Robot Claw

This past week the new iteration of the Playstation Portable, called the ‘PSP Go’ was released. Here’s what the white version looks like:

The screen slides up or down like many cellphones, so the controls are hidden when it is not in use.

Now the release of this product is the source of a great deal of mind-boggling amongst gamers with a critical eye. Let’s consider firstly the pros of the new PSP Go:

Pros:
– ‘sexier’ appearance.
– smaller and lighter than the earlier PSP models
– Bluetooth support

And that’s basically that. Sony would list a bunch of other things in the above, such as the ability to save the state of the system (a cold pause button, in effect) or the download-only aspects. But the first can actually be done on any PSP and the latter… well lets look at the cons of this new version:

Cons:
– Absurdly overpriced at US$250, and even more in other countries
– Smaller screen that the original PSP, with a slower refresh rate than the PSP-2000 and PSP-3000
– Lower battery life, and an unreplaceable battery (so when it dies, your Go needs to be replaced…)
– Uncomfortably cramped controls
– New Memory Stick format (MS Duo 2/mini)
– Slow wireless communications (801b only, but even this would not explain the torturously long download times for games reported by those that have bought the thing, not to mention movies taking longer to download than they take to watch). Furthermore, no background downloading, and no Macintosh software to get media onto the system
– Download only. No UMD drive at all, no ability to convert existing games purchased on UMD to the Go.

This last one is the clincher. Anyone that already owns a PSP, and therefore owns games on UMD discs (think of them as little CDs) has no way to play those games on the Go due to it not having a drive. Furthermore, for obvious reasons Sony is not providing a system to allow users to download digital copies of the games they have already bought to play them on the Go. Lastly, although some games have been made available for purchase in the online story, it is only a fraction of all existing PSP games and barely includes any of the best games (such as anything by SquareEnix).

To make matters worse, Sony is charging the same amount for a downloaded game than they do for a UMD version at retail. The end result is that games cost more on the Go since most shops discount games and eventually put them in the bargain bin – two things Sony doesn’t do online. So if you buy a Go, not only are you buying games with no retail value (games are bound to your account, and if you sell the Go the new user will not get the games) but you are paying more than you would pay were you to go to a shop and buy the actual UMD version.

Lastly, the fact remains that the existing PSP models can do everything the Go can (including downloading and playing the online-only games) and more.

As I said, since the negatives overwhelmingly outnumber the positives with respect to this thing it’s really hard to understand why Sony even released it. Think of it a bit like is Microsoft released a new XBox 360 without a dvd drive, or if the DSi had come out without a cartridge slot.

I wonder in how many months Sony will quietly shelve this thing?

Almost four years ago now, after a trip to Australia, I decided to recollect all the Fighting Fantasy books I was a great fan of in my youth. In a matter of months I had obtained many of them, and as the years went by I would continue collecting. Not only the old books (from the 1980s) but also the new reprints by Wizard books, including the few new adventures (Howl Of The Werwolf, Bloodbones) they have put out.

In four years my collection has become near complete. I am missing only 3 actual gamebooks, those being Deathmoor (#55), Knights Of Doom (#56) and Revenge Of The Vampire (#58). On the rare occasions when any of these are offered for auction on ebay they are invariably very expensive or in the UK. Just yesterday I missed a winning bid on a copy of Deathmoor. My highest offer was $21 and it went for almost $60…

Other items I would like to have, in the interests of completing the collection, would be the last FF RPG ‘manual’ Allansia. I doubt I’ll ever have it though, for it’s one of the rarest FF-related items ever printed and routinely goes for hundreds of dollars at used book vendors. I’d also like to get the two-player gamebook, Clash Of The Princes (that I once owned) and any of the other peripheral books, such as the Zagor gamebooks, Goldhawk novels or the colour puzzle books (Tasks Of Tantalon, Casket Of Souls).

I remain optimistic I may be able to pick up one of more of such items in my upcoming Australia trip.

Anyway, the true purpose of this post is to report that Wizard books is once again rebranding and re-releasing the FF gamebooks! Renumbered re-releases of Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, Citadel Of Chaos, and Deathtrap Dungeon are already out (in the UK) and a brand new FF book – Stormslayer – is due in October!

Furthermore, they will continue to release older books but seem to be planning to prioritize new titles. The next confirmed new book (due early 2010) is called Night Of The Necromancer, and future planned titles seem to include Escape from Oblivion, Claw of the Fleshless King, The Cold Heart of Chaos and Assault on the Fortress of Evil.

I must admit I was a bit leery when I heard about the rebranding a few months back. But this seems like good news indeed – the series must be popular for them to be planning so many new entries! Unfortunately the books will not be available in the US at all, so I’ll have to turn to my usual contacts for sustained FF goodness 🙂

In related FF news, the iPhone game is due in October, and the DS game is due in 2 weeks!

< !!!

You can be absolutely positive I will be getting this. However I may wait until my plane trip to actually play it 🙂

Here’s a post for all enthusiasts of Doctor Who and video games… don’t all thank me at once 🙂

As best I can tell there have been only 6 video games based on Doctor Who over the years. I have played precisely zero of these, so I have a bit of a fascination for every one of them (well, except perhaps the most recent one). I have a pretty good idea at least one person reading this (*cough*, AW, *cough*) has played some and if you have, please share your opinion in the comments!

(Note that I am only describing the officially licensed Doctor Who games here – as you can imagine there are oodles of fan-made games, and even-more-oodles of unrelated games with Who cameos. I am also omitting various official ‘flash games’ the BBC has included on the Doctor Who website.)

Doctor Who: The First Adventure (BBC Micro / BBCSoft / 1983)

The first officially licensed Doctor Who game appeared in 1983 and ‘starred’ the fifth Doctor in an action game consisting of four mini-games that were themselves ripoffs of existing arcade games (Pac-Man, Frogger, Space Invaders and… Battleship!). The screenshot shown is from the third stage, the Space Invaders ripoff. Apparently the game was crap (surprise, surprise) and produced in limited quantity. Therefore it is sought after these days by collectors.

Doctor Who And The Warlord (BBC Micro / BBCSoft 1985)

A text adventure in which you play the role of the companion to the (unspecified, presumably Colin Baker) Doctor. Apparently quite an amateurish piece of software, and even harder to find intact these days due to low sales. Apparently it was planned to release a Spectrum version as well, but it was never made.

Here’s an original TV ad for the game, worth watching to hear the description of the advanced features (saving!)

Doctor Who And The Mines Of Terror (C64 & BBC Micro / Micro Power / 1985)

This was a very large, complex and difficult graphic adventure game in which the player assumed the role of Doctor number 6 (Colin Baker) as he squared off against The Master and a collection of alien baddies trying to make a ‘time reset switch’. The Doctor’s companion in this endeavour was a robot cat (seen in the image above).

The game was long in development and very costly for the developer, and poor sales (notice a trend?) led to their demise. I very strongly remember reading all about this one in the UK game mags of the day, and looking forward to getting it once it was released in Australia. Which, alas, it never was. In my youth this was the only Doctor Who game I ever knew about, and consequently the one I wanted to play more than any other.

Here’s a video of what it looked like in action.

And here is the theme song on the C64. (<- this is really, really awesome)

(Doesn’t that theme remind you of the Zelda 2 NES music?)

Dalek Attack (everything / Admiral Software / 1992)

This game, a sort of “Doctor Who meets Contra”, is perhaps the strangest officially licensed Doctor Who game ever made. It’s a run-and-gun in which you (as one of several selectable Doctors) face off against a wealth of baddies and blast the hell out of them with guns. In other words, it’s not very Doctor Who-ish! Be sure to check out the advertisement (on the right above), particularly the list of enemies they boast about (Sumo Wrestlers?!?!?). The game is apparently ludicrously difficult 🙂

The game came out for many different systems. Above are C64, Spectrum and Amiga screenshots.

< Dalek Attack review

Above is an original review of the spectrum version from a gaming magazine of the time.

And here’s a video of what the game looked like running on the Amiga.

Doctor Who: Destiny Of The Doctors (PC / BBC / 1997)

An elaborate CD-based  adventure , this game featured all surviving actors that played the Doctor reprising their roles  in an epic struggle through time against the Master (played by Anthony Ainley, in his final performance before his death). The game is a weird hybrid of Doom and Myst, and amazingly enough,  was even released in the US! Shamefully have to admit I never knew at the time, else I may have bought it. It’s still freely available on ebay or amazon.uk.

There are many videos of gameplay on Youtube. Here is an example. The game looks intriguing, albeit crap.

Also, the wikipedia has a lengthy description of gameplay.

Top Trumps Doctor Who (PS2, DS, PC, Wii / Eidos / 2008)

And now we are launched into the new era, with the latest game being a version of the Top Trumps card game, in electronic form. Reasonably playable, and (apparently) well programmed, I feel I should certainly obtain the DS version at some time…

The above screens are from the PS2 (left) and DS (right versions). Gameplay consists of taking a card from your deck and matching it against your opponent. The strongest card wins. Simple as that!

Here’s some video of the PC version. It actually looks fairly decent.

And that ends my list of official Doctor Who games. As I said originally I have never actually played any of these, although I would love to. Anyone know of any I have missed?