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It has finally been confirmed—the PS3 slim is indeed real.
After making its unofficial debut in a video
shot at the Greenhills Shopping Center a few weeks back, Sony
formally announced the existence of a brand-new version of its
PlayStation 3 console during a game convention in Germany on
Tuesday.
Simply called the “PlayStation Slim,” the
new system is due to release in North America and Europe on
September 1 for $299 and +299, respectively. The price cut is
immediate, however, meaning the soon-to-be-replaced 80 GB
PlayStation 3 currently on store shelves is now only $299 as well.
The slimmer version may be 33-percent smaller
and 36-percent lighter but will retain all the same features and
functionality of its bulkier sibling. It will, however, be more
energy sufficient and use 34-percent less power. With the new model
and price cut, the company hopes to fire up sales for its console,
which continue to lag behind the Xbox360, Wii and sometimes even its
own PS2.
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Speaking of the Xbox 360, magazine Game Informer
recently conducted a survey among 5,000 of its readers and revealed
that Microsoft’s console has an alarming failure rate of over 54
percent as compared with about 10 percent for the PS3 and 6.8
percent for the Wii. Instances of the now legendary “three red
lights of doom” had been well documented with Microsoft even
announcing a three-year extension of the console’s warranty in
2007.
In an investigative article done by Venturebeat
last year, it said that while the root cause of the 360’s problems
aren’t clear, factors such as the machine’s groundbreaking
complexity, a rushed design process, and cost-cutting initiatives
that hamstrung quality assurance tests, may be the reasons why the
console has become annoyingly faulty. Exact figures are hard to
find, but judging from the comments on Xbox hardware failures, many
gamers are already into their fifth or sixth Xbox.
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While the PS3 has shed some excess pounds, it
seems more and more gamers are gaining more bulges and developing
mental health issues according to US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). In a recent study of 552 Americans aged 19 to 90,
the CDC discovered that those who play video games are more likely
to be potbellied and more prone to develop mental health issues.
And if you think games are just for children,
the report showed that the average US gamer doesn’t even fall into
the 18- to 34-year-old demographic that advertisers usually pursue.
The average adult American gamer is now 35—the age when the
retirement-age organization AARP (American Association of Retired
Persons) begins sending out invitation letters. Strangely though,
the study left out gamers aged 18 below and was vague on who
qualified as a “gamer.”
The study, which was conducted in conjunction
with Emory University and Andrews University, also found the
majority of adult gamers had lower extraversion, consistent with
research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a
sedentary lifestyle, overweight status, and mental-health concerns.
Female gamers were particularly likely to be hit by depression and
“lower health status.” It also found that women are more like to
use games as a “digital self-medication.” Male players spent
“more time using the Internet and rely more on Internet-community
social support.”
The CDC study surveyed 552 adults—far less
than the controversial Game Informer survey on console
reliability—aged 19 to 90 in the vicinity of Seattle and Tacoma,
Washington, where some of the highest per-capita Internet usage in
the country were registered.
It would have been a more credible report except
for the fact that it was conducted in 2006, weren’t analyzed until
2008 and apparently not published until this year. Another report
though from industry research firm the NPD Group, which included
young and casual gamers, classified over 170 million Americans, or
about half of the US population, as gamers.
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Remember swinefighter—the pandemic-inspired
flash game wherein you have to click like crazy to inject green pigs
with a magical antidote and stop the spread of the virus and save
the world?
Well, there’s another swine flu-based game
that just came out and this one is a little more serious. In an
effort to raise awareness, Dutch researchers have created a game
that challenges players to control a new pandemic. “It is actually
what is happening now, what is happening in the real world,” said
Albert Osterhaus, head of virology at the Erasmus Medical Center,
who designed “The Great Flu” game with colleagues.
The game begins with a background story of the
1918 Spanish flu as images of bedridden patients and graveyards show
on screen. As the head of the fictitious “World Pandemic
Control,” players pick a flu strain, and then monitor that
strain’s spread around the world. To fight the probable outbreak,
players need to utilize measures including setting up surveillance
systems, stockpiling antivirals and vaccines, and closing schools
and airports. Players also have to work with a limited budget and
are warned that “your actions to control the virus cost money, so
keep an eye on it.”
A running tally of the numbers of people
infected and those who have died are indicated above the budget.
Newspaper stories about the deadly virus and the global response to
it—like riots breaking out worldwide—pop up to help players
monitor the outbreak. Messages from governments mirror the
difficulties faced by international agencies like WHO. Osterhaus
said the video game’s approximation of combating a pandemic,
choosing between various interventions yet still watching the
outbreak spread, gives people a sense of how difficult it is to make
decisions in the public health world.
It’s a fairly complicated game and you just
can’t click like crazy to minimize the casualties, and once you
see the rising number of infected, a sense of panic will definitely
set in. The game can only be played online at http://www.thegreatflu.com
and it is free.
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For all your PC gaming needs drop by
Datablitz’ branches at SM, Robinsons, and Ayala Malls. You could
also call (632) 734-5058; (632) 733-8477; (632) 7348 or check out
their website at www.datablitz.com.ph.
Send your questions and comments on anything gaming to eduyisgood@gmail.com
or gamexads@yahoo.com. Follow me at twitter.com/ed_uy.
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