b3ta never fails to have the best jokes on a Friday…

I’ve shamelessly ripped this so I’ll be nice and credit those very special people (person?) at MushyBees for making this frankly *genius* little comic.

A Community Team Coordinator over at the Official PlayStation Forums posted fresh news today about a forthcoming MotorStorm update, v1.2.

Set to arrive mid-May, it will automatically pop up to download and install, once you choose ‘Online’ from the MotorStorm main menu. There are no new maps or anything too exciting, but the patch looks set to fix the major bugs experienced when playing MotorStorm online. Though some might question why things as simple as being able to tell who the host is - were not in there from the start.

Unfortunately, the update will wipe all the current rankings, and although this might upset a few players, it’ll at least mean everyone can start off on the same foot this time round. No more boost exploits!

1. Game List Improvement - ‘Game Status’ is now displayed with the game list in the online lobby making it easier to find a session where you’ll be able to join and race promptly.
2. Host Identification Within the game lobby the host is now clearly identified by a ‘host’ icon visible to all players and updated during host migration.
3. Boost Exploit A bug involving the boost system that allowed a player to use boost in an exploitative manner has been resolved.
4. Buddy List Size This has been updated to support up to 50 friends.
5. Text Cut-off When playing in standard definition all messages will now display as intended.
6. Improved Stability Online Online gameplay stability has been improved.
7. Audio issues All known issues with 5.1 / 7.1 surround have been fixed. Audio issues within the front-end have been resolved.
8. Player Ranking Players were found to be ranked incorrectly due to a bug. Because of this all online rankings will be reset and the ranking system should now function correctly. Evolution and Sony apologise for this measure but it will result in a fairer and more stable ranking system for all players.
9. Auto-Start Races will be forced to start after a fixed countdown which should dramatically reduce the waiting times in lobbies. Hosts may delay this countdown up to three times.
10. Save Data Corruption When quitting the game using the PS button it was possible to corrupt the save game data. This will no longer occur.
11. Lobby Information Upcoming track and current lap details will be displayed in lobbies.
12. Vehicle Damage When restarting a single player race during a death camera the damage wasn’t always reset at the start of the next race. This has now been resolved.
13. Missing Audio Audio effects were missing from the death camera, these have now been reinstated.
14. Name Tags Added ability to switch the player name tags on / off during online races using a single button press (L1).

Previously, I posted my 100% EU MotorStorm game save for those poor souls, who like me, had spent so many hours completing the Japanese version of the game. But then had to complete the game again to unlock the juicy cars on the E.U version.

Sonys ‘unofficial’ blog, ThreeSpeech.com has just announced a summer launch date for PlayStation 3’s much anticipated EyeToy.

PlayStation 3 is very good at being compatable with any plug and play USB webcam, including the XBox 360’s own special camera.

So? What can we expect from the shiny new camera, designed specifically for PlayStation 3 and it’s future apps such as Home.
Here are the key features of the new EyeToy:

• A sophisticated microphone with the ability to reduce background noise and focus on the spoken word for smoother, more accurate speech recognition and transfer
• The ability to capture videos and audio clips directly to your PS3’s hard disk drive
• Engineered to perform well even in low-light conditions
• A range of different capturing modes, including slow motion and time-lapse
• Faster frame rate for improved tracking, responsiveness and smoothness
• Two position zoom lens for close-up and full body options
• A range of eye-catching visual effects to apply to photos and videos
• Bundled with EyeCreate™ editing software, which allows users to save and edit photos, video and audio clips

I’ve many happy memories of playing with the original EyeToy, I even had my Dad waving his arms around trying to play EyeToy once. It was prone to the novelty wearing off after a while though. With Wii and social gaming now more popular than ever, many people have some high hopes for Sony’s next generation Eye Toy.
Features such as the better performance in low light conditions are much needed. Capturing photos and video is also a good feature (which makes me wonder about the extent to which SingStar might take advantage of these capabilities).

ThreeSpeech goes on to say more about the software included, and some of the functionality in the New PlayStation Eye…

Previous rumours of the new EyeToy were all touting ‘HD’ but it appears as if HD has been left out of the equation for the EyeToys video capture. Just VGA resolution? Pffft. They could’ve least have given us a widescreen format. The 120fps is at a mere 320×240. Whilst this may have little or no compression, it’s the same physical dimensions that my mobile phone captures video at.
The original EyeToy had a maximum resolution of 640×480, so I’m guessing that the 60fps is a big improvement (though I can’t find technical specifications about it’s framerate).

So, perhaps not the revolution we were hoping for, but a nice little accessory none the less. Now - on to the games!

Just found this on my phone recently from a mate who gave it to me ages ago.
It’s some recording of a phone in on a radio station, but it’s pretty darn funny…

I OWN TWO GOOSE.

I’m not normally a fan of even the word ‘DivX’. It’s like some arogant codec that people have to go on and on about when ranting about which codecs some new techy device supports.
But this next titbit bit of news is a definate plus point on the DivX sheet of things done good.

DivX Stage 6 BETA is essentially another YouTube site, only it promises much more than the smelly old YouTube. Offering hugely superior compression technology than Flash, and the ability to upload videos of up to 1080p resolution, it actually has something special to shout about. It also allows you to download videos, which is never a bad thing.
The only minus point is that you have to install the ‘DivX web player’, which isn’t particuarly great considering the Flash Player penetration for video playback is something like 99%. But at least the plugin installs within the browser, and no need for downloading an .exe file with lots of extra software you don’t need. It’s fairly inoffensive.

After checking a few videos, I’m very impressed with the quality, even at full screen most videos remain clear and crisp. If DivX start talking around to get their web player pre installed in various browser versions, the DivX web player could be a contender for Flash video.
So, yes. DivX Stage 6 BETA ftw.

The new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Not normally my cup of tea (other than dressing up as a Pirate), but then I do love the films and this game is looking very nice. The swagger of Capt’ Jack Sparrow as he walks up the sun-drenched mooring is really quite good.
Coming to 360 & PlayStation 3 sometime in the future.