Team Ninja is Working On Hot Shots Golf!

This caught me off guard.

It appears that Team Ninja is working on the Hot Shots Golf title for the PlayStation Vita. Holy crap! That is cool!

Hot Shots is Sony's first party golf series, which has existed all the way back in the PlayStation 1 days. I particularly love the PlayStation Editions, they are fun stuff with playful character designs, fun gameplay and colorful golf courses to play in.

I was looking forward to series outing on the Vita. However, now I want it even more! :)

Podcast 02 Coming Soon

I just recorded a second podcast. It is a retrospective show on Sonic The Hedgehog's 20th Anniversary. It was recorded on a road trip and is around a half hour long. The history of Sonic over 20 years is really, really vast. Spanning from games to cartoons to comic books to toys to ect. and ect. I could have easily done a 2 hour show, but that would have been overkill.

To think about it, I didn't even mention the Archie comic series, which has been rocking along at over 200 issues now. That is incredible, for any comic book series these days.

Expect the podcast very soon, in a day or so. :)

Snake's Future Adventures

This year, Zelda and Sonic celebrated anniversary's with new games released, musical concerts and a ton of toys galore. Oh the happy celebrations!

What other BIG franchises out there have birthday extravaganzas? Why Metal Gear of course.

Released in Japan, in the summer of 1997, Snake's first adventure was a MSX title. The MSX was a Microsoft, Japanese/European computer with impressive tech underneath it's hood. In North America, Snake would debut in the summer of 1998 on the NES. I loved playing this port not only on the NES but on my PC-DOS as well. Snake would dodge the entire 16-bit console experience and it wasn't until Metal Gear Solid on the PS1, was his official North American return.

Yes, I know about Snake's Revenge. It's an unofficial NES sequel which was playable, yet left a sour taste for fans.

Metal Gear Solid changed a lot of lives. It legitimized video games as a narrative delivery experience. Only the player was in control. This game blew me away. It continues to be one of my favourite game's of all time.

Today, the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection is out for the PS3 and X-Box 360. Peace Walker is awesome. Transfarring is sweet. Life is good.

What plans does creator Hideo Kojima have planned for his fanchise's 25th Anniversary? Only time will tell.

Expect a Metal Gear retrospective podcast early in the New Year!

PS3 4.00 Firmware is Live. Updates for Vita!

PlayStation 3 firmware update 4.00 is live. Among the various updates is the big one. That is, updating your PS3 to be communication device for your Vita for game, movie, photo and save game storage/transferres. Holy crap! Sweet! Sick! ;)

Gamer Win Hands Down Podcast 01

My first episode! I discuss Sony's most excellent X-Mas overview with their brand new PlayStation branded 3D monitor. Plus, PlayStation 3 and PSP overview galore

Podcast Direct Link Download

Restarting In The Name of Peace

Kojima's epic Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection is now available in stores. The package contains the full explosive campaigns of Metal Gear Solid 2, 3 and Peace Walker. It also contains tons of extras including MGS 2's  VR Training modes and Peace Walker online multiplayer modes. Plus, the original MSX games that started it all Metal Gear 1 & 2.Next year is MGS 25th anniversary and this collection is a fantastic head start for the celebration.

Exclusive to the PlayStation 3 edition is "Transfarring", the ability to play Peace Walker in 1080p HD with Dualshock support on your PS3 and send you save to your PSP to play on the go. One could use a current PSP save and play it on the PS3, yet there is no access to trophies.

To unlock trophies, you must start a game and a save file on your PS3. Then "Transfarring" back and forth from one system to another will result in trophy unlocks. So I have started a brand new game and found it to be, of course, awesome stuff. Peace Walker is a fantastic game that every gamer should play and own. It definitely provides a sneak preview of the Vita's abilities, which we in North America won't discover until the end of February.

Damn, Peace Walker is one iof my favourite games of all time. Go play it now! :)

Dimensional Visions

During Sony's E3 2011 press conference, it was unveiled that an affordable, 24inch 3D monitor would be unveiled latter in the year. By mid-November that promise became reality.

The $499, Playstation branded monitor is an incredible site to behold. It even packs in one of the most impressive 3D demonstrations with Motorstorm: Apocalypse.

I'm happy with the monitor, with it's impressive 24inch vision of crystal clarity. I recommend it highly. Even with the package's omission of a remote control.