Sony just released the public beta of MAG, a new type of FPS. MAG’s claim to fame is that it will allow up to 256 players in a game world at one time. This would be the largest FPS to date. Aside from this technical achievement, there are no others to be had for this game. If this game only played 24 or 32 players, no one would be talking about this one at all.

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The game’s interface is not slick or polished and features one of my biggest pet peeves. So my question… why do all games that show some type of computer display on-screen, and as part or the GUI or in-game experience, show a flickering screen with scan lines? Hello? CRTs have been dead for years. There are no scan lines in LCD screens, which obviously is the equipment depicted in the game. Seems this game is trying to capture the realism of displays 15 years in the past. Enough already. You can also see scan lines when you are connecting to server, deploying to your missions, and a few other places within the interface.

The interface looks dated– badly.

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Hardware is great. Graphics are awesome. But when it comes to what I want in a gaming console– OnLine Multiplayer– the PS3 falls waaaaay short. I’ve had the PS3 for about a month now and if I didn’t care about online multiplayer, I’d probably keep it. But I do care, so I’m selling it. Got eBay?

Test 1, Test 2, Test 3

The bottom line is that the vast majority of PS3 players DO NOT have headsets. The ones that do end up sounding like transistor radio broadcasts, and it’s usually the noobs who are talking anyway. It’s as if voice communication was an afterthought. I blame Sony for this as they don’t pack a headset with their system. Microsoft included headsets with their Xbox Live subscription kits. Sony, unlike Microsoft who has a pay online service, offers theirs for free– and it shows. My advice to Sony: charge a fee to use the online service, and take some of the profit and include headsets with your system.

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Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console might not appear in key markets this year and could cost the company $900 per unit to produce initially, according to Merrill Lynch analysts quoted in the Financial Times on Sunday.

Sony has indicated a spring launch for its console in Japan and the industry is not expecting a North American launch until November, the FT said. But Hitoshi Kuriyama of Merrill Lynch in Japan said there are reports that the PS3 could be delayed by between six and 12 months.

Merrill Lynch analysts estimated that the initial bill of materials for the PS3 could approach $900, dropping down to $320 by three years after launch.

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