PS4 Will NOT Block Used Games

Shuhei Yoshida
Sony's Worldwide Studios Director

It was just rumor?! We hope so. If we believe the words of Shuhei Yoshida then yes! We dont have any reasons though not to believe him, as the boss of Sony Worldwide Studios was definite: "You will be able to play used games on PS4". We are talking about a wise decision here, because retailers and the gaming community were pushing the situation into that direction. Furthermore, not even the "always online" that had leaked as a rumor is totally accurate. Yoshida admits that the social part of the new console is very crucial and important, and that everybody will benefit from it but whoever desires to stay offline can do so.

Also, Yoshida made a statement on the judgemental comments that followed the PS4 presentation about the actual console not being present. "The console is just a console. The game pad, thanks to the Share Button is much more important". That maybe true but does not mean that uf the were showing the console as well that we were indefferent! So if it was possible for you to show it, you would! 

Source: thegang.gr

Wii U: A "Critical Error" for Nintendo

Michael Pachter, financial analyst at Wedbush Morgan, talked to GamesBeat and said that the Nintendo Wii U console was a mistake that the company will never be able to recover from.

M.Pachter - Financial Analyst

"I reckon that Nintendo miscalculated when it comes to Wii U. It is not so different (in terms of specifications) than the other two consoles, plus that in the gameplay field it is not so unique than its predecessor was. They made a mistake that costs, and this time the handheld consoles department wont be able to help, while having to deal with the upcoming tablets and smartphones. They made a mistake that they wont be able to claw back from."

The GamesBeat article says that the Wii U sales in America are lower by 38% than they were last year at the same period of time (after the console release). Also, it adds that in January, Wii U, sold less than 100.000 pieces at the market. 

In January Nintendo had lower its expectations for the financial year of 2013. From 5.500.000 pieces that was the first expectation of Wii U sales, they were reduced to 4.000.000 pieces. But till now the numbers vaguely exceed the 2.500.000 pieces that have been sold, which means that by the end of March (end of the financial year) the numbers will drop even more.

Source: byteme.gr

Playstation 4 - First Impression (Specifications/DualShock 4 Pics/Summary)

Snapshoot of the Live Playstation - 2013 Meeting

Some minutes ago, Sony has presented Playstation 4 in an official presentation giving us a small taste of what the new console's capabilities will be, leaving other crucial information such as what it will actually look like, its official release date and its price for the upcoming E3 exhibition in June in Las Vegas.

Sony wanted to focus, not only to the gaming experience regarding high processing power and graphics but also on many other relative factors and a huge variety of services that players will experience that will be way more than its predecessor had to offer. In these services are the ability to live broadcast your gameplay or to interact, help, and take control over your friend's game right the moment when it happens. For the creation of PS4, Sony has discussed with many game designers in order to understand their needs and to achieve the maximum desired result. 

In tonight's event, that Sony live streamed and that they watched it over than 3.5 millions of people online, these are some of the new features that were presented and we are going to see on the upcoming console:

- Processor thats based on the x86 architecture

- 8GB GDDR5 RAM

- DualShock 5

- Low power consume

- A second custom chip that is responsible for taking up other tasks such as downloads/video uploads/browsing while you play the game at the same time

- Games are being downloaded in the background

- New graphic environment

- You can watch ur friends live as they play their game and comment, participate in chat while you can also at anytime take control and help your friends.

- You can share your gaming footage instantly and with just one button over the Playstaion Network or on other devices as well such as smartphones, tablets etc...

- There is also the capability of broadcasting live as you play

- The PS3 titles will not be compatible on the PS4 system but Sony is working on some alternative solutions.

DualShock 4

DualShock 4. The new gamepad of PS4 comes to confirm the rumors the had been leaked the last few days. Its partially redesigned and it has:

- a touchpad on the front side

- a "share" button on the back side

- a headphones port

- and a light bar that in combination with a 3D camera it can detect the pad in the three dimensional space and tranfer the movements in the game

Interactive online help

The "Social Gaming" is what makes PS4 to stick out of the crowd of the next-gen consoles. Sony in collaboration with Facebook and Ustream are making a network of gamers in which they can share gaming footage just by pressing the "share" button on the DualShock 4. In other words you can broadcast or upload your game in search for help or comments.

PS Vita also plays a vital role in the future of PS4 having the capability to play the games of playstaion 4 by the streaming network of Gaikai, the company that Sony bought last June.

Alongside these new console's specifications we watched representatives of the largest video game companies such as Square Enix, Ubisoft, Activision, Blizzard, Quantic Dreams and Capcom, representing demos and footage of the game that the PS4 is going to host. Those games were Final Fantasy, WatchDogs, Halo, Diablo III (so the rumors were true), Knack, Second Son and Driveclub.

Summarising, with the arrival of PS4 we are going to experience the gaming as we never did before. The gaming experience will reach a totally new level that till today we could only imagine and watch in sci-fi movies, it will bring the gamers even closer with the network sharing community, and it will give them all those things that the companies wanted for so many years but the past's technolgy did not let them. 

Source: Playstation Meeting - 2013

WSJ: PS4 Will Stream PS3 Games

As "The Wall Street Journal" published that Sony Corporation will use streaming technology for its next generation console regarding games and it is going to be announced on 20 February (tomorrow). 

Last June Sony purchased Gaikai - a company that streams video games online in real time from remote servers, sending compressed video frames. Now The Wall Street Journal says what many were expecting that Sony will use that technology and that will reveal it on 20 Feb. Although Sony is not neccessarily going to use directly Gaikai, just the streaming tech which will bring the Playstation 3 games to the new console.

Previous generation of Playstation (PSX, PS1, PS2, PS3) have offered backward compatibility. That means that a PS1 disc could be read by a PS2 system and a PS2 disc could be read by a PS3 system. But the playstation to come is expected to use AMD x86 chips, which will not be compatible with the system architecture of the previous consoles/discs. So streaming online the games of previous consoles should cover that technology chasm between past and future systems allowing some compatibility. Techically the already owned by the users original games of PS1, PS2, PS3 will be totally worthless when it comes to PS4.

Rumors want Sony not to stream PS4 games because Gaikai and OnLive have been delivered a maximum of 720p resolution, something that it could be really "heavy" for internet connection". 

Well, the only way to verify those rumors is just to wait until 20 Feb. a date that surely many of us are waiting a day that will definitely change the future gaming. In a bad or in a good way?

We will find out soon...

Source: theverge.com

The Future of Playstation - 20 February

With an official announcement on Twitter, Sony sets an appointment on 20 Feb. (1 day left!!) saying that they will reveal the future of Playstation

For that specific purpose Sony has published a special webpage which includes the teaser video that follows and also the event's starting time (in Greece we will be able to watch it on 21/2 at 01:00 after midnight)

Rumors want Sony to proceed unveiling its new console Playstation 4, something that we were expecting it to happen within 2013 but not that early.

STAY TUNED!!!

Source: Insomnia. gr - "The Future of Playstation"

Diablo III: Coming On Consoles?

According to Rob Pardo's statement, member of Blizzard team, the company has managed to make a version of Diablo III that is still being tested for console systems, although without being officially announced yet. He also stated that the whole team is working really hard testing every possible parameter of the Diablo's III console adaptation to find out if it is really possible for it to be an official project.

"The whole team is blazingly working on Diablo and analyzing many new add-ons. To a point, many of these new features will be published in the next year. We know that the company is working on an expansion of the game but we do not have a timeline yet", stated Jay Wilson, executive member of the production team. A console adaptation of the game though is not a surprise for most of the gaming community. After quite a few postponements the game was finally released having sold 3.5 millions copies so far! 

Source: Insomnia.gr - Diablo On Consoles?

Movies Inspired by the Gaming World (Pt.4)

Welcome back to Kupo!1UP guys. This is the forth part of the article so ur going to experience once more my justifiable nastiness  crashing down the moral of all those ambitious directors messing with games!

ATTENTION: IT MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!

Silent Hill Revelations 3D

Hmmm... This movie is a bit controversial for me.. Lets see, SHR3D is about Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) and her father Harry Mason (Sean Bean). Heather is having nightmares calling her to Silent Hill but her father doenst want her to go there at any case. After Harry dissappears, Heather initiates an investigation in Silent Hill, having the help of her mysterious classmate Vincent (Kit Harington). This is in a few words what this sequel is about. I said earlier that this movie is somewhat controversial and this is happening for the reason that it has many pros but many cons as well. The script writer tried to relate the first movie with this one making it a sequel. The most actors are the same as in the first film. And the story has many plot similarities with the game (Silent Hill 3) as well. All those add to the pros of the movie but someone that has seen the previous one can tell that Silent Hill Revelations 3D is a bit poorly directed. Well it has some really cheesy dialogues between Vincent and Heather like the ones u only find in cheap daily TV series. It also has way too many people here and there like in the school, or in the mall and the events take place mostly in the real world something thats not "Silent Hill-ish" at all! Silent Hill is about a disturbed distorted sick fucked up other dimension haunted town and if u ask me the director should focus on that. One more thing that kept me thinking is the visual effect. For some reason the "manequine-spider" monster for example didnt convince me at all. And i think i dont have to mention the plot holes. It gave me the impression that it just kept on jumping from scene to scene like there was no connection between them. I dont know, the only thing i can tell with certainty is that it could be a loooooot better.

Max Payne

In 2001 we all got acquainted with the name Max Payne. Catchy and simple (as a name) yet dramatic and twisted (as a plot), Max Payne kept us in front of our consoles literaly for hours. It had that successful recipe. It was a fast-paced action game with a dark, "noir" if u like plot, and a comic driven narration. Several years later in 2008 it got adapted in the big screen with Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, Mila Kunis as Mona Sax, Ludacris as Jim Bravura and Beau Bridges as BB Hensley the security chied at the pharmaceutical company where Max Payne's wife worked. The movie wants Max Payne's wife and child murdered and Max Payne in the search of the killer that got away. He finds out the Aesir (the pharmaceutical company) is involved and Max Payne wants, what else?! Revenge. Well, this is another movie adaptation attempt with a well-known cast (not all of them are decent actors though) but that's all! An attempt. While I was watching it I was so anticipating to get those feelings that the game had given me, that pain and frustration in Payne's voice, that surreal narration between the scenes and also some mad driven shooting scenes in Max Payne's slow motion style. But there were none of all these things. It was just a shallow modern detective film that managed to drown even the Wahlberg's acting (in my opinion Bruce Willys would be more suitable to the role). As a result Mark Wahlberg got himself nominated for a razzie award (also for  his role in "The Happening") (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467197/awards?ref_=tt_awd) and i think i don't even have to say anything about Ludachris and Kunis right?! FOR GOD'S SHAKE!! The direction was decent though, not the massacre we experience watching Uwe Boll's crap, but still that thing alone can't save the film from a certain disaster. In the end I get that shitty feeling that every "game-to-movie" attempt gives me that I wasted one and a half hours of my life watching some shallow nonsense.

Broken Sword 2.5 - The Return Of The Templars Review (PC)

 

 

A few days ago i was very pleasantly surprised to discover one more masterpiece by MindFactory team, a tribute game to Revolution Software. This is no other than Broken Sword 2.5 - The Return Of The Templars. And there are several reasons that justify my so called surprise. Well First of all Broken Sword 2.5 is an unofficial, full-length sequel to the series completely designed by fans for fans!!! Yes you heard right! A Smoking Mirror sequel with traditionally hand made graphics and  really applausable designed characters and plot that if u ask me is way better that any other official release after the second installment!

PLOT: 9/10

George Stobbart being in America receives a message that his girlfriend, Nicole Collard, has died. Having lost his father as well in the near past he takes the first plane to Paris only to find out that Nico is alive and sound but quite abrupt and unwilling to accept the unexpected visit of George. Later on George finds out by the not so much friend of his, Andre Lobineau, that Nico is the main suspect of the murder of the mayor of Paris. Now George is being called to find out the real facts behind the rumors with ways that only in a Broken Sword game one can find!! Not wanting to make anymore spoilers the rest is up to you to discover!

GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10

Now thats what i love about a really really memorable point n click adventure game. Its gameplay. If you ask me it has to be simple, short and sweet if u want but without neglecting anything! I still remember how i was surprised when i played  Broken Sword - The Shadow Of The Templars for the first time. And that was because i was more addicted to that gameplay than any other adventure game I had played. 

You move George by left-clicking the mouse wherever u like. If the cursor turns to 2 joined cogwheels then u have an item with possible interaction if you left click it. You can also combine it with items from ur inventory. By right-clicking George just describes what he sees and maybe gives some useful tips about the item. If the cursor turns to a moving hand that points downwards then its most likely that item can be picked up! When the cursor turns to a "follow me" hand, then you can move further on the 2D environment screen left or right. The mouth cursor over a person, indicates that George can start a dialogue with that particular person. 

There are 2 black tapes on the upper and the lower side of the screen. The upper one has save and load options and options such as language, volume etc. and the lower tape of the screen is the inventory. When George starts a dialogue on that lower tape the player can find the potential topics of the conversation. As in any other Broken Sword George can die (game over) and that means that there are times that the player must act quickly to prevent hazardous situations (i love those BS moments!!!). 

The gameplay aspect of BS 2.5 gets even more intriguing because the developers had the wisedom to include familiar faces and places in that unofficial installment, which certainly brings back lots of memories! My only "complaint" is that the puzzles and riddles of the game are quite easy and if you want a bit dumb (i could spoil but you should play and find out for yourself). The actions that the player must do to proceed in the game are as such: he has to speak with all the people about anything and for whatever George carries with him, he has to check stuff from his invetory by right-clicking on them (sometimes a woman's bag can hide very interesting things!), combine them with items on the environment, cheat, bribe or threaten! As i said before a very addictive yet simple gameplay quite suitable to a game like this!

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 9/10

To be honest when i first learnt about it i was excited but quite wary at the same time! Because we are talking about one of the most famous adventure games here and this attempt was by "amateurs" (that succeeded where professionals fail many times...). And the graphics part to make 2D for an hand-drawn adventure game  is  not so difficult but when it comes to music..??? As I have said in the past many times the "sound" (music, voices, sound effects) of a game is half the game at least for me! It is what draws you in the digital world and makes you distinguish masterpieces from non-sense football games for example! Who hadnt had goosebumps by that chimy sounds when George tricked the watchman's dog to fall in the water in BS 2? Or even by the soundtrack at the intro of BS?

So in that sequel the music part fulfills its purpose in the best possible way! The same happens with the characters voices. The designers did such an excellent work, that they even did patches (voices and subtitles) in several languages except German. And guess what!? They are very similar to the original ones!! Well... what more is there to ask?! 

GRAPHICS: 9/10

The graphics of that BS sequel are traditionally (Broken Swordish) hand-made, 2D, cartoon style. The locations consist of original backgrounds that  pre-existed in BS 1 & 2 and totally new ones. The only "problem" is that with a bit of observation (if you hadnt played the previous installments that is) you could tell which are the original scenes taken from the previous games and which are the new.. not that i thought about it too much when i played it but i just found it note-worthy! In general terms i liked the new scenes and really admired the work of the designers!

OVERALL: 8.87/10

In a few words, Broken Sword 2.5 - The Return Of The Templars, is the most fascinating unofficial indepedent adventure release that has ever fallen into my hands! A script related to the general plot, good old-fashioned graphics, and atmospheric music can promise you some hours that many of us would like to experience but a few have got the guts to risk making it true! Just ENJOY!!

P.S. Since the download sources are limited and the game is distributed totally free here is the link to the site that u can download the actual game and the patches for the English audio and subtitles! 

Download

http://www.brokensword25.com/

Top 10 Best Video Game Soundtracks

How's it going fellas?! Welcome to Kupo!1UP once again. This post as u can see from its title is about the best soundtracks in the gaming industry according to my opinion. Although i think that most of u will agree with me. In each song there is gonna be a video as well with best version that i ve found on the web or with the original one. Well here it goes.

10. Mortal Kombat (Main Theme) 

Mortal Kombat holding the sceptre of arcade fighting in history has an extremely wild electronic soundtrack. Fast paced and with a melody that haunts your andrenaline, makes you feel invinsible and wanting to kick everyone's ass! Just what a game like that needs, nothing more and nothing less.

9. Dungeon Siege  (Main Theme)

Percussions, pianos and horns are joining forces like this is gonna be ur last battle. A massively epic tune sings a melody like never before in the gaming history filling the listener's soul with courage, bravery, and an "its me or you" feeling! Enough said. Enjoy!

8. Broken Sword - The Shadow Of The Templars (The Templars)

That conspiratorial, classic, point n' click adventure, gets dressed with such mysterious and bewitching eastern vibes that u can only open ur ears and listen to them if u like it or not. The mesmerising feeling of sweet guilt and that something ancient is watching you haunts the air in this Broken Sword masterpiece!

7. The Legend Of Zelda (Main Theme) 

So many things can be said about this enormously gorgeous soundtrack but i m sure all of u have heard at least once this Legend of Zelda theme. Being 25 years amongst us this legendary tune have scarred us all for life!

6. Wild Arms (Main Theme)

Having the japanese people constantly merging the "far-west" melodies with the anime style and culture we get a song like the one thats being heard in the intro of Wild Arms. Cowboyish whistles and sweet guitar tunes take us to a western, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, world like no other in the gaming history!

5. Silent Hill (Main Theme)

Twisted, disturbed, sadistic and abnormal yet sweet and sad are what playing Silent Hill feels like. The same feelings are being etched onto the mind, each time one hears that tune of this survival horror masterpiece!

4. Max Payne 2 (Main Theme)

A tragic hero with an urban touch. Thats what Max Payne is to me. The sounds of cello and piano reflect the soul of the vengeful cop along the reckless journey to avenge his brutally murdered family. The heart-beat heard in the song feels like watching everything in slow motion as a devastating truth gets revealed before the eyes of the gamer!

3. The Witcher (Seawall)

A really carefully and with talent composed score piece, reflects the harsh times of the fantasy-medieval age The Witcher narrates. Sad, calm, and grand at the same time Seawall is a soundtrack that definitelly will be remembered for quite a long time.

2. Metal Gear Solid 3 (Way To Fall)

Legendary yet betrayed. Thats what MGS3 is in a few words and that is what the lyrics of Way To Fall are saying! An even bigger tragic hero, that has given everything for his comrades and country and has received only lies, Naked Snake is the person from whom everything began.

1. Final Fantasy VII (Sending A Dream Into The Universe)

Though Final Fantasy VII is literally full of great tunes and themes i believe that this one is the most meaningful. Sometimes plain compositions tend to be greater than complex ones! "Sending A Dream Into The Universe" is the whole game into some notes, at least for me, and its title includes the writer's concept.

White Knight Chronicles Review (PS3)

Every Christmas that free time is more than the rest of the year i focus on to games that need more attention and devotion than others. And most of them are RPGs. (yes u are gonna hear a lot RPG's stuff from me). So last Christmas i gave my heart to White Knight Chronicles a part turn-based time part real time battle JRPG developed by Sony Computer Entertainement. Though the sceptre of the genre if u ask me goes to Squaresoft (yes i know its SquareEnix nowadays but i liked Squaresoft more) Sony has a really decent and competitive past in the RPG history with its best release being the Legend Of Dragoon for Playstation. So this review is about White Knight Chronicles one shiny diamond for the new generation RPG fans.

PLOT: 7.5/10

Hmmm.. well the plot if u think about it, it isn't anything groundbreaking but its unraveling pretty well as the time goes by. Its about a phenomenically insignificant young lad named Leonard that tries to save the kidnapped cute and innocent Princess Cisna from the malicious hands of the Dark Lord Dragias as she is the key to their evil plans. When Leonard recklessly tries to wear an ancient armor-artifact he then realises that he is being chosen by it and his quest (as urs) beggins. Well thats a quite raw summary of the plot dont think that its that simple but that is the main story, around which is being built a quite deep non-linear and flexible scenario. It is worthy to be noted here that as i was playing WKC i noticed many similarities with the Legend Of Dragoon such as the ability of each character to transform into Knights as in LOD u could transform into Dragoons.

GAMEPLAY: 7.5/10

In WKC u have to do things as in most of the classic JRPGs. You control the main character Leonard and you built a party of 3 (including Leonard (sometimes the party joins one guest uncustomisable character who aids in battle)) and u set off to complete your main quest which basically is getting updated regulary and completed when u finish the game and along the way u are given the chance to do various sub-quest as well, just to buff ur party up! Character equipment includes swords, axes, lances, bows, shields, bracers, gauntlets, boots and so on and they are visible on them if equipped, which is an aspect that i actually liked quite a lot and it's rarely met on JRPGs. Menu is accesible with Triangle button where there are options such as Combat Setup, Items, Magic, Learn Skill etc. where u can optimize ur party and its battle behavior. Oh, i said battle... One of the things i anticipate to get to know to when i firstly play an RPG is the battle system. So it happened with WKC as well. But thats what filled me with thoughts... Well u see a fully turn-based time battle system is fully customisable as u can plan ur strategy precisely and turn the outcome of each battle to ur advantage. In a part turn-based time battle system the things are a bit more automated. What does that mean? Having to control actually only one character, ur focus is turned mostly on him/her. The player just adjusts the behavior for each possible situation for the secondary party members as he can control only one at a time. It may seems that the choices are many but in reality you will find urself making pointless circles around an enemy (and i say pointless cos u cant even avoid being hit that way) waiting for the time gauge to fill just to strike again.

One new thing is that the player has the option to fully customize combos choosing moves from a list of learnt ones and he is also being given the opportunity to name the combo as he wishes! Each character has his limited capacity for items (same thing at LOD ;) ) and the characters can exchange items to make room in each one's inventory. The character can attack, defend, use items and transform during battle. Simple attacks dont cost anything but some moves or combos cost a certain amount of AC. Same for the Knight tranformation option. The character must have the wanted amount of AC to be able to transform into the Knight. In the beggining  you are called to create ur own character. The options are a lot as u go through shaping him/her but unfortunately if u plan playing offline he will be just a secondary character. The offline WKC focuses on Leonard. The created character starrs in online mode! One more thing i found interesting is the presentation of each location and character! Also there is the choice of downloading new content (DLC) through the PSN.

Now about the online mode of WKC. Its a really decent attempt to make an offline JRPG with an online aspect and gameplay choice. The player has to play a bit of the offline storyline at least till the appearance of the first Knight. Then, near the town outside the castle, u are given Geonet which can used in save points in order to go online. There there is a brief setup such as assigning online ID, online status, choosing photos ... and finally the online interface is up. This is where there is the homepage, adventure log, friends (that u have made online), some rooms to choose whichever suits u etc. The online gameplay is almost like every other online rpg. The player can team up with other player from around the world. assist each other to complete quests, make gestures for fun, take pictures etc. Personally, i prefer the offline mode as well because the story in online mode is neglected and usually online games in consoles have "expiring dates".

ATMOSPHERE/MUSIC: 9/10

This is the part where WKC is at its best. The music is so well composed that it takes u to a different place. Its epic fantasy-medieval touch suits so well to the scenery that it couldnt be better. The battles themes are so intense that they give the feeling that u are in the battle urself. The atmosphere is really well given that combined with the medieval music it gives a magic almost ideal sense of how a world should look like.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

One more strong aspect of this JRPG is its graphics.  Designed with details, vivid colors and a lot of fantasy and creativity they give the impression tha it is a an interactive, grown-up, fairy tale on screen! Its landscapes are breathtaking the nature around the characters is realistic and their costumes suit really well in the "age" and world that they are in. The cinematics are plenty and a very nice break from the endless battles that can be tiring and, personally, they reminded me those of FF IX and Legend of Dragoon.

OVERALL: 8.25/10

Summarizing White Knight Chronicles is one of the best choices for an JRPG fan, especially if he had played Legend Of Dragoon in the past. Its a game with deep story, stunning graphics, wonderful soundtrack and it can promise you that you will spend more than 40 hours with it so why not give it a try?! After all the JRPG choices on PS3 are quite limited!

Tekken 6 (Online/PS3) - Hints n' Tips (Pt.2)

This post includes several things i figured out while playing Tekken 6 online on PS3 or some things that i forgot to mention on the previous relevant post. So here are again some useful tips that will definitely help you have less tension during battle and will make you enjoy it more! There are things that u should do or things that its just good to acknowledge in order to know how the system behaves.

1. Assign Buttons For Grabs

In Tekken 6 it is all about speed, memory, and counter attacks. Thats why u have to be precise in ur buttons input while playing online. A really good easy still unexpected way to "counterattack" a combo or an enemy's attack is to grab him (because many online players tend to smash the buttons for combo n juggles and forget to duck to avoid a grab or input the correct combination to avoid it). But I personally have found myself pushing Triangle and Circle for grabbing but instead of grab the character merely punches. That means the input was incorrect so my opportunity to strike back in time is ruined. So make ur life easier. Just go to Options > Controller Setup > Game and assign ur grab combiantion buttons to the L1/L2, R1/R2 buttons accoriding to ur style and ur personal gameplay! u can do the same, of course, with combos other than grabs.

2. Let It Auto-Upload

Lets say u ve been palying online for half an hour and u just finished a battle. Ur are at the screen where u can : Select Character, Return to Online menu n so on. Dont Quit Game or Turn Off the system at that point cos ur online progress wont be saved. There is even the possibility that the game will "crash" and recognise that action as deserting a battle and next time u sign in to play Tekken Online u will be punished and warned for future similar behavior. It has happened to me so it can happen to anyone. Instead of quiting like this choose Select Character. On the character selection screen press Start and let it go through all the saving and auto-uploading process then quit as u like. 

3. Keep Up Your Rank 

If u are a begginer then welcome. But u should have something in mind. If u try entering "Ranked Match" its most likely that you will end up having many more losses that wins, not being able to bridge that chasm no matter how good u will be in the future. You will end up hating Tekken 6 and swearing at other players and the system for dirty battles and unwanted lagging. Well the above might be true but if u know what ur doing u can avoid those situations. Instead of playing "Ranked Match" choose the next option "Player Match" and then "Quick Match" . In that mode u still play online which means with other players around the world, which means the unexpected human factor is active, but there is no Rank or W/L count to ruin it. You can learn and practise there with no pressure or the fear of demotion and when u feel like owning the character and like you know what you are doing enter "Ranked Match" . Another good idea to practise is to find someone online and invite him/her to play together. Some will say to adjust the difficulty level at ultra hard and play "Survival Mode" but i ve tried that and its quite boring and u ll always play with the CPU which means no human factor. Well whatever suits to each one of u! 

Sony Ceases Manufacturing PS2

AAAAAAA!!! No more PS2!! The most popular console ever, Sony Playstation 2, will finally and really soon be a legend. Sony has announced that the production has ceased in Japan meaning that the remaining consoles in stores will be the last we will ever see! 

The legend of all consoles with a past of 13 years since 2000 has sold 150.000.000 units worldwide and more that 1.500.000.000 game titles making it the most successful gaming system in history! 

PS2 has blew away in competion Sega and Nintendo and even surpassed PS3, 3 years after its release! Most gamers now have focused their interest on the upcoming PS4! But if u wanna hear my advice go out there and get the remaining PS2 consoles before its too late and becomes rare and collectible! There is still time for PS4. . . 

Source:

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/sony-officially-confirms-playstation-2-retirement-1122888