The Daily Bleven -- April 13

The PS Vita sales in Japan continue to nosedive. So much so, that the PSP outsold it in March (PSP moved 14k units, and Vita only moved 8k). A price cut can't be far away, but will they also cut the prices of the games? And will that inevitable price drop be enough to get me to buy one?

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (the movie) has finally been officially announced. The first Sin City movie was awesome, so this is welcome news to me.

A new job listing from Valve looking for hardware designers and engineers is fanning the flames of speculation on a possible Steam console. I think it's more likely that this is just R&D for something waaaay in the future, but what if it's for an add-on to the next generation of consoles (specifically, PS Orbis and MS Durango)?

I finally preordered Starhawk. Hells yeah.

There is another Avengers clip online that I COMPLETELY REFUSE TO VIEW.

The Daily Bleven - April 11

Apparently, Nathan Drake (of the Uncharted series) kills a lot of people, and everyone in the game press seems to bring that up as a bad thing. Listen, everyone Drake kills had it coming. These are people who have tried to kill him and his friends, but failed and had to pay the price. You know who else kills a lot of people? Master Chief (of Halo fame). That friggin guy ends entire civilizations, and no one seems to mind.

I think it's time to dust off my PlayStation Move so I can get it in order to play Sorcery. Makes me wonder why I even bought a Move before Sorcery came out. Buying a peripheral on the mere promise of there being a game in the future makes me a jackass.

Dammit! More Avengers clips to avoid!!!

The Daily Bleven - April 10

Just a peek into the stuff I was looking at when I should have been working:

Apparently, you can get some free Starhawk dlc if you watch the latest trailer on Facebook. Since I like free stuff, I'll give it a look later. Speaking of Starhawk dlc, there is also free dlc to be had if you preorder the game from GameStop. Then again, buying stuff from GameStop costs you a little bit of your soul, so the dlc isn't really free.

Marvel will be launching a new Gambit series in August. Get them while they're hot, because this new book won't last a year. I liked Gambit back in the day, but I just don't have much hope for this book.

Another friggin clip for the Avengers movie is out. I really need to stop watching these damned things before I ruin the whole movie for myself.

The PlayStation Store updated really early today. Maybe that will shut up the complainers out east...

A trailer that all of the so-called "hardcore Resident Evil fans" leaked today. Apparently, it looks too shootery to them. I'll admit that it does look pretty damned shootery, but I don't know if it looks TOO shootery.

Brand Loyalty

Yesterday, I told Kris D. that I would not buy a PS4 based solely on the Sony name. I told him that I have just as much chance of buying an XBOX 720 (or whatever it'll be called).

I'll admit that I bought a PS3 based on the Sony name, and based on the fact that the original XBOX was kinda crappy. That said, I think I lucked onto the right choice, because I feel that the PS3 gave me everything I wanted (including a BluRay player). However, there's not going to be a new video format driving this next generation--it's all about the exclusives again, and if Microsoft can convince me that Halo is more important than the next Drake or God Of War, then the NextBox will be my lead platform.

However, if the NextBox720 doesn't have a BluRay drive, they're going to have an uphill battle to get my pennies.

What say you?

Naughty Dog: The Last Of Us Trailer

Yeah, this looks friggin awesome; via PlayStation Blog

Starhawk Straight Talk, Part 3

Remember when I said that you cannot manually control the turrets? Yeah, I was wrong--there is a little door at the base that grants you access to aim and shoot at will. That said, it still pays to build them in pairs so you can burn down enemy structures while the other turret covers you in automatic mode from Hawk attacks.

So, Starhawk is still awesome. Awesome enough to keep me from playing other games that I really want to play. Man, I really need to clear out my game pile before Starhawk drops next year...

Starhawk Straight Talk, Part 2

I'm totally in love with Starhawk, people. No huge update for today, as last night brought more of the same action and excitement of my first night. I got a lot better at building around the base, and sneaking behind enemy lines and dropping down spawn points.

Just like Warhawk before it, I see Starhawk becoming my shooter of choice.

Starhawk Straight Talk

I said last night that I'd have some Starhawk impressions for you, but I forgot that since it is still a private beta that there may be some NDA concerns. Luckily, a quick web search revealed that there is no NDA for this one. Probably because this is nearly the same game I played at PAX this year. Anyway...


Starhawk has got to be one of the most frantic games I've played. That might have something to do with the fact that my team was getting stomped, and enemies were spawning everywhere, but I digress.

The good:
The Build-and-Battle system works flawlessly. Collect some rift energy, hold triangle to open the building selection menu to see what you can afford, and hit X to build (assuming you're in a place where it can be built). The building comes slamming to the ground, killing anyone it lands on. Build jetpack spawners, hawk spawners, sniper towers, etc. these structures can also be destroyed by the enemy. I can see that players willing to be pure builders are going to be the key in any successful strategy.

In the game where I was getting stomped, an enemy snuck next to our flag and built a spawn point right there. Chaos ensued-- it was a mad rush for my team to try to destroy the point with enemies dropping in all around us. Yeah...frantic. And even though I was on the receiving end of that beating, it was still completely awesome.

Planting mines in the enemy's base is still a laugh riot. So is sniping a dude from a sniper tower that you just built (which, by the way, comes complete with a couple sniper rifles). It's also awesome to get pinned down by enemy fire, and erect a wall between you to cover your retreat.

Aside from the BaB stuff, the controls were familiar to any Warhawk vet. The graphics were outstanding, and the gameplay kept me up way past my bedtime. I can see myself spending months in the Starhawk universe, just like I did with Warhawk.

The not-so-good:
Nothing here is really "bad" in my opinion, but there are several interesting things that should be noted...and it's likely that I only picked up on them because of all the time I put in with Warhawk. The hawks don't have a hover mode -- or if they do, I couldn't figure out how to use it. You're either flying or you're in walking tank mode. No biggie for me since I was never a great flier, but it's still an interesting design choice.

Also, you no longer have any control over any turrets. You build them, and they work on auto-pilot. Granted, there is probably more that I haven't seen yet, but I'm going to miss firing flak at the flyboys with my own two hands. Still, there is more that enough to keep you busy with the build and battle. Camping in a turret all match would not be good for the team.

I'll likely be in again tonight, so look for another post tomorrow.

Starhawk Private Beta

I got an invitation to the Starhawk private beta today, and I'll download it tonight. As the Mighty Hater (aka, Kris D.) pointed out, I may not actually be able to play it tonight, but I'll be sure to report back here after I do play it to share my impressions.

Update:
I went home before going to pick up the kids from school, and I installed it. I'll definitely be playing tonight, and updating you tomorrow.