Gamescom: The Floodgates, How They Rattle

Despite your views towards Sony, it’s hard to not be impressed by the PS3 Slim.  Sure its size has decreased, but I don’t often wave my PS3 around or try to palm it like a basketball.  The impressive part is the affordable price tag of $299.99.  Now nearly every denomination of gamer can afford a PS3!  Wait… that’s starting to sound an awful lot like socialism isn’t it?

Other than the price and size, the PS3 Slim consumes less electricity, boasts a 120 gig hard drive, and retains its two USB ports.  A key feature many people were squawking about was backwards compatibility with PS2 titles.  This seems to be the topic of some confusion, probably due to the fact that no one wants to admit the PS3 Slim does not have this feature.  According to the Japanese Wikipedia article on the PS3 Slim, there is no backwards compatibility.  I am saddened by this as I believe it to be the truth.  Why would Sony not want to tap into the impressive library of the PS2?  I guess their priority was getting the price as low as possible to increase the number of PS3 owners.

I personally own the PS3 which came bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4:  Guns of the Patriots.  I believe this was one of the last models to feature backwards compatibility, so I will be holding onto it.

Speaking of Metal Gear, at Gamescom Konami unveiled a new trailer for the PSP exclusive Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.  The trailer was mainly showing off the multiplayer aspects of the game.  A lot of very unique abilities were shown, all characteristic of the Metal Gear series:

It appears that a downed Snake can be resuscitation by another Snake on the battlefield.  There is also a scene in which Snake uses a ration on a wounded comrade.

This looks like some kind of collaborative mode where a player can latch onto another player for more synchronized sneaking. I am not positive if that’s what this mode does, but I am just guessing.

Other abilities highlighted in the trailer include box antics, door jammin’, and damage display bubbles — I love a little RPG in my Metal Gear.  I am really excited by the number of ways players can interact with each other.  I also saw some interesting items in the inventories of some of the Snakes: a mini hot air balloon, a functional shield, etc.  If you wanna take a look at the full trailer, it can be found here.

Square Enix was also aiming to please at Gamescom, whipping out an impressive Final Fantasy XIV demo.  I don’t normally discus MMOs on Kotowari, but goddamn this is some beautiful video gaming:

I probably won’t be signing up for FFXVI, but I certainly wouldn’t mind watching someone else play it.

If Gamescom didn’t provide enough exciting video game news for you, rest assured the rumblings of Tokyo Game Show 2009 can be heard in the distance.  Today the official TGS site has announced that a total of 456 titles will be on display at the event, 52 of which are RPGs.  An incomplete list of titles (with some English) can be found here.  Some titles worth mentioning are Valkyria Chronicles 2, Ninokuni, etc.  Truly where Gamescom was an appetizer, Tokyo Game Show will be a bountiful feast.

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