It’s Hakan. He is tanned. He enjoys using oil and hurting people. I’m so confused by Hakan, so I’ll let this video do the talking.

I really don’t know what to think of him. I’ll have to try him out for myself.

I had my doubts with Blur when it was revealed last week, but after seeing it in motion in GiantBomb’s Quick Look and studio tour of Bizarre Creations, it looks pretty damn slick.

I believe Jeff Gerstmann described it as “Wipeout Zero” and I think that description is apt.

Screenshots don’t do it justice, but here are some anyways.

There’s an Xbox 360 beta happening soon and I would love to get in on that, but I lack a Gold account. Too bad. I’m sure a demo will be on its way though.

Blur is scheduled for May 25^th, 2010 release for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Update: Calendar bug confirmed. PS3 lives. The ApocalyPS3 is over until next time. Fix it, Sony!

Xbox Live! goes down and so does PSN. But today’s outage was different for Sony’s console.

For one, it seems to be affecting the “fat” and older PlayStation 3 consoles and not the Slims. And then there are the symptoms which include:

• Corrupted Dynamic themes
• Error code 8001050F which means “Hardware Failure”
• Inability to launch games with Trophy support
• Inability to utilize purchased downloadable content

This seems to be more than a simple login issue since many of these games can be played if you logged out of PSN normally. So what’s going on here? Clearly, this is unacceptable, but it is an interesting problem.

I’ll update this post as I find out more on this bizarre issue.

February 28, 2010 – 8:01 PM Update: Sony is working on the problem.

February 28, 2010 – 9:50 PM Update: Members of GAF are suspecting that this is a calendar bug which resets pre-Slim PS3 dates back to 12/31/1999. This may be Leap Year related? Funny, if this is the case.

February 28, 2010 – 11:27 PM Update: Sony reporting Slims are working fine.

February 28, 2010 – 5:34PM Update: Sony is asking us to sit tight and hopes to “resolve this problem within the next 24 hours.” Are they letting time sort this one out?

I don’t care what you say, the EU Heavy Rain cover is the clear winner and when I get this game, I think I’ll go through the trouble of printing out a copy of this:

You can download the original size on PlayStation’s Flickr page.

Updated February 19, 2010 with screenshots

This was actually revealed a few days ago, but I didn’t want to drag magazine scans out and post them. I decided to wait for a more formal introduction to the returning Street Fighter III characters

Awesome.

Despite not being the biggest Street Fighter III fan, I welcome these additions since it adds to the history of Street Fighter franchise. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll grow an appreciation for these folks.

(more…)

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.

The new Final Fantasy XIII North America trailer is out filled with CGI, drama and Leona Lewis. It also features English voice overs with proper lip syncing — that’s a big deal!

I don’t mind the voice acting. It’s not terrible. But that song? That tacked on song from Leona Lewis: I don’t care for it. It just doesn’t fit the trailer of thematically. I don’t know how it’ll be used within the game (probably for something sappy), but I hope it’ll be better than the trailer.

Final Fantasy XIII debuts March 9, 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.