Cloud Monday - Matterfall - Part 2 - It’s Good To Stream From The Cloud But It’s Not As Fun To Play

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing #Matterfall, a #PS4 game from #Housemarque that came out in 2017. In the first video, https://youtu.be/rj3-onwTwrk, Matterfall did well being streamed from the #PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service. But we always play the games twice so we can get a better idea of the average streaming quality.

So in this part 2, it actually was a little worse being streamed from the cloud than in part 1. there wasn't nothing too serious, but there was some minor macro blocking, what appeared to be some bit-rate drops, and some stream tearing. whilst these were noticeable, none of these got in the way of my gameplay.

The thing that got in the way of the gameplay was the game itself. i stopped playing the game because i stopped having fun with it. there's no denying that the game is good to look at, but i found it not as great to play. It's a shame as the game is good to be streamed from the cloud because of how frequent the checkpoints are and that it doesn't mind if you die. So whilst i can recommend the game as one that's suitable to be played from the cloud, i don't think i can recommend the game as strongly as something that should be played.

Cloud Monday - Matterfall - Part 1 - Cloud Streaming Copes OK With All The Particles On Screen

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing Matterfall, a PS4 game from Housemarque that came out in 2017. I wanted to see how this game would hold up being streamed from PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming as it has a lot of particles that, on services like YouTube, can appear to be blocky rather than the fine points of detail they are.

And for the most part, the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service was able to cope with the, at times excessive, amounts of particles on screen at a time. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough that when the quality did drop and things got a bit blocky it wasn't too noticeable and not for very long.

The game has a mechanic that makes it a good choice to be streamed from the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Service. we know, and have seen, that the service will give you a 20 second warning when it'll kick you off. thankfully, Matterfall has, mostly regular, checkpoints. this means that you're either not too far from reaching one or haven't progressed far since your last one. because of this, i wasn't worried about loosing progress and felt relaxed continuing on. 

Whilst streaming it is fine, the game itself has it's own quirks that will take time to get used to. the one that annoyed me throughout the video was the control scheme. i feel like i never truly mastered it. the focus is on the R1 and L1 buttons and using them in combination and it's just something i've not really done in games. the other thing i mention a few times is how our weapon feels so weak right from the beginning. Hopefully i'll get more familiar with it in part 2, but for now this does make it more difficult whether or not to recommend the game 'cause on one hand it's game design means it's a great choice to stream but on the other hand it's gameplay feels lacking.

Cloud Monday - Super Stardust Portable - Part 2 - A Rougher Stream From PlayStation Plus Premium

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service.

I really enjoyed playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 last week, https://youtu.be/zaOUq0mc6Qc, so i was looking forward to playing it for Part 2 of Cloud Monday. But this week, the streaming experience was much rougher than part 1. Last time, there were issues with macroblocking, but today we seemed to have all the major issues.

it got so rough that the streaming warning appeared for a time! there were stream tears, there were resolution drops, there was macroblocking, and there were times when it felt like it was slowing down and/or stuttering with the controls getting "heavy". there's a chance the latter could also be caused due to the game itself, rather than it being streamed to me. There were a couple of moments when the amount of enemies and particles on screen was really high and this was coupled with streaming/playing issues. 

It's still a fun game to play, but out of the two days i played this game today's issues negatively impacted my enjoyment of it, but it was still mostly playable. if you do have issues, downloading and installing the game is an option, but the point of this series is to see what the streaming experience is like.

Cloud Monday - Super Stardust Portable - Part 1 - A Little Rough At Times But Playable

Today's Cloud Monday is part 1 of playing Super Stardust Portable on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service.

I have actually played the PSP version more recently than any other version of Super Stardust, so choosing to play the PS4 version of the PSP game was a bit of a guilty pleasure. i really enjoy the series and was always impressed with what they pulled off on PSP. I didn't go into this PS4 version thinking that everything would be fine. Every version of this game is known for particles and those are typically what streaming services can struggle with.

But i don't think they were an issue. Macroblocking seemed to be the biggest issue i came across. and much like with the recent Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom videos, this games relatively simple art style made it very noticeable when it happened.

i wouldn't say there were any issues with the controls, which is great in a game like this. it was very playable. but the macroblocking and, whilst often very brief, unknown strange happenings did make things a little distracting. it could be that because i'm familiar with the game, i was able to focus more on the game and ignore the minor stuff happening to the stream.

Backlog Conquering - Outland - Part 3 - The Second Boss And Maybe The Final Video

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 3 of playing Outland on PS3.

This is a longer video as the difficult ramped up. the difficulty increase was a combination of more difficult platforming and more difficult game mechanics. the gameplay "gimmick" of this game revolves around colored energy. it has mostly taken shape in that you have to be the opposite color to an enemy to attack it and the same color as the energy balls to not be damaged by them.

But even by the second video, https://youtu.be/hovQECR-WGs, some of this was getting repetitive. with the enemies it's been mostly fair, just hit them more or watch out for when they attack. but the colored energy balls has been getting more difficult and frustrating. you can see, especially in this video, that dealing with it really slowed down the pace of the game and by the end i was becoming frustrated with the controls combined with the platforming and timing that i rather took the hit than deal with it.

After three parts with the game, there was little driving me forward. there still was little to no story, and now with the difficulty increase i lost my drive to progress in the game. There's no denying that the game looks great. but there's also little else pushing me forward in it. after 3 parts, the mechanics and gimmicks were getting repetitive and in a couple of cases i'd go so far as to say they were unfair. the second boss is an example where the game requires a lot of platforming, but there's an argument that the game's platforming is one of it's weakest parts, which means the boss felt a little unfair as it wasn't just my skill letting me down but the game's own platforming too.

Backlog Conquering - Outland - Part 2 - A Boss and Another 45 Minutes

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is the first video with a new PS3 game. for the video i played through the first 45 minutes, or so, of Outland. It's a game from Ubisoft and Housemarque. 

I've had this game for a long time. i speculated early in the video that i probably got it as a PlayStation Plus game. i didn't really think about it until i used it in my PS3 XMB Game Preview Series, https://youtu.be/WIh3ZkDSCLY. Going in, i didn't really know anything about it other than it's a Housemarque game.

This was an interesting first 45 minutes. the first thing i noticed was how gorgeous it looked. My capture device said it was 720p, but it looked so crisp, vibrant, and detailed that it could easily have been 1080p. technologically speaking, it's also run really smooth and i haven't noticed any issues with it, unlike Papo & Yo which i just finished as that game had all sorts of issues like screen tearing and framerate dips.

But it's story hasn't grabbed me. so much else of this game has, but the story we've had so far is very brief. there's not really been a great answer to "Why?" and the world we're playing in sure looks great, but again there's no reason why it looks the way it does. there'll be a part two and i look forward to seeing where it goes.

Backlog Conquering - Outland - Part 1 - The First 45 Minutes

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is the first video with a new PS3 game. for the video i played through the first 45 minutes, or so, of Outland. It's a game from Ubisoft and Housemarque. 

I've had this game for a long time. i speculated early in the video that i probably got it as a PlayStation Plus game. i didn't really think about it until i used it in my PS3 XMB Game Preview Series, https://youtu.be/WIh3ZkDSCLY. Going in, i didn't really know anything about it other than it's a Housemarque game.

This was an interesting first 45 minutes. the first thing i noticed was how gorgeous it looked. My capture device said it was 720p, but it looked so crisp, vibrant, and detailed that it could easily have been 1080p. technologically speaking, it's also run really smooth and i haven't noticed any issues with it, unlike Papo & Yo which i just finished as that game had all sorts of issues like screen tearing and framerate dips.

But it's story hasn't grabbed me. so much else of this game has, but the story we've had so far is very brief. there's not really been a great answer to "Why?" and the world we're playing in sure looks great, but again there's no reason why it looks the way it does. there'll be a part two and i look forward to seeing where it goes.

Housemarque Announce Beatshapers Are Bringing Furmins To PS Vita This October

Housemarue have announced they and Beatshapers are bringing Furmins to PS Vita this October. the game was originally released by Housemarque for iPhone and iPad but now it's coming to PS Vita with new features, levels and graphics.

FEATURES:

• Unique blend of physics based set-up-and-go gameplay and real-time interaction
• Multiple solutions offer players lots of creativity
• 108 game levels across 9 game worlds (one as DLC)
• Gorgeous HD graphics
• Touchscreen or rear touch pad controls
• Global and world scoreboards with filters (overall, friends, your score)
• 12 shiny PlayStation®Network trophies for outstanding performance

Press Release

Housemarque Reveal Resogun, Coming To The PS4 Digitally This Year

Housemarque have revealed their new PS4 game. it will come out digitally this year and is called Resogun. it is a side scrolling shooter where you have to rescue survivors who are under attack from an alien invasion force. Housemarque have confirmed the game will feature online co-op multiplayer and ill be 1080p 60fps.

Screenshots

Fact Sheet

Housemarque Announce They Are Bringing The Spiritual Successor To Super Stardust Exclusively To PS4

Housemarque have announced they are working on a PS4 exclusive and it will be the spiritual successor to the Super Stardust franchise.

“We are super excited to be working on Sony’s next-gen hardware,” said Housemarque’s CEO Ilari Kuittinen. “The platform’s performances are enabling us to do things that wouldn’t be possible otherwise and we truly believe that better technology can lead to better gameplay. The more tools and resources we have at our disposal, the better. Think of Super Stardust HD: at the time, PlayStation 3 gave us the opportunity to populate the game with thousands of interactive objects and implement the game’s famous ‘spherical gameplay’. Today, we can take advantage of the architecture of PlayStation 4 to create incredible visuals with direct impact on the way the new game feels.”

Housemarque have also announced they are working on another PS4 project that is currently unannounced.

Press Release

Sony Have Released A New Trailer For Super Stardust Delta Showing Game Controls

Sony have released a new trailer for Housemarque's upcoming PSV game, Super Stardust Delta. this trailer uses in-game action to show the games many different control methods, from analogue sticks to using the back touch pad to create black holes or shaking the PSV to set of a EMP blast.

Housemarque Announce Impact Mode DLC Coming 30th March For Super Stardust HD

Sony and Housemarque have announced new DLC for Super Stardust HD. Impact Mode maybe familiar for players of the PSP Super Stardust Game. When you boost, your ship becomes a weapon that stays activated as long as your hitting enemies. Impact Mode comes out on 30th March across the EU for €1.99/£1.59.

Screenshots


Source: USA Playstation Blog and EU Playstation Blog

Housemarque Announce Voice Chat And More Is Coming To Dead Nation On 7th March

Housemarque have announced the voice chat patch for Dead Nation is coming out on 7th March. this patch will also bring checkpoint saves, the ability to copy saves, and some other surprises Housemarque are not revealing yet.

Source: USA Playstation Blog

Housemarque Announce Online Voice Chat Is Coming To Dead Nation

Housemarque have announced that Dead Nation is getting Online Voice Chat in an upcoming Patch. Housemarque are also asking fans for feedback on the game so they can improve it and add new features in the future.

From USA Playstation Blog

Housemarque Have Released A New Trailer For Dead Nation

Housemarque have released a new trailer for Dead Nation. this trailer provides some of the basics you need to know to survive a zombie attack, showing them in the game. the trailer also shows how you can combine different items to take out a larger group of zombies, but it also shows at the end of the trailer that sometimes its not that simple.



From USA Playstation Blog