Game Talks

Sony recently rolls out another iteration of the popular gaming console the PS3 Slim. It has been rumored for long time now, and gladly Sony came out with its latest $300 slim version. Accordingly, PSP, PlayStation Store and PlayStation Network also get their river of updates

The PlayStation 3’s more than just a gaming machine. It’s also a Bluray player and a media server. When used as such, the DualShock is passable, but hitting pause or rewind on a remote is easier for most people than fiddling with a gamepad. Unfortunately, most remotes don’t work with the PS3 natively. You’ve got two options though – you could go out and buy a new Bluetooth remote control for about $20-$30, or you could get the $60 Logitech Harmony Adapter for the PS3, provided you already own a Harmony remote. Ultimately it’s the price of convenience. You either add that new remote to the existing stack or make the console work with a universal Harmony remote.

Setting up the Harmony Adapter didn’t take too long. A quick tap of the button on the underside of the device had it synced with our PS3 in a few seconds. The trip to the computer to setup the Harmony remote itself took a little bit longer. Logitech would do well to simply include a Harmony Adapter device setting, instead you have to add a generic game console and call it the PlayStation 3. Minor quibble, but it would make setup that much easier.

Harmony remotes are well known for their ability to build out “activities”. Activities basically give you one button macros to watch TV or play a game. In a full home theater you’d be pressing more than a few buttons on at least two or three remotes to get to where you need to be, what with all the devices and inputs. With a properly setup activity, one button press turns on the PS3, the TV and the home theater receiver, while simultaneously choosing all the appropriate inputs. If you’ve used universal remotes before it sounds like a tall order, but Logitech’s software makes setting up activities relatively painless.

Within 15 minutes we had the PlayStation 3 integrated into the home theater setup with hardly a hiccup. The Harmony Adapter for the PlayStation 3 delivers exactly what it offers. You can’t really go wrong if you can stomach the cost.

Wii Steering Wheel II has just been announced and if you want to feel what really completes a race car driving game on Wii, you better grab one of these latest add-ons for your Wiimote.

The new Wii Steering Wheel add-on will support new Wiimote + Motion Plus. It will cost you just $10, and its up to you to decide whether you just want to hold your Wiimote sideways and out this plastic holder.

This video containing some helpful shortcuts for Mario Kart (Nintendo). I know this will help you out! May the force be with you…

When you start playing SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny’s single-player Gauntlet mode, a warning pops up on the screen to let you know that its bizarre story is “based on obscure fables and does not accurately represent SoulCalibur history.” Fortunately, just about everything else in Broken Destiny feels very much like it belongs in the long-running fighting series. The weapon-based combat is as accessible and as deep as ever, the arenas are ripped right out of SoulCalibur IV, and the two new fighters introduced in this game are definitely a better fit than the Star Wars characters that graced the aforementioned Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game. There’s not enough compelling single-player content here to make Broken Destiny a must-have if you’re planning on going solo, but add a friend with a second copy of the game to the equation, and good times are guaranteed.

All 28 of the fighters on Broken Destiny’s roster are available from the outset. You can also create your own fighters from scratch using limited customization tools to determine their physical appearance and then dress them up in gear chosen from a massive wardrobe, much of which has to be unlocked. There are no performance bonuses associated with clothing and weapons this time around, which is unfortunate if you really enjoyed that aspect of SoulCalibur IV, but great if you want to wear all of the matching pieces of the Santa costume without feeling like your fashion choices are compromising your effectiveness. Regardless of which fighter you choose to play as and what he or she is wearing, Broken Destiny, like previous SoulCalibur offerings, is easy to pick up and grasp the basics of. You can move in eight directions using the D pad or the analog nub, and face buttons are used to guard and to perform basic horizontal attacks, vertical attacks, and kicks. That’s really all you need to know to get started, though you’ll find that there are plenty of more advanced techniques to master if you check out the character-specific move lists in the useful Training mode.

Oddly, Broken Destiny doesn’t feature an Arcade mode in which to pit your chosen combatant against a number of opponents en route to a matchup with a boss. In its place is Trials mode, which incorporates three distinct score-based challenges in Attack, Defense, and Endless flavors. In the Trial of Attack you’re pitted against five opponents and earn score bonuses for playing aggressively and for landing combos. The Trial of Defense is a little longer and culminates in a boss battle against Algol from SoulCalibur IV, so in that respect it’s a lot like that game’s Arcade mode. The main difference here is that you score points and earn bonuses for guarding against your opponent’s attacks and retaliating quickly. Endless Trial is a survival mode of sorts, except that your fighter regains all of his health between rounds. Seeing how many of the increasingly tough opponents you can make it past without ever losing is a lot of fun, but your score isn’t based on that. Rather, every time you land a blow you earn points, and there’s a score multiplier that goes up when you hit your opponent but falls back down when you get hit. The scoring system in the trials means there’s some fun to be had replaying them to beat your best performances, but it’s unfortunate that there’s no way for you to compare your high scores with those of other players online.