Goodbye PS2, Hello 360. May 12. 067
Today it’s my Birthday, I just turned 29. 1 year closer to the big ’3 – 0’ and yet somehow I still feel like I’m young and have the whole of my life ahead of me, which I guess in actuality, is true!
My loverly wife went out and bought me something which I’ve being umming and ahhing over getting for months, an Xbox 360. Before today I had always been pretty loyal to the Sony brand, having owned a PlayStation the day they arrived on these shores and following that a PS2. I actively despised the first Xbox for it’s appalling aesthetics but the 360, well over the months since it’s launch it’s looks and its’ feature set have grown on me.
In many ways the decision to finally go out and get a 360 has been fuelled by the somewhat disappointing approach that Sony seem to be taking with the PS3. Yes on paper it might have more oomph that the 360, but I can’t help but feel that Sony are already playing catch up, and the impression I get is that they’re floundering a little under the pressure.
The PS3 will launch come November and will most likely be the most fantastic console to ever grace retailers shelves. But factor in the entry price, and consider whether Sony can really pull off the whole ‘Live’ experience to (and beyond) the standard which Microsoft have set. One things for sure, competition in the marketplace is good for us players, it’s certain to push our respective chosen brands to give us that little bit more.
Oh, and my gamer tag is ‘ninefour’ is you fancy kicking my ass at PGR3. :)
Free Xbox360 Mar 21. 0618
I must admit, I’ve been just a little dubious of all the banner ads you see sprinkled on the web advertising free ipods, PSPs etc. Well, after stumbling upon a blog entry by some seemingly normal fellow, and taking some time to do a little reading up on the subject, it actually seems that some of these websites are for real.
Freepay (aka Gratis Network) have been received a lot of favourable write ups in the press so I decided to sign up for a free account with them and suss out what it’s all about, and what I would need to do to grab myself a free XBox 360.
How does it work then?
Step 1 – Sign up:
Well, it’s pretty simple really. To claim your free Xbox 360 you need to sign up for a Freepay account, complete 1 ‘offer’ and refer 10 other people whom must also complete 1 offer.
Step 2 – Select an offer:
Offers are basically links to partner websites of Freepay where you can sign up for some or other service, Freepay obviously get paid for advertising the service and refering a new user. You’ll have to pick from 3 available offers.
The best offer to sign up for is the ‘ScreenSelect’ service, this is what I’ve plumped for. You sign up for a 30 day free trial, this entitles you to rent as many DVDs and Games as you want during that period. Thereafter you are charged £9.99 per month, but you can cancel your account at any time during or after the trial and avoid having to shell out any £‘s. However it’s important to note that to complete the offer you have to rent at least 1 item (for free of course).
Step 3 – Refer refer refer!
Now that you’ve signed up and completed an offer you have 90 days within which to refer 10 people whom must also sign up for an offer. The best way to do this is to send your referal link to all your mates, and post an entry just like this one on your blog. In fact, just copy and paste this text and be sure to include your ‘referal link’ instead of mine.
Step 4 – Claim your Xbox 360
God knows if this will work, but hey, worst case scenario, we all get a bunch of free DVD rentals delivered to our door. Saves a trip to Blockbuster only to discover that all the decent films are out on loan. :)
PS3 launch dates confirmed Mar 15. 060
Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, took center stage at the PlayStation Business Conference in Tokyo (Japan) and delivered the news: PlayStation 3 will not release until November 2006.
However, he also revealed that Sony plans to release the system in Japan, North America, and Europe simultaneously this November.
PS3 will be in stores before the end of the year – within the first 10 days of November, to be exact.
Sony PlayStation 3 unveiled May 17. 057
Sony have officially unveiled the PlayStation 3. Where the Xbox 360 is ‘apparently’ based on the concept of ‘inhaling’ (WTF?) the PS3 looks more like it exhaled.
My initial response to the product design late last night was one of disappointment, I don’t think the PS3 has the ‘ooh’ factor which the Xbox 360 has, but then the PS2 was such a beautiful product, this is an evolution in design terms rather than the revolution that the 360 is compared to it’s predecessor.
There’s a ton of other related news over at ign.com RE PS3 specs, Sony’s partnership with NVidia, launch dates and backwards compatability.
Sony redesigns PlayStation 2 Sep 22. 040
Sony have announced a new, redesigned version of its Playstation 2 console.
Making its debut in stores from November 1st, the newly designed PlayStation 2 is half the weight of the original design, and the internal volume of the console has been reduced by an incredible 75%. The new design is only 2.8cm thick, compared to the 7.8cm of the original console.
Despite the smaller size, the new PlayStation 2 features an integrated Ethernet port for online gaming.