Too much attention has been given to the visual department in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray battle, and not enough to the audio department. Well, it ain't hooray for the sounds of silence - any movie buff will tell you that Clark Gable may have looked dang hot for his day, but what really nails it is his classic "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a d n" line. So it's time to pump up the volume.

A blogger at the IGN Blogs dropped an analysis post on Uncompressed PCM 5.1-7.1 audio off of the PS3. And while the debate on HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray visuals continues to rage on, there are at least clear differences in the audio department here. Blu-Ray supports PCM - as does the PS3. HD-DVD supports Dolby TrueHD, but it cannot contain PCM 5.1.

So what are the benefits of doing PCM 5.1? The blogger reports that PCM 5.1, with the proper audio setup, "is a joy to hear." He cites a number of testimonies of excellent audio presentations, like you could hear every detailed and subtle sound. On...

Apparently, no holiday can stop Square Enix from revealing more details and quick-sees of their much-awaited game for the PS3, Final Fantasy XIII. Why, you ask? Because gracing the pages of Shonen Jump are these new scans of FFXIII which is slated for release next year.

As mentioned in an earlier article, there will be a new character in the game, as we've also seen in the screens we brought you guys earlier. But unfortunately, this character's identity still remains a mystery. Some of you guys said that her name's Squallina, while our fellow QJ writer Chris L. thinks that it could be Cloudia. Hmmm.

So anyway, what details do these scans divulge? Errr yeah, that's the thing, we dunno really. Unfortunately, none of the current QJ staffers can speak Japanese, so that's that. But uhhh, for kind Japanese-speaking souls out there who would like to help us out in this department, a little FYI for QJ would be greatly appreciated. Surely, we're not the only ones dying to know...

1. The social contract.
The core, the center, the key to a gamer's loyalty is the social contract. The customer tells the business "I will buy this console if this company works really hard for me and gives me additional benefits." In return, the company has to tell the customer "I will work really hard to give you additional benefits if you buy my console and continue to buy games and services from me."

It's like a the preservation of matter or the "principle of equivalent exchange" in alchemy. Quid pro quo. This for that.

What happens if the console company turns out to be a collection of jerks? The contract falls apart. In extreme situations, the gamer might switch to another console.

2. Things to think about before switching to another console.

Switching to another console is not free. There's a switching cost or substitution cost. Many people think this just means you have to pay for another console, but there are sacrifices to make when goi...

After sacking Cpl. Christopher Long for killing 18-year old Peyton Strickland during a raid on his house, the concept of SWAT teams is now being questioned. The SWAT team was about to arrest Strickland in connection with a robbery case involving two PS3 consoles when things turned tragic.

SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics, formerly Special Weapons Assault Team) is a specialized unit in many police departments. These teams are trained to serve high-risk arrest warrants, perform hostage rescue, prevent terrorist attacks, and engage heavily-armed criminals. The five-man Leland Police Department's SWAT team has never been involved in any of the critical scenarios it was meant to handle.

A SWAT team is like an insurance policy, according Leland Police Chief Osey Sanders. "You may go quite a long time and never need it, but once you do need it, it's invaluable." Was the PS3 console robbery case one of those instances? Was arresting the unarmed Strickland really called for a...

Everybody knows about the jaggies that appear when playing PS2 games on the PS3. We're still waiting for the firmware update that'll hopefully fix it, but apparently someone over at PS3fanboy decided that he just couldn't stand it anymore. Hence, this semi-fix.

What Nick Doerr did to minimize the jagginess was to simply change his Display Settings, swapping the PS3 back to the 480i channel instead of HDMI. Doerr says that the 480i channel is the one "most PS2 games were probably meant to be seen in."

Of course, this workaround would just make the display a bit easier on the eyes ("They don't look perfect, but it's a lot better than the HDMI shows"), so if your discerning eyes are looking for pixel-perfect PS2 games on the PS3, this probably won't be enough for you.

Doerr does note however that 2d-centric titles (he gives Atelier Iris 2 as an example) actually look better with HDMI. According to him, "The backgrounds have a few splotchy points, but the sprite...

If you're still reading this post by 9:00 a.m., then you just wasted a good opportunity to finally get your hands on that much-awaited PS3. Best Buy promised consumers that they will be handing out tickets as some kind of a guarantee to purchase the PS3 one hour before their store opens. Could these be the rumored hoarded stash?

For this holidays, their opening is at 10:00 a.m. According to their circular, one ticket will be granted per customer, and in turn, one PS3 will be afforded one ticket. Now, according to sources, there will be a minimum of 25 60GB PS3 units in each store, with some having up to 60 units.

So, if you missed that opportunity at launch, and you happen to still have the cash that you got from your relatives last Christmas, this is your last chance! Start your new year right.

The title says it all. With online now a mainstay for all three next-gen consoles, this'll be a comparison of the major features on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live, and the PS3's Playstation Network. Starting off with the newcomer, the PS3:
PlayStation Network
Price: Free.Online play: Observed to be smooth - 20 vs. 20 games in Resistance: Fall of Man showed no major slowdown. Might slow down due to excessive people online, though - "error 80710D23" incidents aplenty.PlayStation Store: Carries downloadable PSOne games for remote play to your PSP. Purchase Currency: Your country's currency. Stay aware of the exchange rates.
User Interface: PS3 default browser handles like its PC kin, albeit the hassle of using the SIXAXIS for typing. Getting a USB/Bluetooth keyboard and mouse is highly recommended.Xbox Live:
Price: 50.00 per month.Online Play: Carries favorite features like voice messaging, private chat, customizable personal profile, and unified friends list.Xbox Live Ma...

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
You're fairly aware by now of how Team Xtender's XFPS was all set to shake up the FPS realm on the Xbox 360 by giving gamers the ability to use the undisputed king of controls (that'd be the keyboard / mouse tandem) -- or Sony's widely adored Dual Shock controller -- instead of Microsoft's own rendition, but according to Xbox360Fanboy's review, it's not quite the post-Christmas miracle we were all hoping for. While expectations were admittedly set rather high, it seems the unit simply underperforms where it mattered most, and excelled in a somewhat less important department. Using Gears of War, Halo 2, and Rainbow Six 3: Vegas Demo as tests, reviewers found the keyboard / mouse setup to be a breeze, but actual in-game results were not only poor, but relatively unacceptable. If the "slight button delays" weren't enough to turn your nose up, the simply inability for a keyboard to emulate the "analog support of the Xbox 360 c...

This is why the Japanese love MotorStorm so much, that it peaked at the top of their sales charts. This is why SPOnG says it's a potential "killer app" come the PS3's much-awaited launch in Europe. This is why in the recent MotorStorm articles we've had, most people are just saying how good this game is, as even just fifteen minutes into the demo, MotorStorm demonstrates a lot of what's great about the PS3. Yee doggie, this is one humdinger of a racer!

Break down the controls, Lloyd

The control setup for MotorStorm follows the "alternative" setup, with brakes assigned to L2 and the gas to R2, as opposed to the "normal" setup of face-button or stick-mapping the car's a-go-go. No option to change it if you're more used to the normal setup, but it ain't too bad for two reasons. One, it demonstrates one great design feature of the SIXAXIS: the decision to make the L/R2 shoulder buttons in a trigger-like format. It is WAY easier to judge subtle differences in trigger ...

Uh-oh. After the hullabaloo which was caused by the rumor that MGS4 would no longer be a PS3 exclusive, it seems that trouble brews once more in Sony-landia. This time around, there's currently word being spread which states that the PS3 is yet to lose another exclusive, which is Tekken 6.

What's worse is that the source of this piece of news is supposed to be within IGN, and is also supposed to be the same one who predicted that Virtua Fighter 5 will also be making its way to the Xbox 360. Furthermore, the source also states that Namco is already working on an Xbox 360 version of Tekken 6 which is bound to appear in stores by the fourth quarter of 2007, just after the game's release on the PS3.

So did the supposed IGN source just get lucky the first time? Or are we already seeing the Mishimas getting ready for the imminent port? Time will tell, and in the meantime, let's all just take this with a grain of salt until we get official word from the companies themse...