It’s the third month into the life of Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer and I think I’ve had enough of it.
You could say I’m in the trough of disillusionment or maybe there’s just so many issues (little or large) that I’ve just had enough.
I’ve played over two day’s worth. My Kill/Death ratio is hovering at around 2.40 and I’ve Prestiged once. But as time passed, the thrills of acquiring a chopper gunner and mowing people down is no longer there. Instead, I see a borderline broken game.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday 2010. This is the first NFL season which I’ve paid significant attention to, but it’s still superficial compared to the dedicated fans out there. Nevertheless, I do have a preference and want the Indianapolis Colts to achieve victory.
Yes, I’m going to against the impressive Madden NFL prediction.
How many games can you think of these days that give you that old, nostalgic feeling of wonder? I’m not just talking about wondering what’s going to happen next. I’m talking about the feeling of wonderment you get when you are faced with many discrete options to choose from and you have to stop and analyze the consequences of your actions before proceeding. And you know you have to choose carefully because you can’t go back, you don’t even know if the decision you are about to make is a drastic, life changing decision, or simply an insignificant forgettable gesture.
– Updated February 6, 2010
I acquired the Sony KDL-52V5100 for $400 last year as an offer for resolve my issue with the KDS-50A2000. It is most definitely an improvement, but it does have one flaw known as “red flashing”.
What is the “red flashing” problem?
It’s called “red flashing” by many owners of the AVSForum’s V5100 thread who are experiencing this issue. What happens is the color intensity/balance of an image will sometimes automatically adjust as seen in the video below:
The YouTube description is apt:
While difficult to capture with a video camera, in this clip the background noticeably shifts colors when the interview subject brings his hands into the frame. In person the color shift is visible across the entire picture.
Sony denies the problem exists.
Called local authorized repair shop and they were told that this problem was already addressed in the most recent firmware update which I already have. That’s bullshit. The most recent firmware available on the support site addressed the auto-dimming issue, not this new color fluctuation issue.
As for what they could do? They offered to pick up the unit for in-house testing, but that’s it; they could not do anything else for me. As we all know, this is not a simple part replacement fix. Many AVSForum members already tried part replacements without success. I told them I wanted to contact Sony Canada themselves. They said that was fine and to repeat what they told me.
Contacting Sony Canada produced no results. They were shocked to discover that the local authorized repair shop couldn’t do anything. They reconfirmed that I installed the latest firmware and that was all. They told me that they had to contact the local authorized repair shop to sync up info and will get back to me in a “few days”. I voiced my displeasure and said that I would be waiting.
Now I wait. If there’s no acknowledgement of this problem, I’m going to demand a replacement. I don’t want to risk another defective replacement.
Clip from the “Colbert Report” on November 16, 2009, with guest Paul Goldberger.
I recently wrapped up my time with three re-releases for the PlayStation 3: Call of Duty: Classic & the God of War: Collection which includes both God of War I & II. They were interesting experiments to say the least. The idea of re-releasing old classics with visual touch ups and fixes is fantastic. I can enjoy the gaming of old without having to endure the technical hiccups or deficiencies of the past — well, that’s the idea anyway. The three titles I played were fine examples of the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of re-releasing titles like this.
Call of Duty: Classic
Call of Duty: Classic was supposed to be an enhanced console port of Infinity Ward’s popular PC shooter of 2003. I thought the PlayStation 3 would be able to handle this game, but I was wrong. The game barely maintains 30 frames per second at times let alone 60. These technical problems are mind boggling.
I can handle the need to lean and shoot via the directional pad. I can also handle the unforgiving checkpoints. What I don’t understand is the total lack of care that went into this port. Modern Warfare 2 loads faster and runs better; a 2009 game can somehow stream and load off a disc faster than 2003’s Call of Duty. And as a cherry on top of this putrid mess, they permanently assigned the L2 and R2 triggers as aim and fire.
Do yourself a favor and play the PC version if you want to relive Call of Duty.
Verdict:
Stay Away
As soon as Electronic Arts acquired BioWare, many folks — including myself — believed Mass Effect and its sequel Mass Effect 2 will eventually end up on the PlayStation 3.
That didn’t happen. Or at least not yet.
Hidden away in the PC version of Mass Effect 2 were references to an unavailable PS3 version of BioWare’s critically acclaimed sci-fi epic.
[SFXGame.BioSFHandler_CharacterR?ecord2]m_nMaxRenegade=1900
m_nMaxParagon=1957
m_srXPFormat=340881
m_srSpendTalentPointsMessageXBox?=348754
m_srParagonRenegadeMessageXBox=3?48755
m_srSpendTalentPointsMessagePC=3?48753
m_srParagonRenegadeMessagePC=348?755
m_srSpendTalentPointsMessagePS3=?348755
m_srParagonRenegadeMessagePS3=15?3007
Some people pointed out that these references could be default Unreal Engine 3.0 code found in games such as the PC version of BioShock. However, those people would be wrong. The Unreal Engine doesn’t use “ParagonRenegade” messages.
I don’t think it’s a matter of “if“ anymore; it’s a matter of “when”. When will Mass Effect 2 come to the PlayStation 3? Will the original Mass Effect make it over as well? Many questions and, of course, EA is mum about it.
I wanted to repurchase Mass Effect for the Xbox 360, but I think I’ll hold off on that until we hear something about the PlayStation 3 versions. Why wait? Well, there could be a remote chance that the PlayStation 3 version will be re-worked and improved over the technically sketchy Xbox 360 build.
Who knows? By that time, I could probably pick up the Xbox 360 version for $10 again. Or maybe even have a new PC which can handle Mass Effect with 1080p resolution and at 60 frames per second.
I also wonder how much EA will charge for a three year old port of Mass Effect.