How Sony Got It's Console Groove Back

Sony is slowly inching its way back into the game.


After a horrendous beginning in the PS3’s lifespan Sony has turned things around in the console wars and is inches away from taking second place away from Microsoft while also developing the best momentum with the best arsenal of games in the past couple of years.

And continuing this momentum is the announcement of the Playstation 4.



To make things simple and clear: The Playstation 4 conference delivered, and righted every wrong Nintendo committed when announcing the Nintendo WiiU. They announced the specs, they answered most of the burning questions, revealed plenty of hardware and software dropped a few upcoming projects. And announcing this before the E3 brings the pressure to Nintendo and Microsoft to truly impress or Sony is going to arrive towards a successful holiday season (Granted they don’t have a ridiculous launch price).



Unlike Nintendo, Sony knew that gamers wanted to know: hardware details, what software to look forward to, and why we should be excited in forking over another $400 to another console. Streaming software, supposed connection to all previous Playstation systems and games, heavy amount of software backed by great third-party support, an expanded multi-player online system, and perhaps biggest of all: Diablo 3. The PS4 seems to be starting to bridge the gap between PC gaming and console gaming by taking one of the best PC franchises out there.

The conference in New York was long, had plenty of information, had barely any downtime, and showed a lot of wonderful gameplay. Sony fans could not be disappointed, there was no way. New Final Fantasy, new Killzone, Diablo III, and the rising favorite Watch Dogs. How can you go wrong?

Sony fans, this month belongs to you. The PS3 has three new JRPGs on the way, released one of the better ones in recent memory, continues pouring a good lineup of quality games in recent years, and have the PS4 to look forward to by the end of this year.



Welcome back Sony.

P.S. Now....about that failing Playstation Vita.....

The Sweet and Sour of Kirby's 20th Anniversary Collection

Before the invention of the tiny but fun multitude of games you can find in phones, tablets, and handhelds everywhere, we had Kirby. Kirby’s video games were quite easy, usually not too lengthy, but contained enough creativity and fun to make up for all those setbacks. 20 years later, while Kirby isn’t exactly a massive-selling monolith, it does provide decent sales for Nintendo—especially in the Japan area. Advertising for this game is never prevalent; relying more on word-of-mouth to boost its sales.



Let’s be frank here: Kirby’s main reason for existence is for Nintendo to have that franchise that appeals to the kiddies. No other reason. While Kirby has had its appeals to the hardcore (Kirby Super Star comes into mind every time) these games are essentially quick, throwaway games that satisfy the creative and gamer soul without much true depth. Kirby is like the Winnie the Pooh of the gaming industry---light, charming, innocent, and fluffy fun.


So how on earth did Kirby receive the greatest game collection in the history of Nintendo??!?!?!?!?




Apologies to Metroid Prime Trilogy, the Kirby 20th anniversary collection is an incredible piece of work that for some inexplicable reason has remained below the radar while not getting much press. This is by far the greatest effort I have ever seen Nintendo pull off when celebrating a birthday of one of their franchises. Metroid didn’t get this celebration, Zelda has yet to receive much of anything, and let’s not even discuss what Nintendo did to Mario.

Just throwing the stats alone should boggle you and impress you: this one disk gives you the Kirby’s Dream Land trilogy, Kirby 64, Kirby Adventure, and one of the greatest SNES games in its history: Kirby Super Star. And this is not even including all the extra features, extra goodies, extra challenges that you can unlock throughout the experience. This does not even include the special CD that comes with each game that covers the musical history of the franchise. 6 games in one, including one game that features 7 games itself? How can this not entice you to fork over the $40? Along with Metroid Prime Trilogy, this is the greatest value in the history of the Nintendo Wii.

And while this makes me happy enough to give it a near perfect score (9/10, it was one spin-off video game away from nailing a perfect) it also infuriates me because this shows that Nintendo can indeed put the effort to releasing something of this caliber in terms of linking to its rich past---and yet it barely ever happens. I have pointed this out before in--

1) Angry article 1

2) Angry article 2

3) Angry article 3

--that Nintendo is always centimeters away from gaining the trust of the rapidly-depleting hardcore—and they have yet to pull it off. And with Metroid Prime Trilogy and this game in review, both games came out in awkward times under minimal press. Why why why why why????!!??

Pokemon. Mario. Zelda. Metroid (Trust me, there’s more). Fire Emblem. Golden Sun. Earthbound. Wario. Mario Kart. Mario Party. Professor Layton. These are ALL franchises missing an authentic collection, and could definitely benefit the 3DS and/or WiiU. But somehow the first decently quality collection Nintendo has released is that of Kirby—one not as requested and not as required.

This game overall is a pure delight hands-down and receives my highest recommendation (Unless you never liked Kirby, then we have a different problem), but it leaves a sour taste in your mouth because it only displays the potential love that can be given to the other babies in the Nintendo universe; and all we can do is hope and pray that we get to see more gems like this in the near future.

P.S. This anniversary collection would have been amazing if it had a 3DS counterpart.