Jaffe's Calling All Cars Coming Soon

Via Joystiq, the news on David Jaffe's blog is that Calling All Cars will be released soon via the PlayStation Network. The first downloadable title from one of Sony's AAA developers, this marks the start of what should be a string of high-profile games for the service. The initial post about the game 'going gold' appears to have been taken down but Jaffe reviews the reviews that have been released so far, and gives PS3 owners an idea of what they can expect. "Has it been worth the wait? Reviews are slowly coming in, but IGN is calling it 'Sony's first truly original, must-have title on the PlayStation Network' and claiming it bests just about everything on Xbox Live Arcade. Strong words; we'll see for ourselves [this] week."

Comments

1st Party devs - the Nintendo route?

[ZaMoose]

I find it interesting that Nintendo, the ostensible "loser" of the last gen of gaming platforms, relied heavily upon first part offerings in order to keep the Gamecube afloat. To date, they are continuing this trend, but with other companies noticing the Wii's popularity, even holdouts like EA are pitching in to the Nintendo camp. Will this leave Sony at an impasse similar to Nintendo's previous one?

Here's to hoping the Sony 1st parties at least come up with a decent sequel to Twisted Metal Black. The absence of another TM game for the PS2 remains one of the head-scratchers of that platform, at least in my mind.

Re:Did anyone pay $600 to buy cheap games?

[oGMo]

If you are going to pay six hundred dollars for a game console, you are probably willing to buy eighty dollar games. If you want cheap games, why not stick with your PS2 and buy some used games for $15 to $20 each. The Wii is being sold as the cheap alternative, so cheap downloadables make a lot of sense.

I am willing to pay $80 for a game if it's worth paying $80 for. It doesn't matter what platform it's for. Guitar Hero II (with guitar controller) goes for $80 on the PS2 ($90 on the 360), and I don't see anyone complaining about that. Why? Because it's worth the $80.

Off-the-shelf PS3 games are $49-$59, not $79. But $10 more than "last-gen" games isn't a whole lot more (certainly not the $30 you're claiming), especially since there aren't a whole lot of games at the moment, anyway. And before you go "ha ha! not a lot of games!" this applies to every console. At least on the PS3, there's been about a game a month.

The PS3 also has a decent list of cheap, solid downloadables; even some of the demos have a lot to do:

• GT:HD concept (free)
• Motorstorm demo (free)
• Gripshift; 720p, 125 levels, 5 cars, online play: $9.99
• flOw: $7.99
• Tekken 5 DR:HD; $19.99
• Ninja Gaiden demo (free)
• Various minor game incremental content (free to $1.99 for some level packs)

There is also Lemmings ($4.99) and some other things I haven't tried. There are some demos and games that suck (Blast Factor). But the only game on this list I found a bit high was flOw; it's cool, but it's essentially an interactive screen saver. Gripshift was the best $10 I've spent on a game in awhile. Tons of levels with tons of things to do. Tekken is "a lot", at least compared to other things on the list, but come on, $20 for a top arcade fighting game that's $40 in the store? You're complaining? I'm not.

In short, if a game costs a lot, and it's worth it, then no, there's no problem getting it.

(Apparently people don't remember the much less uniform pricing structure of games back in the NES/SMS days. Super Mario Bros 2 went for $120 at Toys'R'Us.)