Valve: "Your move, playerbase"

With the impending release of Portal 2, it has come to my attention that Valve is generously providing a duplicate PC copy of the aforementioned digital manifestation of entertainment (Portal 2) for every NEW purchase of the Playstation 3 version of the game. Generosity of such magnitude is not unheard of or even remotely out of character for a developer/publisher like Valve. In the previous year they had Portal free to download in the wake of the Steam for Mac's release into the wild, aswell as a full high quality Isometric xenogenocide simulation by the name of Alien Swarm

Now this move may come off as an apologetic marketing attempt to woo the PS3 playerbase into their favor after the slew of mishaps that plauged Valve releases onto the PS3; notably the poor port of the Orange Box to the platform, the lack of releases regarding the Left 4 Dead Series and the constant debasement about the flaws of the console from a pioneer in the industry/obese man who probably has a swimming pool full of money.

And with that comment I just delayed Half-Life 2 Episode 3 by another year or so.

Despite the issues, Valve is a company founded on customer loyalty, their entire business model revolves around returning customers and word of mouth on product quality. Now I think there's more to this than a simple apology, they already did this with Half-Life 2 when it was released, back then the game required you to be signed up and logged into the neonate of an online storefront that we've come to know as Steam. Aside from the extra steps to be able to play your game, Steam did one very important thing: It created a centralized venue for a player base that isn't dependent on a singular game much like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. This is what Valve is trying to do with Portal 2 for the PS3, they're building upon the already massive userbase of PC players by showing what Steam as a service can provide to its users. Come to think of it Portal being free is another ploy at attracting a Mac userbase and getting them accustomed to using the service.

While I approve of this attempt at marketing their distribution platform which will increase Steam users and purchasers by some degree there are still some issues that prevent it from reaching its maximum potential. One would be that many console owners don't have the time or patience to research on getting a decent computer and would spend their money on a simpler alternative. Another would Steam's grasp on the PS3 is minimal; it can hardly be considered a supplement for PSN as it only has Steam Cloud for save file storage through cloud computing and cross system chat. While it maybe a long shot for steam to ever replace PSN for its native platform, the mere presence of Steam Cloud is a wedge in the crevasse of cross platform interaction, Valve may or may not want to hammer it open and Sony may or may not choose to seal the crack.



Short Version: Buy PS3 Version of Portal 2, Get PC version + an online store that has dirt cheap sales almost everyday for free. EEZ GOOD. Oh and the 360 gets the short end of the stick.

Crysis 2 Cross Platform Comparisons

I'd rather that you watch on youtube in full 1080p glory

Robbaz has graciously made a video comparing the graphics of Crysis 2 on all three platforms that isn't some crappy home camcorder on TV action where all the detail gets butchered. Although I'm sorry to say that for my PS3-centric friends there's not much detail to butcher. Judging from the video shadows that don't encompass entire rooms are non existent, lighting is noticeably brighter (which may be a good thing; easier time spotting people = easier kills) and overall it feels much more blurry compared to the 360 and the PC. True the PS3 may have the number crunching power of the Cell processor but the 360 still beats it graphically.

The 360 does have a better grasp of lighting, god rays look better than on the PS3 but there is an unusually high amount of what looks like fog when facing the sun. I don't know if its actual fog or just some side effect of the lighting system but it stands out enough that the cityscape in the background is nigh unnoticeable. Texture work is much sharper than that on the PS3, the difference from the PC isn't all that too noticeable if it were not for the better lighting and bump maps. The decorative water effects are significantly less visible in the 360 compared to the PS3.

Do I even need to talk about how beautiful this game is on the PC?