Playstation 2 Game Pads - Where do I get them?

I played Burnout: Revenge on the PS2 with a gamepad covered with drool several nights ago. My dog was in the living room and immediately took a liking to the almost brand new gamepad (I hardly used it since last year).

Drool aside, the gamepad that I'm using is actually a replica of the Dual Shock 2. Don't get it? Well, try "knock-off". It looks the part, feels the part and in my opinion, almost indistinguishable from the real thing and it costs less than RM 30.

But before you jump off your seat and head off to the nearest video games shop (or stall for that matter), most shops carry two types of knock-offs. The first type, is probably the worse but cheapest of the two. With analog buttons as stiff as rusty bicycle chains and buttons with the response times of bricks, you would be better off getting the second type, which I'm using.

But of course, knock-offs do come with general drawbacks. They kaput faster, buttons wear off faster and the response times can be a little suspect. The one that I was using previously had its R1 and R2 buttons stuck. I'm guessing too much SSX.


Original Dual Shock 2 gamepads come with a price variance that is bound to boggle the mind. It retails at RM 95.00 on the Sony website. Too expensive? Play-Asia sells the same thing for just USD 16.90 (RM 54) and the site stocks a variety of colours too.

• Black
• Crimson Red
• Crystal
• Slate Gray
• Ocean Blue
• Lemon Yellow
• Ceramic White
• Midnight Blue
• Emerald
• Satin Silver

I would probably go for the traditional black, or perhaps the Slate Gray, but the Emerald does exude some "Master Chief" glow.. So what about you? :)

Deep Red Sony Playstation Portable Slim & Lite out now!

The new Deep Red Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) Slim & Lite is out now on Play-Asia. Now, this is a colour that I actually like, among all the new Slim & Lite PSPs.

The Value Pack contains the following:

• Playstation Portable System (PSP-2000DR)
• Battery Pack (1200 mAh)
• AC Adapter (100-240V)
• Strap
• Cleaning Cloth
• Pouch
• Memory Stick Duo (32 MB)

Interested? Click here for purchase details. There's also one version with a 1seg TV Tuner and 1 gigabyte Memory Stick, click here for further details, but at the moment this particular version out of stock. I guess Ebay or your local parallel importer will be a better choice in this case.

Don't forget to check out the Bargain Bin for low-priced PSP games.

Sleek, Black and Sexy PSP

Curious thing, this PSP that I bought earlier today. It's kind of like the Borg, assimilating features of various multimedia devices and video games consoles into a sleek, portable, (depending what colour you get) black piece of hi-tech, oozing with a lot of sex appeal.

However, I would call the PSP a "jack-of-all-trades", because features wise, it's really is a master of none (although it does score high points for trying and for that really slick presentation). Compared to the usual suspects such as the Nintendo DS (and its repertoire of games) and the Apple iPod (with its nice integration with iTunes and excellent usability), you'll wish that the sum of the PSP's capabilities/parts/hype wouldn't be that... underwhelming.

So why buy Sony's thingamajig of a portable video games console? I'm guessing it's a matter of personal taste and in my case, I'm buying for my brother. He's a fan of the PS2, having finished a lot more games compared to this brother of his (only 1 title - SSX 3), and the idea of playing games such as GTA on the go really appeals to him. And it doesn't hurt that his favourite game, God of War, is coming to this platform, come November 2007.

Raining Down On The Wii Parade

A friend of mine asked me today which next-gen console I would rather get. Most people would expect me to pick the Nintendo Wii given that I'm a proud owner of a DS, but I've something to say that would make Nintendo fanboys cringe. Price point aside, the release of the Wii as Nintendo's next-gen console is in my opinion is a faux pas.

Fanboys will be keen to point out that aside from me being an idiot, the Wii features innovative gameplay due to its unconventional controller which incorporates motion sensing. Fanboys fail to realize that throughout video game history, innovations introduced by Nintendo like this have always been successfully implement by rival consoles.

Examples include the analog stick introduced in the controller for the Nintendo 64 as well as the rumble feature provided by the Rumble Pak. These features were incorporated into the Playstation 2's controller, the Dual Shock 2 as well as the controller for the Microsoft Xbox. With current advances in technology, it is likely that these two companies to introduce these features in their next-gen consoles, the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

As it is, the Xbox 360 is a compelling option. Currently priced just below RM 1500 for the Premium Package, it is cheaper than both the Wii and Playstation 3 on Malaysian shores, both of which are parallel imported into this country. Already a mature platform due to its one year head start on Sony and Nintendo, the Xbox 360 has an impressive library of games (I would like to play Gears of War, Viva Pinata and PGR 3) and has amazing graphics and processing abilities that overwhelm that of the Wii and currently delivers one of the better online experience among the 3 consoles.

Another aspect of the 360 that interests me is the ease in writing software for it. Sure, aspiring developers will have to pay an annual subscription fee but not many console makers are willing to do that and instead make developers pay for expensive licenses and development kits.

I'm looking forward to getting one this year, and a HDTV to go along with it, bar any problems.

Smooth

Sleek, Powerful and Sexy are just some of the adjectives used to describe Sony's handheld console, the Playstation Portable (PSP).

I had the opportunity to play around with one and even though it was less than 5 minutes, at least two out of three adjectives were found to be true. The unit had the sleek feel of a current generation iPod and the wide screen completes the sexy look.

However, this being my first time with the console, I had some trouble getting used to the controls. All this while I did not realize that there is a row of buttons underneath the wide screen and any of my attempts to work the unit like a Nintendo DS ended in failure.

The unit was loaded with a web browser and the wide screen did justice to viewing web pages on a handheld console but the same thing cannot be said about the text input. A handphone-style input screen was provided in place of a normal QWERTY-styled keyboard screen when I attempted to enter a web address. This isn't really intuitive if the same interface is used to type out an e-mail.

The PSP uses something called a Cross Media Bar for its default interface and at one glance at the options available, anyone would realize that this piece of hardware is really quite an amazing multimedia device. However, navigating the Cross Media Bar is something to get used to and in terms of usability, it is almost the same as the Nintendo DS' setup screen which I find to be irritating at times.

I managed to get an UMD game to load during my time with the console but it took too long and I thought I had broken the unit. As I started to walk away, the game loaded but I had no time to test it out.