Sony willing to release a new Playstation 3 firmware update worldwide this week in hopes of combating potential software piracy. System update v3.21 will disable the console’s “Install Other OS” feature, which allowed users to install the Linux operating system. The feature is currently only available in PlayStation 3 models released prior to the “slim” redesign that launched in September 2009. The update will go live on April 1.

SCEA’s corporate communications director Patrick Seybold notes on the PlayStation Blog the feature is being removed due to “security concerns.”

“In addition, disabling the “Other OS” feature will help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system,” Seybold wrote.

Those who use Linux can choose not to upgrade, however, Sony lists several features that will no longer be available:

• Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network and use network features that require signing in to PlayStation Network, such as online features of PS3 games and chat
• Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later
• Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
• Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later

For those PS3 users who are currently using the “Other OS” feature but choose to install the system software update, to avoid data loss they first need to back-up any data stored within the hard drive partition used by the “Other OS,” as they will not be able to access that data following the update,” Seybold added

The prince has undergone a drastic transformation during the seven-year span between the Sands of Time and Warrior Within. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands returns to that universe and plans to fill in some of the gaps by recounting just one of the prince’s many chaotic adventures. In this particular case, the story is about the prince and his brother who have teamed up against the devastating Sand Army. While the game and the upcoming movie Prince of Persia: Sands of Time are coming out around the same time, the game is completely separate from the film; thus, the in-game prince bears no resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal–except for the outfit. The last time we saw the game, we ventured into an expansive city that was under attack by outsiders and eventually faced some skeletal members of the Sand Army. In our latest hands-on session, we practiced our freezing water ability to navigate through the sewers and get a taste of what combat is going to feel like.

Water columns and spouts shot out that were often timed, so to make sure we had something to hold onto, we had to time our powers with the left trigger carefully. Your energy bar depletes as you hold down the trigger, so you can’t keep water frozen indefinitely. Switches and levers are located in certain rooms to trigger the position of the water, so when you’re not stabbing sand creatures in the belly, you’re trying to find the way out. Some of the trickier maneuvers will require you to let go of the trigger to unfreeze and recharge your energy bar before using it again or time it so that you can leap from one spout to the next while passing through a waterfall in between. It can take a few tries to get the timing down, but once you have it, you can find secret collectables that will yield some extra experience points for you to upgrade your powers.

We were able to experiment with a few combat powers that were selected for us, which included a stone armor spell that boosted our defense, an ice spell that would shoot a beam of frost along the ground from our sword, and a tornado attack that picked up neighboring enemies then swirled them around until they disintegrated. These abilities can be upgraded as time goes on or you gain experience points, and they cost a blue orb to cast. If you didn’t like your last move or happened to die, a blue orb can also be used to rewind time, but once you’re out of orbs, you’ll have to start over from the last checkpoint. So, yes, you can die in The Forgotten Sands.

The Sand Army is led by an ifrit, which we encountered later in our session. While we explored the dingy underground prison and pristine palace interior, we came across several different types of creatures we hadn’t seen before. Ghouls were armed with shields that prevented us from merely slashing with our sword, but they were easily disposed of with a swift kick that knocked them over and a follow-up stab in the chest. Summoners are another creature type that will continuously summon wraiths and other Sand Army minions unless you take them out first. The other monster type are specters, which are a bit tougher and armed with a spiked club, so it’ll take a few tries, as well as frequent dodging, to keep them at bay. You don’t have the ability to block, but you can defend and reposition yourself with the B button by rolling or jump over the enemy with the A button. Combat is fairly fluid at this point, and you can come up with your own combos to keep enemies at bay.

The ifrit showed up once we made our way to the palace exterior, which was a breath of fresh air, especially after having spent a good amount of time running around the grimy dungeons. As we made our way across the wide, spacious balconies, it was easy to enjoy the spectacular view of the sky and the distant palace rooftops all while jumping over the fresh gaps that the ifrit had just made by launching fireballs at us. The build we played on was still early, so some enemies didn’t quite move the way the way we expected them to and had missing textures. Hopefully, the camera will be improved because it was a bit fidgety at times, but the environments and surroundings looked great while the controls were solid.

The attractive feature of the Xbox 360 game console is its power button, called the ring of light. The ring of light is capable of displaying vibrant colours according to the video. The Xbox Guide button lets the player know about his opponent, who challenged him for a game. This button is available on the Xbox 360 remote as well as on the controller and allows the player to switch on and off the Xbox system from the comfort of his couch.

Using Xbox 360 Live (gold version), one can access the Xbox Live Market place, play games online and can use video chat and video messaging. From the Xbox Live Marketplace, one can download content for his game that may include characters, new levels, vehicles, weapons etc. One can also download game demos and trailers for free. However, some good quality game content costs a few bucks.

Xbox 360 allows the music from the player’s system to be played while he is playing the game. However, if the player plugs in an Mp3 player to his USB port, that music will not be taken by the Xbox 360 game. As DVD playback is available out of the box, there is no need to buy a remote to serve this purpose. The highly exciting feature is that the player can personalize his Xbox 360 game console.

Easy Coins
If you stand still and then Spin Jump on a dancing flower you will get a coin.

Extra Lives
When you perform the following 6 actions during the game you will be able to gain the indicated amount of extra lives.

• Jump on 7 turtles to get an extra life. If you are fast enough you can keep jumping on the turtles until there are no more to jump on.
• Go to World 2-3. Just before the flag are some stairs with a turtle moving down. Use a precisely timed jump to continue bouncing on it’s shell to collect up to 99 lives.
• When you are riding on a Yoshi jump on the bullets 7 or 8 times to get as many extra lives as you want.
• Kill 8 enemies with a star on you to get an extra life. If you are fast enough you can keep it going until the star runs out.
• Kill 8 enemies with a turtle shell you will get an extra life. If you run fast enough you can keep hitting the turtle shell until there are no more enemies.
• Freeze the Pokeies then do a quick Ground Pound to get at least 5 extra lives.

Unlock Alternate Endings
When you complete the game with less than 100 Star Coins the Princess will say ‘Did I ever tell you about the Secret World?’. If you complete the game with ALL Star Coins from Worlds 1 through 8 the Princess will say ‘Oh Mario, tell me about your adventure again!’ (alternatley complete the game twice to get this ending).

Unlock Levels

When you have beaten the game World 9 will become unlocked and if you then collect ALL the Star Coins in a world the corresponding level will become available.

Unlock Level 9-1:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 1.

Unlock Level 9-2:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 2.

Unlock Level 9-3:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 3.

Unlock Level 9-4:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 4.

Unlock Level 9-5:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 5.

Unlock Level 9-6:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 6.

Unlock Level 9-7:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 7.

Unlock Level 9-8:
Collect ALL Star Coins for World 8.

The conversation between two wooden characters in Final Fantasy XIII is a fitting description of the Final Fantasy series. Inundated with abysmal storytelling and poorly crafted characters, Final Fantasy XIII is an absolute mess when it comes to the finer things that don’t include graphical beauty.

Plagued with horrendous dialogue that will either make long-time fans cringe or naysayers of the franchise laugh at the shoddy work, Final Fantasy XIII is the epitome of how the video game industry doesn’t know how to put together a wonderful narrative for players to enjoy. Opting to use flashbacks and forced moments of moving the plot forward, FFXIII is as contrived as they come.

One of the flaws of FFXIII is the emphasis on making children among the unlikely heroes of the story. From the bumbling buffoon who trips over his own feet while trying to gun down nameless soldiers to the overly sensitive playable character Hope, FFXII takes the aggravating children and shoves them down the throat of the player. When one of the adults yelled out, “You think you die and everything’ll be sugar and rainbows?” to an overly ambitious teenager, it became apparent that it was all downhill journey from there.

If there’s one thing that ruins the overall experience of a video game, it has to be a story that detracts away from the gameplay. The characters implemented into the plot don’t have much to work with besides a typical device of discrimination and a world in turmoil because of it. Sure, there’s a machine-like love story between the typical tough guy and America’s sweetheart, but for the most part, FFXIII struggles to find its identity until it’s too late in the game. To learn more about the backstory, players must divulge into the game’s data log to fully understand the circumstances the characters have been put into. This is one of the biggest mistakes of FFXIII; instead of telling a good story through the medium, the developers instead opted to write it down and ask players to read up on the silly lore.

Another problem with FFXIII is that it takes too long for its “point” to come across. To grasp the entirety of the gameplay features, combat system, and the perks of each character, players must brave through the first 5-7 hours of an enduring introduction. During this time, players hear words thrown around with no meaning that only befuddles the player to the point of frustration. Cocoon hates Pulse. Pulse doesn’t like Cocoon. Guardian Corps don’t have access to information PSICOM units have, but NORA is a resistance group that wants to stop the purge by the Sanctum. These words and sentences mean not a thing in the first six or so hours as players are stuck wondering, “What the hell are they talking about?

While I moan about the unsatisfying story, there is one thing that Square-Enix and the developers were effective in accomplishing: the graphics. The best way to play through Final Fantasy XIII is to effectively mute the sound, whether it’s by drowning it out with your thoughts about the graphics or grabbing the remote. Even with the linear worlds provided (not counting the close to end-game content), Square-Enix was capable of delivering an inviting world through lush environments (though lacking interactive objects) and highly detailed character models. It’s true that the Xbox 360 version is a lesser version of the PlayStation 3 brethren, but even with that slight, it’s still one of the most beautiful games on the Xbox 360.

Due to the gorgeous graphics, it may be acceptable to fanatics and newcomers to have their hand held throughout the entire story. Final Fantasy XIII is supposed to be an epic role-playing video game, but instead, it turns out to be a disappointing interactive movie with cutscenes occurring every 20 minutes that do nothing to advance the plot. If I was to receive this as a gift, I would promptly reply in the same vain Lightning did when she finds out bad news about her sister and say, “Worst birthday ever!”

An Xbox 360 Wireless Headset really adds to the immersive gaming experience offered by the many titles which accept such devices. Wireless headsets are almost a must in multiplayer games, particularly online. After all, who’s going to take keyboard taunts seriously? (And who would want to type while busy fighting for their onscreen lives?)

No, an Xbox 360 wireless headset is a must-have accessory that’s really not an accessory at all, if you think about it. There’s really no way to enjoy many of today’s complex, sophisticated games without a headset, with wireless ones making for increased convenience. Indeed, wireless is the way to go, and you might as well add in an Xbox 360 Wireless Controller. Especially with the amazing games available now that incorporate human kinetics into the game play itself, it’s almost a necessity for freedom of movement and range of motion.

In the wireless headset department, however, Turtle Beach’s Ear Force line has matured into a solid option, with its X4 model featuring improved sound quality, especially with digital optical connections. It’s a high-end pair of headphones, rivaling the cost of the Xbox console itself, but it’s very popular and highly rated. The Ear Force X4 is made up of the headset, transmitter, power cable, a cable for the Xbox controller, and a digital optical audio cable. It runs on two triple-A batteries that are usefully included. There are inputs on the transmitter digital optical audio as well as outputs to your audio-visual receiver (or just the TV). This particular Xbox 360 wireless headset is heavy and bulky compared to earlier versions in the series, but it’s the kind of thing that’s set up somewhere and left alone, so size shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem. The headphones themselves are similar to earlier models of Ear Force, with internal springs that pinch your head, but they do seem more comfortable in general, however. The ear-cups are covered in fabric this time, which absorbs sweat – which would be pretty cool if the covers were replaceable! Otherwise, they’re not as easy to wipe clean as regular vinyl, for which you don’t need to worry about water soaking in. Battery life is going to be a concern with anything wireless, however, so keep a steady supply handy for those weekend power sessions!

The Computer games have added a fresh dimension to the way in which both children and adults play either individually or collectively.

In addition computer games such as World of Warcraft Gold (WOW Gold), Guild Wars, Final Fantasy and Dungeons and Dragons have also broadened the perspective of players by introducing them to a scenario whereby resources, supplies and a variety of strengths and weaknesses of available manpower and weapons perform to create a strategic environment in which the skill and mastery of strategic thinking becomes necessary in order to win.

War has always been one of the most popular games played by children and no self-respecting male adult will likely have grown into adulthood without possessing a few fond memories of his toys soldiers. Computer games have added the dimension that was always missing with toy soldiers by bringing to life the characters that once required human imagination to conjure with. Computer games also provide realistic landscapes, strategic maps and an assortment of weaponry that begins with a club and continues into a future that can only be speculated. Coincidentally that speculation is the result of the imagination of an inventor who themselves probably have fond memories of toy soldiers and who simply wanted to go one step further and provided the virtual reality in which to do so.

Today strategic or role playing computer games are a dominant feature found inside every computer games store. Importantly computer games have come of age in that they are no longer played on a one to one basis i.e. human player versus computer. Today we have the Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) which allows for a large number of players to interact on a virtual world.

The most popular MMORPG computer game on the planet is possibly not the one most people automatically expect – WOW Gold is certainly hugely successful with around 8 million players world-wide while Everquest a 3D fantasy game attracts around half a million players. It would be remiss not to mention the long time favourite Dungeons and Dragons which has attracted more than 20 million players world-wide and is recognized in the industry as the game that triggered the mushroom of strategy games that now surrounds us.

However the most played game on the planet is none of these. In 1998 a game called Lineage entered the market and since then has attracted in excess of 30 million players world-wide. Lineage originates from South Korea and is a medieval fantasy strategy based game that utilizes elves, knights, wizards and prince/princess characters. As an MMORPG – Lineage has proved very successful and its development into Lineage II has progressed with new updates and expansion packs every six months. Lineage II was introduced into the United States in 2004 and by December of that year the “Chronicle II: Age of Splendour” update/expansion pack arrived. By September 2006 “Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood” was being marketed. However the next update is being marketed under a new banner as “Lineage II – The Chaotic Throne” and is referred to as Interlude.