NGP and Other Acronyms

NGP - Next Generation Portable
Please tell me that you have all read about the NGP (that's the "codename," for now)? It's the most beautiful machine mine eyes hath ever seen. The quad-core portable messiah if you will. If you haven't yet seen it in all of its glory then at the very least, check the official word from Sony; if that won't do, then pretty much every videogame website worth a damn has features dedicated to it.

There are of course a few lingering questions that remain unanswered. The most obvious of which is the price: I mean, how much can what is essentially, a portable Playstation 3 with touch-screen controls cost? The guys at Penny Arcade have made a particularly ominous, illustrated statement about why such a figure is yet to be revealed, however I am cautiously optimistic that this wonderous machine will cost me less than 1000 dollars at launch. The other looming question is, of course: what is the Australian release date for the NGP? Kotaku AU have reported that SCEA President, Jack Tretton, stated that the NGP would launch in at “at least one territory” by Christmas 2011 (Serrels, 2011: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/01/sonys-ngp-in-australia-by-christmas/). So from that we can conclude that it's a safe bet that the NGP won't be launching in Australia until 2012.

Despite some very impressive early footage and some big announcements on the software front, the reason I'm most excited (read: not disappointed) about the NGP is that PSP and PSone games that I've purchased via the Playstation Network should be playable on the new machine. So ideally, all of the money I've spent over the past five years won't have amounted to nothing. Granted, I can't fathom why one would bother playing the likes of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, when you could be playing the new Uncharted or Killzone instalment on this wonderportable; but then again, who am I to judge? Trophy support is also very much appreciated, even if it isn't entirely necessary. Some of the other feautures, such as 3G capabilitiy, front and rear cameras, and the touch pads are interesting, but Sony have already made their first sale.
 

 
Are you interested in the NGP? Will you be picking one up on day one (whenever that may be)?
 
MNCoPC - Monday Night Combat on PC
I've already imparted my impressions from the XBLA release, but I also decided to acquire the PC version (via Steam) to see how it handled. Long story short: the PC version of MNC takes all the good ideas from the XBLA release, and makes it a great game. It is genuinely difficult to find a playable match on Xbox Live, and while there is a single player offering; you don't play Monday Night Combat by yourself. Conversely, on the PC, lobbies with servicable (even good) connection quality are plentiful. Throw in some Team Fortress 2-themed in-game items for early adopters (sorry guys, the offer ended on February 1st), and MNC on PC presents solid value.
 
The mutual item unlocks (that's right, early adopters received in-game items for TF2 as well) was not the sole motivation for purchase. I actually read about these unlocks after I'd paid for the game. I bought MNC twice because as reported by Penny Arcade, the game had actually undergone several changes since the console release. I'm not just talking about infastructure (the most obvious change) either, the player classes had been changed (at least in the case of the Sniper) significantly. For full details, check the previous link; but rest assured Monday Night Combat has seen two different releases on two platforms. No prizes for guessing which one I think is better either.
 
FBIIIRI - Fable III Review Incoming
The theme of this post is being extended to its limit, but as above, I should have a review of Fable III ready for next week. This is the first instalment of the franchise that I have actually been able to finish, as its predecessors were just too uneventful to hold my attention. Much to my surprise, I've actually enjoyed the latest from Lionhead Studios. If you want to know how much I enjoyed it, you'll need to come back next week.
 

 
What are you guys playing this week/end?