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Sony Might Just Hate You

Even before the company’s dramatic fall from grace, there has been a number of reasons a discerning individual might think that Sony hates them. The original Playstation had a failure rate to challenge the Xbox 360’s and the first DualShock controller didn’t become a pack-in with the system for months after its release. The Playstation 2 launched at a pricey $299 and that price held until May of 2002 when Sony suddenly and without forewarning dropped it to $199, leaving thousands of gamers out a hundred bucks when a simple press release could have saved them the trouble. The PSP launched and its screen was plagued by dead pixels and the Playstation 3 cost half a grand at the cheapest when it launched in ’06. One day, they’re committed to backwards compatibility and against rumble in controllers, and the next they’re asking you drop sixty smackers on a controller that shakes and backwards compatibility is for the birds. Yep. Sony hates you. Sony hates all of us.

Well, today, Sony hates your potential creativity.

Trailer Review: Mirror’s Edge

SCEE showed the first public footage of Dice’s Mirror’s Edge at their Playstation Day 2008 event this past Tuesday and it’s thrilling to say that it looks every bit as good in motion as early screenshots have implied. The first-person parkour play looks like it may be initially disorienting but if the control ends up being as streamlined as ME’s world, it will be one of 2008’s most exciting works on a sheer mechanical level. But beyond the way it moves, Dice deserves a huge high five just for their choice of setting and character. The blindingly unblemished cityscape and blue skies are a serious change of pace from the Blade Runner-inspired dank metropolises that have typified gaming for years. And protagonist Faith, well, not to be blunt, but she doesn’t have a monolithic bust line, she’s wearing athletic attire that’s actually suited to her actions, and she’s not white. Hell, she’s not even baring a mid-riff! If it weren’t for the silly eye tattoo, I’d be comfortable saying that she’s hands down the most interesting female lead since Beyond Good & Evil’s Jade. Hit the jump to enjoy the sights and sounds.

SCEE Playstation Day 2K8 Roundup: Killzone 2, Home, Little Big Planet Dated

Sony kicked off the summer announcement season in a big way this past Tuesday at their Playstation Day event. While the lack of original IP announcements was disappointing, the details and release date information on a number of their high profile sequels painted a very healthy portrait of the Playstation 3 in 2008.

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.