PSN is Online

PSN is back up in North America, and Sony is offering a "Customer Appreciation Program" for the downtime. To summarize:

- Users will be able to choose 2 of 5 games for the PS3 to download and keep forever. There will be a 30-day period for these games to be downloaded free of charge after the PSN Store relaunches. The games are Little Big Planet, Infamous, Dead Nation, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD + Fury.

- PSP owners will be able to select 2 of 4 games, which are Little Big Planet (PSP), ModNation Racers (PSP), Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation. 30-day period applies here as well.

- There will be "On Us" rental movies for one weekend when the video service is available. Available titles have not been announced yet.

- Sony is giving 30 free days of PlayStation Plus membership to non-subscribers, and 60-days to subscribers.

- Just so you don't forget about it, Sony announced 100 free virtual items in PlayStation Home. Nice try, Sony.

While I'm disappointed that they were hit so hard by the hackers, I can't say that I am mad at Sony (though I wasn't ever). They should have been more well-prepared, but it seems that they have learned their lesson and are doing a great deal to make it right with their customers. The hackers are the ones who we should be mad at, as they caused a major inconvenience to the tens of millions of PSN users. 

Anyway, I think Sony has handled the restoration of PSN well so far, and offering the welcome back packages is a good way to win back or keep customer loyalty. I'll be picking up Infamous and Wipeout HD, as I own LBP already (which I would highly recommend).

The details of the "Customer Appreciation Program" can be found here.

Pokemon Black Impressions

I picked up Pokemon Black on release date (March 6th) and have beaten 8 gyms so far. At this point I have a good impression of what they have changed in the basic gameplay and in general how the game is. If you are considering getting it, you probably know generally what you will be getting, as the Pokemon games have relied on the same formula since the beginning of the series. That being said, it's a good formula that produces quality games.


One of the best things that they have done is make TMs multi-use. You can use them as many times as you want, but they don't restore the PP of the move they are replacing (so you can't have a Pokemon re-learn a move to replenish the PP). It's a lot easier to get type diversity this way, because you aren't worried about using a valuable TM.


Team Plasma, as far as villains go, are the best villains yet. Sure, Team Rocket is classic, but Team Plasma introduces a concept that had not yet been addressed: Are Pokemon essentially slaves, or do they benefit from their relationship with humans? Not that it really matters, but the idea of the enemy leader creating a "utopia" where Pokemon are free is an interesting part of the story.


Something that needs to be addressed is the new Pokemon. There are 155 new ones, although many are legendary Pokemon, some of which will not be available except through special events. The main story contains only new Pokemon, which forces you to learn their names and hopefully get attached to some of them. The starters are all good options, though it is a little disappointing to see the 3rd Fire/Fighting starter in a row. The Water starter, Oshawott, becomes an excellent option when you realize the limited number of water Pokemon available, especially because there are even fewer good ones. One of the fossils is a tough Water/Rock type, which is worth getting if you don't start with Oshawott. I started with Tepig and he becomes very strong as well.


Obviously there are the cliche Pokemon, like Pidove (a.k.a. Pidgey, Starly) and Patrat (a crappy normal type that you can catch early on. Pidove's final evolution, Unfezant, is a pretty solid Pokemon, making it a decent Pokemon to catch early. Lillipup is also worth catching early, as it has good HP and Attack stats. Also interesting is that you get an elemental monkey (Pansear, Pansage, or Panpour) of the type that your starter is strong against (Fire if you picked Water, Grass if you picked Fire, or Water if you picked Grass). Mainly they are used for the first gym, where there are three gym leaders that will use an elemental monkey that is strong against your starter. All in all, I think the 5th generation of Pokemon was well-done as a whole.

If you have liked Pokemon games in the past, you will probably like this generation. If you don't like Pokemon games, this generation likely won't change your mind. I have enjoyed playing through Pokemon Black so far, and hope you can enjoy this generation of Pokemon games too.

NBA Jam (iOS) Review

 I was immediately excited upon hearing about the possibility of NBA Jam coming to the iPhone. When EA made it official, I began to wait when it went live on the app store. The game did not disappoint, delivering the trademark fast-paced action of the NBA Jam series. While the iPhone version doesn’t stack up to the home console versions, it’s a very good portable game and still a lot of fun to play.

I’m not a fan of virtual joysticks and d-pads common in iPhone games, but the controls work pretty well in NBA Jam with a relatively low amount of slipping. The 3-button controls translate better to iPhone than those of simulation basketball games, which are oversimplified to work on the platform. Sometimes I will accidentally pass or shoot when trying to use the turbo button, but the buttons are well laid out on the screen, and are positioned in a way that feels quite natural and comfortable. The other control layout is the gesture controls, which uses a virtual joystick and slide-based controls. However, I didn't find this to be very different, because you can slide to the actions from the turbo button to make flashy passes or attempt a crazy dunk.

The game modes consist of single game and classic campaign. Single game speaks for itself, but classic campaign is where you will spend most of your time. You choose a team to play as, and then play current teams in groups of five, with each group followed by a classic team (such as Stockton and Malone). It’s a solid campaign mode that will allow you to unlock some classic players. Mostly, it provides a nice structure that is way better than just playing a bunch of single games.

The in-game challenges that allow you to unlock new players (from legends like Larry Bird to mascots like Rufus the Bobcat) provide a nice purpose to playing games. Some of them involve beating classic campaign with certain teams, or classic campaign with a team from each division, which is a nice way to get you to keep playing. Others involve accomplishing certain goals within a game, such as grabbing 10 rebounds in a game (unlocks David Robinson) or winning a game without shoving (unlocks Mark Price). Obviously there are some challenges that are much easier than others, but it provides a nice alternative to buying classic players (which isn’t terribly expensive). The game handles in-game purchases well, giving players the option to unlock them by playing the game or paying for them.

The game is $5, which is expensive compared to many apps, but I think it’s a very good game that is well worth the money if you are looking for something to play on iPhone or iPod Touch. With simple, intuitive controls and the classic gameplay you love, one might say that EA Mobile is on fire!