Tinternet treats: 09:12:08

I spent most of yesterday clearing out the remaining crap from my old house before we officially moved in with our friends in fabulous Clovelly, as such there were no treats for you yesterday. But today, Tuesday’s treats were a bit hard to come by, I have to admit. First up we have a gaming helmet that lets you experience blows to the head while playing WWE or some other boxing/wrestling related game. Second is news that Vodafone is allowing customers to recharge their phones through PayPal – very handy. Third, news that PlayStation Home is a mere 9 days away – close your mouth, your drooling over your keyboard. Finally, there’s no stopping those guys and gals from Nintendo as they announce 800,000 Wiis sold in the US last week. Exactly one more week left in Australia before I head back to Europe…more posts to come on that.

Engadget:
TN Games HTX Helmet lets you feel those headshots
Lifehacker:
Vodafone Allows PayPal For Prepaid Phone Recharge
Gizmodo:
PlayStation Home Coming in 9 Days?
Kotaku:
Nintendo Sold 800K Wiis In The US Last Week

The fight for Christmas begins: Xbox 360 Vs PS3

The biggest rivalry in gaming hardware is between Microsoft and Sony, with the Xbox 30 up against the PlayStation 3. Now, the Xbox 360 was in the market a whole year earlier than the PlayStation 3 and they were incredibly astute at marketing the console. They learned a lot of lessons from the original Xbox, but one thing they didn’t forget was how to scrap when it mattered the most. According to news recently release by the guys and gals at Xbox, the Xbox 360 experienced what it called “record-breaking consoles sales” during the Thanksgiving weekend I the US with an estimated 25 per cent increase in sales from the previous year.

This is significant, because the guys at PlayStation have been chasing Xbox for a while now and for all intense and purposes, it seems that the Xbox team is beating them at their own game. The PlayStation 2 was still in the market when the Xbox 360 was released and was hands-down the most popular console in the market, shifting some serious numbers and well and truly beating Xbox 360. Now, admiittadly, the PlayStation2 was significantly cheaper, had a larger install base and a greater number of titles, but isn’t that what’s happened here? The Xbox 360 is now in line with the Wii over here in Australia and has a great install base and a raft of titles, people know and understand the Xbox 360, therefore will they be more comfortable buying in to it as the prices get lower and the number of titles increase?

The other great thing that Microsoft did with the 360 is that they built it with add-ons in mind and to some extent, followed the iPod model with new models like the Elite. Therefore, they have a “fresh” console on the market on an almost regular basis. But what about the PS3? They have blu-ray, the legacy of the PS1 and the PS2. All of this is true, but the old exclusive franchises that they used to have are no more and although they’re a lot of hope and hype surrounding Sackboy, will he deliver? The could-be-killer-blow for PlayStation was that the Xbox 360 was released first and has had acres of ground to get to a pretty commanding lead. But, you can never underestimate the guys at PlayStation, they have been redefining the gaming genre for decades and will surely be taking the fight back at Xbox 360. The DVD market is likely to move on next year and with an in-built blu-ray player, will the PS3 steal some ground?

MyTake – So many questions. It’s a tough one to call this, you have to wonder how far off the next generations of consoles is and just who will get the first the get one in to market. One thing’s for sure, if it’s Microsoft, you have to think that it won’t look good for PlayStation. On the flip side, all you need is one killer franchise for PlayStation and the whole thing could get flipped on it head. It’s a cliché, but the ultimate winner is the consumer. Get out there and get gaming.

Introducing...Sackboy

There aren’t many game characters that truly last the test of time, in fact I can only think of a handful: Mario, Sonic, Lara Croft, Master Chief…… But according to Sony PlayStation, the newest kid on the block might be a little rag doll by the name of Sackboy. Developed by a little known UK outfit called Media Molecule, Sackboy is the hero of Little Big Planet and Sony has pinned their reputation on this little guy becoming the next big thing in gaming. 

Being pushed around in the console market by Nintendo, PlayStation are looking for Sackboy to help claw back some of the more casual gamers that Nintendo has charmed with the ever-popular Wii console. The game is remarkably straight forward – echoing the look and feel of a bygone era, you move left and right, jump over things and collect stuff as you go – sound familiar? The killer app for the game is the social networking element, which lets you design your own levels and customising characters that you can share with friends.   

MyTake – The Wii captured hearts with its quirky controls and the customisable gameplay, bringing back a greater sense of “clean fun” to gaming which encouraged more people to get in to gaming. In addition, it cannot be forgotten that Playstation were the pioneers when it came to attracting non-gamers through titles such as SingStar. Having said that, it is very, very difficult to come up with a character that you can be confident in and put your brand reputation behind. Watch this space..and this video….cute, isn’t he? 

Wii wanna play too

I 've been a bit slow on the uptake on this on - but better late than never. Apparently, Microsoft is developing its own version of the Wiimote controller for the Xbox 360. It's just rumour and speculation at the moment - but it's exciting to think that the console that was supposed to be lagging miles behind in this generation race is now influencing the likes of Microsoft. But - should we really been surprised? Out of all the consoles, they have the most experience and despite the technical leaps made by Xbox and Playstation, Wii is the console of choice.

Back to the Xbox 360 Wiimote, the aim to go bigger and better with reports that features could include an analog stick, a microphone, four face buttons and there is even talk of some kind of inclusion of the Xbox Live Vision Cam.

MyTake - Every now and then, something truly awesome happens in the gaming industry - the Dance Mat, the EyeToy - that changes he way we game. The Wiimote did just hat and more. Admittedly, Microsoft have very rarely been the innovative first to market type, but when they do get on board, take-up is pretty certain to be phenomenal

Xbox to trim the waistline and go Blu?

The Blu-ray train rumbles on with rumours that Xbox 360 is about to get its very own Blu-Ray drive. Even though Microsoft has constantly denied such claims, the rumour mill is once again running hot. One such claim is from a manufacturer called Lite-On, who is supposedly developing built-in Blu-ray disk drives for the “next generation” of the Xbox 360 console. Personally, I don’t know which bit is more exciting – the fact that Blu-Ray is coming to Xbox or the fact that we could be getting a slimmed down 360 sometime soon.

MyTake – Never forget that success in the games console industry comes through mass-market saturation – obvious right? But, you only get that when you get the console to a price that is right for the average Joe/Josephine and that’s just what Microsoft could be doing here. As the PS2 and the PS1 before it underwent a face lift and price drop, so too could the Xbox 360. The genius part will be if they can get Blu-Ray drives in a slimmed down machine and still come in at a lower price point than the PlayStation 3 – then we’ll have a fight on our hands!