now that everyone and their mom has 4.1...

playstation

playstation has released their version of gamercards. see exhibit a in the right column.

they've also pushed back home again, as of E3 this week, but supposedly it will be worth the wait (and from what i've heard, it's looking quite a bit better than the beta did).

more news

more stuff has been happening, though, than the release of another inconsequential status symbol...

the wedding is in like two weeks, and i'm totally stoked for it. actually, at this point, i just want to get there and get it done. i mean, i'm going to have a great time, it's just that this has been a long process and i can't wait to hit the finish line.

oh, and we moved again. the new place is sweet though, even though i've been relegated to the psp since all my consoles are still packed up and most of the apartment is in boxes.

e3

and speaking of changes, has anyone been kind of bored by this years' e3 announcements?

i mean, i know it's been tapering off for a couple years, but microsoft's biggest announcement was jumping on the gui redesign bandwagon (though i am a little excited for the fall update, but not at all for the 'avatars'), and sony really didn't have much to show.

all the games we saw were well known for a while, and i'm getting bored of nintendo announcing more and more casual games that i'll play for about a week. i mean, the wii motion plus looks neat, and 1:1 for the wii remote would be cool, but isn't this what the wii remote was supposed to be on launch?

2 years, and now they've built the perfect wiimote by plugging a chunk of plastic into the end?

yikes.

anywho, off to a fab thursday (i'm sure),

your partner in crime,

JD

i guess i'm the only one with ps3 firmware 2.40 now...

so this is an unofficial test drive as no one else seems to have the 2.40 firmware since it was recalled shortly after being released.

i downloaded it with no complications the morning of so here are my impressions.

to be completely honest, the list of things it can't do is as long as my arm, and if you're expecting xbox live level of usefulness and interactivity, prepare for disappointment.

short list of fails:

- no access to ps store in game
- can't stream music in game (but can play music on the console hard drive)
- can only play music in games that support it

they've also introduced an achievement trophy system. to put it bluntly, so far, it's completely safe to call it half-cocked.

i got ahold of a copy of super stardust hd (don't let anyone else tell you different, this is the only game that currently supports them) and not only is the sound kind of lame (nothing compared to the now classic xbox *bing*) but everything about it is low-key.

quiet unlock noise, small upper-right hand logo for trophy notification, and so far, they're all pretty hard. i think the balance of achivements is lacking, but again, this is only one games' impression worth, so take it with a grain of salt.

*bing!*

JD