Posts by Brent Carpenter

US FCC gets to play with PS3's DualShock 3 controller

So the EU version's number will be...

...CECHZC2MAEE

J for Japan

U for US

MAEE for months after everyone else!

Sony posts PS3 update - two weeks after the last one

@ Anonymous Coward

As I recall good ol' Apollo is broken beyond repair by that nasty Ivan Drago!

What about Creed-ence Clearwater Revival? :-)

Fnar!

Huzzah!!

About time too.

I have been slightly annoyed over the past 8 months due to the occasional crashes and freezes, but have been increasingly worried during the past couple of weeks.

Ratchet & Clank - No problems whatsoever.

Call of Duty 4 - Occasional issues, mostly while online.

Assassin's Creed - 4 freezes in as many days, the only thing marring an otherwise fantastic game.

I was beginning to think this might be Sony's version of the Red Ring of Death (which Micro$oft have managed to keep reasonably quiet, save for the usual Internet rumblings. Do I believe the 61% of machines affected statistic I read the other day?).

It would be easy to beat Sony over the head with the various problems we have suffered since launch, but they have reacted quickly with a lot of issues so I try not to feel too hard-done-by if my own personal gripe is not attended to immediately (I know people are still waiting for DivX/WMV support, interactive BluRay, etc.)

PS3 is just maturing from its infancy and the recent slew of impressive titles (exclusive or not) show it should go from strength to strength, given the support it deserves.

As a person who has had a PS3 from launch day and regularly extols the virtues of Sony's black slab anywhere he can, surely that qualifies for a bit of cashback - eh, Phil Harrison? ;-)

Sony posts PS3 firmware 2.0

Network icon

"Gamers now have direct access to the online PlayStation Store and to their account management settings, thanks to the addition of a PlayStation Network icon to the XMB."

Gamers already had direct access to the Store and account settings before this update, the icons were under "Network" rather than their own "Playstation Network" heading.

Sony apologies over virtual cathedral firefight

Here we go again...

I don't mean to make light of any gun-related problems that are apparently so prevalent in Manchester, but seriously, come on.

I have this game and play it often. It sits near my copies of the Grand Theft Auto series for PS2.

Not once have I felt the need to pick up a weapon, steal a car or spend time with a prostitute (then "persuade" her to give back my cash using gentle persuasion and a dirty great katana) - at least not in real life.

As for Resistance, the original moan from the C of E was something about using the Cathedral hosting a firefight between "rival gunmen".

These rival gunmen mentioned by those level-headed religious types consists of a U.S. squaddie plugging a bunch of mutated alien-hybrids. In an alternate reality. In the 1950s. In a videogame.

Resistance is set in an alternate vision of the 1950s where the Second World War never happened, given that Europe was preoccupied with fighting off and eventually succumbing to an alien invasion spreading from Russia. Great Britain was the final outpost of humanity and being rapidly brought to its knees. Of course the main focus is the hero, U.S. Marine/Ranger/whatever Nathan Hale, saving us weak Brits left, right and centre (or should that be "center"?).

The joy of this game is seeing a recreation of British landmarks in a game played worldwide, and not your typical ones either. Manchester as mentioned, York, Grimsby, even Cheddar Gorge (a particular favourite for a Westcountry boy).

The National Trust (or whoever it is that owns the cheesy canyon) don't feel the need to complain - although I suppose teenagers are not shooting each other for mobiles and trainers on the streets of Cheddar.

I know there are wildly different opinions on this subject, but mine is that yes, some people are negatively affected by videogames. But surely they are already unbalanced and just waiting for the wrong thing to set them off? If I could be bothered to mount an investigation into how many crimes are attributed to God/Jesus/insert your preferred religion here and how many can be traced in any way back to GTA/Postal/Manhunt/insert your preferred scapegoat here, then I'm sure I would not be bowled over in surprise by the results.

I'm all for considered and sensible monitoring of the content of games, but as far as I can remebember Resistance carries a "15" certificate, meaning it has been passed through the BBFC and approved. The BBFC being the body responsible for censorship (or "classification" as it is termed nowadays) of these things. What's their opinion?

Freedom of speech entitles people the opportunity to air their opinions and that is right and just. But there is no legislation against airing those opinions when you don't really understand what you're complaining about.

I do not and may not ever fully appreciate the awfulness of dealing with the consequences of the problems Mancunians have to face, living in Devon has that advantage. But this (increasingly lengthy, sorry) post will not go as far as reaching the mainstream media - so even if it is ill-considered and poorly-informed I make no apologies.

Just please, stop attacking videogames for putting violence in the minds of people.

It's the people putting guns in the hands of kids we should really be focusing on.