A Cautionary Tale...

One year, two months, two weeks, and six days ago (not that I was counting), I bit the bullet and bought the PlayStation 3. It was a first gen console with the hardware based backwards compatibility. And despite initial reservations, I LOVED it. I was able to play my PS2 and PS1 games, and I jumped into the new PS3 games with reckless abandon. I enjoyed my first forays into Blu-Ray movies. Later on, I discovered that it could play various types of video files (DIVX, Xvid, WMV, AVI, MP4, etc.) and my previously burned computer data discs and I was TRULY in love. You have no idea how much easier that SINGLE ability of this console made my life. It was simply awesome. Unfortunately, it looks my PS3 has unequivocally died. I tried resurrecting it and for a few days it worked, but now death has come back for my console. In the end, you just can't cheat death.

Now as a seasoned veteran in dealing with electronics, I know that sometimes, machines just simply die. That's not really the problem or what makes this a cautionary tale. See, this failure brings to light a classic mistake. One that everyone falls victim to eventually. I had spent almost 15 months playing various games, both disc-based and downloaded games, and storing the save files on my PS3... WITHOUT BACKING ANY OF THEM UP.

Since the first death of my PS3, I started researching the PS3 and whether or not I could restore the hard drive (HDD) to another PS3. And that's when I discovered a couple of things that I hadn't known about the PS3. First, in an effort to combat piracy (specifically movies) Sony introduced a mechanism in the PS3 that formats and encrypts any newly installed HDD in a way that ties that drive to that SPECIFIC console. Transferring my HDD to a newly purchased PS3 would only allow me to reformat the HDD, consequently erasing all the data I would want to save.

Thankfully, all the downloadable content (DLC) for my games is linked to my PlayStation Network (PSN) account so all the items I paid for I can re-download without having to re-purchase. And all the trophies I synced to the online servers aren't lost to me, either. The only data that I'm currently in a position to lose is my game saves. Yeah, that's right. FIFTEEN MONTHS OF GAMING IS NOW OFFICIALLY GONE! I'm looking at a lot of time and effort to reclaim all of that.

Some of my friends and family have taken this opportunity to push the idea of switching to the Xbox 360. Their biggest gambit being that with an Xbox, this wouldn't be an issue. It's designed to allow for the switching of the internal HDD with no issues. And yet, despite all the work I'm going to have to redo, all the battles I'm going to have to re-fight, it's STILL not in me to go to XBox. I won't do it. It simply will NEVER happen.

Now, I'm the first to admit that the Xbox Live Network is better than PSN. But that's not really saying much. Microsoft is first and foremost a COMPUTER company, if their online network sucked it would reflect badly on the computer part of their company. But, here's the thing, I don't play the multi-player options on my games. I'm old school. I play my games on my system by myself. Speaking of games, I will give the Xbox it's due props; they have some serious hit games that are exclusive to the system. But, none that I care about. The only one that they managed to pique my interest on was Ninja Gaiden Black, but once that was ported over to the PS3 as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Xbox lost it's tenuous grip on me.( Let's also consider the cost of replacing all the games I have for the PS3 for the Xbox. Definitely NOT an option.)

This disaster is not a reason to switch consoles. Because it's not about the console. Don't get me wrong, I HAVE spent the last few days pissed at my console, and even more enraged at Sony for not providing some kind of mechanism to recover the data from my HDD! But, to be completely honest, this is all on me. All the info was out there floating in the CyberWeb InterSpace, if only I'd had the foresight to look into it. but I didn't.

As a seasoned computer tech, I should have been backing up my data regularly, but I didn't. And now, I'm hoping for some kind of miracle. But, I beg of you, my dear readers, take a lesson from Dilking. Back up your data. It doesn't matter if it's your PC, PS3 or any other electronic device. Make backups. Keep them current. Learn from my mistakes. Or you could lose something much more precious than my game save files.

BACK UP YOUR DATA!! DO IT!!! DO IT NOW!!!

 Long Live Play!

Playstation brings new life with the PS Vita!

Well, it's official! Sony's Next-Gen portable gaming system has just been announced!! It's called the PS Vita (the latin term for life!)

Looks sleek and sexy! Here's the quick specs:

-- Dual analog sticks
-- Front & Rear mounted cameras
-- 5 inch OLED touchscreen
-- Multi-Touch Pad (on the back)
-- Sixaxis motion sensor
-- Wi-Fi capable
-- 3G enabled (through AT&T)

The wi-fi only version retails for $249. If you want 3G, the price goes up to $299. Check out this demo video:




Wanna trade in your PSP for this one, don't cha?? Hmm?? Admit it, you know you want one!! Me? I'm going to wait and see how this baby handles before I start drooling for it. Sony has a bit of a bad track record with their V1 machines. But it's still exciting to see!

A New Acquisition...

Last Friday, I received a exceedingly pleasant surprise: a bonus in my paycheck. As you know from last posts (and from how few there were during Sept), dear readers, my life has been exceedingly stressful of late. So, I decided to use this money to get something that could provide stress relief. After an initial desire to hire a hooker for a half-hour session (it wasn't THAT big of a bonus, people!), I decided to go for something that would provide more long term stress relief: a new video game system.

Once that decision was made, an immediate debate started as to which console I should purchase. Factions formed around their token consoles: the Wii, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3; and then the inevitable battle raged. Blood stained the air, fire rained from the heavens, the earth trembled, and the oceans boiled. In the aftermath of that great war, one warrior was left standing. The chains bonded to his arms rattled with each step he took walking towards me. As I stood frozen in shock, and fear, he pointed his twin blades at me and roared.

"I am Kratos! God of War and you will buy the Playstation 3 to relive my adventures or you will feel my wrath!"

Needless to say, I bought the PS3.

Now, I want to be clear on this. I did not buy the PS3 because I was afraid of Kratos. Not at all. Deep down, Kratos is just a big softie. But he seemed awfully determined, and I didn't really want to disappoint him. Since Kratos didn't really specify where I should purchase the PS3, I went on CraigsList and got a great deal on a first generation PS3 that is backwards compatible! I also got 3 games with it, but I traded them in for 3 others. Currently, my PS3 video game library consists of:

Bioshock
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands

I'm sure more games will soon be purchased (probably as Christmas/birthday gifts *cough* *cough*) in the future, so please don't balk that the small size of my library. Remember, size doesn't matter!