The end of console backwards compatability?

Microsoft have revealed their future console the boring titled "XBox One" which is only slightly more original than Sony's revealed (or more like hinted at) Playstation 4. What both platforms have in common (besides using Blu-ray, rechargeable and vibrational controllers etc.) is their lack of backwards compatibility. So what? The current Xbox360 will only play some old Xbox games and the backwards functionality was totally removed from the PS3 - what's the difference here? Architecture.

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ICO and the waterfall

My previous dealt with why ICO as an escort mission works, although the order is out this started out about one particular mission - the Waterfall. I don't think anyone playing through ICO for the first time has ever 'got' the waterfall section the first time around and what doesn't help is that nearly ever walkthrough gets this wrong.

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ICO and the escort mission

I've finally got around to playing the remastered version of ICO; does it hold up after all this time... yes. Emphatically yes; sure some of the wall textures are a little blurry at times and the controls are reminiscent of Resident Evil, but the core of the game remains pure - that of an escort mission.

Don't run away I know what you're thinking "But the escort mission in games is the part that sucks the most; a whole game that's an escort mission - no way!" Let me explain why escort missions suck and why oddly enough Ico doesn't.

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PS3 Hard drive failure?

Oh what fun! After my backup drive (that contains my PS3 save data) failed now it appears the hard-drive in my PS3 has gone the same way. At least I managed to snag the save files onto a different drive before this happened.

Anyhow there I was trying to play Dragon's Dogma and it kept freezing, to the extent that even holding the power button did nothing and it required a full power off at the socket. Then finally it rebooted to tell me the file system was corrupt and needed checking. 100% later and it failed to reboot nor would it power off. Repeat, repeat. Enter Safe Mode look to rebuild the PS3 database, Preparing... and nothing.

Fortunately I've still my hard-drive from my previous defunct YLOD PS3 which happens to be exactly the same size. Now all I need is the time and daylight to switch them over and see what happens.

Update - Well the good news is my PS3 appears to be working. The bad news is that neither of the non-destructive techniques worked so I had to do a full restore to factory defaults.

Heh Borderlands 2's initial load is faster now. As of yet I've not tried Dragon's Dogma. I'll give it a week with B2 then try Kingdoms of Amalur if all seems healthy I'll install DD and if it falls over again at that point I'll know where blame can most likely be placed.

Two hours to sync my trophies though; yeesh!

Borderlands 2 still playing

I've already done a review of Borderlands 2 I played through as a single character and got to the end with the expectation of popping the disc and slotting in one of two games I've yet to play before slowly returning to a few of my older games such as Kingdoms of Amalur (huh I've done a full review but it's still draft, better look at that sometime) or even the first Borderlands.

I'm still playing Borderlands 2.

No I've not picked up the extra content; I'm also not playing through with my original character at the next challenge level. I've started again with a brand-new character. I'm doing all the same missions as before and yet somehow it's not boring. Being set-up with different weapons, different skill trees and a damn fine story makes this seem a different game. Sure I know what's coming and can anticipate, but with a different character I have to approach these things in a different way.

Annoyingly I now have the urge to experience the game through the eyes of the other characters too.

Borderlands 2 PS3 review

Other than catching up with telly I spent a vast majority of my time playing Borderlands 2 on the PS3, so is it really any good or just a useful time-sink?

The "2" at the end of the title should give the subtle hint that this is a sequel to the 2009 game Borderlands; for those unfamiliar with that title it's a first person shooter with role-playing elements set on the planet of Pandora and features a choice of four playable characters called Vault Hunters as they roam the planet in search of the fabled Vault which is rumoured to contain a fabulous treasure.

This sequel follows on from the opening of the vault, the rumours of another, and the arrival of yet another set of four Vault Hunters.

The first reaction from some may well be "Oh no yet another Shooter than tries to have 'customisable' role-playing elements" that's not Borderlands. This game really is a nigh-perfect marriage between FPS and RPG; in fact I'd say some of these elements are better than in some full-on RPG games.

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Dishonored endings - how they could have been

I'll be discussing the endings of Dishonored here and how they could have been better woven into the gameplay; therefore spoilers duh!

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Dishonored PS3 review

I'll start give Dishonored the highest praise I can offer - it reminds me of Thief. Sadly though it's not as good, but then again what is?

You play Corvo another mute protagonist from a long line of mute protagonists, wrongly convicted of the murder of the empress, imprisoned, escaped, and seeking to restore the rightful heir to the throne. All set against a steampunkish victoriana industrial setting with magic. It's a little Thief 2 ish with camera-type  sentries and roving guards some encased in stilt-walkers all the while sneaking around to get to the goal; knocking out guards, hiding bodies, and picking up loot. That's if you want to, nothing wrong per se in killing all the guards and charging through. Well nothing overtly wrong but doing so will result in the 'bad' chaos ending.

The influences are clear mostly Thief 2, a dash of Bioshock 2 and a light brush with Assassin's Creed. So inevitably I'm going to be comparing this to Thief 2 so if you haven't played this game - what the hell is wrong with you! Go, buy it now it's dirt cheap and play it, then play it again on the hardest setting now come back after the week it's taken you.

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Game Over 'bug' in Dishonored - the Pendletons

So after Doom 3 I've been playing Dishonored, definitely a Thief vibe to it, but still not as good. Anyway I was on the second main mission to kill two brothers and was offered a non-lethal method to do so - acquire a safe combination for Slackjaw the Gang Chief and he'll take care of them quietly.

One combination retrieved and I hand it over to him; up pops the 'targets eliminated' info and I head back to my pickup point. I get halfway across the yard when it jumps to a game over screen informing me that apparently I have "made an enemy of the one person who can eliminate the Pendletons" and offering to load up the last save.

This is bad for two reasons - firstly how have I made an enemy here? Secondly the game autosaves when I enter a new district  and then when I've 'completed' the quest which means I don't have a save that will take me back to the location where I can kill them myself.

Roaming around after my quest 'completed' autosave some of his gang attacked were attacked by members of his own gang who had the plague; what's that got to do with me? Turns out you make that enemy if one of the gang gets killed and when the two groups attacked each other I got the blame for the outcome.

This is seriously bad as after I first acquired the non-lethal option the gate where the plague victims are being kept opens by itself so someone is likely to get killed while you're present. So in theory it's possible to get a game open when I first returned to the district with the combination before even reaching the leader.


Through total skill (okay with some major luck) I managed to circumvent this bug. Using the Blink ability I can travel long distances. Blinking multiple times back to the district entrance I exited before anyone died. As this freezes and resets the district no-one got killed so no game over.

Doom 3 BFG review PS3

Doom 3 was released some time ago for the XBox and PC, but this is the first time for the PS3 and is part of a wider re-mastered anniversary collection that adds in the the new game along with the two expansions and, nicely enough, the original Doom and Doom II campaigns. Is it any good though?

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Killzone 3 review

I've finished the campaign mode of Killzone 3 last night which was a little surprising as I'd only started it on Tuesday. So that's maybe 6 hours of gameplay.

I've been with the franchise since the beginning and slowly despaired at the turns they were taking. In the very first game you got to choose your player type at the start of each mission which in turn determined your style of play. In the second they dropped all that and just plonked you in the body of whomever they wanted and handed you the weapons they thought you'd need. In this the third (and I hope) last of the series they've done exactly the same thing.

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Quantum Conundrum Demo PS3 review

Possibly due to the delightful weather I found myself with some spare time and wanting to step away from the wacky world of Skyrim for a moment I downloaded the Quantum Conundrum Demo at about 1.6Gb.

The premise from the trial (as it calls itself) is brief. You're in a house for no apparent reason that belongs to the disembodied voice of a professor who instructs you how to progress through his rooms. To do so you are required to manipulate dimensions which affect the properties of objects scattered about.

The Fluffy dimension makes things lighter, the Heavy dimension makes things heavier and the Slow-Mo Dimension well slows things down.

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Charging a PS3 controller with a mains wall charger

My new phone charges via USB so I gained a generic wall plug charger that accepts a standard A-type USB plug. Huzzah not only can I charge my phone, but also my wireless headset and my PS3 controller without having to leave the PS3 on.

Yeah of course that didn't work.

It charges the phone of course, and my Sony PS3 wireless headset; what it won't charge is the controller. Nothing wrong with the cable, nothing wrong with the controller. Looking around the 'net others have posed the same question and the consensus answer is surprisingly moronic (on Sony's part).

A USB cable has four internal wires - the outer two for power, the inner two for data. My wall socket charger only uses the outer two wires as it has no requirement to share data with my electrical wiring; and I'd be a little Skynet level of worried if it did. This is fine for my phone and headset, but it seems Sony's controllers won't accept a charge unless it can also accept a handshake/connection on the data lines.

Any reason why? Hmm beyond being able to sell special charging stations I can't think of any, but I guess that's enough.

So when it comes to charging it's all Animal Farm - 4 connectors good, 2 connectors bad.

PS3 games - Disparity between age certification and Parental level

Given the Battlefield Bad Company 2 kerfuffle, in that a game is being sold at an age level of 16 yet had an internal restriction of 18, I thought to check through all my games to see if there are any more out there.

I'm using Sony's own guidelines on European age certification and how they match up to Sony's own parental restriction level. Now there are gaps for example a 12-age is matched to a 5-level, but a 16-age to a 7-level. So what's a 15-age? Logically I have to add it as a 6-level; there's also no PG-age rating shown so I'll match it to around the 3 or 4-level mark 5-level at a push. So how do they match-up?
The good news is that every single 18-age game I own has the correct 9-level rating. Likewise every
3, 7, and 12 age game I own. PGs and U-certificated games don't have an exact match, but again they're close enough by my standards.

The problem comes with the 15 and 16 age certificated games.

[Update - as per the comment I'll also show the US ESRB rating along with the level that should make it]

Firstly the ones who get it right:

Assassin's Creed 2; age 15; level 7 [Mature 9]
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood; age 15; level 7 [Mature 9]
Batman Arkham Asylum; age 15; level 7 [Teen 5]
Batman Arkham City; age 15; level 7 [Teen 5]
Dungeon Siege 3; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Enslaved; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Heavenly Sword; age 15; level 7 [Teen 5]
Infamous; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Infamous 2; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Mercenaries 2; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Mirror's Edge; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Oblivion; age 15; level 7 [Mature 9]
Overlord; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Overlord 2; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
Prince of Persia Trilogy; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5 & Mature 9]
Red Faction: Guerrilla; age 16; level 7 [Mature 9]
Sacred 2; age 16; level 7 [Mature 9]
Star Wars 2: Force Unleashed; age 16; level 7 [Teen 5]
The Orange Box; age 15; level 7 [Mature 9]

Well done to all of you. Now the ones who get it wrong:

Alice: Madness Returns; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Assassin's Creed; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Assassin's Creed: Revelations; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Brutal Legend; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Call of Duty World at War; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Darksiders; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Deus Ex: Human Revolution; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Kingdoms of Amalur; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Mass Effect 2; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Rage; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Resistance: Fall of Man; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Silent Hill HD Collection; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]
Skyrim; age 15; level 9 [Mature 9]

[So although all the incorrect ones would be correct in the US some of the correct wrongs would be incorrect; so it can't be used as an absolute guide]

As can be seen both the Assassin's Creed and Elder Scrolls series change despite the fact their age rating doesn't. Also on the odd note they're all 15s which doesn't have an exact match with Sony documentation, did the publishers just guess or default to level 9? I decided to do a little test. As these were all PAL European releases what are the age-certification for their German counterparts.

To pick a couple Infamous is listed as an 18; so does the German Infamous share our level 7 or has it been corrected for them to level 9? On the other hand Assassin's Creed is close to our 15 with 16; so again is theirs incorrectly posted to level 9? 16 is an age match for Sony so if it's some automated software matching age to restriction I'd guess the German version of Assassin's Creed should be a 7, if there is anyone who knows someone with the German version I'd be very interested to find out.

It may seem pointless, but in essence these games are being mis-sold in the UK. They are clearly stating they are for those of age 15, or 16 and above yet internally restricted to age 18. Sure they can still be played, but only after the input of a parental code.

For comparison imagine buying a universal remote control that states it will work with your TV, but you discover that you need to use the original remote in conjunction with it for the first time every time you turn the TV on. How irritated would you be?

It's the same with these games. The companies have got it wrong, need to be told, and need to do something about it. So why aren't they? Why when I do a search do I not find a horde of 15,16, or 17 year-olds complaining about having to have their parents tap in a code to play a game that they are legally able to play?

Because no-one uses the parental control systems?

Battlefield Bad Company 2: Sony PS3 Parental Restrictions.

Bratus Major bought "Battlefield Bad Company 2" recently to go with his new Playstation 3. No problem with buying it as it is quite clearly a 16 certificated game. Problem when he sticks the disc in as it prompts him for the parental control PIN code.

How odd as this is, to state again, a 16 game and his restriction level is 7 which according to Sony's own documentation is the correct level for that age; why would it be having problems?

Because the disc is set to a restriction level of 9 (i.e. 18-age). Why is this the case - contact EA and boy do you get the runaround.

Firstly they knew nothing about it. Then it was because he was trying to play it online and you have to be 18 or over to play online due to EU directives except a) that's crap* b) there's a single player game aspect to it and c) it asks when you stick the disc in regardless of whether you're even connected to the internet.

Next they said that level 7 was for 13 year-olds and that the restriction level should be bumped up to 9 I pointed them to Sony's own documentation and asked them what would the purpose of parental restrictions be if we just set the level to the equivalent of 18 for a 16 year-old?

Finally they insinuated that it couldn't be a UK bought game and thus required proof in the form of photos of the box and disc.

Well proof has been emailed to them and they say they'll respond within 2 weeks; let's see what excuses they try to pull this time.

*So all those Little Big Planet players and PS Home users are doing so illegally?

Update here.

List of other titles that also get this wrong here.

Playstation 3's Parental Control Levels

If I seem to be smacking Sony about at the moment it's because this is the first time I've had to deal with their complete screw-up of their parental control system on the PS3.

I've dealt with how a child will forever remain a child in the eyes of Sony's Playstation Network; and how it's completely easy to bypass said controls. But what if you try to use them?

Sony allows you to set two different scales for watching videos or playing games. This should be fairly easy - set game and film content to 16 and they'll be able to play or watch anything with a 15 certificate or under. Of course Sony don't do that, they use their own scale.

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Words with Sony

I recently pointed out the ease with which a child could bypass the Playstation 3 parental controls and the incentive for them to do so.

But simply pointing that out here doesn't really accomplish anything, so I sent an email to the head of Sony UK; sadly he was Out of Office until yesterday, but he's obviously passed it on as I had a personal rather than stock reply from someone one rung down, which I was kind of impressed with.

The short answer was 'You're right - you can't upgrade, but your points are appreciated and I'm forwarding it on for review'

So who knows maybe (soon even) it will be possible to upgrade accounts.

The way around this seems to be to set up a normal account by lying to Sony about his DOB and then setting a PIN on the parental controls for that account. In theory this should restrict him as to what he can see or play, but ironically perhaps not what he could buy (i.e. rent an 18 certificate film from the Playstation Store, but not be able to watch it) or spend.

Annoyingly this could still be deactivated by reseting to factory default which resets the PIN to 0000; though that would be highly obvious.

Still a ridiculous situation that I even need to think about how to do this.

Sony Playstation 3 parental control failure

I've already dealt with Sony's stance on updating a PSN sub-account to a master account; but it gets worse.

The responsible adult sets up a PS3 user and associates a PSN account with it; they then create another PS3 user for their child and associate a PSN sub-account with it. They set the parental controls and walk away secure in the knowledge that they can't access the internet or 'adult' games or movies.

That is until the child creates a brand new user on the PS3 and associates that with a different PSN account with a fake birthday in which case they've by-passed the lot.

In there any way to stop this? According to Sony, whom I spoke to directly, no.

So what's the point of the parental controls?

A new convert to the PS3 fold

Bratus Major's XBox 360 has been having 'problems' something to do with the hard drive; the outcome is that he can't save his games which is a actual problem. I'm sure this have nothing to do with some bit of stuff he acquired from his best friend; no indeedy it's pure coincidence that said best friend's Xbox has also failed.

So far so what? Well the best friend, whose parents I'm led to believe from accounts seem to belong to the "money>sense" club, have ditched the Xbox route and switched over to the PS3. In order to continue to play with him that means Major is in the market for a PS3 and this has resulted in a dialogue between myself and his father as to what model to pick up etc.

For those coming from the XBox side this is surprisingly easy - there are only two models available and the only difference is the hard drive size which is home-upgradable anyway. In other words go for the cheaper 160Gb model and upgrade to something huge later if necessary. The only downside is the one that came up regarding the inability to upgrade a PS3 sub-account; but that's their lookout.

Of course he's still got a ton of XBox games which he won't be able to play and it's not a case of being able to pass them down to Bratus Minor without a console to match. Fortunately there's a CEX in Worcester which is likely to have more stock and trade-in than GAME, which is getting a little lacking in that department.

So the good news is that I'll be able to play games over the 'net with him; the bad news is that he'll now be able to borrow my games and my blu-ray movies and I'll get the same level of "How do you..." I get from Minor.

Sony's insane stance on PSN sub-accounts

If you buy a PS3 and want to buy things from their store or play online you need to set up an account. Seems obvious and it's easy, unless you're under 18.

If you are you can't create a normal account; a parent or guardian does that and then adds you on as a sub-account. As a sub-account holder you can't add money directly and they can use parental controls to restrict your actions - this is a good thing.

Until the sub-account holder hits 18, because as it stands it is impossible to upgrade a sub-account to a regular account. So what? Well the only way to get out of the shadow of sub-accounthood is to create a brand new account.

No problem there in itself except you can't transfer your sub-account to this new account either.

Say bye-bye to all your trophies

Say bye-bye to anything purchased using the sub-account

None of these things can be transferred to your new "I'm 18 now" account

It appears that in Sony's universe no-one ages.

Their unofficial advice - lie about your age. Seriously when confronted by a problem and the only response possible is to advise cheating the system I think a serious rethink of said system is in order.