Dec As you may or may not have already noticed, I’m the new guy around here. So in between getting constantly harassed for being a Dodgers fan, I’ll be working with Jeff daily on the Blog, and I’m more than excited to be here.
A little background on me. I’ve been in the gaming industry for over five years, primarily on the editorial side. I wrote for a PlayStation-only magazine called PSE2 for a couple years, and then hopped over to GamePro where I stayed for three-plus years as Senior Editor. Any other dirt you can dig on me is most obviously a lie, though apparently my appearance on Gametrailers Bonus Round has forever linked me to that Mac guy.
Anyway, back to business. There was no post-turkey sluggishness this week, with lots of great PlayStation reads, and a ridiculously cool Vice magazine LBP cover. And be sure to check out G4′s Killzone 2 videos if you haven’t already. See you tomorrow.
The PS Blog weekly reading list (Week of 12/1)
- Positive impressions of the PS3 Wireless Keypad – Kotaku
- Killzone 2 release date, plus two new weapons revealed! – G4tv.com
- Hands on with Killzone 2′s single player campaign – Joystiq
- SackBoy plushies available now on Play-Asia – PS3 Fanboy
- LocoRoco 2 Review: Arming The Mui Mui – Kotaku
- 2008 PlayStation Award winners include Metal Gear Solid 4 and other hits in Japan – Kotaku
- The Agency won’t adopt monthly fees, “perfect” for in-game ads – Strategy Informer
- Heavy Rain Preview – 1UP.com
- Pioneer shows off 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, affirms compatibility with current players – Engadget
- The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf coming to PS3 – PS3 Fanboy
- One More Week For Killzone 2 Beta – PSXExtreme
- Playing Through a Recession – CNBC.com
- Sony “Way Ahead” on Environmental Issues – Edge Online
- Wonderland: VICE magazine and Little Big Planet = LittleBigVice – Wonderland
- Resistance 2 Advertising Takes Over Dublin Newspapers – Kotaku
- PlayStation 3: Home-ward Bound – IGN
- Playstation opens doors for the deaf – guardian.co.uk
- Sony’s PlayStation 3 tops another “Best Blu-ray player” list – Engadget HD
- Free Street Fighter Album Is Probably Worth Getting – Kotaku
- Metal Gear patched – ComputerAndVideoGames.com
(Average: 4.44 out of 5)
1
+ lakaihigh on December 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pm said:
and we all welcome you with open arms Chris! now about them dodgers. hahaha j/k. another great week for me as i try to finish up some trophies in ME and I’m finally gonna get around to starting GTAiv’s. should be interesting.
peace,
Lh
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 2:05 pm said:
Thanks for the warm welcome! I\’m used to taking heat about the Dodgers, but maybe I deserve it after the laughable contract we tried to offer Manny Ramirez.
Now get to trophy-ing!
2
+ lifeRPGs on December 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pm said:
Welcome Chris!
You might want to add this news, which really is the shocker of the week:
Nobilis and Frozenbyte announce console exclusive Trine on the PlayStation® Network.
Full details + press release here:
http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/12/05/great-looking-trine-coming-to-psn-and-pc/
Debut Gameplay teaser trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXILzS03HCo
Trine website: http://trine-thegame.com/
3
+ hife on December 7th, 2008 at 12:24 pm said:
Hello Mr. Morell
About this Pioneer 400GB Blu-ray… PS3fanboy ran that story too, but they updated saying they were now hearing conflicting info. Supposedly Pioneer told someone else that they would not be compatible with current blu-ray players. Any chance you know the final word on that?
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm said:
Hmm, I\’ll dig around this week, but I\’m thinking that because there probably won\’t be much consumer use for this for a while, we might not get a straight answer for some time.
4
+ FeaturePre4cher on December 7th, 2008 at 12:34 pm said:
Rumor: Imagination Technologies, Sony team up for PSP successor. Let Sony know now what features should be in the psp2 before it’s too late. It definitely needs a 2nd analog nub, touchscreen for casual gaming, and accelerometer for games like LocoRoco.
http://www.pspfanboy.com/2008/11/26/rumor-imagination-technologies-sony-team-up-for-psp-successor/
Konami teases a next Metal Gear. This doesn’t look good to me. I hope this is just Kojima pulling a cruel joke. If this happens, that’s one more exclusive that Sony lied about.
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/05/official-konami-site-teases-a-next-metal-gear/
To everyone getting the trophy warning, you may want to read this. So should Sony if they wish to fix this.
http://www.tawkn.com/?page=site-newspost&news_id=1018
PSN suggestions from ign. Since it’s ign, maybe Sony will listen better.
http://www.tinyurl.com/5h3za2
State of PSN Games by the IGN PlayStation team.
http://www.tinyurl.com/5tefm2
5
+ FeaturePre4cher on December 7th, 2008 at 12:37 pm said:
Read the above links before they’re removed. Some people may not like this new information age we live in where it’s much harder to hide the truth.
6
+ UltimaChocochu on December 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm said:
Now that you’re here Chris, we can’t let you leave MWUAHAHHAHAHA!
Jk
Ahh, the 400 GB 16 layer Blu-Ray, can’t wait for games to be 20 million times better to all that can be added with that baby O-O
7
+ digplans on December 7th, 2008 at 12:54 pm said:
Welcome, Chris.
Yeah that 400GB 16 layer Blu-ray also got me pumped. I’m glad the opportunity is there for game devs to really push it, and seeing as how Killzone2 plans on filling up the 50GBs, I’m hoping future games start playing around with its capabilities. Doooope.
Damnit, really aching for Home news, man. Chris how about you break through this nasty tendency to avoid Home-related talk on Sony’s part? That’d be a good way to mark your newfound identity… rather than that “mac guy”, you’ll be our Home savior.
peace!
8
+ JordanBlack68 on December 7th, 2008 at 1:08 pm said:
http://sackbook.com
Any comments about this site?
It gets data from the LBP servers.
9
+ BZKlint on December 7th, 2008 at 1:22 pm said:
Welcome Chris :)
Anyways, I don’t seen much similarity between you and Justin Long :P
And btw, if you don’t want your PSN inbox to overflow with messages, don’t post it on here XD
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm said:
Thanks for the tip, but more for disassociating me from Justin.
10
+ CPaladino on December 7th, 2008 at 1:24 pm said:
Welcome aboard dude.
11
+ blkant on December 7th, 2008 at 1:26 pm said:
Hello :D Look forward to any posts you may put up (its always good to have personality behind these posts, really makes things just feel more personal). Also, Nice icon :)
12
+ Stoffinator on December 7th, 2008 at 1:36 pm said:
Welcome to the group Chris!
Don’t let Professor PlayStation push you around. ;-]
13
+ Mana Knight on December 7th, 2008 at 1:51 pm said:
Welcome Chris. :D
Yeah, I found many of the stories interesting this week, so thanks for posting. :)
14
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 2:12 pm said:
Thanks for the kind words, all! Now off to download Super Stardust and Everyday Shooter for PSP. Anyone given either a go yet?
15
+ erico316 on December 7th, 2008 at 2:19 pm said:
hey Chris welcome to the PlayStation blog but it seems you been forever part of the ps family it seem.so now that u working for sony what do you think of current state of playstation brand?ANd what is your job now that u working for sony exactly?
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 3:40 pm said:
Honestly, PlayStation is poised for a great \’09 from what I know, and I wouldn\’t have come aboard if I didn\’t believe there was great stuff to come.
Technically I\’m in social media, but primarily I\’ll be working on the Blog along with Jeff. So you\’ll be seein\’ me a lot ;-)
16
+ FeaturePre4cher on December 7th, 2008 at 2:35 pm said:
Mr. Morell,
Since you worked in Gaming Journalism, do you think we’ll see more gaming journalist move to the game production side of the fence? Do you see this as a move to purge the gaming world of game critics who may give unfavorable opinions of games from time to time? How many money hats have you seen being given out to the gaming press? What was the most lascivious game event that you’ve ever been to? How lascivious was it?
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 3:50 pm said:
Nah, no one\’s trying to purge the world of critics, but obviously print journalism is in a rough state right now. So you will probably see a continued increase in more social media-style editorial. I\’ve never seen any press payoffs, or anything like that…gaming journalists that I know have ultra-high integrity.
Man, the craziest event I went to was probably the unveiling of DOAX2 in Kona, Hawaii, which was coincidentally the first time I interviewed Itagaki. He frightened me with his sunglass stare, but he eventually warmed up to me after a few different interviews.
There was a Vice City party in Miami that I just missed, but heard that was absolutely nuts. Go figure :-)
17
+ Stoffinator on December 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm said:
I’ve played Super Stardust HD. Its a butt kicker in some areas, but its addicting.
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 3:51 pm said:
I love the Endless Mode update on PS3, but have been waiting forever for this to hit PSP!
18
+ ftwrthtx on December 7th, 2008 at 2:51 pm said:
Welcome to the blog. Make sure you head over to the Playstation forums and check out all the good stuff there.
Thanks for this info.
19
+ PS fanboy on December 7th, 2008 at 2:56 pm said:
i hvent been here 4 a while, pardon me but what happen 2 JEFF? anyways welcome new member or should i say chris
peace
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pm said:
Jeff\’s still here!
20
+ CrimsonFox13 on December 7th, 2008 at 3:15 pm said:
I really want The Witcher! Looks awesome.
21
+ ivanawatsup on December 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm said:
you guys should do something about our avatars their wack pleas!!!!!
22
+ GGCAN on December 7th, 2008 at 3:27 pm said:
Thanks for the post Chris and welcome to the blog.
23
+ Slayer612 on December 7th, 2008 at 3:33 pm said:
Hey Chris,
Welcome to the PS blog. I’m a huge fan of Playstation, loved it all my life.
Any news as to when PS Home will be released?
24
+ erico316 on December 7th, 2008 at 3:51 pm said:
thanks for the reply Chris.
25
+ polyergos on December 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm said:
I wish there was a way to link my blob profile with my PSN profile, so i don’t have to worry about logging in all the time with this other profile.
26
+ FeaturePre4cher on December 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm said:
To Chris,
Good job with Itagaki.:) I’ve heard that he doesn’t like reporters who just fawn over him.
27
+ Angry_Qore_Subscriber on December 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm said:
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”
Why am I not surprised.
I’m not going to leave you guys alone till you start treating Annual Qore Subscribers right.
By making the video portion of Qore free this month you’ve proved that the only reason to pay for Qore is for the beta codes and early access to demos.
You are not providing annual Qore subscribers with what they paid for if they dont get every beta code promised.
Quit ignoring the issue, fix the mistake and prevent it from happening again.
Come on Sony, quit treating your paying customers like crap.
28
+ perrandy on December 7th, 2008 at 4:14 pm said:
chris welcome to the blog i hope that your expirience here will be a rewarding one.anyways, to the point there are rumours over the internet that sony is working in 5 news rpgs..to name a few legend of dragoon and dark cloud 3. how true are of this rumours?i’m asking you on behalf of the JRPG PLAYERS everywhere…can you at least give us a hint? thanks
29
+ perrandy on December 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm said:
btw, loved the free qore stuff and yes veronica velmont is HOT ;)
30
+ darkiewonder on December 7th, 2008 at 4:23 pm said:
Welcome Chris! You do look like Justin Long :P
Does this mean we have two guys we can complain to now? haha jk.
31
+ CitizenInsane27 on December 7th, 2008 at 4:36 pm said:
Welcome to the blog Chris! I am more than willing to accept you with open arms, you have a Radiohead avatar! My name is also based around them, as they are my favorite band. I wil definitely see you around, and hopefully we get to exchange words a few times!
32
+ Dark_Vincent on December 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pm said:
Welcome to the blog Chris! I hope you find yourself at home here =) Take care!
33
+ Mana Knight on December 7th, 2008 at 5:22 pm said:
Speaking of Super Stardust HD Portable and Everyday Shooter Portable, I really want those games, but I promised myself to not spend anymore than my $20 PSN Card (meaning $20 total on PSN) for the rest of the month. :( We’ll see if I can do that. Only reason I’m doing this is because I’m a college graduate and having trouble finding a job. Once I find a job and get more money again, you better bet I’ll be buying those games along with many more PSN downloads (although I already own over 30 of them. ;) ).
I can’t wait to play them someday, since I LOVED both on PS3. :D
However, I have enjoyed the Blast Factor update a lot, getting trophies in that. I’m also glad I finally reached Level 7 over the weekend with my PS3 trophies (thanks to getting the trophy to level me up in MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. Awesome game btw and highly recommended for anyone who reads the blog who likes racers).
34
+ Ps3clan.nl on December 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm said:
Welcome Chris Morell, I hope its a pleasure to work with Jeff? (you can be honest)
What’s your favourite game of 08 and for what game are you waiting for in 09 ?
Ps: I guess you cannot comment about the recent story about home that its releasing on 16 December ? :P Since you can still say to your boss it was a rookie mistake it wont happen again? lol
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 9:40 pm said:
Gotta say overall, LBP for pure originality and utilization of user-generated content. But I loved the new Prince of Persia. It was the last game I reviewed at GamePro, and it\’s incredibly fun.
For 09, God of War III, hands down.
35
+ BulletToothTony on December 7th, 2008 at 5:43 pm said:
Well I love how you guys have really put effort on the official blog.. is great to see that there’s always new when i check out the site… Now if i may.. i would suggest for you guys to stop trying to be so nice to kotaku since they for some reason happen to hate the ps3.. now i know it’s better to win an enemy with kindness but most of their news they try to make the ps3 look terrible.. anyhow.. just a thought..
Oh yeah and please add In-Game music to all games.. it would be great.. thanks
36
+ tirminyl on December 7th, 2008 at 6:05 pm said:
Welcome and congrats Chris!
37
+ minestrone11 on December 7th, 2008 at 6:27 pm said:
I’ve decided Chris is my new best friend simply because of his avatar. I love Radiohead.
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 9:43 pm said:
Did you see \’em this tour? I was in Germany at the Games Convention when they were here in San Francisco, but I caught back-to-back nights in 06, which was epic.
38
+ C-h-a-o-s on December 7th, 2008 at 6:36 pm said:
Oh my gosh, a dodgers fan? They’ll hire anyone these days. I kid, I kid. Welcome to the blog, may you answer every post and have a great time here, remember fanboys can be vicious so keep your hands at bay.
39
+ schwaa on December 7th, 2008 at 6:53 pm said:
Ugh..FeaturePre4cher is here…Why’d you change your name?
40
+ Masterofallz on December 7th, 2008 at 6:54 pm said:
Whoa whoa, Sony, my friend just showed me his RESIDENT EVIL 5 DEMO on his 360.
Wheres ours? Whens it going to come out?
41
+ Masterofallz on December 7th, 2008 at 6:55 pm said:
@38.
Agreed. Why doesnt he [DELETED] off already? :/
42
+ Neil on December 7th, 2008 at 7:09 pm said:
Oh nice, welcome. I actually saw that Bonus Round episode and thought you represented Gamepro very well. Glad to have you here now.
43
+ Angry_Qore_Subscriber on December 7th, 2008 at 7:27 pm said:
I knew my post would get deleted.
Seriously, why is their no quick effective method for Annual Qore subscribers to get codes they PAID FOR that they somehow didn’t recieve?
Phone support has no power to do anything.
Email support apparently is capable of doing something, but they seem unwilling to do awhat it takes because it takes too long and messes up their speed of service.
Asing here gets your posts deleted or ignored.
Where is the accountability?
I’ve been trying to get an answer for 3 weeks.
44
+ Theossie on December 7th, 2008 at 7:42 pm said:
Hey Chris.. What you playing..
PSN – ThEosSiE
Holla..
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 9:45 pm said:
Halfway through Mirror\’s Edge…
45
+ jgstyle on December 7th, 2008 at 7:43 pm said:
Man I’m tired of these post consisting of regurgitated news links.
All these blogs are caught up in a parasitic circle. As soon as a post is made, all the other blogs make a new post about THAT post. It’s pretty lame.
I’d rather see no post at all than these “What We Read” posts that simply try to make it look like you guys are actually writing something…
46
+ F3aturePreacher on December 7th, 2008 at 7:43 pm said:
Great.
47
+ raiderserg on December 7th, 2008 at 7:43 pm said:
I THINK ITS TIME FOR THE PSN TO IMPLIMENT A REFUND SYSTEM FOR SOME OF THE CRAPY GAMES THEY RELEASED FOR DL. WIPE OUT HD WAS A BUST. ITS A LACKLUSTER GAME AND ON TOP OF THAT EVERYTIME I TRY TO GIVE IT ANOTHER TRYOUT IT DOESNT EVEN WORK. $20 DOWN THE DRAIN, SURE WISH I COULD HAVE THAT $ BACK TO PUT TOWARDS STREET FIGHTER.
HEY SONY IS THERE ANY CHANCE OF THIS?
48
+ NewYork214 on December 7th, 2008 at 7:45 pm said:
i dont think you look like him that much. he is more pasty lookin. you sorta look japanese. are you japanese at all? last name doesnt sound it at all.
+ Chris Morell on December 7th, 2008 at 9:46 pm said:
Nope. But people have told me that before. I love Tokyo, if that means anything.
49
+ F3aturePreacher on December 7th, 2008 at 7:47 pm said:
@Masterofallz
PSN demo for RESIDENT EVIL 5 coming in March ’09. Capcom is sure demonstrating their love for the ps3 huh. Oh, be careful with the language, there may be “extremely sensitive people” reading. I’m reminded of a saying I once heard, “Lock me out and I come back 10,000 times stronger. The only way to stop me is to not even start up with me.”
50
+ Animespara on December 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm said:
ok first of all this is a very of topic subject and i have my hope’s upp that you might be able to Light the subject a little..
Do you belive that playstation Home is going to come out this year?
I’m just saying this bicuz i thought that they were going to Release some info about this in episode 7 of Qore but they didnt and it makes me worry…Plz answer this!
plz respond if you can :C :D