Free stuff here (at some point)

[davidn]

I've only just heard that to apologize for the Playstation Network's recent period of deadness, they're offering a choice of two downloadable titles from a list of five (and more, if you have a PSP).

Are any of these any good, then? (We've got Little Big Planet, but now I come to think of it, we haven't played it in a very long time.)

From that page, it also looks like this only applies to North America - Sony might expect European users to just go back to banging rocks together and pointing at the magic box that lights up.

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the european list came out first, actually!

I've heard pretty good things about Infamous, I was thinking of making that my choice; I figure Little Big Planet could be the other, because I've also heard good things about it, though I was doubtful enough about it to have never actually gone ahead and picked it up. I can tell you that I greatly enjoyed Wipeout HD, if you're into racers. I've heard good things about Super Stardust HD, but then, it's also one of the cheapest ones on the list... (anyway, there's a demo of that one!)

[davidn]

What most interested me about Little Big Planet (apart from the inclusion of Stephen Fry) was just how much ZZT was mentioned alongside it - it shares that spirit of combining little elements to work together in ways that they were often never intended to work to build a... difference engine or Mandelbrot set or something. But unfortunately, I didn't really feel like investing the time to create anything myself (though the idea of a cooperative building mode is quite wonderful).

I'll probably take Infamous, just as I know it was popular, and it's not as if I have anything to lose!

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Whenever I hear about any "use this to make games!" system, I always feel a twinge of excitement on principle, before remembering "wait a minute, I can just program an actual game, and I'll have a way bigger audience in a web browser"...

[davidn]

Hah... yes, there is always that, now :) Though in a closed system like this... I think there's a greater opportunity for recognition (within that smaller audience) for doing something unexpected.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I'd rather be recognized by my friends than strangers, really. X3 Although, thinking about it, working on that homebrew Cave Story is how I *made* some very good friends...

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

I've seen and played Super Stardust HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhhocl7jf3o), and the game is a Smash-TV-control game set on planetoids with a rocking soundtrack and appropriately gorgeous HD graphics. It also has a 2-player mode for extra mayhem. That's my suggestion. :)

I'm surprised that they're offering downloadable games right alongside full-fledged retail-release games, though. It's a very scant selection of titles from a vast collection of PS3 games.

[davidn]

You know, I think I might have seen that before... I did enjoy what I played of it, so it might be a good chance to pick it up for nothing!

My understanding is that they're doing this to very carefully selected games that they wanted to shove off to the bargain bin anyway. The 30-day free Plus subscription is quite nice, though I'm led to believe that anything you download during it will disappear at the end of the free period.

[kjorteo]

As someone who only has a PSP, that selection is just as meager, I assure you! Well, I guess I did kind of want LittleBigPlanet, but beyond that we have some racing game I've never heard of, which I guess I'll be getting as a default because I can tell from the titles that the only other choices are Gunspree Manshooter 2 and Batallion Kill Testosterowned, and, well, you know me.

[davidn]

Yes, that was pretty much my issue as well. I remember that the original Killzone was actually the first time I realized that my taste in games might be heading away from the mainstream - it was all over the place on the PS2 magazines, and yet I was totally unable to get excited about it.

[rakarr.livejournal.com]

Only North Americans have the brains to feel inconveniencd, apparently!

I really liked inFAMOUS, despite the stupid name - it was part of what convinced me to buy a PS3 and it's kind of standard action-game fare in some ways, with its pros and cons, but I enjoyed it. Possibly because I enjoy superhero themes, which you may not.

[davidn]

I'm not really sure - I've always been completely unable to come up with any kind of definition as to what kinds of games I like, because some just work with me and some don't. Of the list, it's pretty much the only one that I'm sure that I'd like to try - it's free, after all!