I absolutely hate when people say N64 had the first analog stick.
So lets start out with who was the first

This is the Vectrex. When was it released? 1982

When was the N64 released? June 23, 1996

So Vectrex beat N64 by 14 years

This is the Atari 5200 controller

http://www.axess.com/twilight/console/detail/5200.html

When was it released? November 1982
Still over 13 years prior

Moving to Sony

This is the PS1 dual analog flight stick. It uses the same protocol as Dualshock and works as one

When was it released? April 1996

So Sony beat Nintendo by 2 months.

So lets say you bring that up and a Nintendo fan claims Sony just copied it from Nintendo’s announcement

When was the N64 announced? November 24, 1995
When was the flightstick announced? April 1995
Still almost 7 months earlier.

The next reaction a Nintendo fanboy will go to, is that it’s not thumbsticks. Well that circle on the right analog stick, is a thumbstick.

I’m very excited to bring you the news that at this very moment DJPimpDaddy
is working on the PlaystationCollecting.com database! Read in for more details!

The eventual of this database will be to have all NTSC and PAL
PS1/2/3/portable games in it. Later on we will also integrate a collection
tool so members can show and store their collection online!

We have decided to make the NTSC PS1 part of the database our first
priority, but as you’ll read below any other data is welcome too

At this point in the process we could use help from you guys (and girls) so
I’d like to ask you the following:
- what parameters should the database use (title, publisher etc) if you
have suggestions, please reply to the following topic:
http://www.playstationcollecting.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=983
- we’re looking for volunteers who want to help test the database AND
populate it with data (either system)

feel free to contact me in any way possible, or post on the forums if
you’re interested in helping out!

as a last note I’d like to thanks DJPimpDaddy for his work so far and
congratulate him with his newborn baby boy!

This is a very strange topic for me to even consider but recently i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. There have been some really awesome moments in slaughter, the No Russians episode in MW2, dismembering people in SoF, having sex with a prostitute in GTA and then kill her to get your money back or doing cool stuff as Kratos in God of War.

So yes, I really love that stuff, but what got me thinking? I guess Heavy Rain had something to do with it cause i could connect to the characters in a way that i couldn’t before, or at least that’s what media have told me but to be honest i have cared about characters in games as long as I’ve been playing games. Admittedly the story in Heavy Rain is great and it may be made to affect me as a player more than many other games.

Where am I going with this I don’t even know for sure myself but i know i can’t bare to even see the things i love to do in games in reality or even on TV. I can’t stand to see innocent human beings getting hurt in reality, will my feelings about games change with newer and better gaming consoles or stories even more playing with your emotions that mentioned Heavy Rain?

Well I don’t think so because after all it’s just a game how and messy it becomes or how evil and brutal things you can do it’s still nothing else than a game. Living out a horrible twisted dream, being how evil and disturbed I want to be in a game is fine. Playing a game won’t hurt anyone and I would certainly not even consider doing any of that stuff in reality.

Teaching people to do horrible things is a science which is pretty well perfected and not that hard but I am pretty convinced that a game can’t teach you that. Then comes the question about how to live with yourself afterwards and judging from pretty much every close combat war veterans story I’ve heard I don’t see why the games industry would like to psychologically destroy their audience. Even if they wanted to do it they couldn’t and if they could who would play their games?

It took some time and effort, but after a barrage of PM’s GumbyNeeley just woke up from an addiction to Dragon Age: Awakening! Read in to see how he feels about the games he’s been playing lately!

New… Dragon’s Age: Awakening. It’s not terribly long and as a result I have a hard time seeing how they can justify the $40 pricetag. The game, however, is every bit as good as the core game. A lot less “fetch” and a lot more “defend and/or kill.” There are new classes, new items, and a new kind of darkspawn so it keeps the interest… plus I cheat so i have all the gold and books i could possibly want. It ups the replay value for me.. lol

Old…  Star Ocean First Departure for the PSP.. haven’t played it yet. I just found a copy of Command and Conquer Red Alert: Retaliation at the local game store. I picked it up to add it to the stash.. lol.. I also found a opaque red memory card. I am finding that memory cards are harder and harder to come by.. maybe I have bought them all up in the area.. lol..

FF13 is a bit of a chore at this point when compared to the fast pace of Dragon’s Age. GOW3.. well, let’s just say I remember why I never finished GOW2. It’s fun, but you can only crawl up the same wall so many times before you feel put upon. And quick time events.. please.. lol.. Real interuption events.. lol

Lastly, i have had a cold for about two weeks.. or more acurately i should say i have the flu.. Because i have a persistant cough and am told that a cough is a flu NOT a cold. Who knew? lol..

Marcus aka GumbyNeeley

My thought for a weekly re-occuring blogpost was to sum up the events that happened this week on the forum/blog.. good idea or not? please reply to this post and tell me what you think about it!Week 14 (and a little before that;))

- Sealed collecting, the logical next step for collectors? (blog)
- Help out the webdesigner and host of playstationcollecting.com (Xed’s brother) (forum) <– !!
- CaptN shows his collection (forum)
- Xed updates his collection video (youtube)
- What development studio is your favorite? (forum)
- Twisted Metal 2 is still very popular (forum)

Untill a few weeks back, I’ve always refrained from buying sealed games unless they were very cheap. I’m a collector first, but I’m also a gamer and I do wanna play the games (or atleast have the idea that I can play them). However, something changed..How do you start collecting games? I think most of us started with rebuying the stuff they had as a kid.. after that you start buying games you never had, but you played them at a friends house. Before you know it you’ll also start buying games that are generally considered to be great, even tho you’ve never played them before. The next big step is the moment you realise you want to have EVERY game for a certain system in a certain region (or just ALL of them).

Most collectors never even reach that last step and are more then happy to just collect great games and rare games, some do reach the point where they wanna have everything. But there is another select group that is not satisfied with having everything, they want to have variants too.. or even sealed games.

Explaining to a random stranger why you collect games is not that hard, you’re a gamer and you love to own a lot of games. They might find you strange (or super cool), but it’s an understandable hobby.
Trying to explain them that you collect sealed games is harder tho.. because you can’t really do anything with them, they can not be used for the purpose they were created! Using the stamp collector example always puts them in place tho (a stamp collector is not sad that he can’t use his stamps, so why should a sealed game collector be)

However, from a collectors viewpoint collecting sealed games is just “the next step” I think.
If you’re a collector and you want your games complete and as mint as possible, the mintest and completest you can get is sealed. You can be 100% sure that everything is in, if it’s still in it’s original seal!

So is sealed collecting the logical next step for collectors?
This picture shows that i do believe it is for me!

I want to present a bold statement here, that I would like to discuss with you guys. It is about a genre that most collector’s love and not only because of the overall rarity and price

If someone would ask you what you consider to be the 3 most important things in life, what would you answer?
Wealth, fortune, health, a job, kids, a PS3? Everyone has different priorities in life and different opinions on what is important. But I think it would be safe to say that most people will include wealth and love (family/friends/partner) in their list.

Now let’s distill that first thing, wealth.. why does one want to acquire wealth? What would you do if you were to become wealthy?
You would buy things you’d love to have, you would buy other people things to show them you love them, you could provide for the persons you love and you can afford to do the things you love.
So actually wealth is not a primary goal, it is only a means to recieve and show love!

If we translate this to gaming (something we all connect on).. what type of game captures that most important aspect of life the fullest?
You can love to drive and tune cars in Gran Turismo, some people love to “pwn” online in games of Modern Warfare 2 and others love to kick someones ass in Street Fighter 4. But what genre stands or falls with it’s ability to generate love from the player? The Role Playing Game!

Even if a RPG has a great battle system, or a great level up scheme.. if the game doesn’t manage to get you to love the story and the characters, you’re not gonna spend 50 hours reaching the end. (some exceptions made) You finish a RPG with 50+ hours on the clock because you love your characters, you want to see them develop and you want to know how their story goes.

Therefore I declare that RPG’s are the pinnacle of gaming, because they are not just entertainment.. they capture the most important thing in life; love!

Our valued forum member and notorious accessoire-collector Neotechni wrote a great piece about the PSP2 which deserves to be shared with the world! Read on and discuss!

Game distribution:
We know PSP2 will come with UMD in some form or another, be it a multi-layered (more than 2) UMD or Bluray-based UMD. Physical distribution is required for many reasons, and isn’t going away any time soon.

Given a layer of UMD is 1/5 the capacity of a DVD, a layer of BLUMD would have 5 GB, thus 10 GB on a dual layered one. BLUMD would also use less power and load faster. 10 GB seems like enough space, given PSP2 will be in between PS2/XBOX/Wii/GCN and PS3/360 in processing power, and XBOX/Wii/PS2 used about 9 GB. PSP2 will probably need as much.

Sony may make a model without UMD (and more built in memory) but I’d say given: http://www.joystiq.com/tag/japanesehardwaresales

Sony tried that already, the people voted with their wallets, and they don’t want a download only PSP. The odds of a DD-only version are pretty much Go’s sales divided by PSP’s sales, or aprox. 1.5%. Sales are what the people in charge look at.

Controls:
We can safely assume after all the flak PSP has taken for only having one analog stick, PSP2 will have 2. Considering how many competing handhelds have touchscreens and accelerometers, PSP2 will unfortunately. have them as well. PSP2 will probably also have a built in camera for the same reason. If we’re lucky, we’ll get analog buttons, L2/R2 and maybe L3/R3 as well. Getting as close to possible as SIXAXIS/DualShock3 would be the best thing Sony could do for the system. What held PSP back was the lack of controls versus PS2. (And GBA versus SNES)

Given DS has already done the touchscreen to death, and how iphone brought us multitouch, Sony will probably use multitouch to set it apart from the DS. It’d be awesome if Sony used one of those touchscreens that could raise/lower parts to make virtual buttons

Display:
PSP2 WILL have a higher resolution screen than the PSP1 (which had 480*272)
That much is certain. Given Sony’s focus on TV out and improving upon that with each major hardware revision (2x got TV out via progressive scan, 3x enabled it via interlaced, Go added the ability to use PS3 controllers) we can assume PSP2 will at the VERY LEAST enable fullscreen TV out via 480p. It would make the most sense that PSP2′s LCD would be the same resolution, 720*480 which is actually quite common for recent portables. This would make development easier, and guarantee no matter what the game would run the same on either display.

However, 480p is last gen technology. Sony is most likely going to want to continue their HDTV push and at the very least, make PSP2 720p compatible. Possibly via a scaler chip, which could also do 1080i (worst case scenario they display the 720p image centered in a 1080i frame like PSP does with it’s TV out).

Given Sony’s big 3DTV push on PS3, I think Sony will do the same on PSP. The reason 3DTVs need glasses is so people can sit in any position from the TV at any angle. 3DTVs without glasses usually require the viewers to sit in a specific spot. Given PSP2 will almost always be directly ahead of the user, Sony could use a 3D LCD without needing glasses. Some people (I know I did) bought PSP1 cause of the widescreen making it the closest to HDTV gaming they’d get in a while. Sony could bring this same effect to PSP2, and make it the huge “gimmick” to set it apart from it’s competitors

Hardware
Backwards compatibility is a must for multiple reasons.
-Go’s sales proved people want to be able to play their existing games. 60 million existing PSP owners is not something Sony wants to ignore. Given enhanced backwards compatibility (ie: upscaling via TV out, control mapping for unused buttons, in-game XMB, custom soundtracks, etc) this could entice a lot of people to upgrade
-PSP2 will be going up against multiple competitors with BC with their predecessors, specifically the DSi/iPad. And it’d be suicide to go up against them with say, a launch of 20 games when DSi/iPad has thousands.
-Sony has a lot of content on the PSN which they definitely want to keep selling. PS1 content can be done via a new version of the emulator, easily. But PSP is too powerful to emulate even on PSP2.

And given that last point, that tells us the hardware will be a faster version of the old hardware. Think like when Sony unlocked the CPU speed from 222 to 333. It’d be like that all over again. This would minimize the developer learning-curve, and they’d be starting PSP2 development already knowing how to make better games. It’d just be like another generation of PSP games instead of starting from scratch. Wii did the same thing, though not that well since it was an incremental leap. PSP2 will be a bigger leap. Lets face it, PSP already has 64 MB of RAM, even doubling that would be more than Wii has. PSP has 2 MB of VRAM, simply doubling that would give it as much as PS2 had, which could do 720p and 1080i.

I’d imagine Sony will be more than doubling PSP1′s specs. Even iPhone 3GS has 256 MB of RAM. It’s safe to assume PSP2 will have that. Especially since expecting 512 is more than PS3 has, and PSP2 won’t be superior to that (PS3 has 256 MB of system RAM shared with the GPU, and 256 MB of dedicated VRAM for the GPU) Processor wise, 666 MHz would merely double PSP1, I’d expect 999 minimum or 1.3 GHz tops.

Connectivity:
It’s a safe assumption Sony will be upgrading the Wifi and Bluetooth in PSP2.
They’ll also be enhancing how it interacts with PS3. Don’t ask me how, but we know it’s a priority. At the very least it will support rumble on controllers, and Playstation Move via bluetooth.

Unfortunately, Sony will probably use that crappy PSP Go docking connector, thus limiting it’s usefulness as a portable hard drive, and making it difficult/expensive to charge it and use TV out at the same time.

I would imagine, Sony would like to incorporate 3G (or 4G?) somehow, giving it internet access at all times. PSP Go already has bluetooth tethering to cell phones (if you ignore the fact that it doesn’t support the PAN profile iphones and other newer phones use) Sony may just stick with that. Given a lot of people won’t use it, or don’t want to pay for it (though iPad has fixed that a bit with the ability to buy blocks of 250 MB, PSP2 may be able to do that too) Sony may sell only certain models with 3G/4G (like the iPad does) or a hardware addon. Sony now has multiple competitors with a permanent internet connection (iphone/ipad, WinMo7, Android, Palm Pre) Sony doesn’t want to get left behind

Software:
Sony has told us many times they want to bring PSN to more devices. It’s a safe bet that includes PSP which already has it to some degree. That means trophy support, PSN buddy lists, voice/video chat, etc.

PSP2 will definitely have in-game XMB. This brings us custom soundtracks (PSP1 is already capable of it via hacking)

At the very least, Sony will need more features from PS3. Like sorting games into sub folders, meta data editing, etc.

If Sony REALLY wanted to ditch UMD (which they admitted yesterday that they don’t), they COULD distribute PSP2 games on DVDs, and have any PS2/PC/PS3 install them to PSP.

BUT a portable should be able to operate on it’s own and not require a PS2/PC/PS3.

And it would still need a ton of internal memory to not be annoying, and still require an online connection during the install to verify you’re not copying it to a 1000 of your friend’s PSP2s. Granted this wouldn’t require broadband for PCs or early model PS2s, but PS3 and later model PS3s don’t support dial up. And not everyone with dial up is on dial up cause they can’t afford broadband. They simply don’t have access to it. And this would still forbid countries without PSN stores from using it. (Poland for example has no access to the XBOX Live marketplace, and a bunch of arabs spammed the US Playstation boards complaining they have no PSN access)

If Sony wanted to not piss of retailers, they could even let you sell the disc, and just have whoever buys it buy a new key to sync it to their account (like what they are doing with SOCOM on PSP). Thus earning devs money off used games. The retailers wouldn’t be happy, but they wouldn’t be boycotting it either.

PSP2 would just need a LOT of built in space. PSP Go was obviously built for new users at the trailing end of a generation, 16 GB just isn’t enough for a whole generation of PSP1 games, let alone PSP2 games which will be much larger. Most people don’t want to deal with swapping, before Wii got the ability to run games off SD cards, many people who filled their Wii’s just stopped buying games. And PSP1 games are many times larger, let alone PSP2.

Another method to bring games to areas without broadband, attach multi-terabyte harddrives to in-store PS3 kiosks and install PSP2 games to it via USB harddrive, expose the USB ports, enable it to act as a Wifi/RemotePlay server (something they should have done already, but I digress), and allow people to buy games from the kiosk. They wouldn’t even be limited to one customer per kiosk if they’d enable USB mass media mode while in Remote Play, and have people browse the stores on their PSP2 (which will definitely have a larger screen than PSP). Using faster WiFi, it’d be about as fast as USB 2.0 though they’d have to hope their batteries are charged or plug it into a USB port. This wouldn’t detract from available retail space. Sony could sync the purchases with the distributor when they install games from their harddrive. And when they go to their PC, they’d resync with your PSN account. Though without broadband, they’d have to find a way to keep track of purchases without using the PSN account (ie: the hardware’s unique identifiers, like the WiFi MAC address) And since they aren’t going to add a money slot to it, people will just buy special (in that they only work on that one kiosk, otherwise they’d use it on multiple) PSN cards from the store they are in.

Though retailers wouldn’t be likely to support something they can’t make money off used sales, as the Go boycotts proved…

Only a few days away from the launch of one of the most expected titles for the PS3: God of War III!!

So I went surfing on the internet to see some screenshots and preview video’s. Man, I really have to say that the graphics look amazing!!

I loved GOW I & II, but the new version for the PS3 is really something bigger.  I can not wait to get a copy of the game.
But the fact that I am writing you this, has nothing to do with the greatness of the game (depending on how you see it). I was just checking some sites, and came across one that had a pretty naughty video of Kratos making sweet love to Aphrodite. But wait, that is not all!! There are also two more girls (LESBIANS!!??) topless in the scene. I am sure this will be some important part of the story, but for now I can not give a damn about that.
So boys (and girls), it is time for you all to close the door of your room, light some candlelights up, grab some massage-oil (or lube, depending on your taste),turn the lights down low and enjoy the 3 women (6 boobs) on the next scene!!! (turn your music up!!!)

GOW III sex scene

That’s right, a new shiny copy of Lunar Silver Star Harmony is in my possession. It was only 2 days late here in Winnipeg too. Worth the wait!

This game is essentially just a remake of Lunar Silver Star Story, however it looks fantastic on the PSP. Lunar has been told a few different ways now, through the Saturn and PS1, now on the PSP. It follows the characters we all know and love, Alex, Luna, etc… They set out on a care-free adventure which eventually leads to them having to save the world from evil, as is most RPG’s.

The remake of this game follows the narrative of the original to a tee, adding a few new scenes to help fill in some of the blanks. One thing that caught me off guard was the opening scene where you control Dragonmaster Dyne and his companions against Eiphel and company to save Althena. This fades into a young Alex and Luna listening to a bedtime story. Then you’re right back where you normally start looking out over the cliff standing with Dynes monument.

The good old anime cutscenes are still just as they were from day one, but the rest of the graphics have gotten the luxury spa treatment. The isometric graphics of everything from the towns to the characters to the enemies has that old 16/32 bit RPG feel to it, but have that modern touch. The list of monsters in the game is just as weird as ever, making it one of the more unique encounters you’ll have fighting enemies.

Speaking of fighting enemies, some remakes seem to lose out on the old school mentality that grinding is just as much part of the game as the story, but not this one. The in battle menus (as well as out of battle menus) are greatly improved. This makes battles less tedious and more fun. There are many times where you are forced to grind your way through certain stages of the game, but this is made easy with the AI button. Just as in the past you are able to customize different aspects of your character so when you choose this button, they act fairly reasonably. I haven’t had a moment where they do the opposite of what you would do, causing you to nearly snap the PSP in half. This helps take the dull sting of repetitive battles out of the game, but I wouldn’t delve into this until you are completely used to the controls.

As for the extras you get when buying the premium edition, I think they are totally worth it. Especially when you consider that the premium edition is only $5-$10 more then the normal one.

You get a soundtrack to the game, which I haven’t opened, nor do I plan on it. There’s no song listing on the back so I can’t really touch to much on it.

The 13 Bromide cards that feature the girls of Lunar have a picture on the front as well as a brief bio on the back so for those of you who have always wondered what Luna’s height, weight and measurements are (really, her measurements) this is the pack for you. Keep in mind for those of you who might need to keep the kleenex near by that Luna is only 15. But for you who just can’t help but ask, here it is… (lol)

Height 5’5″
Weight 106 lbs
Measurements 31/21/31 in

Anyways, after that awkward moment…

All in all this is a great remake in my books, and if you need something that has a bit of nostalgia to it to satisfy that RPG sweet tooth of yours, go pick yourself up a copy.