E3: Sony Moves It Moves It... With Nerdy Glasses

Last year, I thought Sony made the best conference, because they offered the promise of motion controls and actual games. This year, well, after watching Nintendo, it's hard to see them top it.

And I don't think they did. They were close, but they were slightly less awesome than Nintendo. If only because they want to force their glasses on the masses.

Still Kevin Butler: "Who wants to pretend their hand is a gun? What is this, third grade?" LOL. I do hope he goes out on stage.

Anyways, after the montage, Jack Tretton comes out on stage and right off the bat, disses Microsoft. "No ponchos."

From here on, I'm already really excited only because Microsoft's speaker sucked big time.

Jack Tretton is a huge mile away from that Microsoft dude.

Anyway, Jack Tretton's tempting me to finally buy a PS3 and highlights a few games. PSP, not so much.

He segueways into "3D High Definition" and summons Mr. Riiiiiiiidge Racer! to the stage... I mean, Kaz Hirai of course.

"PS is about innovation and content. In the next year, PS will take both innovation and content to a completely new level. Sony is the undisputed leader in 3D, and what PlayStation did for Blu-ray, it will do for 3D as well," says Hirai. He wants people to buy both a BRAVIA 3DTV and a few games that are compatible with 3D today, and explains that PS3's are already 3D-ready. OK. Now what?

Killzone 3, of course.

I guess being ambitious with a game is good, but me with my chronic FPS nausea combined with 3D is huge no-no. The audience is urged to wear glasses (sigh...) and well, of course, I can't really give my own impressions of the game. Still, the graphics do look quite good on its own without the 3D gimmickry, and... there are apparently some flying robots you'll be shooting. On a home theatre, I imagine this will be enthralling, but not everyone has a home theatre. Hell, you'll have to be a 3D capable projector for that too. And a few more pairs of $150 glasses. With that money, you could buy a 360, a Live Gold subscription and games.

But we're not here to trash talk any more of Sony, partly because I hold much faith for the PS3 anyway even if I don't have one.

Killzone's reaching out to you in 2011, February with PS Move support.

Hirai goes on to name drop a lot of games that'll be compatible with 3D. The Sly Collection (remastered Sly Cooper trilogy), Mortal Kombat, Shaun White, Tron, etc. Please, I do not want the glasses.

Sony then wants to sell some 3DTV's by showing a demo reel. Frankly, I don't want to bother embedding a video.

15th anniversary of the PlayStation and 10th for the PS2. It's the second most-played console last year, but of course, it's hard to say if there's really going to be any more support for new titles. Duh.

Next is more PlayStation Move sales talk. We've seen the action in GDC, and I wonder what other games they'll be demoing this time.

Kevin Butler is definitely a huge selling point for this device. Whoops, I mean... uhh... never mind.

A new game being demoed for the Move is Sorcery.

Looks pretty okay, and as always, 1:1 is impressive. There isn't as much jittering as there was in GDC... oh wait, there was some jittering during the potion thing.

But anyway, there are quite a few creative concepts at play here (ie, I love the "creating a firestorm"), and yeah. It looks pretty decent. Art design doesn't particularly stand out to me for some reason.

Andrew Wilson for EA Sports is next so he can demo Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.

Who knows if it really controls any differently than, say, the Wii Motion Plus so it's hard to say if Move truly is superior. In the HDTV they were using, there was quite a bit of lag so, a bit iffy really. It got better eventually.

Heroes on the Move makes an appearance as a trailer. Features several Sony mascots like Ratchet, Clank, Jax, Daxter, Sly Cooper, and 2 more I don't know.

Coca-Cola is made a partner to advertise Move. There will be a promo that will entitle you to a Move, or some Move games.

Whatever.

And then, Kevin Butler comes to the stage. Now things get interesting.

Somewhat unscripted, he plays on the motion control trend, Kinect, and more. This dude is awesome. Even if he doesn't game and he says "I love gaming," I'd believe him. FOREVER MAY GAMING REIGN! Dammit, he's the best thing Sony's ever done.

September is the release window, and the Move will be priced at 50 dollars, while the navigation controller will be 30. A "Sports Champion bundle" will be priced at $100, while a PS3 with Move bundle is #400. On launch, there will be about 15-20 titles for Move.

Time Crisis, Singstar, Echochrome, etc. will be some of those games, while some existing games will get updates for compatibility.

Next, a video for Move.

Oh come on, two Move controllers for volleyball? Seriously? There's like a conspiracy in play here. Sports Champions, Start the Party, Singstar, Eyepet, Heroes on the Move, TV Superstars, SOCOM 4, Time Crisis Razing Storm, The Shoot, Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Lord of the Rings, Tron Evolution, Sorcery are the games included in the trailer.

PSP is next. A new ad campaign is unveiled with Peace Walker featured.

It's called "Meet Marcus". And he's kind of annoying.

OK, Sony, any games?

Invizimals is apparently a "major" enough game to market. Meh. Uses augmented reality for pets like Kinectimals.

But alas, we have God of War: Ghost of Sparta. Ready at Dawn returns to the PSP. There must be hope.

Tretton name drops a few more games, and there will be "70 new titles by December". Look! ModNation! Kingdom Hearts! Hot Shots!

The 3rd Birthday looks really interesting.

Next part of the talk is the rather notorious PSN.

It hosts some shows like "The Tester" and will be expanding to other countries. PlayStation Home will also have its own version of the Sony E3 booth, and... I guess it's pretty cool?

Jack Tretton also announced Sony's acquisition of Media Molecule, and that could only mean some more creative exclusives for the PlayStation. After the rather exciting trailer released a few weeks ago, it would be pretty cool to see an actual demo of their promise for "a platform for games".

I'm surprised there weren't any Move demoes for this game.

PlayStation Plus is then announced, which takes PSN to the next level. It's a subscription service that promises exclusive content, exclusive betas, Minis, discounts and more. It's $49.99 for a full year. 3 months free for now.

But will it have good servers and party chat?

Still, I like Chrono Cross for free. Although it's kind of weird not to match Microsoft's ESPN, Netflix and Facebook offerings.

An EA executive is then called to the stage to announce some PS exclusives. Medal of Honor is going to receive some exclusive content apparently.

There's going to be a multiplayer map, and the beta will be available June 21. There will be a remastered version of Medal of Honor Frontline.

Next: Dead Space 2.

That is intense, kind of creepy even. Damn, I have to finish the first one, pronto.

Dead Space 2 Limited Edition will include Dead Space Extraction with Move support. For PS3. He goes on to mention all the other major EA franchises. Well, how about Mass Effect? Yeah, thought so.

Next: GLaDOS!

HOLY CRAP. VALVE. GABE NEWELL.

He's eating his words as he speaks.

The cake is not a lie: Portal 2 is coming to the PS3. "It's been a long time. How have you been?"

Portal 2 looks insane. Even though I suffered massive nausea with the first one, I still really loved it. Kudos to Sony for actually negotiating with Valve instead of poo-pooing it.

Next is Final Fantasy XIV Online.

It's an MMO much like Final Fantasy XI, and apparently it's pretty much PS3 exclusive unlike its predecessor.

Mafia II is name-dropped, and will feature day-one exclusive DLC for PS3.

Ubisoft is next and expanding Assassin's Creed with Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. It will feature a multiplayer mode, and will only have a PS3 beta.

Well, that's a lot of exclusives.

A PS3 games reel is shown next, because Sony wants people to remember that no, CoD is not 360-exclusive, MGS Rising is not 360-exclusive and Madden is most definitely not 360-exclusive.

A lot of them titles intrigue me highly.

Gran Turismo 5 the title that's been exhibited around since God-knows-when is getting featured again.

Graphics look absurdly realistic. Top Gear videos a nice touch.

Concrete release date, please? Oh look, finally: November 2, 2010. Absurd.

Sucker Punch Studios is up next for inFamous 2. Cole's back and more electrifying than ever.

Looks like he has ice powers, that's... wait for it, cool.

Another trailer is shown. An ad for what though?

Twisted Metal.

That's kind of disturbing. Clowns? Lol, what?

David Jaffe is back on stage to pretty much seal the deal for Sony. And what better way to do that than to demonstrate some destruction?

Crazy classic gameplay right there.

A new team mode is also introduced, "designed to bring out skill and strategy". It's called Twisted Metal Nuke and it takes place in a dilapidated, post-apocalyptic-ish city that's ripe for destruction.

Woah, that's just crazy and sadistic.

I guess you can expect no less from the creator of God of War.

Jack Tretton closes the conference with the same summary you'd hear in a Nintendo conference. Only difference is that Tretton actually acknowledges, I don't know, the fans while Reggie flaunted his booth babes to the audience with his smug little face and showed off the 3DS. Granted, the smugness was warranted because the 3DS is kind of awesome, but come on, Ninty, show the fans some sugar.

GDC '10: Get Your Move On

Motion gaming has expanded to the HD consoles, and Sony wants a share of Nintendo's blue ocean. What does Sony have to combat Nintendo's Wiimote? Well, they have the PlayStation Move.

Obviously taking a few notes from Nintendo, the Move is purported to have a particularly attractive package for under a hundred bucks. In the starter kit, you'll get the PS Move, the PS Eye camera and a game (probably the "Sports Collection" ala Wii Sports).

First introduced in last year's E3 conference (but without a name), the PlayStation Move, like Microsoft's Project Natal, is a camera-based motion control system that has the camera detect the LEDs (that huge effing orb) so the game you're playing can reflect the movements being made. It officially allows a game to detect more than one PlayStation Move in one player, as well as a Wii Nunchuk-like wireless attachment that, well, serves as an analog stick (while having its own face buttons). Unfortunately enough, it's only called 'the sub-controller'.

Frankly, the PlayStation Move already does what the Wii MotionPlus does for the Wiimote, but Sony was able to observe Nintendo before actually jumping in, which tends to be the nature for competitors, thus being able to actually add an augmented reality factor with the camera.

While jerky in some parts, Sony claims the controller to be in a pre-alpha state, but wait a sec, isn't this product supposed to be shipping this year? At least, games that have compatibility with this device are. An audience of women, kids and families are definitely going to love the EyePet game coming out this holiday season, while people are going to have to break their backs trying to tie down their opponents in Motion Fighters, which looks like a more brutal high-definition version of Wii boxing. I think Punch-Out!! is much more fun than any of that, but that's just me.

For now, it's only SOCOM that appears to have the most hardcore appeal, especially since it doesn't require much waggle. However, Sports Champions does have a few of the games, err, I mean elements, that made Wii Sports Resort such a great game for both casuals and core gamers. And if you don't want to buy any of that, you probably still have that copy of LittleBigPlanet laying around. By the Move's release, fans will get an update to the platformer.

In the end, I smell shovelware.

The PS3 Slim: For Realsies.

I've always had a bad time fathoming the fact that the PS3 was still out of reach even after 3 years, but now is the time to stop bashing and start drooling: the PS3 Slim is finally official!

Not only the size obviously much smaller and the weight lighter as connoted by the name, the price is slimmer as well... at just $299, just $50 more than a frigging Wii!

When the model first leaked, I couldn't believe it as the PS3 logo looked too China-ey. It wasn't as Spiderman-y as the original, but apparently the leak was the real Slim. But now that there are official pictures, it's much prettier.

Not only that, early PS3 users are screwed as the old model has been lowered to the same price! Whoop-de-frickin-doo for them, yay for the rest of us! Just hope the reportedly crappy PSN server isn't gonna crash after the holiday season.

E3 '09: Sony has a Wiimote too!

You know what? The "live blog but not live" format works for me. Yes, here it is again, but with bold and italics for good measure.

Sony impressed this year by promising more games. It seems 2010 is shaping up to be a really exciting year for PS3 owners. I'm jealous, quite frankly.

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The iconic face buttons of the PlayStation appear in a video, then gigantic PSP, PS3, PS2 units and the PSN logo grow out of the ground and games are revealed. Quite a few there.

Jack Tretton, President and CEO for Sony, comes on stage. He acknowledges the PSP Go leak and that "we are not gonna be outdone by anyone". "2009 is gonna be the best year for us. Entertainment experience second to none."

The PS2 is shown and Tretton points out the recent price drops and makes his own spin on the PS2 outselling PS3. Smooth...

Now the man talks about expanding Sony's coverage in Latin America... the PSN's growth... inFAMOUS...

He calls out the Naughty Dog team to demo Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The multiplayer beta came out a few days ago, now the single-player is gonna be demoed.

Really nice graphics and animation... Nice cover system and destructible environments... Very intense... very awesome...

Tretton comes back on stage- no, come back Naughty Dog!- and he now re-unveils Zipper's MAG, the 256-player action extravaganza.

Zipper Interactive peeps demo the game live, and that truly is a lot of people fighting each other. There wasn't much to what he showed, but at least the graphics weren't sacrificed for less lag.

The PSP takes the spotlight. Sales figures, sales figures, sales figures. Now he announces bundles of Rock Band, Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed and a Hannah Montana PSP bundle that comes in Lilac Pink. Audience claps mockingly.

Kaz Hirai gets called to go on stage. He hints at the PSP Go. "For those who live a digital lifestyle and do not want a UMD nor tangible media. We call it the PSP Go. It will not replace the PSP-3000 and the UMD."

It looks pretty good. Small screen, slides out the controller, and obviously lighter and smaller than the PSP. It has 16GB, built-in Wi-Fi, downloadable movies and games, Bluetooth and M2 (memory stick micro) support.

Media Go will come bundled with PSP Go (?) and it will have access to the PSN for the PC users.

SensMe will also launch on the PSP and the PSP Go. It's the same music mood detector thingy found on Sony Ericsson Walkman phones.

80% less production costs is the long-term goal to the PSP construction. I don't know why he said that.

PSP Go will launch at $249 and 249 euros (or 12000 pesos) and will launch simultaneously on America and Europe respectively.

The video delivery service gets tackled by Hirai. He boasts more than 100 TV shows and movies each, and will come to the PSP. "It's easier than ever to download movies to the PSP directly." He announces a lot more content providers ranging from G4 to Anime.

Polyphony Digital's Kazunouri Yamauchi gets called to the stage to demo Gran Turismo for the PSP. He demoes it on the PSP Go, but no footage until the end of his speech. "It's a full-scale Gran Turismo, running at 60fps, and will feature 800 cars as well as 4 player matches through Wi-Fi and the trading and sharing of parts from your Garage."

A video for Gran Turismo is shown, and it looks really hot for a PSP game. October 1, 2009 is the release date along with the PSP Go.

Hirai comes back on stage to talk about Metal Gear Solid, it seems. Yep, Hideo Kojima is gonna come on stage. Obviously, he's gonna announce some Metal Gear game for the PSP. Yep, it's Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and it's set 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3. Kojima is such a press conference whore.

Peace Walker's trailer is shown and... it looks pretty good. Funny part at the end.

Tretton comes back and Hirai leaves. He announces Resident Evil for the PSP as well as LittleBigPlanet, PSP, Motorstorm, Hannah Montana and Harry Potter.

A video rolls and it's about the PSP games of 2009. It seems like a lot, but how many of those games are actually good ones?

Tretton also announces that Final Fantasy VII is now coming to the PSN, along with more than 50 classic PS1 games. He turns to Home- does it still exist?- and talks about how it's such a great seller for developers. -yawn- A video about it rolls... spare me your lonely lives.

"2009 is the year for content on the PS3," he says, to my surprise since I thought this conference already became a PSP conference, "here's a video of all the great content coming to PS3." and yet another video rolls. Fine, we get it, there are loads more PS3 titles coming out than last year ever had. Unfortunately a lot more of these games are multiplatform. It's long too.

Rockstar Games suddenly gets mentioned, and it seems that there's an exclusive IP for the PS3. It's called Agent. Next, Ubisoft gets a mention for Assassin's Creed 2. And it seems it's gonna be demoed on the PS3.

The game is set in the Italian Renaissance, and the art direction looks really good. Still, is the costume of the new assassin in this game standing out? Anyway, you can once again climb nearly everything in sight, and you can ride a flying machine. Diversity was the goal in the development for AC2, and it seems that it will indeed be less repetitive. Wow, two killed in one attack. The game looks REALLY GOOD. Ubisoft, you're doing SOMETHING right.

OK, Jack's back and he's hinting at Final Fantasy. Yep, a trailer for XIII is gonna be shown... but it's all CG and seemingly no gameplay... yet? Oh, yes there is. It looks pretty good- the in-game graphics, I mean. It's so sci-fi soapy, LOL, but the combat looks really good as usual.

"Square Enix is not stopping there." HOLY, Final Fantasy XIV already? "PS3 will be the ONLY console for it when it launches in 2010." Make sure of that, Sony. But 2010 already? If FF13 took so long to make, then why in ass is FF14 gonna oversee release in the same year? Maybe it's the fact that it's just online like FF11? "So there's one that didn't leak out, huh?," remarks Tretton.

Oh God, Monotype Corsiva. I hate yer font.

Uh-oh, motion control is being hinted at. "We're working to create something that reflects real life more closely than ever before," and he invites two guys to demo it.

"We wanna enable new experiences for Playstation 3. What I have in my hand is the prototype of a new controller." and what the hell is that? It even has a purple (tentatively) orb which reacts with the PlayStation Eye camera. Hmmm...

A tech demo appears, and it looks like... uhh... well, it seems to be a TV with an Eye camera on top and it's making a reflection of the demoer. It's pretty cute, pretty funny. Just the Wiimote with MotionPlus, not really Project Natal. How do you shoot from that thing, anyway?

The FPS mode seems pretty nice, but if the FPS is gonna be expansive, moving will have to be rather awkward. The sword and shield demo's pretty good though, but not anything new. Basically just the HD graphics version of the Wii. Release window is Spring 2010.

LittleBigPlanet gets Disney costumes now. How adorable is that Jack Sparrow suit?

A new franchise is gonna be revealed, and it's ModNation Racers. It's in the same vein as LittleBigPlanet in the "Play. Create. Share." aspect, and it seems like... well, I'm not sure what to feel about it yet. I don't think it's as charming as LBP, but perhaps it's for the casual hell of it.

I think it's more avatar sharing and cosmetic racing than anything. How about course creation which was the draw of LBP? No? Nothing? Just Mario Kart Wii for the PS3?

Oh, there it is. "Track Studio" is the name of the track creator. Looks like a pretty nice way to make tracks. Cool, it instantly lets you play right after making the track. OK, you can dress it up. Cool. It seems pretty fast too. I'm convinced. 2010 is the release window.

Jack Tretton gives a sneak peek to something now... What's this? Ah, Team ICO's new game, "The Last Guardian". A trailer's rolling.

Character models look rather different in a bit of a cartoony way, backgrounds that look real counter that though. Woah, that's a big... cat bird bat thingy? It doesn't look as epic as I thought it would be, but still nonetheless pretty darn epic in scale.

Gran Turismo 5 is next. Will it outdo Forza 3?

Yep, looks like it.

Next, must be God of War 3? Yep. And it's the first few minutes that's gonna be shown. Hell yeah.

Kickass live demo! Brutal, epic, and gorgeous. March 2010 is the release window.

It seems that GoW3 is the final game to be displayed, I guess. Jack says goodbye to everyone, and the conference has ended. Good job, Sony.

Should Nintendo and Sony adopt the App Store model?

Apple is counting down the days 'till they reach their 1 billionth download in the App Store, so it's glaringly obvious that the model is working for them, for developers, and most of all, for consumers. Hell, they're even giving away some iPod touches and MacBook Pro's to a lucky downloader but I won't delve deeper into that.

The point here is, since Apple's App Store model is extremely successful, should actual gaming companies follow suit and provide games for their handhelds through an online connection and an iTunes-like middleman?

Sony and Nintendo have the resources, the software experience (Sony has a mixed record with regards to bundled software, though), platforms (Sony PSN, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection) and the memory card compatibility (Memory Stick for PSP, SD/SD High Capacity for DSi) to provide all of this so nothing's actually stopping them from creating a Steam-esque/App Store-esque gaming marketplace. If they so choose, they could still sell games in retailers so they can have a share of that audience (esp. for the DS and DS Lite), but ultimately, they could also create a thriving community that is built on the premise of being able to download PSP or DS games straight through the device online or through your computer (and PSP/DSi syncing will put it inside their memory cards).

Besides, the PSP and DSi, like the iPhone and iPod touch, have multimedia features like music playback, video playback (PSP only), photo viewer, camera/s (DSi only; PSP accessory sold separately in Japan and Singapore), etc., so a media manager like iTunes isn't that bad of an idea at all. In fact, the PSP already has one (but it's not bundled with the PSP, and unlike iTunes, it's not free) so it would do Sony good to actually add PSP downloads into the software so games can be accessed through Memory Stick (like how the pirates do it).

Additionally, Nintendo and Sony could use their respective built-in stores (PlayStation Store and DSi Shop) as a springboard for the model. If consumers are hesitant to give out their credit card numbers, they could already use the Nintendo Points and PlayStation points available in the market! After you download from the respective stores, you can sync your purchases to your computer and everything can be copied. I mean, if your PSP and/or DSi is stolen, at least you still have all your games with you in your computer, instead of having the game/games stolen with them. If your computer breaks down, you could retrieve the games in your newly reformatted computer by installing the media managers and authorizing your account in them so all your paid games can start re-downloading like iTunes.

One final reason why Nintendo and Sony should implement an App Store/iTunes model is due to one thing: cartridges and propriety storage can get really old. And expensive. I mean, if you want to play one game and switch to another, it would be a lot better if you could just go to the home screen of each respective handheld and just select the next game you want to play instead of having to switch UMDs or cartridges. And frankly, Nintendo DS cartridges are pretty small so they could get lost.

So obviously, I like the idea of having an App Store model to these handhelds. They could potentially cut production costs (or maintain them somewhat), reduce the rate of people rebuying their stolen games, and be a bit more environmentally friendly. After Apple made the splash with the App Store, I actually didn't touch my DS until after a few months (and that was because I was charging my iPod touch). Please make it happen (at least in the next generation of handhelds)!

CES: More cool stuff

There's always some fantasy that turns into reality everyday. Those fantasies usually come first in a movie, and with passion do tech companies turn them into something that simply seems second nature. Today, we have yet another iconic gadget turned reality, and it's the Watch Phone, courtesy of LG.

While there have been watch phones in the past, they've been big and bulky and clearly have drowned from the public consciousness. With this watch phone, it's all different. It's sleek, it looks cool, and it just looks awesome.

I mean, I'm not gonna be first in line because simply putting a wristwatch onto your ear would look damn silly, but the features are simply as brilliant as Dick Tracy's. I mean, first you get a touch screen based interface, and then there's the phone part, of course, then there's the music player and hell, a camera (with megapixels that have yet to be determined)!

Additionally, for your text messages, the watch will read them out loud for you. It's not yet known whether there'll be a speakerphone, but I suggest getting a Bluetooth headset because it has a feature that even the iPhone doesn't even have: stereo Bluetooth!

That is awesome, but impractical.

So let's see some more practical stuff then- like the Samsung P3.

OK, maybe it's just a music player that is reminiscent of the iPod touch. It plays movies, music, and shows photos. But here are some things the iPod touch can't even have because it's in the iPhone (oh wait, the iPhone doesn't even have them either): stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, built-in voice recording, haptic feedback (the thing vibrates when you touch it), a great customizable widgets interface and wait for it- a frigging phone.

Technically, the P3 is not a phone. But here's the thing: if you go through a few menus and select Mobile Phone Bluetooth syncing, you don't even have to use your phone anymore. Instead, you can receive text messages and receive calls because the P3 has a built-in speaker and microphone. It's like the surrogate of your phone! But don't take my word for it, watch it in action.

Interested? Well, like the iPod touch, it'll max out with 32 GB of capacity with 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities to choose from. Prices unknown as of now, though.

Not practical enough? Already have an iPod? Well, then I don't know... Let's just throw practicality out the window, and say hello to glasses-powered 3D gaming by nVidia.

The glasses aren't as geeky as the red-blue glasses of the 50's, and the feature is already compatible with several current-gen games. All you need, however, is a special monitor, I think. Just shell out for that and $199 for the nVidia kit, and you're all set for that 3D LAN party.

There are sliders everywhere so you can adjust several settings, too, but if you're interested in this, just remember the Virtual Boy.

Surprisingly enough, 199 US dollars is kind of inexpensive, but my hearing may be wrong.

Perhaps that thing is too cheap for you, and you want to hear something outrageous. Fine. I'll give it to you.

What's this? A picture frame? Nope, it's a portable Blu-ray player- the world's first.

You can swivel the screen to make it look like a frame or a laptop, and... there are connections on the side.

Panasonic managed to fit the power of Blu-ray into this thing, and it'll sell for 799 US dollars- equivalent to about 37627 Philippine pesos. OK, perhaps it's not THAT outrageous when you consider that it's a Blu-ray player, but think about it like this: it defeats the purpose of Blu-ray.

How? Well, it's like this: High-definition is made for big screen TV's, so being able to experience high definition is next to impossible in a portable device. In short, you're better off buying a significantly cheaper portable DVD player, as it's more practical, and you won't notice the difference at all.

That is unless the device can output to a TV. That changes everything.

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*If you've been tracking CES, you may ask: Where's the Sony VAIO Lifestyle PC? Well, that netbook is pretty lame in my eyes. Stylish, but lame, like the MacBook Air, only significantly harder to use. Seriously, would you like to squint while using Windows Vista AND get used to that really small joystick in replacement to the touchpad? I don't think so.

LittleBigPlanet and... Muslims? and other gaming news

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the PS3 game title LittleBigPlanet?

Well, it's certainly not the Qu'Ran (or Koran if you want)! If you don't know what LittleBigPlanet is, let me tell you what it is. Basically, it is/was an indie platformer game made by Media Molecule for the PS3. After a showing in the Game Developers' Conference in 2006, fans who were instantly charmed by its physics powered side-scrolling platforming gameplay, user-friendly powerful level editor and cute little Sackboy mascots have been obsessively following the game around. Actually, this week was supposed to be the worldwide release of the AAA title, but it was cut short as reported yesterday because...

...one of the songs in its otherwise "great soundtrack," as Gamespot says in their review, has lyrics that, when translated, are actually passages in the Qu'Ran. And if you're still stupid enough not to know what a Qu'Ran or Koran is, it's the holy book of Islamic believers.
Although Sony didn't exactly confirm the exact translation of the lyrics, they have set out to delay the game for yet another week and recall all shipped stock to rectify some demonstrations agianst the game that would result from rash judgment... so PS3 owners may have to wait for their 'killer app' at least another week.

But if you just can't resist waiting further, you can call Media Molecule and say you want a copy because you want to play with the cute Sackboys. Perhaps you'll get some free ROFL stickers as consolation?

Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams?
There's an alleged leaked trailer of the sequel to the critically praised Bioshock- an underwater shooter created by Take-Two that comes with the PS3 version of the game. Is it real? Well, it's convincing, so I'm placing my bet on the answer 'Yes'.


Left4Dead pre-orders surpass Orange Box
I want The Orange Box, but I also want Left4Dead. Man, Valve is always the come-to for great shooter games, and even though the zombie shooter Left4Dead has been announced since January 2007, it wasn't until Valve acquired Turtle Rock Studios- the people behind the uber-popular Half-Life hack Counter-Strike- that the Left4Dead hype train started to catch steam.
Now, pre-orders for the game have already surpassed that of the Orange Box- a compilation of Valve shooters- which has been certified Platinum.

If you want to know what Left4Dead is, it's an FPS that lets you play as a "character" in a horror-movie type setting. Basically, if you think horror movies aren't scary at all, then why not get adrenaline pumping by being in one? There will be some great multiplayer action and great cinematic moments, as well as a certain level of accessibility thanks to the "AI Director".

Fill out the gap
If you have Soul Calibur IV for the 360 or PS3, you'll see that, besides the overly ginormous mammaries of its characters, there is this little gap in between The Apprentice and Vader/Yoda. If you want to fill out that gap, you can pay 5 US bucks on the respective services of both consoles to get Vader for the 360 and Yoda for the PS3 on October 23. But personally, seeing Star Wars characters on a Soul Calibur game as a shameless plug for the purportedly terrible Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is still as uncomfortable as seeing the character Ivy. I don't know why.

CAPTION: Yoda sticks out like a sore thumb... with snot.

EA actually comes out with a great survival horror game
Hey! That's news to me!
Anyway, EA just released this atmospheric survival horror game in outerspace called, well, Dead Space. And so far, it has been receiving heaps of praise from the critics and players. Wow, I'm surprised as far as I'm concerned. Imma go try it out and "strategically dismember" some aliens.

XBox 360 now cheaper than Wii, Fall Movie Preview, Google Chrome and the Sony "iMac"

Well, the Arcade version at least.

It has been speculated for some time that the big M would drop the price of the XBox to 199 dollars- and that only applies to the one that doesn't have a hard drive- which is what you need to maximize the gaming experience in the first place! So... that's a pretty big deal-breaker.

Still, if you're stingy and you just want the most basic type of XBox 360 set-up, and you don't want to save (which is idiotic), you can get the Arcade version at just (theoretically in the Philippines) 9000-9500 pesos- like a PS2(!).
~~~
Fall Movie Preview
Here are my picks for the movies that are coming out for the "fall season".

Burn After Reading
Although it's in limbo at the ratings derby in Rotten Tomatoes, Burn After Reading seems fairly interesting as it is about someone who finds a disc containing an ousted CIA official's memoir. So yes, it's a spy comedy. It stars A-listers such as George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt and may get released September 12. Oh, and it's a Coen brothers film.

Righteous Kill
Wow, just the thought of seeing Robert de Niro and Al Pacino in the same film for more than 4 minutes will be something film buffs would want to devour. They play a pair of NYC police detectives looking for a serial killer, and I think I'll be keeping an eye on this. It's gonna be released next week.

The Duchess
Based from a novel of the same name, The Duchess is about an 18th century aristocrat who becomes involved in an affair that may erupt into scandal. Frankly, anything with Keira Knightley is a must-see in my book. Add Ralph Fiennes into the picture and, lo and behold, you got something nice. The schedule of release for this flick is a bit sketchy though.

Fanboys
The plot seems interestingly set in the 2000's or so, as it's about 4 Star Wars fanboys who attempt to get a peek at the Phantom Menace as a last hoorah for their dying friend. It stars Gossip Girl narrator Kristen Bell.

Eagle Eye
I'm cautiously optimistic about this (READ: It may get panned by the critics.), but this is pretty much another thriller by, basically most of the team behind Disturbia- a pretty good thriller. It's about two people who become pawns of this weird girl in the air (not literally) who knows their every move. I'm not one of the people who like flaming Shia LeBeouf, so I'll take a shot at it.

How To Lose Friends and Alienate People
Sydney Young is a small time British journalist who gets hired by a New York magazine. He gets to rub elbows with stars, enter high society, etc. etc. I don't know, the long title is just interesting.

Rachel Getting Married
I'm just curious about the movie since it has Anne Hathaway in it, who's basically a pretty bankable star. Its plot is similar to Margot at the Wedding though: she wants to destroy her sister's wedding merely by visiting, and she brings up the bad old days.

Body of Lies
Leo de Caprio is a good actor, Russell Crowe is just a jerk but he's still a nice actor. Ridley Scott pretty much likes working with the latter, and most of the guy's movies are pretty nice. American Gangster, Gladiator, yeah, that's a pretty good track record. Anyway, this thriller is about a CIA operative in Amman who is on the trail of a terrorist that is helped by the head of Jordan's intel.

City of Ember
Saoirse Ronan was in Atonement, and her performance was excellent there. Plus, the movie looks fairly interesting so I'm also cautiously optimistic about it. It's about a secret city of sorts, and two kids are gonna find it.

W.
Come on, it's a film about George Bush! Who wouldn't be interested? It's also directed by Oliver Stone! Oliver Stone!

Passengers
Another Anne Hathaway vehicle, but this one's a bit more interesting. She's a therapist who serves as counsel for five survivors of a plane crash. Their recollections contradict each other however, so she becomes determined to find the truth.

Synecdoche, New York
Woah. Philip Seymour Hoffman is an obsessive theater director who creates a life-sized replica of NYC. That is just crazy... but it just might work.

~~~
Google Chrome
Google pulled a fast one in the browser ones, as the internet giant has surprisingly released its own browser called Google Chrome. It's currently only available for Windows, so if you're a Mac/Linux user, well, Google has a bad reputation of releasing multi-platform after more than just a few months with less features.

However, reviewers have praised this browser for its speed- it's faster than any browser on the planet- and it's open-source, so anyone can modify or copy the programming.

Like Apple's Safari, it's powered by the WebKit rendering engine, which is why it's so fast, but there are apparently more technologies at work since it's even faster than Safari. Even in opening does Google Chrome overpower the competition, but there aren't any add-ons... for now.
~~~
Meet the Sony "iMac"
OK, fanboys will say that "just because it's an all-in-one doesn't necessarily mean it's a copy of the iMac", and the thing is, according to CNET, it's even better than that. You get for the price a 20-inch screen, more USB ports, more hard disk space, better speed and a Blu-ray drive. The jam-packed features are pretty good for the price, and the design is nice. Plus, in some sort of big surprise, Sony has reduced the bloatware. Basically, if you turn this baby on, you get less of those distracting splash screens and stuff.

Still, the keyboard looks familiar...


CAPTION: Sony above, Apple below

E3: Nintendo Duds and Sony Rocks

Today saw gamers getting both hyped and disappointed, and that's because Nintendo and E3 finally revealed some stuff, but still hid others as well.

Anyway, let's start with Nintendo's first.

Living up to its casual gamer mantra, Nintendo has announced a huge pile of casual games to delight that audience.

#1 Wii Sports: Resort
Riding from the success of the pack-in title, Wii Sports, Nintendo is following it up with Wii Sports in a summer theme. I'm not exactly warming up to the game's concept as of now, and that's because it only adds Jet Skiing, Frisbee and Swordfighting. God, I hated swordfighting in Bleach. I don't know what's gonna make me like it now.

It also ships, however, with the new MotionPlus accessory for the Wiimote. I mean, the Wiimote itself is already motion sensitive, but the company states that this accessory will make the experience even more intuitive and life-like. Hmm...

#2 Wii Music
Remember that tech demo Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrated a long time ago when the Wii was getting released? Well, it's becoming reality.

Using the Wiimote and an extra pair of drums that come shipped with the title, Wii Music will help anyone do music without having to match the rhythm or beats and fail.

You can play the violin, saxophone and the drum using the Balance Board as well.

I don't see how the team at Nintendo will prolong the novelty of all this shallow gameplay, but it would be astonishing if it got at least a 7.0 on GameSpot.

Still, it looks pretty good at parties.


#3 Third party titles
Nerds get their Star Wars wish as Nintendo presented Star Wars: The Clone Wars featuring light saber duels and more. In my opinion, it's gonna suck.

Shaun White Snowboarding. It's old hat, but it looked really fun on the Wii Fit Balance Board.

Another game that's old hat is Rayman: Raving Rabbids TV Party, but it looks extremely funny especially with your butt controlling the Wii Fit balance board!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is coming to the DS with its own engines and sandboxing as well.

And despite some bad critical reception for Guitar Hero: On Tour, it's getting a new installment called Decades.

And then, there's Call of Duty: World at War. This new CoD transports everyone back to World War II, but now, it's the Japanese you are fighting instead of Hitler's army. It features the flamethrower, and hopefully will also have the online capabilities of its next-gen brethren.

#4 The DS and the airport
A representative relates, "If you're like me, a person who spends way too much time on the airport, my time is almost always spent playing my DS. But what if the DS provided me with some great information like the nearest ATM or Mexican restaurant when I land? This is all being tested."

The title is called Cooking Navi or something like that, and I don't know how all of this will work.

#5 Animal Crossing: City Folk
It's the cutesy simulation title everyone loves: it's Animal Crossing!

OK, I'm not that much of a fan of these kinds of games except the Sims, but I have to tell you that the probability of this game being a system seller is high, especially since it will also be the first game to feature voice chat.

Yes, you read right: Voice chat.

Voice chat isn't as private as people would like, though, and that's because the voice chat accessory is made to look like a loudspeaker. Hmm..., I'd like to see how this will go.

Anyway, there are also new features in Animal Crossing: City Folk, most notably being able to take the game online, as well as sending messages to a friend's PC or cellphone. That's actually pretty cool.

Of course, this feature has been much requested, and I think the game will unveil even more surprises once it releases in the holiday of 2008.

#6 Vague Announcements That We're Keeping An Eye On
Nintendo is still not unsheathing its potentially huge collection of secret games that are being lined-up especially for hardcore fans. Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo said that the Mario and Zelda teams are on to something big, and Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed, also vaguely, both.

"We're still looking for unique ideas... and we even toyed with the idea of first-person Zelda.," says the legendary Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda creator.

Overall
Overall, there's not much in store for the Nintendo gamers out there, but I have a fuzzy feeling that this is just a spoonful of what's to come. Nintendo is definitely taking the mysterious-ness a little bit too far, but that's just gonna make fans crave for more.

And then there's


Sony doesn't disappoint compared to Nintendo, and that's because they unveil some really, really cool blockbusters.

#1 Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Ratchet and Clank return for a new adventure- a pirate adventure. But it's only available through the online PlayStation Network so yes, it's a downloadable.

#2 Resistance 2
One of the best launch games in the PS3 has come back! Will it surpass the first?

#3 God. of. War. III!
Yes, it's finally been announced! God of War III looks like a great epic mythological tour of one of the most famous modern game characters: Kratos. Sony teased everyone with a trailer, and that's about it.

In the end there will only be chaos.

#4 Little Big Planet
Once again, this little bubbly platformer impresses with its custom, user-friendly construction of levels and online sharing features, thus causing more excitement among the PS community. It ships in October.

#5 Resistance goes to PSP
For the first time, Resistance Retribution for the PSP gets shown. And it looks really nice!

#6 inFAMOUS
It looks really promising and it's about a guy named Cole who survives an explosion and gets some neat electric superpowers. The twist in this game is that you are free to do what you want, and it's either you ruin the fictional city of Empire or enrich its citizen's lives. It's all up to you.

#7 Gran Turismo TV
Basically, it's a feature found in existing game Gran Turismo 5 Prologue that enables you to watch licensed videos online. Top Gear has been announced to provide some content, as well as a Ferrari feature.

#8 PS3, even cheaper!
There's no word on what's gonna happen to the older 40GB model, but one thing's for certain: the 80GB model will have a huge price drop and will cost $399! Now that's a compelling reason.

#9 Games, even cheaper!
Warhawk, Oblivion, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Need for Speed Carbon, Resistance: Fall of Man get the Greatest Hits pasted on every cover, and that means they're cheaper.

#10 Don't forget: The PS2!
Sony says that 130 Titles are coming to the PS2 this year, and will include Lego Batman, and more family-friendly titles.

#11 PSP game sequels!
Patapon 2, Loco Roco 2 and Midnight Club LA are the newest titles announced. Cause for PSP owners' excitement? Hell yeah.

#12 DC Universe Online
This is basically an online game that features heroes from the DC universe, although you can also make your own.

#13 MAG
MAG is a title that will allow for whopping TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY SIX player battles! They will be divided into squads and will have different skills.

#14 Video Store
Like in iTunes, you can buy movies in the PlayStation Video Store!

As you can see, I was even more hyped up in the Sony conference than in the Nintendo conference, because almost everything they showed was really, really cool. Ironically, I don't even own a PSP or PS3!

Sony is so gonna have a good year. I guess FF13 is not gonna be the end of the world after all!

E3: Final Fantasy shockers!

Day 1: The Microsoft Keynote
Before I go to the really, really, really big shocker/s, let me clear these out first:
>Gears of War 2 gets a new trailer.
>Rock Band 2 gets AC/DC, thus causing rhythm fans to go baloney.
>The casual audience gets more games on the 360 Live Arcade platform, one of the most prominent being "I'm In The Movies!" which looks more like an Eye-Toy game for the PS2 by Codebreakers.
> Microsoft rips of Sony's SingStar karaoke series with their own "Lips".
> There's a new Halo game coming out called Halo Wars- and it may not have Master Chief!
> Resident Evil 5 gets co-op on our asses (although IMO, co-op will feel like SSBB's Subspace Emissary: it doesn't look like it's given much thought because the camera only focuses on the first player).
> Fallout 3 goes to 360 and not only PC.
> Mirror's Edge looks really sweet!
> Take a look at Spore: Will Wright's new simulation thingy.

BIG NEWS:
When you see Final Fantasy, what comes in your mind?

Cloud Strife, Tidus, Yuna, Squall, and oh, the PlayStation.


Now, it's all gonna change because the newest installment of the Final Fantasy series goes to the XBox 360.

Oooh, that's gotta hurt, Sony!

And then, come more rip-offs, courtesy of MS.

OK, they've revamped their famous dashboard, and it looks pretty nice. But look more into the first picture and what do you see?
A F**KING MII.

Thinking about it just sickens me, especially since the 360 was built almost primarily for the hardcore. And now they're going the way of the Wii? This is of course gonna be inducing some competition, but personally, when I mix the two terms XBox and avatars together, I get lost.

I mean, yeah, there seems to be a lot more Home-like options than that of the Wii, but still, this is just too derivative.

Tomorrow: NINTENDO!!!!
(Picture credit goes to my friend Hallway_Giant from the GameSpot community.)

GAMING FEATURE: NARUTO ROAN: When East meets West

I'm not a fan of Anime-based video games but it seems that one of them has caught my attention. But what makes it different from other games of past is the fact that a Western company is in charge of everything (except the source story).

Naruto: Rise of A Ninja (for X-Box 360 and PSP) is this game of interest. Though the core gameplay (during climactic fights) has yet to be demonstrated, the game seems to be heading the right direction and if successfully implemented, Ubisoft Montreal's version of the game franchise might just become one of the best anime adaptations ever.

There is this belief that the home country where something is created is best made in the same country but the thing is, Japanese developers typically LIKE making brawling slugfests from anime so it's not a big surprise that only few of those type of games gain any success commercially nor critically. Plus, it's also a rare thing to ever see an anime-inspired game fleshing out all the characters and the mythology in a story/anime, nor truly developing them as the story progresses. This is how Eastern sourced anime getting derived by the Westerners in a game got so significant.

Alas, Naruto: ROAN isn't the first (I think) game franchise to get developed and published from scratch by a Western company (I think.). But disregarding the cultural differences, this new Naruto simply has lots of promise especially since it is being developed by the prestigious Montreal studio of Ubisoft who has won accolades for the Prince of Persia series, XIII and let's not forget Splinter Cell (TRIVIA: They have a Shanghai studio, too! Hehe.). To prove this to you, you can visit Gamespot's preview here.

Halo 3: Bigger than Spidey?

Spiderman 3 raked in a total of 151 million big ones in a weekend. Halo 3 gets 170 million bucks in a day. Is it ever so obvious that games are simply more profitable than movies nowadays?

Well now that Resident Evil is doing big bucks in the box office, why not a Halo movie? Will that equal more money for Microsoft's Marianas-trech-deep pockets? Most probably. But thing is, the idea DID materialize since God-knows-when! Peter Jackson was slated to direct it but Microsoft, Jackson, Universal and 20th Century Fox backed out and stopped financing said project. Oh well...

Some old news...

"Sigaw" is now a Hollywood movie
You must've read it in the paper or maybe in Student's Digest but one thing's for certain... It will probably suck. Though the original has been critically acclaimed here and abroad, Asian horror flicks are usually remade badly without the horror factor of the original. Will this be the fate of this remake? The thing that makes this relatively unsure is the director is the same one who manned the original (Yam Laranas)... plus, Iza Calzado also reprises her role. Plus, their producers will probably have a lot of money, since one of them even has Academy-Award winning The Departed in his resume alongside un-scary and sometimes unintentionally comedic Ring and Grudge franchises. It will be named, "The Echo"... which kinda seems a bit corny like "FOG". Still, it might actually benefit from the Hollywood treatment... who knows?

Is PS3 the start of a growing trend...
of games looking badass but play bad? Probably. It has Lair, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam, Championship Sprint, Rampart and Sonic the Hedgehog to name a few. Though the other next-gen systems offer their own unbearably bad games, it's unbelievable to see that from the few number of games you can find in the PS3, most of them actually disappoint and not go the extent of being the best in technical and gameplay aspects... which is what its predecessor, the PS2, achieved.

Halle Berry: 3 months pregnant
Halle's probably desperate.

Stars probably know that celeb pregnancy is big news... and Halle Berry just divulged the maturity of her fetus- 3 months! If stars just wait at least 3 months to report that they're pregnant must be hungry for buzz... especially since Halle is not much of the great actress she used to be.

Brangelina
I've always wondered why people still swoon over the couple.

Though I'm not really a hater of Angelina nor do I think that Aniston deserves Pitt, they're gettin' old. You gotta admit that they are.

"Weird Al"'s our assignment...

My addiction's not pointless anymore. But I don't even know what the heck "You Don't Love Me Anymore" is! How Ironic.

(Speaking of Weird Al) Listen to This:
A mellow, steady beat combined with lyrics no one can beat, Usher's confessions has just reached another level.



GAMING (Not much of a) Jaw-dropper: Rock Band - now on the PS2

Obviously, EA and Harmonix know that the PS3 is a total flop.

If you shunned Harmonix for the decision to release such an ambitious project in next-gen consoles, shun no more. PS3 content is definitely also going to the PS2... considering the large fanbase it has.

It's still speculated that the pricing may well be at the hundreds. Pre-orders have reached to a hundred and ninety-nine point ninety-nine dollars, making people believe that this pricing scheme is in finality. Unfortunately, Harmonix isn't ready to reveal a real price yet so... a pirated version is a sure sell.

This venture by EA Games, Harmonix and MTV has made recording companies offer more master tracks, therefore increasing its big fanbase that Harmonix built with the Guitar Hero series... into potential garage bands and lots more. A Wii version might be on the works.

The console wars...

It's been long since I touched this sort of subject and maybe it's time I did. So what's the take on the console wars after this year's E3? Well, the prospects of all companies seem bright this year. And here they are for the "Big Three".

Sony: I'd call the PS3 a technical advancement. But this thing is actually not of much significance when it released alongside the Wii. But this year, the tables might turn in favor of the PS3 because all the gaming heavyweights are finally releasing this or next year. Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Grand Theft Auto IV, Heavenly Sword (Boy, is this game cool! And it's directed by Gollum of the LOTR movies! XD), and Assassin's Creed (from the guys at Ubi Montreal). Plus, there is also the intriguing new Metal Gear Solid game which features Snake (the main character) trying to shoot himself with a gun! Boy does it bring chills and excitement!

Too bad the release of the PS3 was botched by a wrong strategy.-->

Sony made a wrong move at phasing out the cheaper PS3 though, which would mean less sales. But the revamped PSP is surely better especially in a lower price range!

Microsoft: Their console has the most number sold but then again, it was released a year prior to the Wii and the PS3 but this old dog has some new tricks in its sleeve and it won't give up this war. They're currently on the offensive as they prepare to release another edition of XBox 360 and another edition of Halo as well. They're even luring some Simpsons fans in with their new Simpsons Movie Edition XBox 360 which might give them more "D'oh!".

Don't let your donuts crumble on this one!--->

Nintendo: The innovative little tiger that could is still fighting with yet more innovative stuff. And it's also a nice idea to combine the tracking sensors of the Wiimote and the Nunchuck to create a gun for FPS's like Resident Evil perhaps (it was also demonstrated in E3. Look for the video in the archive entitled 'Viva Le Nintendo'). Plus, the new Wii Pokemon game which features DS connectivity (as has been the landmark of Pokemon games for the past 10 years) is also coming. And for the obese people over there, there's Wii Fit which is Shigeru Miyamoto 's (legendary Mario and Zelda creator) new game (aside from the much-anticipated Mario Galaxy) targeted for fat and fit adults and children alike (it features a cool board to boot). Plus, there is also Super Smash Bros. which pits Nintendo characters against each other (as well as Snake from the acclaimed Metal Gear Solid series which, ironically, is exclusive to the PS consoles from 1-3,)
<-- The Wii is still pretty much in fighting form.
Anyway, the DS is still in demand especially with the imminent release of the first true blue Zelda DS game as well as the intense demand for the new Pokemon RPG's.

After viewing and reviewing all these things, I still stand by the Wii. Especially with the irresistible deals at Greenhills! Wii Wiil Make Things Wiird. XD

Long-Term Review of the Sony Ericsson W800i, and Nintendo DS (originally posted March 16, 2007)

Before I start this review, let me say that you shouldn't be reading my blog anymore. 'Coz it's just gonna start getting boring and boring-er. In time, it will get corrupted by technology related posts and you'll get I dunno... nauseous? This warning doesn't sound threatening but I'm sure as hell that you're gonna close the tab anyway (or press back). But for those wanting to see how a person lives with a cellphone like the W800i or a handheld like the DS, you can read on I guess...

the sony ericsson w800i long term review
1 year after purchase

When I purchased it, it was one of my most dear possessions. After a year, it has experienced 1 memory card replacement (it was probably my fault), 9 accidental (but minor) falls, a few scratches and a wiped out joystick (which i guess, what all W800i units succumb to... it's still manageable though). But I still have lots of fun with this phone especially because of it's (still) long battery life (but it has slightly reduced from charging), great file support (I use the m4a format or AAC as iTunes calls it), clear LCD, good Internet (due to my downloading of Opera Mini) and well, my 2GB memory stick upgrade (the phone supports up to 4GB memory sticks). No, it doesn't have 3G but it (still) works. Due to my excessive strap playing, it (the strap) snapped and I have yet to try putting a Bluetooth headset on it (though many say it doesn't work on the BlueTooth enabled phone).
I still plan to use it for years... or maybe until the joystick gets totally broken. (I will never buy a phone with a joystick again)
If you just bought a W800i, be warned not just about the joystick, but also the music transfer software. It doesn't work at all. Buy a USB Bluetooth instead because the USB manual file transfer isn't effective either.

Nintendo DS long term review

1 year 3 months after purchase

It all actually depends upon the game whether the life span of your DS will be long or short but this isn't really the case here. It is advisable to buy a DS lite instead of a first generation DS since, for starters, the DS lite is lite-r than the original DS. Anyway, my first-generation DS is still working and its battery life's shortening wasn't really noticeable even with many charges, it has endured several falls, mostly minor, one time it almost got run over by a Honda Civic near Starbucks. Anecdotes aside, the first-generation DS is actually quite more durable than the lite version, so if you opt for a brighter screen and a better grip on your stylus (among other DS design improvements on the lite version), go with DS lite. If you want durability, you'll have to pay the price of having a handheld that doesn't really fit in your pocket because the first-generational DS is quite bulky, but still there are those benefits in the long run...

(NOTE: This post has been proofread from the original post found in my Friendster blog.)