Seriously, what the hell is going on with 2013??
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1. Not a joke! Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb is currently performing a cross-country “town hall”-style damage control tour on behalf of the giant software corporation because of the widespread rejection of its evil policies and clueless anti-consumer marketing. This humiliating task is a proof that Microsoft is desperately scrambling to save their reputation and trick gullible shareholders and partners into supporting their trojan horse DRM nightmare machine.
Wearing a retarded hat in order to sell himself as something other than a cynical corporate spokesperson, Larry “My Name is Larry Hryb So I Call Myself Major Nelson” Hryb tries to shut down a pointed interview about the Xbox One by changing the topic to a limited-exclusivity shooter Titanfall, saying “Have you seen Titanfall? Enough said. Conversation over!”
According to the Huffington Post report:
Hryb said he’ll embark on a cross-country tour this month, making stops in U.S. cities to similarly assuage concerns about the next-gen console — just like he did at last week’s GameStop Expo. The 180-degree reversals and low-key repentance are unprecedented moves for a company like Microsoft, which once hired Cirque du Soleil to theatrically unmask the first Kinect. [source]
I suggest you read the full article. And hey, maybe if Don Mattrick hadn’t jumped the sinking ship that is the Xbox brand a few months ago, it would be he who’d have the honors!
2. Meanwhile, Sony has announced a fascinating little device called “PS Vita TV” in Japan, which is essentially a fully-fledged PS Vita platform, except in a tiny box that hooks up to your TV and is controlled with a Dual Shock 3 controller:
This may seem like a weird move, but the features suggest that it could become a small phenomenon. Freed from the constraints of the handheld screen, this pretty affordable device would let customers:
- Play select PS One games
- Play select PSP Games
- Play select Vita games
- Play select indie games
- Stream media from your PC
- Stream video content from services like Netflix and Hulu
- Use music streaming services
- Play Mp3s
- Play video from memory card
- Purchase/rent content from Sony’s video store
- Browse the Internet
- Access social media sites
- Play select PS3 games
- Stream your PS4’s output to other TVs in other rooms
- Use the Gaikai game streaming service
(list more or less provided by Marty Chinn @ NeoGaf)
Sony knows that the PS Vita platform is pretty damn good, but putting it on a TV is a rather efficient way to lower the price, multiply the audience, and take advantage of the cheap TV Internet box trend that’s happening these days. I already own a Vita (and have been enjoying Divekick and Spelunky on it recently, both Cross-Buy games that work with my PS3 too!) but if I had multiple TVs in my house that I wanted to stream content to, I’d buy one of these… if they announce it for North America.
3. River City Ransom is getting a sequel!
This is a dream come true for me! The original River City Ransom remains one of my most loved games of all time, and these fine fellow Canadians are going to bring back that love with advanced physics, gorgeous animation, a wide variety of playable characters, old-school sound effects, and a bigger better city to explore!
If you can, please support these guys. This is like if somebody made a real sequel to the original X-COM, instead of a crappy first person shooter and a watered down board-game version. Get Hyped!