Brain Hood

The gaming multimedia industry is all set to infect everyone with a serious case of ‘sequelitis’ this year. Major gaming franchises make their mandatory yearly appearance, some return after a couple of years, while others, long-forgotten, attempt to make a dramatic return to the world of video games. Then there’s Grand Theft Auto V. Enough said.

Season for Seconds: Video Gaming Fun

Serving its way to the top of this article is EA Canada’s Grand Slam Tennis 2. Hoping to capitalise on everyone’s Australian Open fever

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is one of a long list of sequels that are expected to brighten 2012 u for video gaiming fans

(or hangover, as the case may be), EA’s first foray into the next-gen world of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 (the previous version was a Wii-only title) promises licensed players in the form of current ATP regulars such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray as well as legends, including Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker. WTA players are included as well, so don’t fret. The game’s features include a career mode that spans ten years, fully licensed Grand Slams, classic matches and Playstation Move support on the PS3. You can enjoy all of this and more on February 10.

Also out in February is the highly anticipated launch title for the Playstation Vita, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a game that is set before the events of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, where everyone’s favourite bounty hunter Nathan Drake is looking for the truth behind the massacre of a Spanish expedition. Golden Abyss promises great locales, treasure and lots more of the same action that garnered the Uncharted series’ critical acclaim and made it a hit with the gamers, while incorporating the PS Vita’s dual touch controls, accelerometer, hopefully delivering an unparalleled hand-held adventure gaming experience.

In early March, the next chapter of Bioware’s space opera will unfold through Mass Effect 3, a follow-up (which will offer closure, hopefully) to 2010′s critically acclaimed Mass Effect 2. ME3 will be back, bigger than ever before, sporting overhauled combat mechanics, an improved cover system, co-operative multiplayer and for Xbox 360 players, Kinect support with voice recognition which allows for commanding your squad of virtual human and/or turian and other alien squad mates (Garrus, flank left!).

If ordering your Xbox to do some killing on your behalf isn’t enough for you, you can take matters into your own hands in three action sequels that are set to invade your living room: Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, Max Payne 3 and Square Enix/IO Interactive’s Hitman Absolution. The GTA series returns after a three year hiatus, taking us back to the state of San Andreas, last seen in the Grand Theft Auto game of the same name in 2004. The fifth episode will be set primarily in the city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles and regions of Southern California), and is sure to feature some of the spectacular writing and open-world gameplay, the series is famous for.

Penning both GTA V and Max Payne 3 for Rockstar Games is Mr. Vice President himself, Dan Houser, arguably one of the best writers in gaming. He showed us he could do gritty (Red Dead Redemption) just as well as the satire and humour that we see in GTA; something a character of incredible depth like Max Payne is sure to benefit from. On the opposite end of the spectrum, stone-cold killer Agent 47 will shoot bullet holes in television sets later this year, going toe to toe with brand new arch-nemesis Blake Dexter in a series of stealth/action gaming missions sure to be set in all corners of the world.

Gaming Multimedia Wars: Who’s the Best?

Sony’s PlayStation 3 is widely touted as the best gaming machine money can buy, though the small but hardcore group of Xbox 360 loyalists would contest that. They’d do so by citing the ‘superior GPU’, mindboggling hardware related figures or the online gaming portal that doubles as a Facebook of sorts, never mind the fact that these arguments just don’t hold water in the face of the sheer variety of titles that can be enjoyed on the PS3. Then there’s the infinitely better support on offer too. But let’s  not indulge in unnecessary baiting here; we must talk of the PS3.

Gaming Multimedia: What Makes PS3 Rock

• It is always on, so you can access your PlayStation3 from a remote location as long as you have a working internet connection.
• The PS3 CPU is several times faster than Xbox360, its nearest competitor, in terms of GFlops.
• The PS3 has a worthy companion on the PlayStation Portable; we can connect the PSP to our Playstation 3 and transfer media files such as music, videos, gaming multimedia etc.
• The multimedia game portfolio of published titles for PS3 is phenomenal; developers and publishers of over 230 games had already announced titles even before the console came out.
• PS3 has excellent backward compatibility with PlayStation 2 console, games and accessories.

Gaming Multimedia: What Makes PS3 Lag behind the 360

• Comes with only 256 MB video RAM, less than the 512 MB the Xbox 360 comes with. It may, however, be argued that while all of the 360’s RAM is shared from the system, the PS3 GPU’s RAM is onboard. A further 240 MB may be shared from the system, bringing PS3 closer to the Xbox360.
• The PS3 GPU lacks eDRAM, which enables the Xbox360 to edge it out in terms of sheer GPU bandwidth.

Microsoft is closing the gap with Xbox 360 and probably will eventually catch up with Sony in gaming multimedia consoles.  For some gaming multimedia users, it may come down to something as simple as which one is more compatible with the games they already have in their gaming multimedia collection.

Sony PlayStation Network has 60 million accounts strong. It 'was a picture of a CEO Howard Stringer last night Sony CES foot – twice the number of over 30 million users of Xbox Live Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touted just hours before.

Sony’s CES press conference in a long, covered with lots of eye candy that Engadget involved in every aspect of consumer electronics with the Sony label and the current liberal dose of 3D. In describing the growth and opportunities for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable gaming and multimedia, Stringer said that the PlayStation Network has surpassed 60 million accounts mark.

Stringer did not specify how those accounts are active or the ventilation of the PS3 and PSP. However, that 60 million figure is considerably higher score last year. At CES 2010, Stringer announced PHN had reached 38 million accounts.

It is a huge market for Sony Online said it plans to mine, with extended play, music, video products and PlayStation Home.

PS3 online service is completely free. So, how to make money? It does not. But now, thanks to some new decisions by Sony, could actually begin to turn a profit.

Microsoft could easily have made the network profitable, because it will charge those who want to play online to pay a heavy $ 60 per year. PS3 gamers will receive the same property for free.

But Sony needs to pay for those servers somehow. That’s why it charges only for premium content, like game downloads, movie rentals, and add-on content. It also recently launched a “PlayStation Plus” subscription service, giving players a constant stream of deals and free content in exchange for a monthly or annual cost.

It took a while for these kinds of sales to cover the cost of running hundreds of online games for free, but it looks like it’s finally working.

Customer payments through the PlayStation Network reached $434.3 million in the 2009 fiscal year, but Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai said in a Reuters interview that by FY2012, that will be $3.6 billion. And, “We’re aiming to enter the black during the 2011 fiscal year.”

This would mean that Sony can continue offering its online service free to the millions of PS3 owners. It will continue to be a competitive advantage for the system, which is poised to have its best year yet in 2011.

Xbox Live does not appear to reduce the cost of $ 60 per year, but if people are concerned about the prices finally start thinking about the next generation of consoles soon, you will easily realize that the PS3 is actually better decision long run.

Sidhe, the largest and most successful game development company has announced the Rugby Challenge for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The game is scheduled in between July and October in 2010, which should be fine in Rugby World Cup next year.

Perhaps the best news for local rugby fans is that the game will include licenses for the All Blacks, ITM Investec Super Cup Rugby and among others. It will support online multi player, and has a franchise mode over several years, extensive customization options and “dynamic, real-time feedback” from famous commentators.

Thankfully, Sidhe has a pedigree of sorts when it comes to football games; the team also developed Rugby League 3 for the Nintendo Wii, which was generally well received. In fact, most of the criticism leveled at that game tended to focus on the limitations of the platform it released on. You can read Game Console’s review of Rugby League 3 here.

“Following the success of sports video games, we are very proud to be taking on New Zealand’s national sport,” said Mario Wynands, Managing Director of Sidhe, “It’s an exciting time for rugby in both New Zealand and overseas and it is fantastic to be part of that.”