- the 2nd highest ratings at a score of 9,8,8,8 and Bandai Namco's Ridge Racer 7 getting the top honours as the best rated launch game at a score of 9,9,9,9.

Still, the last 2 games will be the hottest selling titles by my judgement, coz thats the 2 that I will get, IF I can get the PS3 tomorrow. I am dreaming while being wide awake, but I can dream, can i??

I will be going on this PS3 "coverage" through out, until Wii comes out the gate next week.