sony – Mattina Technology

What I liked at E3 2015

Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony showed off a variety of games at this years E3 Conference. There were several games that stood out to me and I can’t wait to play them.

Microsoft showed off Halo 5: Guardians, and the gameplay looks great. The trailer makes it seem like the player will be hunting Master Chief. It definitely seems like a different take on Halo and I can’t wait to jump into the action. There is also a new multiplayer mode called Warzone. This new mode allows ups to 24 players; in the past Halo games have only supported 16 players.

I also liked what I saw from Starwars Battlefront. The visuals and sound effects are superior to the original Battlefront games. One of the trailers showed multiplayer battles on Hoth and they include AT-AT’s and AT-ST’s. They also include X-Wings, Tie Fighters and Snowspeeders. It is great that vehicles are returning and I can’t wait to get into the action. The game play footage also showed that players can play as Jedi and Sith when they activate a power up. Everything looks really polished and this is my most anticipated game of 2015. However, I am disappointed that there is no campaign mode.

Many Nintendo fans were not impressed by Nintendo’s E3 Direct. However, I liked several of the games that they showed off during their direct. I liked what I saw from Star Fox Zero. It looks like the player can transform their ship into several different vehicles. This new mechanic looks really cool and I think that it will add a lot to the gameplay. It has been a while since Nintendo has released a main series Star Fox game. I also thought Mario Maker looked like a lot of fun. Nintendo is giving the user a ton of different assets and tools to use. It looks like the player can randomly drop Bowser in the middle of any level. This game looks crazy and I can’t wait to see what other people create. I am also pretty excited for the new Mario Tennis game. The player can get a power up that makes them grow huge. I have always enjoyed the Mario Tennis games and hopefully this one delivers.

What was your favorite game at E3 this year and what games are you excited for this year?

-MT

PS Vita Slim coming to North America

Yesterday Sony revealed that a new model of the PS Vita is coming to the United States. The new Playstation Vita is 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter then the original Playstation Vita. The new Playstation Vita ditches the OLED screen for a LCD screen. I think that they should have stuck to the OLED screen because of the brighter and more vibrant colors. Typically OLED screens are higher quality then LCD screens. The new Playstation Vita has 6 hours of battery life; this is two more hours then the original Playstation Vita. It also has 1GB of memory built in. The new PS Vita Slim is coming out this spring for $199. Sony is also releasing a bundle that comes with Borderlands 2, an 8GB memory card and six DLC packs for Borderlands 2. I am going to stick with my original PS Vita. Will you get the new Playstation Vita?

Source: Sony

-MT

Playstation Now

Yesterday Sony announced a new service called Playstation Now. Playstation Now will allow users to play Playstation 3 games on various devices using the cloud. Playstation Now will be available on the Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita and select Sony T.V’s to start off with. Playstation Now is coming to the United States this Summer. Sony is able to leverage this technology with Gaikai. I am excited to try out this new technology because I missed out on the Playstation 3. Gamers have the ability to rent specific titles or to buy a subscription to the service.

Source: Sony

-MT

PS4 Unboxing Videos

The Playstation 4 came out last Friday on November 15th in North America. I enjoyed searching youtube for creative unboxing videos. One user boogie2988 decided to throw his Xbox 360 to make room for the PS4. Everything in this video was so surprising. When I first clicked on the video I thought that it was going to be a regular unboxing video.

IGN also did a creative unboxing video. They decided to have everyone in the office unbox the system at the same time. One individual decided he would unbox the Gamecube. I think he was a few generations off.

Finally I watched a more traditional Playstation 4 unboxing video. What is your favorite PS4 unboxing video? My favorite one was the unboxing by boogie2988, I thought his was the most entertaining.

-MT

Playstation Vita Review

The PS Vita is a top tier handheld system. I would even dare to say that it is the best handheld system we have seen so far. The graphics are amazing and it feels like I am playing a home console when I pick up my Vita. I picked up my Playstation Vita at Gamestop for $199. It came with a digital copy of the Walking Dead, a 4 gig memory card and 3g capabilities. I wish they included a case, but we will get into that later. Overall I’ve had a positive experience with my Vita.

What I like about the PS Vita

I love how the games look with the oled screen; they look just as good as some of my Xbox 360 games. I am currently playing Rayman Legends on my Vita and I really like how the game uses the touch screen. The touch screen works just as good as an iPhone screen. It is very responsive. The Playstation Vita also has two joysticks on it. This is a big improvement over the PSP; the PSP only had one joystick. I also like how the Vita can play PS3 games like Playstation All Stars and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time. I am really enjoying Playstation All Stars; I never owned a Playstation 3 so I couldn’t play the game before.

What I don’t like about the PS Vita

I don’t like the proprietary memory cards. They are way too expensive and they hardly hold any games. I currently own two memory cards a 4GB memory card and an 8GB memory card. If you want to get a 32GB memory card it will cost you $73 on amazon. If you want to get a 16GB memory card it will cost you $39 and an 8GB memory card will cost you $20 on amazon. I hope that Sony lowers the cost of these memory cards in the future. I also don’t like the rear touch pad on the Playstation Vita. It scratches way too easily; if you get a playstation Vita do not put it on a hard surface. The day after I got my Vita I noticed a huge scratch on the back of the system. It would have been nice if Sony included a few bumpers on the back.

Final Verdict

The Playstation Vita has a very nice oled screen and touchpad. I like how the system has two joysticks and I also like how the system can play select Playstation 3 games. I don’t care for the proprietary memory cards; I wish Sony used regular SD cards. I also dislike the rear touch pad on the Vita, it scratches way to easily. The Playstation Vita does have some downfalls; however, it is a really powerful and capable system.

8/10

-MT

PS4 Release Date

By MT

The release date for the Playstation 4 is November 15, 2013 in the United States and Canada. It is also coming out in Europe on November 29, 2013. It is going to be a very powerful and exciting next generation system. It is going to have 8GB of ram, a single chip custom processor (AMD) and a built in hard drive. It is also going to have a optical drive that reads Blue Ray and DVD discs. The PS4 will set you back $399 if you decide to pick it up on launch. Some of the games that are coming out for Playstation 4 include Killzone Shadow Fall, Destiny, Infamous Second Son and Battlefield 4. Are you going to pick up a PS4 on launch day?

Source: Sony