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Re: GamePro: Wii's features "starting to match" others…

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“Graphics aside,” it begins, the Wii will finish off 2008 “with a roar that includes features once only thought possible on the PS3 and Xbox 360.” So says a GamePro article. The big reason for this article is highlighting that the recently announced “Call of Duty: World at War” will also be available on the Wii. Exciting? Yes – but is that suggesting that there is some sort of magical “feature” of the Wii, allowing this to happen? No, it just means the developers are willing to take the time to produce lower quality models and textures to port the game to the Wii.

The Wii is, indeed, expanding it’s online support, with more and more multiplayer games (the future CoD:WaW included) slated for release on the system. And yes, even future access to downloadable song packs for games like Guitar Hero World Tour (using the in-game store) are in the works, other DLC for Wii-Ware games, all of this is great news for the Wii.

But is all of this showing that the Wii is really starting to come up to par with the “features” of the other consoles? It all sounds like some heavily dedicated developers not wanting to miss out on a large install-base.

For the Wii to truly “start to match” the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, they are going to need an easier way to manage your contacts and friends, real time voice communication, and a host of other features that Nintendo themselves has no interest in adding to this generation of their product.

20GB PS3? Upgrade your PS3 Hard Drive!

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I recall when the Playstaiton 3 launched. The 20GB PS3 was sitting on shelves everywhere, outcast, outfavored by the larger 60GB model. Now, they have the 40 and 80GB models… but this isn’t just about the size of the hard drive. This is the backwards compatability debate. I won’t go in to all of the details: if you’re reading this page, i’m sure you’ve already read all of the details (summary: 20/60GB PS3’s have PS2 hardware inside and should play any PS2 and most PS1 games – the 80GB does it via emulation software – the 40GB doesn’t play PS2 games at all). I, like many, wanted to get the most out of my PS3 purcahse, so I intentionally hunted for a model with hardware backwards compatibility. Now that the 40 and 80GB models are out, the 60GB model (at online auction) are selling for more than the brand new 40’s and, in some cases, even more than a brand new 80GB.

So here’s what you do. Buy yourself a 20GB PS3. Still sometimes more expensive than a retail 40GB, if you’re dedicated enough to auction hunt, you can still get a deal (I got mine for less than $340, shipped). I know, having a 20GB drive isn’t as enticing… where will you store all of your installed game content, downloaded demos, and PSN games? Lucky for you, the PS3 makes it insanely easy to upgrade your hard drive.

First, you need to buy one. Specifically, you need a laptop hard drive, not just one out of your computer. And not just any laptop hard drive, it must be a SATA drive. Then you have other decisions to make – the RPM’s of the hard drive, the capacity, cache size, brand… it sounds expensive, and confusing. Let’s make it easy.

This Drive is cheap, 7,200 RPM (compared to the default 5,400 RPM’s of the PS3’s drive of choice). It’s also 40GB! There, you’ve sped up your 20GB PS3, and doubled the size – for thirty five bucks (less than the cost of a game!). What’s that? Not enough space? You don’t trust no name hardware? Alright… how about this Seagate drive? Seagate is the brand of choice inside many first gen PS3’s. This one is less than fifty bucks, 80GB, and still 7,200 RPM. What are you waiting for?

Oh, you don’t know how? Lucky for you, GamesReports made this extremely easy how-to guide, almost two years ago. Get to it!

One additional note, if you’re still shopping for your PS3, I would encourage a little bit of additional research. I neglected to realize that my 20GB PS3 didn’t feature wireless networking, or a few other features… lucky for me I have a 10/100 switch behind my TV. But if hard drive is your biggest determining factor, go right ahead and bookmark this page. 😉

PS3's In-Game XMB & "Trophies" system not far off…

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Firmware update 2.36 for the Sony Playstation 3 should be live as I write this, and contains minor bug fixes, stability enhancements, and more than likely some still un-needed anti-piracy patches (or maybe that was just Nintendo’s latest update). But talk of the latest update was quick and to the point, looking ahead to the 2.40 Update (which, by my count, can’t be far off). The official Playstation Blog confirmed what we have been hearing for a while… that the 2.4 update will have the in game Cross Media Bar (XMB), as well as the Achievements… I mean… Trophies system. I’m sure I’ll have more on that topic, later. Until then, go get 2.36, it’s like a free sample of updating to 2.40!

Mario Super Sluggers rated & dated…

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For anyone who hasn’t been following along at home – Mario Super Sluggers is a baseball game (you know, that sport that’s huge in Japan, and supposedly America’s Favorite Past Time?) starring our portly plumber pal (like that’s never been written before). ESRB has declared that it’s rated “E” (as if there was any doubt), and the game is now scheduled for an August 2nd release in North America, the game features everyone’s favorite character (almost no matter who it is {sorry Blooper fans}). The game launches in Japan on June 19th, so expect to see more video and pictures as random people play it, and as the game gets any finishing touches on its English localization.