VideogameVagabond.com

I thought for sure when I got my PS3, then recently acquired a 1080p Sony Bravia, that I’d finally enjoy some PS3 games in full 1080p. Not so fast, though.

Turns out, a lot of early PS3 games were made in 720p only. That’s sad enough, but when I finally popped in Prince of Persia, I was expecting 1080p greatness until it read “720p.” I was confused and then read the fine print on Prince of Persia’s cover.

Turns out, 1080p on Prince of Persia is only possible with an HDMI cable and a TV whose HDMI outputs support something called HDCP. What? Ripoff! My PS3 is a Sony product; my TV is a Sony product; and still no 1080p? Total ripoff. I’ve come away far more satisfied from experiences with online storage.

(Not that 720p isn’t pretty… but it’s not 1080p pretty.)

Considering how widespread the sim market is, I’m surprised no one’s made Acne Tycoon just yet. I mean, it can’t be any worse than the 500 other ideas that focus on weird industries. I mean, I’ve even seen a graveyard simulator, so why not one that focuses on researching, testing and marketing acne treatments?

Sure, it’s kinda gross. Sure, it seems trivial. But you never know. I never thought I was going to like Lemonade Tycoon until I tried it!

I know my PSP Slim has plenty of meaty RPGs, in-depth sports games and other pastimes, but sometimes I just want to play a round of golf. That’s why I love Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2. It’s challenge mode scales up quite a bit, but never drastically, and winning it all is quite a challenge.

But the best aspect is, it involves very little commitment. If you’re in the men’s room and only have a few moments, a couple holes can be satisfying all by themselves. It’s a great way to pass some time. Sure, it’s not like surfing free online auctions sites, but hey… not everything can be as blissful, right?

Still marveling over how much better everything looks in 1080p!

I’ve started playing Fallout 3 over from the beginning, and Silent Hill: Homecoming, the only true PS3 iteration of the franchise, looks far more creepy and atmospheric than before. Over on the Xbox 360 side, Fable 2 doesn’t seem to benefit that much, but most of the SquareSoft RPGs certainly do.

From the details in background landscape to the wood-grain rendering in lambo doors, there’s simply nothing that doesn’t look a lot better in 1080p than it did on 480i. Yahoo!

After two years of denying ourselves, my wife and I finally got ourselves what we’ve been wanting for a while as part of our videogame habit: a top-of-the-line Sony Bravia 32-inch 1080p HDTV with a 120MHz refresh rate. It has the Bravia 2 engine and, wow, the PS3 and Blu-Ray movies have never ever looked better.

Sure, some will say that 32-inches isn’t that big a set; but it’s the perfect size and at $772, it was definitely the right price! Everything looks better, the set works like a dream and it weighs about a third of the weight of my old Sony Wega 26-inch.

If someone offered me a handful of loose diamonds, I’m not sure which I’d rather have, I’m so happy with this set! While I’ll always have a soft spot for my decade-old Wega, we’ll be donating that to charity now; the age of HDTV has finally reached the Hansen household, and I think we bought exactly the right set for us, at exactly the right price and time.