Making the PS3 Controller Better

I have complaints with the PS3 controller. The analog sticks and triggers are convex, which means, after playing for awhile, my fingers tend to slip off them.  Note that the 360 controller does not have this problem at all.

 

So aside from Sony doing a redesign of the controller, which doesn't seem like is ever going to happen, what can be done now?

You can buy some of these analog stick grips:

Or some of these really goofy looking ones:

 

Around May 16th or so, you can buy these trigger grips (unfortunately, only as part of a package with "Controller Armor"):

If only I knew how to make my own grips. I could possibly make a trigger out of clay, then super glue it...

But... in the end, this is probably the ultimate PS3 controller solution:

I Had a Dream... That I Was Vectorman

I'm not joking. That's very sad, I know.  What's that? You don't remember Vectorman?!

I had a Genesis in 1995, and I had never played Vectorman until yesterday, but while grabbing the above screenshot from the wikipedia entry, I stumbled across an interesting news article that said this:

Oct. 24, 1995, will go down in history as "V-Day," the day Sega of America turned video gamers around the country into "Vectormaniacs."

2D Gaming Still Rocks

IGN played Bionic Commando Rearmed's multiplayer modes and said it was great, but it's missing online multiplayer. There's an interesting little nugget in the comment about it:

The original plan was to add online play to this, but it proved too difficult since the gameplay was not built with online lag in mind. Judd did note that online play would be considered in the event of a sequel.

Wow, already talking about a sequel. Could you imagine a brand new 2D Bionic Commando game? I'm excited enough about the update of the classic one.

I like the way things are heading lately in regards to video games. It seems like once 3D games became possible, that's all any game developer wanted to do. 3D has its place, but it shouldn't be considered a replacement for 2D.

Above: 10 Worst 2D to 3D Games

Take Nintendo's old 2D Mario and Zelda games. All they have to do is update the graphics and release them for the Wii (like Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES), and they'd probably sell millions. Of course, they just release them as-is on the Virtual Console, and people still buy them anyway, so what do I know.

Original SMB3

Super Mario All-Stars SMB3

On a related note, Nintendo no longer makes Mario sprites the way they used to. The Mario found in New Super Mario Brothers for the DS looks much different than the one from Super Mario World on the SNES. I found an article on it awhile back, and you can read it here. Basically it amounts to this -- it's easier to make a 3D model than it is to make individual 2D sprites.

Take a look for yourself at the evolution (or de-evolution?):

  

From Left:
Super Mario Bros (1985, NES)
Super Mario Bros 3 (1990, NES)
Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 All-Stars (1993, SNES)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004, GBA)
New Super Mario Bros (2006, DS)

I think I actually prefer the All-Star version.

The echochrome demo is out today on PS Store!

Echochrome is one of the most unique-looking games I've seen in a long time. I'm looking forward to trying it out this evening.

From Crackle: echochrome trailer

 

Read more at the Playstation Blog

President of Epic Games Says the Wii is a Virus

Mike Capps, President of Epic Games, had this to say about the Nintendo Wii:

...It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on...

...As an investor you love [Nintendo], but as a next-gen console technology maker, they don't run [Unreal Engine 3] and they can't.

He also talks about downloadable content, GTA IV, Ninja Gaiden 2, Gears 2, Portal, and more:

...You know, Ninja Gaiden I didn't really get into because it's so ****ing hard...

...Metal Gear, if it has boring-ass long cutscenes that I can't skip then I'll play for an hour and quit. If it's the non-stop action stuff that they've done and the smart AI and everything else in their games before then I'm going to play it obsessively and play it through twice. GTA I'll play but I won't be able to finish because it's going to be too damn big. A lot of us played Portal not because it was really fun but because we knew we could finish it...

Here's the link to the full article:
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/868/868001p1.html

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Help

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was just released for the PS3 last week. It's really my first GT game, and it's a lot of fun, but I had (and still have) problems with it because of the unfamiliar terminology used in the game.

It tells you stuff like, "Use slipstreams to win!" -- what?

So here are some links to help you other GT fans (like me) who can't figure out why those guys online are passing you like you're sitting still (in the same car, on a straightaway, while you're going as fast as your Honda Integra will go).

• Slipstreaming (aka "Drafting")
• Drifting (not to be confused with "Drafting" above)
• Gran Turismo Basic Reference
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Strategy Guide

I personally think I'd be better at the game if I had the new Logitech Driving Force GT Steering Wheel, but even if I had that, I'd still need to have a place to put the steering wheel.

I found this:

• HOWTO: Build your own GT4 Steering Wheel Mount
• PriceGrabber's current prices for the Driving Force GT Steering Wheel
• Or, buy the mount and a seat
• Reviews and pictures of other "racing cockpits"

Blizzard's April Fools' Day Jokes

Out of all the April Fools' Day jokes I saw, I'd have to say Blizzard's were the best.

• New World of Warcraft Hero Class: Bard
• New StarCraft II Unit: Tauren Marine
• World of Warcraft on a Console
• Diablo Loot Piñata

I especially liked the concept art vs actual screenshots of the new WoW game.