Pads & Panels

Heavy Rain Director’s Cut makes a lot out of a little

By Bill Jones

It’s no secret that I love Heavy Rain. (Read the Pads & Panels review here.) I found it to be one of the most innovative games of the last decade, and it earned a prominent spot among our Best Games of 2010. But did it really deserve a “Director’s Cut,” as Sony Computer Entertainment recently gave it? Well, I ask – What else does it offer that the original did not already? Sony’s answer is as follows…

In addition to the original game, the Heavy Rain: Director’s Cut comprises Heavy Rain Chronicles: Episode 1 – The Taxidermist DLC, the Heavy Rain Original Videogame Score, new front-end menu and interface with built-in Move support, a series of eight “making of” bonus videos, three dynamic themes, 15 additional pieces of concept art and two bonus trailers. Let’s break this down. (more…)

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Title: MLB 11: The Show

Platform: PS3 (PSP)

ESRB: E

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Sony San Diego

Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

With baseball season in full swing, it’s also time for baseball games to make their seasonal trek to consoles. With that, MLB 11: The Show is hitting the mound this year with a few changeups to the series formula. Past entries of the franchise have sometimes been short on additions and new features, but MLB 11: The Show assuredly slides home as more of an evolution than last year’s turn at bat. (more…)

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#10 Halo: Reach (360)

Publisher: Microsoft – Developer: Bungie

Our Review

Bungie may have bid a fond farewell to one of its most popular franchises in the form of Halo: Reach, but that’s not to say it didn’t leave the series with a bang. Described as “The Halo they always wanted to make,” this prequel to the series attempts to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. The single-player campaign, while somewhat shorter, is easily one of the best narratives Bungie has told in the series and eloquently brings everything full circle. The tighter scope also manages to make Reach more personal and engaging than previous titles in the series. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – Beyond the Games: Accessories

By P&P Staff

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SteelSeries Siberia V2 Full-Size USB Headset

Many companies make outlandishly-priced, mediocre headsets with all of the aesthetic frills, but you’d be better off spending the $110 on this SteelSeries set. It sounds phenomenal with 7.1 virtual surround sound, offers integrated volume control in the cord and features a USB driver to make it work perfectly with your PC. But if you’re a console gamer, it can easily be plugged into anything with a standard audio jack, and SteelSeries also offers an adapter to make it the go-to headset for all of your Xbox Live interactions. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Sports Gaming Fan…

By P&P Staff

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NBA 2K11

(PS3/360/Wii/PS2/PC)

Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time. Fact. He also hasn’t appeared in a basketball game in quite some time. So gamers should be enamored that 2K Sports isn’t taking his license lightly. With NBA 2K11, they have crafted not only a basketball game good enough to scare off the competition, but also a mode that forces gamers to recreate some of Jordan’s most memorable career moments. A fantastic gift for any basketball fan. The PS3 version also features optional Move support. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the PS3 Exclusive Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Uncharted 2: Game of the Year Edition

Our 2009 Game of the Year and that in the hearts of many, Sony gives Uncharted 2: Among Thieves a fairly standard Game of the Year Edition, filled out by the title’s many DLC releases since its launch. Still, for those late to the party, the extra content makes it well worth the $49.99 asking price to pick it up this holiday season. For the mega fan, Ballistic Publishing’s The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a beautiful coffee table-style book, and Archie gave it a rave review. (more…)

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Sigh. It’s been a long weekend. Since becoming a “full-time” freelance writer, I’d almost forgotten until this weekend what it’s like to be on a work schedule, have to go out and put in 8 or more consecutive hours somewhere. I generally put in more than that a day with my writing, but being on a flexible schedule means it’s usually more broken up and interrupted a lot more often by the silly distractions that come so easily around the house. But it’s been both tiring, rejuvenating and a bit of fun to get out and do a few solid days of real work again.

Archie and I both worked, full disclosure, indirectly for Sony PlayStation this weekend at the Alli Dew Tour at Soldier Field in Chicago. It doesn’t mean we’re fan boys, and it doesn’t mean we’ll be giving preferential treatment to Sony’s games or hardware. We’ll still always provide honest opinions on games, and keep an objective view of what we do. It just means we needed some extra cash, and got hired by a marketing agency that handles Sony’s event marketing in Chicago, which for us meant standing inside and outside of a Sony tent, getting a chance to get our hands on PlayStation Move and talking to people about it, helping them play and learn more about it. (more…)

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Let me lay down a precursor this whole pondering: I like the Sony PlayStation brand. Since the original PlayStation, to the PS2, PSP, PS3, and PSPGo, I have supported the brand with my interest and my wallet. That said, the most recent news of the PlayStation Move has led me to a few thoughts that I hope you’ll read.

It’s very simple for the general internet population to either support or bitch about the PlayStation Move. With all the coverage that the announcement had at GDC 2010, including hands-on, video that wasn’t allowed, and opinions, the PlayStation Move has once again caused fan boys and haters to take their respective sides about the new product months before its release. (more…)

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