April 27, 2009

Weekend notes

- Well, the Marlins suck now all of a sudden.  After starting the season 11-1 and coming off series sweeps of the Braves and Nationals, we have now lost 6 in a row, getting swept ourselves by the Pirates and the Phillies.  Ouch.
 
Maybe we're just not that good after all.  In fact, thinking back to that Nationals' series, we could easily be in a 9 game losing streak right now, since we won all three of those games by coming from behind in the final innings.  They could have easily been loses.
 
Here's hoping things pick up.  We start a tough series against the Mets tonight.
 
- On the gaming front, I played some Rock Band for the first time in months on Saturday.  Well, actually that is not accurate, I should say I played drums for the first time in months, since I purchased Pearl Jam's Ten album when it was released last month and I have sung Jeremy and Black many times.  :)
 
But I hadn't played the drums ever since breaking my third bass pedal a while back.  My buddy brought over his pedal on Sat. night and we jammed.  Man, I was extremely rusty.  Still a lot of fun though.
 
- Gabe and I played 18 holes of Hot Shots golf on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  I was on fire too and ended up finishing 14 under par I think.  Gabe didn't stand a chance!  lol.  Rematch!
 
Speaking of Hot Shots golf, it is time for another Sony rant.
 
Sony's PS3 does a lot of great things.  As a piece of technology, I love it.  Bluray playback is top notch and it offers a lot for tech heads (web browser, slide shows, SACD playback, dvd upconversion, etc.).  One the gaming side it has proven to have plenty of horse power and games designed specifically for the system have really shown what it can do (Uncharted, MGS 4, Killzone 2, MLB: The Show).
 
That being said, the system does a lot of things terribly.  I've previously commented how un-user friendly it can be, especially with game or system updates (especially compared to how the 360 handles things).  But on Saturday, Gabe and I were struggling with what is the systems biggest weakness by far.  The entire online network/infrastructure.
 
It is TERRIBLE!
 
First of all, you cannot send Friend Invites.  I've taken for granted how convenient this is on the 360.  Want to pay an online game with a friend on the 360?  Just send him an invite.  Once he accepts, he is automatically placed in your lobby.  Simple.  Easy.  Convenient.
 
Can't do that on the PS3 (unless the game itself offers the feature).  So, here is what we have to do to get into a match of HS Golf.  I call his cell phone.  Yes, I have to call his cell and say "Hey Gabe, ok, I am going to be in the 1st Clubhouse, 2nd floor, 1st lobby.  Go in there and then look for the match that I will create."
 
That is all types of fail right there.
 
We've also played for about 3 weekends in a roll now and only one time have we been able to play with voice chat.  Now, this is not a Sony problem as much as it is a Hot Shots problem, but hey, if you could do a private chat like you can on the 360, this wouldn't even be a problem.
 
This is the main reason why I always choose the 360 version of a game over the PS3.  As a "gamer", the 360 does just about everything better.
 
The PS Network may be free, but I'll gladly pay for my Live service and get a fully functioning network.
 
Ok, rant over.
 

2 comments:

Gabe said...

Sony please do us a favor and get the hint, xbox live works and it is easy to use. Home sucks. We are still waiting for a simple system to just easily play with our friends online. Get it done.

Gabe said...

Oh can you guys change your name to, its long and boring....
Thanks.