Over the past few hours, the apparent demise of EGM, Ziff-Davis Media’s last enthusiast gaming mag, has gone from plausible rumor to utterly confirmed. This was, some would say, an inevitability — print is an expensive, floundering medium for delivering the kind of info that has begun to be released on a minute-by-minute basis. A mag can try offsetting the update-any-second nature of news by working on deeper, more interesting interviews, but when competing mediums offer unlimited page count and the cost of publishing is cents rather than dollars, the incentives to go the “old-fashioned” quickly start to dry up — or at least start becoming less justifiable.

So EGM shutting down wasn’t all that surprising. After all, it would be a little crowded, but at least the 1UP Network offices would now have even more staff to help pump out the kind of features that have made 1UP one of the best places to get, well, magazine-style and -level features.

Instead, it was eventually revealed that not only would EGM be closing up shop, but almost the whole of the 1UP Network (read: 1UP, GameTab, GameVideos and MyCheats) was, effective more or less immediately, being sold off to Hearst Media-owned UGO (remember them from the late ’90s?). Worse still, the video and podcast teams were getting the axe, to say nothing of tons of friends and long-time Ziffers that were full-time editorial staff.

The longer things have gone on and the more various Twitter and blog accounts have been updated, the more it’s become clear this is a full-on gutting, meaning even more people in addition to the recent folks over at C|Net that got canned (among them one of my current roommates) will be joining the pool of job-seeking formerly full-time industry workin’ folk. I’ve been somewhat fortunate in that I have a semi-steady stream of freelance, and I’ve been living off that for going on about five years now in addition to running this site. I’m used to being broke, but with the economy in the shitter, suddenly the so-called “recession-proof” games industry seems a whole lot more prone to reacting to the bucks and fits and starts that the economy has been in the throes of for a while now.

Whenever the inevitable severence packages dry up, if a solid number of well-paying freelance gigs or full-time positions elsewhere haven’t happened, some very good friends are going to be in a very bad way. I pray this doesn’t happen, and I wish every last person affected by the Hearst buyout the best of luck in finding something new — and soon. If for some reason they’d like to blow off some steam by reviewing a shitty game here on this itty bitty site, I’ll be happy to supply it. I won’t be able to supply that much-needed cash, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to just say what you mean without fear that you’ll ruin a relationship with a publisher; you can’t lose what you don’t have!

In all seriousness, though, my prayers and best wishes are with the folks that are likely still reeling from the shock. Something tells me Steff’s is awfully packed right now…

You may have seen our story recently on the recent firmware 2.40 update and all the (potential) deliciousness it brings. We actually shied away from going all-out on pimping it because we were told from multiple dev sources that it was very much a foundation for stuff going forward. I even personally tried to tell forumgoers elsewhere that it was something that was going to take time to really gain traction.

The reality of what 2.40 adds to the PlayStation 3 experience is something that isn’t exactly tangible from the get-go. Yes, you have custom soundracks. Yes, you have Trophies, which to me is huge because rather than an arbitrary number, you now have that and an RPG-style level. Why the hell this is more engrossing to me than GamerPoints has actually caused me a bit of concern. There is quite literally zero difference between the two in the grand scheme of things; it’s still just a number, but something about the idea of “leveling up” based on grabbing Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies is, admittedly, intoxicating.

We don’t even have a full-fledged game yet patched (at least at the time of this blog) that supports the idea of the “Platinum Trophy” (you get it for earning all the Bronze/Silver/Gold Trophies, and it gives you, in effect, an “experience boost” for nailing ‘em all). But I want it. I don’t even know why I want it, but I do. It’s the RPG nut in me, and duplicative though it may be toward Microsoft’s Achievements, something about it being not another number yet, yes, still another number amazes me.

But 2.40 isn’t perfect. It went well for most of our systems, but Warren’s machine has bucked and decided to restart at random times. Still other tales persist on forums across these here tubes that tell a far more frightening tale: PS3s are getting bricked. We’ve contacted Sony, but not after all this rabble has eased a little, to hopefully get an official comment on things (we’ll let you know when we know).

It does seem that this is an issue commonly tied to people that opted to go the very route that Sony had allowed and upgraded their hard drives. In many cases, this includes the 40GB folks, which, aside from the Metal Gear Solid bundle, have already had to suffer no PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility if they wanted to play someting other then PS3 and PS one games. The (relatively) meager storage space was also a reason to throw another hard drive in there.

It does seem the solution so far is to just insert the normal system-ready hard drive back into the PS3. Things update (begrudgingly, if my 30 minutes of literally constant rebooting and searching for an update to Super Stardust HD are any indictation), but we’ll get an official word from Sony here soon… I hope.

From the desk of Sam Bishop, Editor-in-chief

Hey Kids! Looking to Break in the Games Industry?

So you probably thought this was a post about MAKING games (just like everyone does when we tell them what we do). Nope, we’re looking for bright, energetic (insert other clichéd buzzwords normally found in hiring announcements) people to help continue the meteoric rise of our company which has been around for almost 12 years, yet you’ve probably never heard of. We’re kidding, of course. Self-deprecation is really just our way of weeding out those without a sense of humor and a willingness to poke a little fun at ourselves while striving to become THE home for readers interested in all things PlayStation – including (primarily) games, but also the wealth of entertainment options afforded by the PlayStation systems (read: games, movies, music, home theatre and so on). We’re not looking to bring down the established sites in the industry, but we DO think we can be something different, which is where you come in. Are you relentlessly committed to helping a small group of like-minded folks build a company that puts quality above quantity? Do you abhor the idea of letting sensationalistic headlines guide editorial? Do you like video games? Do you like WRITING about video games? Perfect, then you’ve passed Test 1: So You Want to be a Gaming “Journalist.”

We obviously favor humor above almost everything else, but an encyclopedic knowledge of at least the past 10 years of gaming is a major plus, and being able to string together sentences with sprinkles of nuance, pinches of humor and just a hint of work time masochism is important too. Above all, though, we’re looking for people who can actually WRITE WELL. The all-caps means we’re serious business, and all joking aside, if you haven’t a solid command of the English language, including spelling and grammar, you needn’t apply. As we’re a small-time site, we offer the mere pittance of trips to industry-sponsored events and free games as our form of payment, but the experience gleaned here is absolutely invaluable at getting a foothold in the industry. We’re not interested in folks looking to make a name and then jump ship, but we’re also an understanding bunch – and if you catch a break while working with us, we’re not going to stop you (and yes, it’s happened more than a few times in the past).

So, if you’re interested in learning the ins and outs of the industry from a group of folks that have decades (yes, that’s multiple) of experience between them, then you’re already off to a good start. We need someone that’s willing to work during daytime hours (more or less 9-5), have a lock on proper grammar, and a willingness to be put through the ringer for a few months until we’re comfortable enough to send you free games. Yes, you read that right, if you work here, you get free games. And trips. And really meaningless but still somehow awesome random stuff like backpacks and figurines. If that sounds like your bag, here’s what we need from you:

-A resume and writing samples (the latter is KEY, as we need to get a good idea of whether or not your writing style fits the tone of the site).
-A mock review of your favorite game or a game released in the past six months, at least 500 words.
-Your contact info across IM services that you use.
-A basic write-up of the last great game you played and why.

Simple stuff, sure, but if you can prove you know games, know how to write and don’t mind being just a wee bit sarcastic about stuff, then you may well find yourself joining us. English majors and Bay Area residents are preferred, but if you blow our socks off, concessions can be made. Thanks for reading all the way through this, and we can’t wait to meet you! …Unless you’re that scary dude that works in the game store a couple miles from here and you smell like beef cup-o-ramen. We like you, man, honestly, but… naw, we don’t think it’ll work out.

Mandatory installs are the bane of my current generation gaming existence. They are the reason I turn off my PlayStation 3 in disgust and play antiquated systems.

I was under the impression that console gaming was the essence of true plug-n-play. My Dreamcast does it, my PlayStation does it, even my Wii does it. I put a game into my system, I turn it on, and it loads up. Why is it that my PlayStation 3 doesn’t do this? Why is it when I buy a game, I have to sit through an installation period as if I’m loading up a PC game for the first time? This is not plug-n-play and it’s not console gaming. It’s a monster that doesn’t belong in my living room.

Excessive installation time, as well as what I’ve lovingly dubbed “gigabytitis”, or sucking up great amounts of hard drive space, are two of the biggest problems with mandatory installations. Devil May Cry 4 sports a grand 20-minute install, which is over the top and leans on the high side of the scale, but the average still takes 5 minutes, time I could be going through the mandated tutorial most games force upon the user these days.

But space is the greatest concern, given the fact that the 40 GB PlayStation 3 is the only SKU on the market. Between the demos on PlayStation Network, the purchases I’ve made from the PlayStation Store, and random media bits, my 40 GB of space is nearly gone. There soon won’t be enough space to play games that require a certain amount of free space just for caching, such as Heavenly Sword and Oblivion. The benefits of Blu-ray’s extra space is moot when I have to install more than 10% of the game’s assets from the 25 GB disc to my system.

But I don’t have issues with just the mandatory installations themselves; I also have problems with the fact that I can’t browse the rest of my PlayStation 3 while it’s happening. I’m completely at the mercy of the great PlayStation Installation God, and I don’t like it. Mandatory installations not only waste precious time I could be using to press Start through all the menus and logos at the beginning of every game, but I’m forced to sit by the wayside as my $400 contraption entertains itself with the 1s and 0s spilling off the deliciously blue tinted disc in its drive. If this device is truly the media hub of my living room, and Sony wants it to act as such, then it needs to function like the laptop sitting three feet away from me on my coffee table that let’s me surf the internet, chat with friends, read email, and play other games while still installing programs of my choosing.

There is one saving grace to all of this: the PlayStation 3’s hard drive is easily upgradeable. The fact that at least 20% of my total hard drive space will be spent on mandatory installations (and more if I choose the right selection of games) isn’t enough, but all the other media will strip the drive of space in no time. However, it’s a breeze to put a 500 GB SATA hard drive into the PS3, and one of the booklets included with the system even walks you through the process (you’re still be under warranty, afterwards). But that doesn’t excuse mandatory installations, since no cosole gamer should ever be forced to upgrade a piece of hardware just because they want to play a few games and make a few purchases from the wonderfully provided PlayStation Store.

What should be done about mandatory installs? Don’t make them mandatory. If I choose not to have the speediest load times in my games, that’s my choice. And if I want to install it, tell me what’s being installed, be it textures, levels, music, or whatever else the developer deems important to enhance my gaming experience. But under no circumstances should the developer force the installation on me (like they do now) or keep the installation information a secret (again, as they do now).

Changing mandatory installations would go a long way to ridding the headache of purchasing a new game and not getting the chance to play it until an hour or more after you pop it into the machine. But since its easy to force the installation on the end user, it’ll become a crutch that many developers use to smooth out the game experience without knowing how it ultimately affects the consumer.

Wishing for it to change is a pipe dream, I know, as mandatory installations are here for the foreseeable future. Obviously, in the case of games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Devil May Cry 4, it’s not hurting game sales, since gamers will put up with anything to get their hands on the latest and greatest titles, but it is hurting goodwill and becoming a constant complaint among the very audience likely to buy these products. One thing Sony can’t afford to sour is good will and, maybe, if enough voices rise up in unison over this issue, they’ll see how big of a problem mandatory installations are for any of the current (or future) SKUs on the market. With how responsive Sony has been with issues concerning their customers, perhaps that will get things changed. And any change can only be good change.

If ever you’ve wanted to know the sure-fire sign that it’s a slow news day or there’s a need to fill some space with cheap content, you need only look for a Top ____ List. Top 10, Top 100, Top Boobies, Top Explosions… Yes, they’re sometimes (okay, often — okay, usually) pointless bits of fluff, but this one is different. Why? Because… uh… well, because it has lots of pretty pictures! Also, despite the title, it’s not really Top anything, it’s just our ramblings about what makes us giggle like schoolgirls with excitement.

No, in all seriousness, it’s important because for the past year and half-plus, the PlayStation 3 has been the industry whipping boy and only most of it is self-generated. Thing is, every Sony system takes about two years to get its shiznite in gear and start properly rocking. The only difference this time is that Sony has competition from two different sides and both are doing some things better. So how do they turn things around? Simple: G-A-M-E-S. Software is the key to providing initial attraction and maintaining it into the long term.

Surprisingly, though, both of the other systems either haven’t really talked about what they have coming for this year beyond a select few titles or simply don’t have much right now to show. Sony, on the other hand, is poised to rock a serious block o’ awesome throughout most of this year. Sure, some of these games might slip, but at least as a value proposition, this is what gives the PS3 some serious rallying power.

10. Grand Theft Auto IV

Were this a popularity list, all ten entries would be GTA IV. It’s that big. There will not be a more significant game than this one, be it because of the inevitable controversy, the sheer amount of awesomeness burned onto the disc or the fact that people will likely be sharing their experiences with the game for years to come. The only game that will top GTA IV in raw hype will be whatever follow-up Rockstar ends up making. Speaking of hype…

9. Metal Gear Solid 4

Again, if we’re just talking hype here, MGS4 could probably claim its own list. The fact that every person we’ve talked to that has finished the game talk about it in a kind of hushed reverence should say a thing. Will be it amazing? Oh yes — the only question is how amazing?

8. WipEout HD

Who would’ve thought the MotorStorm a modified version of the Formula One CE Engine was this flexible. Not only does WipEout HD look amazing (especially the new living equalizer that is Zones Mode), it also runs like a dream in bullet point-friendly 1080p/60fps. Just like WipEout games should. The fact that we’re capitalizing that E should show just how big a fan of the series we are, but don’t worry. After playing the bestest HD anti-grav racer ever, you will too, just watch.

7. SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation

Ahaaa, but the PS3 isn’t quite done with kicking out the brown straight to your peepers just yet. No, there’s still trrrstststsss to kill In the Name of Freedom with SOCOM Confrontation. Sure, the single-player part of the series may have hit a peak a while back, but the online is still one of the franchise’s biggest draws. With Confrontation, all that pesky offline stuff is ditched for a pure multiplayer experience that’s… well, considering we only got a peek almost a year ago, we’re gonna go ahead and say with a bit of faith that it’s going to be fun.

6. Home

Laugh all you want, buddy; Home is more than just a Second Life clone. Sure, there’s all the chatting/customization crap, but this is also the portal to 3D representations of your Accomplishments in games. Yes, virtual trophies are our reason for looking forward to a graphical chat room. But hey, it worked for Gamerscores, right?

5. Resistance 2

You might notice there’s no link to a game page with tons of screens and movies here like there is in the titles of all the other games. Why? Because Insomniac Games hasn’t been kind to gift us with pretty, pretty pictures of their new epic yet. So why is it on the list, you may ask? Because, silly person, the first game was rad-tastic and with the promise of 60-player online multiplayer, a completely separate 8-person co-op campaign, a full single-player game and all the crazy ass advancements that Insomniac has been making to their core engine, it would take a miracle for the game to not blow us away. So there.

4. MotorStorm 2

Oh, hey, another game without pictures? All these words are starting to get in the way, we know. Here’s the difference, though: we’ve got video of this one. G’head, click the title of the game there and check out the teaser trailer under the Movies link. See if that doesn’t just make your pants just a liiittle bit tighter. Don’t worry, it’s probably just the end of the trailer. Probably.

3. Killzone 2

Words can’t properly describe how technically impressive Killzone 2 is. Not even still pictures can illustrate just how close Guerilla Games came to the infamous CG trailer (yeah, that one). Luckily, we have a trailer of it just for you, at the link just above. Honestly, we don’t even care if the game turns out good (okay, we care, we do), those visuals are going to justify HDTVs all over the place.

2. LittleBigPlanet

Truly, there may never be a more “awwwwww”-worthy game on the PS3 in its entire lifespan. Not only is LittleBigPlanet contender for Game of the Year already (and we’ve only played like an hour of it so far), but it represents a grab-the-bull-by-the-horns approach to embracing and channeling user-driven content like few games ever can. The charm is undeniable. The freedom is incredible. The creation of giant levels filled with blocky penis-like shapes will be unstoppable.

1. How to Destroy Your Credit in One Year: The Game

Ah, the most gripping and visceral of them all. The one game on this list that will stand head and shoulders above all else. Yes, kids, it’s The Game… of Life. This list, Sony-development-heavy though it may be, really only represents a sliver of what the PlayStation 3 is going to get that already registers as a 7.8 or higher on the Awesome-O-Meter. There is a ton of incredible content not only on the PS3, but on just about every system out there this year, which means that the greatest battle of all will be on our poor, defenseless bank accounts.

They will be drained, oh yes. They will be drained.

Agree with our made-up list? Disagree? Want to just call us a bunch of doodie-heads? Fine, Sport, hit our fancy new forums and made with the name-calling. Just make sure you do it with lots of extra, pointless words. It’s the TPS way!