So being a child of the eighties I saw the Transformer trailer on the Playstation Network Store and downloaded it right away.  Thanks to the 1.60 firmware update I was also able to download a couple other things all at once.  By the way Sony, Thank you very much for background downloading! 

Once I watched the trailer I thought this would be cool to test the Remote Play feature.  So after playing around with the PSP and getting it connected and registered to the PS3, I was ready to start streaming content to my PSP from my PS3.  The quality of the audio and video was quite good.  Of course a fresh steaming pile of cow dung looks great on that high-resolution wide screen of the PSP.  You do not have to squint or deal with the distortion of an iPod screen. 

Unfortunately this is about the end of the positive comments to Remote Play.  I was really disheartened to see that you have to put the PS3 into a dedicated mode of Remote Play to actually stream content.  I was really hoping that I could be playing a Blu-Ray or DVD while streaming other content to the PSP.  And speaking of Blu-Ray and DVD that is a perfect segway into my next disappointment of Remote Play.  You can not stream Blu-Ray or DVD content to your PSP.  You are only allowed to stream music, video, and photo files nothing that is on disk media.  Next on my list of whines, is that you have to be connected to the same network as the PS3 to stream content to your PSP.  In my mind this makes the feature almost useless.  Really, if you are at the same location as your PS3 and your PS3 is in a dedicated Remote Play mode I do not understand why you would not simply view your content on your PS3.  The only application I could come up with is if you turned on your PS3.  Then started the Remote Play feature, and then switched you’re A/V input so that someone else could watch TV or some other media while you then viewed the content on your PS3 from your PSP.  But that seems like a pretty niche use of this PS3 Remote Play feature.  Once last complaint and this is kind of small, but if you put your PS3 into Remote Play mode the screen saver does not kick in, and the Folding@Home client does not kick in.  And as we all know PS3 owners are all about helping out their fellow man.

I think Sony has laid down a solid foundation here in Remote Play.  If they can make a couple of simple improvements to this feature I think they would see allot more customer use.  First while I am watching a Blu-Ray or DVD, if I could simply press a button on my PS3 controller and some sort of transparent menu system would start the Remote Play streaming then my wife could continue watching the movie on the couch.  While I could take the PSP that has the content streaming to it with me to the bathroom.  That would be very cool!  But what could really make Remote Play take off, and would probably sell more PSP and PS3 combinations is being able to stream content from your PS3 to your PSP over the internet.  If I could be at some hot spot and stream video or music off my PS3 onto my PSP, this would be the killer app that no Technosexual could be without.  Being able to access your media from a hotel room, lunch room at work or school, or even at your In-laws house when they are watching boring home movies or some documentary that you have no reason to have any interest in would be incredible.

While Sony has not exactly hit one out of the park with Remote Play, I think they have definitely put runners on first and second.  If they can just make a couple more improvements Remote Play may be a grand slam product. It could be so big Mr. Trenton will not have to worry about taking out a second mortgage on his house to pay off the $1200 wagers of finding a PS3 on shelves for more then five minutes.  The PSP would likely start out selling the Nintendo DS for once and that should bring a smile to any Sony Executives face!

But enough of my rant how are you currently using Remote Play?

So the video is up at Rockstar’s website.

The graphics look insane!  The video does not show any game play footage.  But it is definitely worth looking at.  Hopefully Rockstar will start releasing more information soon.  But this game is instantly a must have game!

Check out some of the screen shots I was able to capture.

“Boy from the Future”, Wilbur Robinson, sets out to foil the diabolical Bowler Hat Guy and his robotic hat Doris later this month in Walt Disney Pictures Presents Meet The Robinsons video game, a time-travelling adventure filled with hilarious characters and tomorrow’s treasures. Three new minute-long videos feature Wilbur in action as he fearlessly defeats enemies using cool devices like Havoc Gloves and the Scanner. The footage also shows Wilbur rolling his way through the zany Robinson world in the hamster ball-like Protectosphere, one of the many eccentric and futuristic innovations players will encounter as they progress through the game.

About the “Meet the Robinsons” Film

Lewis is an orphan who dreams of finding a family. His journey takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson whisks him away to a world where anything is possible…THE FUTURE. There, he meets an incredible assortment of characters and a family beyond his wildest imagination, The Robinsons, who help lead him on an amazing and hilarious adventure with heartfelt results.

Available March 27 on all major consoles and PC, Meet The Robinsons is published by Disney Interactive Studios and is rated 7+ by PEGI.

Download the new videos now by clicking here.

Oxygen Games is pleased to announce a trailer of Dave Mirra BMX Challenge for the PSP® (Playstation®portable) system.

Hailed the ‘Miracle Man’ of BMX and leading the BMX freestyle scene, Dave Mirra is universally acclaimed as the greatest at what he does. Mirra has dominated the competition arena for over a decade and has achieved the most gold medals of any X Games competitor.

Dave Mirra BMX Challenge is available exclusively for the
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and is scheduled for release in May 2007.

Check out all the stunts and tricks in this brand new trailer available to download here.

Renchi sent us an email asking us to remind everybody that all PS3 games and many XBox 360 are region free!  That means they can be played on consoles in Japan, North America, and Europe.  And that you can get the same game that supports English in most cases as well as Japanese, but they are the same game only cheaper.  Armed with that knowledge you should head on over to www.renchi.com and see if they have any games, consoles, or accessories that you might be interested in.  They not only have XBox 360, PS3 but also PSP, DS, PS2, as well as many other platforms.

Renchi spokes person Herman Cheng was quoted as saying “Many of our customers are telling us they want to get those region free Xbox 360 games and accessories from us” said a company spokesperson, “because they are cheaper and there are more to chose from”.

Check out what they have to offer for the PS3, PSP.

So I want to start out by saying I did not play allot of this game.  So if you really like flying games, or you have a great deal of experience with flying games you may like this game allot more than I did.  As I struggled and struggled with this game, I kind of realized that I was simply playing it to get it done and I was not enjoying it.  So I guess that should tell you something.

Basically this is the same game as the XBox 360 version, with one exception.  The PS3 version gives you the option to use the motion sensing capabilities of the SixAxis controller.  I must say it uses the motion sensing very well.  It took some practice, and getting use too, but after you get it figured out using the analog sticks just does not give you that immersive sensation of guiding the plane, as actually tilting the controller similar to a flight stick.  The visuals are good, I would have liked to seen some better explosions graphics.  One thing that would have been nice would be different endings for each of your opponents as you blow them out of the sky.  What I mean is when you shoot down a plane, they all pretty much look the same.  If I am pumping those Gerry war planes full of hot lead, I would really like to first see the plane start to billow smoke then progress to a fire and begin to dive and finally an all out explosion.  If the developers could have had ten or more different crash sequences that would have really added something to the game.  As it is when you shoot your enemy you see them burst into flames and then go hurling to the ground where you can only assume that they crashed into the earth in an explosion of ordnance, gas, and twisted metal.  One thing that I do miss is the rumble feature of the SixAxis controller.  When you are lighting someone up with your machine guns it was very rewarding feeling the controller shake in your hands, or when you crash into the ground (or a bridge, or a building, or a mountain side…well I think you get the idea) it gives you a sense of the crash.  The chatter from your AI teammates is mostly useless and sometimes their efforts to mix humor or sarcasm end up just being plain annoying.  I did like the fact that you can do a first person in cockpit view or a behind the plane third person view.  I wish more game developers would let gamers choose what their preferred game is.

The online feature of the game is good, and for the combat flight junkies it will be entertaining.  Also those who like World War II games this game will be quite entertaining.

Over all the game is a good game, I found it quite hard and you may will find yourself playing levels over and over again until you get it just right.  The graphics are good, the sound is good.  But nothing about this game is a really outstanding and there is no feature of this game that is done above average.  The game does not exceed my expectations in anyway, but on the flip sides fall below my expectations either.  It is simply an average game that was done just good enough to not get too many complaints.  When this game drops in price down or you can find it used for about $30 I would say go out and buy it.  But right now $60 seems like it is just a little too much for a simply average game.

As I type up this article masses of store stockers should be working hard to get Oblivion for the Playstation 3 on store shelves across the USA, ready for the masses when the doors open on Wednesday morning.

Oblivion was a huge hit on XBox 360, and with the limited number of games currently on the PS3 this is an instant must have and possibly the best game available on the PS3. Oblivion is one of maybe three or four games last year that showed up on almost every top five list published.

Voice acting by legendary actors like Patrick Steward, Sean Bean, Terrance Stamp, and Lynda Carter to make this experience very immersive. Plus an award winning sound track that has won almost as many awards as Jack Thompson has filed lawsuits creates an environment that gets the player completely absorbed in the world of Tamriel. The world in Oblivion is vast and you can find yourself riding around the country side just exploring for hours on end. If you are looking to get away from the world Oblivion is just the game for you. You can easily spend sixty hours on this game and maybe just complete the main story line quest. But if you want to build up your character’s attributes with side missions as you progress through the story, this game can take many many more hours of game play.

I myself am only part of the way through this game, and I highly recommend it. This is a game that you find yourself sucked into, and thinking about while your mind wanders. And the second you have some spare time you immediately want to pop the disk in the drive and see what is just over the next hill, or dive into that dungeon to see what evil lays in wait for you.

Among Bethesda’s more popular franchises are The Elder Scrolls® series and Fallout®, as well as its licensed properties, Pirates of the Caribbean™ and Star Trek®. Its product line spans the sports, racing, RPG, strategy, and action genres.

For more information on Bethesda Softworks’ products, visit www.bethsoft.com.

This is the introduction Live for PlayStation, a new blog in the Around the Controller Network.  We are excited to start reporting all that is happening in the world of the PlayStation brand.  We will be telling you what is new with the consoles, games, accessories, services, downloadable content, editorials, and more.  Within a couple of weeks we will also be doing a regular Podcast dealing with the PlayStation brand, content of the Podcast will be from the site but will also have unique content that is exclusive to the Podcast itself.

As I mentioned before LiveforPlayStation.com, is part of the Around the Controller Network. In the coming weeks we will have the following sites up and running in our little online family:

www.AroundtheController.com
www.LiveForNintendo.com
www.LiveForXBox.com
www.LiveForPCGaming.com

If you are lucky enough to own more then one console, head on over to the other sites in our little family and see if there is anything that catches your eye.  There will also be Podcasts specifically for each site. While LiveforPlayStation.com content itself will be dedicated to PlayStation specific consoles, games, news and editorials that PlayStation gamers can relate to and enjoy. 

Also check out www.AroundtheController.com, for articles that deal with general issues that affect gamers of all platforms and brands.  The site will feature articles on gaming culture, political events that may affect gaming, editorials about where the gaming industry is headed, special pricing and deals, or just thoughts about gaming in general. 

We will be looking at your comments and looking forward to reading your feedback.