The Sandbox

I made a post over at Tech Talk, comparing Sony and Apple, and how Sony falters in delivering cool gadgets, while Apple tends to not do so. It's mostly techy and not gamey, but has liberal mentions of the PS3 and PSP, so there's some gaming info there, if you want to check it out.

I may as well describe what I would have hoped for from the new PSP, and why I would think it would be better than what Sony has delivered.

...does anyone really want to buy a PSP because it has a Darth Vader stenciled on the back? I mean, what am I missing here? There's a picture, that you could probably find as a sticker, of a character whose evil badass nature has been forever ruined by the fact that he apparently killed, not children, but "younglings", in an utterly insipid movie. Otherwise, it's a PSP. If you don't have one, you're not missing a ton: get a DS instead.

I bow before our new End of Year Best-of list overlords. Here's my short list of my favorites of 2007:

1. Lord of the Rings Online. Because I worked on it for four and a half years to ship it, and have worked on it since then, and it's clearly the best MMO of 2007. No personal prejudice here, no sir. But I'm playing it, which says a lot about a game that I've worked on (which I seldom play post-launch).

2. Rock Band. My childhood dreams of drumming, stifled by my parents who desired peace and quiet in their house, are now finding outlet, and obliterating my wife's goodwill towards me.

3. Portal. Great little game. Suffers from the "giant thick client to play a teeny-tiny game" problem, but who cares when it's this fun? You want thin client, play Flash Portal.

4. Super Mario Galaxy. I used to disdain Nintendo, early in my gaming career, as nothing but Cute. Jeebus, was I an idiot.

5. God of War 2 / Heavenly Sword. They're the same game, with different avatars of destruction. But they're both onslaughts of epic annihilation that appeals to the little kid in me that still writhes with excitement when I see shiny things.

6. Bioshock. Great art direction. Gameplay and story were sort of meh, but they tried.

7. Team Fortress 2. TF is back, and it's still fun. I miss EMPs, though.

8. Phase. Addictive little iPod game. Five bucks well spent.

Not on the list, but still decent: Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect. They're really good, but I was not inspired to finish any of them, so I can't feel good about giving them a final score.

Didn't play: Call of Duty 4, Crysis, lots of other things. I only have so much time.

It was a good year for games. 2008 will have some work cut out for it: Metal Gear Solid 4 doesn't look so "ZOMG" these days, now that we've seen other games that look just as good.

Interesting leakage courtesy of SPOnG. Word has it that Sony is set to announce Skype compatibility for the handheld PSP platform. SPOnG cites some fine print on Sony's website for next week's Consumer Electronics Show which says PSP players will be able to "Call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system." Even juicier, Sony made a follow-up statement saying that "further details will be announced shortly."

Why so sweet? Just ask anyone who already uses Skype, which lets you make phone calls over the Internet for free or next to nothing. A Skype-powered PSP means a gamer won't just smacktalk, but call their grandma in Lithuania too. Is the PSP evolving into Sony's answer to the iPhone?