I just got the Home Beta notice as well. Home will be what really makes the PS3 seem worth all the money. I just need to make more friends on the system.

Are you registered with Playstation Underground? If you are and have registered your PS3 you should get an email.

I'm in the Playstation Underground with a registered PS3 and I haven't gotten an email. Oh well.

It's amazing how hit or miss the stuff associated with Playstation Underground can be. I miss out on all the great deals and then I get a demo and a cloth pirate flag for some shitty game I've never heard of. This is the first decent thing I've had a chance to be a part of for a long time.

Well, I just logged onto the Sony site to double check and my profile had a PS3 listed, but I never entered the serial number so it wasn't "verified". I went ahead and entered the barcode, but it's probably too late for the Home beta email.

I still don't see the excitement for Home. It looks like those lame graphical chat rooms that popped up in the late 90's on the internet. I'm much more excited for Little Big World or whatever it's called.

Calling All Cars! got 8.5 from IGN.

The last thing I'll ever want to do is hang out in my virtual house with my virtual friends. I want to log on and play a game.

But at least they are trying something different - it's just not for me.

I got the invite as well and signed up this morning. Although I'm not overly excited for it, I hope I get chosen.

Yeah and you can "play" the same thing without having to pay for a $600 console. It's called Second Life. And Second Life is lame as hell. Unless you think doing absolutely nothing in a virtual world is fun.

Well, this weekend I'm taking the leap...

My tax refund should be deposited by midnight tomorrow, and with it I'm going to pay off my credit cards and pick up the Motorstorm PS3 bundle at Costco.

My HDMI cable should be here from monoprice today, and I picked up the BluRay remote at lunch.

The funny thing is, the game I'm most excited to play over the coming weeks is God of War II.

I'm excited and I felt like sharing. Carry on...

Anyone check out the Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo? Game looks spectacular!

Ooh, is that up on the PS Store now?

Yep, I'm downloading it now. There is also a trailer.

Just played through the demo. It played well except for the fact that it was the exact level from the XBOX game. Would have been nice for them to change something up.

You do know that Ninja Gaiden Sigma is just a port of the Xbox game with enhanced next-gen graphics, right? It also has Rachel as a playable character, at least one new weapon (dual wielding swords) and a few new enemies, but other than that, it is the same game as the Xbox game.

I hope Team Ninja gets off their ass and give us a true Ninja Gaiden sequel sometime soon.

I knew it was the same story. I was hoping they add at least a little to the levels though. That first stage was identical in every way. The better visuals are definitely not enough for me to re-buy it.

Never played the 2004 game, so I'm loving it. Loved the trilogy for the NES too.

I downloaded Virtua Tennis 3. It looks really nice, but I was having a lot more fun with the tennis in Wii Sports, so not really tempted...

There are a few minor additions I have seen in videos and trailers.

The CGI scene of Doku burning down the village is now not a pre-rendered CGI scene, but it is now an interactive battle.

Outside the bar where you first meet Rachel, there is now a battle against motorcycle riding dudes.

I have seen a video showing Ryu fighting against 6-8 of those giant worm bosses simultaneously. That battle has got to be seriously hardcore. I thought the battle against two simultaneously in the original game was hard enough.

There have been rumors that Gamov, the dude that wears the green trenchcoat, is now a boss.

Supposedly, there are now more areas where you need to do the water run maneuver. In the original game, there was exactly one area where you had to use it, so it was practically useless.

Beat the first level earlier. Its pretty sweet, but I hope Ninja dog difficulty is in it. I'm dreading the next levels.

There was a water run maneuver in the first Xbox game? Shit, I got to the final boss and never knew that - and I bet I know exactly where you are supposed to use it. There was a stream that had a chest under a wooden platform on the other side and I could never jump in to get it.

I really hope this comes out on the 360, as I would totally play through that thing again. I never did beat the final boss (too tired of it by then) but getting there was one of my best gaming accomplishments

The first level is easy as pie. The "real" difficulty does not begin until the second level. The second level boss is the make-it-or-break-it point for most people. Random button mashers will never get past that part.

The one thing you need to learn for Ninja Gaiden: the block button is your best friend. This is a game that is best played defensively. Offensive and button mashing players get their asses handed to them in Ninja Gaiden.



To do the water run, jump on water and as soon as your feet hit water, keep tapping the jump button non-stop. This makes Ryu run across the water.

Yes that chest across the stream was the one area in the whole game where you actually need to do the water run. It was in the second level right before you enter the village. The chest had either a Life of the Thousand Gods or a Golden Scarab (I don't remember which).

That NGS demo has got to be the most expansive demo I've ever seen. I played the first level and unlocked a hard mode, as well as a Rachel mode. I then went to check my ranking (yes, the demo shows you're ranking within your country), and saw there were at least two, if not three modes I have yet to unlock. Absurd! I can't wait for the full game.

Is it just me or does Marvel Ultimate Alliance have horrible frame rate issues on the PS3? I'm actually thinking the version on the regular Xbox is better. I picked this up again because I really like the game and wanted the extra two characters and hopefully new characters down the road like the 360 version, but the framerate is killing me.

Un-freakin-believable - I probably screwed around at that stream the 2 or 3 times I played through the game for at least a half-an-hour. Now I really want to play it again.