The Pat on the back.

The Playstation 3 got its 2.40 firmware update today which adds the trophies, that more or less are Playstation’s version of the Xbox live achievements. Apparently this is very appealing to a lot of people, but I for one really do not get it.

It feels as if I am getting a pat on the back from the game, letting me know that I’m doing “good” and here’s a little “prize”. I don’t understand how something that has no impact in the gameplay or helping me achiveve whatever goal I have set out for. I mean it’s not that big a deal since they don’t inhibit the gameplay experience either, but the fact that a lot of people go out of their just so they can get every single one of the achievements/trophies just bogles the mind.

Now if they actually provided you with some tangable rewards after compliting them, then I can see the merit in them, and the only case I have seen this being so is with Team Fortress 2, with the special achievements every class will eventually get, where you can get bonus weapons for each class. This is why I strongly feel that Valve is a true innovator and always thinks ahead with their products, even with something so simple, they (in my eyes) put people working behind the PS3 and 360 to shame, as they did with the creation and further development of Steam making it essentially what Games for Windows shoud’ve been.

In the end, if some usefulness isn’t incorporated into achievements/trophies I really do not see any value in pursuing them, and feel they are a complete waste of time.

Crysis: Warhead teaser

About two months ago Crytek announced that they would not release any other patches for Crysis, which caused an uproar at the Crysis forums with many PC Gamers claiming folly on this “PC Gaming is dead lets do console games” approach that Crytek is leaning towards.

Three weeks ago Crytek announced the new Crysis: Warhead expansion, putting all those worries to rest, and the new teaser released yesterday does not provide much graphical difference from the original at first glance. I mean the game is the best looking game on the market achieving an extremely high level of realism, but even though Warhead might not be making any major changes in the graphical end, the latest issue of PC Gamer US claims that the game will add some more subtle eye candy, but also will allow for the game to be run better on lower end gaming rigs with high settings, which was one of the main complains gamers had.

Check out the video and see what you think:

Radeon 4800 series.

Finally AMD/ATi came out with their next gen cards that incorporate a new architecture as an answer to Nvidia’s GTX 260 and 280 cards. Hardocp.com reviewed both the 4870 and the lesser powered 4850, and the praises are high.

What’s exciting is that the 4870 which is the higher end card and can in many cases do better than a GTX 260, costs $100 less, and about half the power which in my opinion is awesome, since it shows that not both companies pursue the idea that more transistors which leads to bigger more power hungry cards equals better.

It seems that a Radeon 4800 series card will be my next card of choice.