FlipC • Comments

• Analysts doubt Sony will risk gamer backlash with anti-used game tech for PS4 as GameStop shares fall

• FlipC 04/01/2013

  @smoothpete Yup the right to use software is tied to the software itself and the new owner can transfer that right.
  
  Of course that's why they all prefer Digital Distribution as they never sell you the software they only rent it to you for an indefinite period.
  
  Only a surprise that the PS4 hasn't been made as download only...? Reply -1

• Why are we stuck with games being released on a Friday?

• FlipC 23/11/2012

  Friday releases are fine; I can go into a store Saturday morning when I'm off work, see all the displays up and think "Yeah I'll get that". Better than seeing all the movie displays and realising that I can't get what they're promoting because it won't be released until Monday; might as well just order it online as to waiting. Reply +2

• Father blames Microsoft as son spends £1150 on Xbox Live

• FlipC 17/07/2012

  @Metal-Militia But he's not trusting the kid with his credit card he's trusting Microsoft with it - that's the conceptual difference. He's just bought his kid the ability to play online with his friends. How should he know that this is now tied into the whole XBox store; does it explicitly state that when he buys the subscription?
  
  So he should have read the manuals, but you've just said you've set up your nephew's XBox for your sister so is she "lazy, ignorant or stupid"? I'm sure she's not, but she has you who understands these things; what do you do if you don't?
  
  Some of what we consider obvious isn't necessarily so to a large number of people. Reply -2

• FlipC 16/07/2012

  So much negative criticism. How many here have watched a non tech-saavy parent buying an Xbox360 (or PS3) just for their child and handing it over for them to set-up? "Hey dad I need XBox Live Gold to play with my friends it needs your credit card details" and once it's got those...
  
  Sure blame it on bad parenting, and not checking one's statement for that length of time [shakes head] but how about a nice simple highly obvious booklet entitled "Parents - how to set this up for your kids to keep them safe and secure online"? which walks them through creating main/master accounts and child/sub accounts.
  
  Not everyone is as knowledgeable as those who frequent this site; I'm sure there are plenty of Daily Mail readers who are now frantically checking their credit statements and trying to work out how the parental controls work on whatever console they handed over to their kids.
  
  How much of a problem is this? I set up my 16 year-old cousin's PS3 and set the parental restriction levels to 7 as they should be. He bought "Battlefield Bad Company 2" a 16-age certificated game and it asks for the Parental PIN when he tries to start it. Why? Because it's internally rated at a 9. I contacted EA about this discrepancy the results in order of presentation to me:
  
  a) Never heard of this before
  b) It's because he's trying to play it online, and due to EU law you have to be over 18 to play online
  c) Level 7 is for 13-certificate games move him up to level 9
  d) It can't be a UK game; send us photos as proof.
  
  Now if option (a) is true then no-one has ever complained so either there's a lot of parents and 16 year-old kids out there happy to keep typing in the PIN or it's simply not a bother for them as they don't have the parental controls in place.
  
  Bets? Reply 0

• Okami HD coming to PlayStation 3 this Autumn

• FlipC 20/06/2012

  God Of War, Jak and Daxter, Silent Hill, Ratchet and Clank, and now Okami. If we see a Soul Reaver collection I'll be squeeeing 'til the cows come home. Reply +1

• Silent Hill HD Collection release date

• FlipC 07/03/2012

  Of course they're not going to include SH1. If they included it at all it would be as the original PSOne version (which would result in more complaints) or they'd have to do a lot of work to re-render a game they can still sell as is given it works under emulation on the PS3. Sure it's a shame for XBox owners, but sorry you never got to play it in the first place and now you still won't.
  
  As for SH4 - seriously? The combat heavy member of the series with those damn unkillable ghosts? Sure it was an okay game in its own right, but not exactly the best of the series. Reply 0

• Bethesda refutes Skyrim PS3 lag claims by Fallout NV dev

• FlipC 07/12/2011

  So either no-one at Bethesda tested for a PS3 bug that affected previous games by actually playing it; or they did and chose to ship it anyway. Reply +3

• PS3 firmware 4.0 releasing this week, details

• FlipC 01/12/2011

  @jefranklin18 "We've detected that you've been playing this game for 15 minutes. As mandated by Health and Safety advice we are now applying a forced 5 minute rest period. Please enjoy these soothing images and music... Warning: Before watching soothing images read product documentation for important information about your health and safety" Reply +2

• FlipC 30/11/2011

  Excellent so as well as getting a warning at the beginning of all the games we now also get one just for turning on the console; just what we needed. Next up they'll add a warning about using Move and 3D, which seems to the latest addition to the start-up screens of games.
  
  Hey Sony when it comes to the latter here's a thought - If I switch the console, or the game, to 3D mode show me the warning. If I turn on a Move controller, or set the game to use one, show me the warning. If I don't do any of those things there's no need to warn me.
  
  It's like being constantly reminded to mind the step when there is no step. Reply +5

• OnLive

• FlipC 30/09/2011

  For those discussing ownership let me put this into a wider picture - it's the same model for any digital distribution system. At no time are you buying a game or movie; you are renting it. That may be for a fixed period or it may be for an indefinite one. It may be for a subscription or a one-off payment. In any case you have never and will never own it and access to it is dependent on the distributor who will have added such into the small print that anyone signing up to the service has to agree to.
  
  In theory there's nothing to stop, say, Sony having a spat with Time Warner and removing all their movies from their catalogue despite you potentially having bought the right to view such at any time.
  
  This is no different. The only thing stopping such from happening is public opinion and negative publicity. Reply 0

• FlipC 29/09/2011

  @Quixz - No Spooke is getting negged for blaming us for not buying decent broadband when the majority of the UK doesn't have that as an available option.
  Reply +1

• EU PlayStation Store update 28th Sept

• FlipC 28/09/2011

  As mentioned by others here we once again glimpse the future of a monopolistic digital download only market. Sure I could save myself a "walk to the shops" and buy FIFA 12 at £54.99 or I could do exactly the same from Amazon for £12 cheaper. Likewise they too feature Child of Eden £9 cheaper and amusingly at a RRP less than that of the PSN Store.
  
  Ah but then I suppose there's all that added cost in um... someone help me out here. Reply +1

• Dead Island

• FlipC 06/09/2011

  "Playing as a cop-trained firearms expert, only to be told you can't actually shoot a pistol because you're not level 10" and that's killed it for me.
  
  Seriously if they can allow something that dumb for something that basic how more screwed up is the rest of the game going to be?
  
  "At one point I died in the shallow water on a beach, and reappeared on a rooftop 50 metres away"
  
  Oh that screwed up. Reply 0

• EU PlayStation Store update 6th July

• FlipC 06/07/2011

  Is this another reason to look forward to monopolised digital distribution? Reply +2

• First Duke Nukem DLC is free – for some

• FlipC 02/06/2011

  Raconteur, HL706 - Ditto. Yup we're the ones who supported you. We're the ones that made the game successful enough to even bring out a GOTY edition of it; and we're the ones you're turning your backs on? Tell me that ain't so. Reply +1

• June 2011 PlayStation Plus content

• FlipC 02/06/2011

  Think of the 'free' games as being rentals that are covered by your subscription price. While you're a subscriber you can access them; leave and you can't. The discounts only count for the period given, but once the games are bought they're yours beyond the subscription. The themes and avatars are the only real free thing here as you get to keep them if you unsubscribe.
  
  The Welcome Back package of a choice of two from five games (three of which I already own thank you very much Sony) is apparently a separate deal which you can only claim within 30 days of it going on offer. Those games you get to keep. Reply +2

• EU PlayStation Network down

• FlipC 21/04/2011

  Socom 4 and Portal 2 released today and someone decides this is the best time to do maintenance on the servers... yeah totally buying that Sony. Reply +1

• MMO in Tights: Will DC Universe change console gaming?

• FlipC 14/01/2011

  To round this all up - Am I going to buy a game that I have not been able to try, that conks out after a month, at the same price as a game which I've played a demo of and that I can play at any time for free? No, no I'm not.
  
  We need a demo or a much lower cost to entry here. Reply +1

• Game/video recommendations for PS3

• FlipC 27/07/2010

  If it's out they've not updated their site yet, still lists 3.40 as the latest. Reply 0

• MS insists you can sit with Kinect

• FlipC 08/07/2010

  Does this mean that along with the number of players, storage requirements etc that appears on the back of the game boxes Kinect games will also give standing/sitting information? :-) Reply 0

• Will Sony bring new PS3s to Europe?

• FlipC 06/07/2010

  I suppose it depends on whether Sony still have stock of the smaller hard drives they want to off-load to Europe first, otherwise they'd be mad not to offer the higher capacity versions. As mentioned here, big whoop they're swapping the hard-drive something that's been made simple enough for the end-user to do themselves hardly a challenge for those building them from scratch.
  
  @Salty_Wagyu - If you want to transfer everything you need to do a Backup first to an external storage device and then do a Restore once the new drive is in and formatted. It really is easy, the only trouble I had was accidentally stripping that one screw. Reply 0

• Retrospective: Thief The Dark Project

• FlipC 18/05/2009

  A game that could make you the gamer want to sit perfectly still and hold your breathe so as not to alert the guard. That gave you that heart-pounding moment of panic when entering a brightly lit room and seeing the door opposite start to open. A game where you would voluntarily sit in a shadow in a corner motionless for 5 minutes just to watch the guard patrol patterns, and where you would be try to be aware of everything in the area not just what's in front of you, but in every direction.
  
  How many of those are made today?
  
  Reply +1

• Red Faction demo available now

• FlipC 14/04/2009

  So let me get this straight. THQ are so proud of this game they'll release a demo of it before release so that we the public can judge for ourselves and presumably share their opinion and thus buy it on release. But to access it you have to apply to THQ and tell them who you are?
  
  I'm kinda of getting a mixed message here in that the people who are already registered or will register are likely to be the ones buying the game anyway. So THQ are so proud of this game they'll only let people who are likely to share that opinion try it out before release?
  
  And to think I laughed over the Americans scrambling to get KillZone2 demo codes when it was freely available here; that'll teach me. Reply 0

• FUEL

• FlipC 20/02/2009

  "Crate Lake in the centre" so that's where the FPSs get them all from; I did wonder. Reply 0

• No level cap in next Fallout?

• FlipC 30/01/2009

  @4th Variety: There is a reward for shooting outside of VATS - less degradation of your weapon; and if you do want something that hits where you want it to when manually shooting go and find Lincoln's Repeater Rifle which has a spread of 0. Reply 0