1/17/2009 - PS3 + xbox 360 = PS360

As a person in the Playstation 3 camp, I'm not sure how to feel about this video. It's a demonstration of a Playstation 3 console whose guts has been replaced with the core components of an XBox 360. Essentially, it's an XBox 360 with a Playstation 3 faceplate. It's an impressive mod to be sure, it's just that it seems to be a waste of a perfectly good Playstation 3.

10/21/2008 - Little Big Computer

What better use of my 400th blog post than to feature a truly incredible video. Little Big Planet is a game coming out for the PlayStation 3 that will rely on user-created content to drive its replayability. Users can create their own side-scrolling levels for others to play, and as you can imagine, there will be plenty of mediocre levels out there, some vulgar levels, but there will be some very creative levels as well. It will actually be a lot like YouTube where only the best stuff will be promoted to the front page and favorited by the most people. I think Little Big Planet and YouTube will go hand-in-hand where we see videos like this that show off cool levels. I don't know how someone will be able to top this however:



Yes, that is a fully functioning calculator built with the level designer in Little Big Planet. As listed in the description, the creator used 610 magnetic switches, 500 wires, 430 pistons, and 70 emitters in creating the "level". Now that's pretty hardcore. If I were this kid's math or science teacher, I'd give him/her an A for the year.

5/23/2008 - PS3 Laptop from Ben Heck

I've talked about video games being "modded" before, where the ROM images have been modified so that you can play the games in ways not normally intended. These were all software hack and it's probably not surprising that people mod hardware as well. Why do they do it? Simply because they can! Perhaps the most well known gaming hardware modder is Ben Heck, who has made pretty much all the non-handheld video game consoles out there portable in some way. Now, these systems may not truly be "portable" in that they require an AC power connection, but they are truly self contained systems in that the built-in LCD screens negate the necessity for an external television.

It would seem that the PS3, with all of its advanced hardware design and power consumption and cooling needs that it would be difficult to turn into a portable system. And according to this video, it was Ben's longest project, taking 14 months on and off. But the end result looks like it was worth it:



It may be humongous, but it still looks sleek... and that may be the biggest accomplishment of all.

11/18/2007 - "I have 3, PS3's"

When watching this next video, you have to place yourself in last year's gaming environment... when the PS3 was launched with great fanfare and wait lists and inflated eBay prices. This was only a week before the Wii took the world by storm and put the PS3 to shame. For that brief moment in time, the PS3 was king of the hill, receiving insane press attention and fooling scalpers into believing that people would pay $600 for a gaming system. With that in mind, it would seem like anyone with three PS3's would be considered an eccentric in the sense of being extravagant. In the reality of today's gaming market, however, a person owning three PS3's would probably be considered an ignoramus. Still, it's a funny video that's worth recommending.

7/29/2007 - Sony's Embarrassing E3 2006 Press Conference

Like yesterday's video, this one is a prime example of creative editing. Last year's E3 was the proving ground for what Sony considered to be their cash cow in the gaming world for the next few years to come. The Playstation 3 in its final form made its debut with SCEI's president Kaz Hirai's keynote address, and those who aren't impressed by the PS3 have cited this keynote endlessly as the beginning of the fall for Sony. With good reason too, as evidenced by flagging hardware sales and an almost public acknowledgment of Nintendo's recent dominance by their price cut of the PS3.

Sony's problem was that their way of differentiating themselves with their foremost competitor at the time, Microsoft, was to put out hardware of an even higher end, bundling in a very pricey Blu-Ray player that was harder to develop for and expecting the world to think that $600 would be the new standard price point for gaming systems. Nintendo's counter to this was brilliant... they knew they couldn't outdo Microsoft and Sony in terms of processing processing power, so they developed a system (and specifically the control system with the Wii remote) that would have completely games than the XBox and PS3. By doing so, they could keep the price down and bring gaming to the masses. Sony was so focused on becoming a Porsche that they didn't know that most people just drive whatever's most comfortable to them.

It's ironic that I would be showcasing an anti-Sony video when my PS3 is actually on its way to me. Yes, I was seduced by the price cut and the five free Blu-ray movies. It was a really close call between the PS3 and the XBox (which is getting its own price cut), but that 30% failure rate for the XBox really put a nail in the coffin for it. Also, judging from this year's E3, I think Sony's learned its lesson somewhat. They even referred to the embarrassing moments of last year's presentation which is showcased in full effect by this video.