SSX - Timed Trials

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ssx I subscribed to PlayStation Plus not too long ago and got access to a bunch of free games. But not only do you get access to free games every month, there are also games listed under Timed Trials. You essentially get one hour to try a game. If you liked the game and decide to buy it, your progress from the timed trial will carry over. 

In the first episode of Timed Trials, I check out the newest iteration of SSX. Formerly known as "SSX: Deadly Descents". I haven't played a SSX game since SSX Tricky. I did play the demo of this game before it came out and liked it. Let's see if it still holds up.

I uploaded it to Dailymotion this time because of Youtube's copyright claiming system and this game contains a lot of licensed songs from various artists.

Timed Trials - SSX by toomuchgaming

PlayStation 4 Launch Event Philippines

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SONY DSC The PlayStation 4 has officially launched in the Philippines! Celebrated with a 2 day launch event at Glorietta 2 on the 14th and 15th of January 2014 with a bunch of games that you can try out in their open exhibit area.

 

Dual-Shock 4

I missed out on the launch program but got there in time for the first Celebrity Showdown where they were playing Just Dance (one of the newer ones). While everyone was distracted by the dancing of celebrities that I didn't know, I went in and played about everything that was there.

 

PS4 Launch

On PS4, I got to try out Knack, and played with some of the AR bots in the Playroom. I also got to try out the PSVita TV. They were running God Eater, Dragon's Crown and Gundam Breaker on the exhibit floor as well as Muramasa Rebirth on the stage. The PSVita TV uses a white Dual-Shock 3 controller and emulates the front touchscreen by clicking down on the right analog stick and pressing either L1 or L2 to simulate tapping.

 

SONY DSC

They also had a few PSVita 2000s on display. I got to try out Tear Away and Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z. The PSVita 2000 may have downgraded their screens from OLEDs back to LCD but god damn do those LCDs look good. Everything was very crisp and clear and I did not notice any ghosting while I was playing. It feels great in the hand too. The smaller size and lighter weight is very noticeable and a welcome change compared to the original PSVita models.

PS Vita 2000

I also got to experience the Personal 3D Viewer, Sony's answer to the Oculus Rift. Got to play the PS4 version of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Killzone: Shadowfall on it. Too bad none of the games that had hooked up to it had 3D support. It was very underwhelming.

 

Personal 3D Viewer

Aside from that, they also had 2 PS3s running what I think was Gran Turismo 6 and a few PS4s running NBA 2k14.

We uploaded a ton of photos of the event on our Facebook page so check it out!

Valve reveals the first 13 Steam Machines during CES 2014

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announcement3-1152-610 Last year, we posted that Valve has made the big move by invading gamers living room space. Now, they revealed that they officially have 13 Steam Machines being developed by different manufacturers. Yes, we are not talking about one unit that would be using the new Steam controller and it's new Linux-based operating system called SteamOS, we are talking about 13 kinds of units.

It's crazy. The manufacturers creating Steam Machines are Alienware, Alternate, Cyberpower PC, Digital Storm, Falcon Northwest, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Materiel.net, Next Spa, Origin PC, Scan, Webhallen and Zotac. Each Steam Machine is different, with price range as low as $500 to as high as $1400. The shape of the unit also varies depending on the manufacturer, so there's a lot to choose from when considering Valve's Steam Machines.

Unit specs for some Steam Machines were also announced with a price:

  • Alternate – $1339 CPU – Intel Core i5 4570 Graphics – Gigabyte GTX 760 RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB SSHD
  • CyberPowerPC – $499 and up CPU – AMD/Intel Core i5 CPU Graphics – AMD Radeon R9 270/Nvidia GTX 760 RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB
  • Digital Storm Bolt II – $2,584 CPU – Intel Core i7 4770K Graphics – GTX 780 Ti RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB HDD + 120 GB SSD
  • Gigabyte Brix Pro – TBD CPU – Intel Core i7-4770R Graphics – Intel Iris Pro 5200 RAM – 2 x 4GB Storage – 1TB SATA/6GB SATA
  • Falcon Northwest – $1,799 to $6000 CPU – customizable Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan RAM – 8 to 16 GB Storage – up to 6 TB
  • iBuyPower – $499 and up CPU – Quad core AMD or Intel Graphics – Radeon GCN Graphics RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB+
  • Materiel.net – $1,098 CPU – Intel Core i5 4440 Graphics – MSI GeForce GTX 760 OC RAM – 8GB Storage – 8 GB + 1 TB SSHD
  • Origin PC Chronos – price TBD CPU – Intel Core i7 4770K (3.9 to 4.6 GHz) Graphics – 2 x 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX Titans
  • Next SPA – price TBD CPU – Intel Core i5 Graphics – Nvidia GT 760 RAM – 8GB Storage – 1TB
  • Scan NC 10 – $1,090 CPU – Intel Core i3 4000M Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB
  • Webhallen – $1,499 CPU – Intel Core i7 Graphics – Nvidia GT 780 RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB SSHD
  • Zotac – $599 CPU – Intel Core (TBD) Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX RAM – TBD Storage – TBD

It's exciting to know these Steam Machines will be available within the year. But I'm curious on how Valve and each manufacturer will manage the information for each unit. With each Steam Machine being different, it can come out confusing for consumers with all the choices.

Valve also announced that there are now 250 games now SteamOS ready.

Excited to get your own Steam Machine when it's available? Or are you good with your PC when it comes to your Steam games?

[Source: Joystiq, Valve]