A General Update.

Before I get around to the initial impression of the latest Splinter Cell title I'm going cover a couple things. First of all, the PlayStartion 3 went up for preorders at Electronics Boutique and GameStop all across the country on October 10. Sony recently delayed the launch of the PS3 in Europe until March of 2007 and announced that 400,000 units would be available for the North American launch and only a mere 100,000 units would be there for the Japanese launch. The reason Sony gave is that a diode needed for the Blu-Ray laser was slower to manufacture than anticipated. This news essentially sent a shockwave of fear through the people already gun-shy from the Xbox 360 shortages at launch. GameStop and EB were also gun-shy from the X360 launch as they had oversold preorders for systems that weren't there and took a hell of a lot of heat from their customers as a result. This time around they weren't going to let that happen. So they hadn't been taking preorders at all. They waited until they were going to get firm launch allocation numbers. They then decided on a one-day preorder campaign where each store would know the exact number to take preorders for and they weren't allowed to go beyond the given amount. People camped out for a PS3 preorder. Most PS3s were gone by two in the morning and the stores ended up turning away people by the time the stores were open at ten. I have no desire for a PS3 this year. Mainly because there isn't anything I want to play. There won't be until Virtua Fighter 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4 hit well into next year. I'm also personally expecting a rather high failure rate on the PS3. Better to wait until it's had a few production cycles. On the heels of the PS3 preorder day comes the one-day preorder campaign for Nintendo's Wii, which happened on Friday the thirteenth. Now I want a Wii. Nintendo is saying they'll have two million units available by launch with four million before year's end. So whoever wants a Wii can theoretically get a Wii come launch. But I went through hell to get an X360. I'm never doing that again. I was beyond antsy to preorder my Wii and be done with it. So I found myself heading out to the local GameStop that Friday morning at twenty to six. I arrived and found myself to be sixth in line for the fourteen Wiis that store was being allocated. It was a warm fifty degrees and only a four hour wait. I could do that with ease, especially after a the fourteen hours and nineteen degrees of the X360 launch. I was surprised by the crowd waiting at my GameStop. The first person in line was a grandmother who was there to get her grandson a Wii. Next in line was a father and mother there to get a Wii for their son. Number three in line was the only teenager there. He was there for himself.  Number five was a guy around thirty also there for himself. The woman behind me was easily seventy and she was there getting a Wii for herself. She is a huge fan of RPGs like Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Kingdom Hearts, and she couldn't wait for Zelda. The four hours just flew by as there was constant gaming related conversation. The manager got to the store about nine and handed out copies of all the items available to preorder with their SKUs and price and titles and available dates. They were numbered one to fourteen and we were turning away people from then on. It was cool that there was only one teenager in the group of fourteen. I ended up paying in full for the Wii, one Wii Classic Controller, and I had already paid in full for The Legend of Zelda. I'm set for the Wii this year. Everything else I want on the system hits next year. I am hoping to snag a gem or two from the Wii Virtual Console though. The other thing that was noteworthy going on since the last update has been the beta demo of Phantasy Star Universe. Easily my most wanted game of the entire year. Between the various versions of PSO I've spent thousands of hours playing the games. I'm looking at adding hundreds more to that total if all goes well. Despite some connection issues, and content not turned on, and the general glitchy nature of the beta, all signs point to Phantasy Star Universe being something great. From what I've played of the PSU beta I can say the game looks and sounds great. It seems to be PSO with deeper action combat. Greater depth in the new skill and type system. It adds in crafting for the rare weapons. It also removes the lobbies for a more MMORPG city aspect that will add some 'life' to the proceedings. The voice chat inherent to the X360 version also frees things up and is very welcome. Although it leads to things like Riddel and Arcee both mocking the enthusiasm apparently conveyed by my voice. Sugar and spice... my ass. I found myself already addicted and itching to play it when not playing it. The very addictive grind nature of PSO is clearly there. I can't wait for the final release next Wednesday.