I ordered 2 of the upcoming PS3 controllers (invoice xxxxxxxxx—Nov 3, 2011). Any chance of getting an update of when these items will ship? I’m not really happy about being forced to pay upfront then have the advertised date of “Early December” be completely missed without any sort of update on availability. I really need one of them for a X-mas present as well. Anyways, looking forward to finally using one of these bad boys. Thanks and happy holidays.

-Dave

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 16, 2011 2:45 PM

Dec 17

- Paul Christoforo

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 19, 2011, at 11:02 AM

Thanks for the reply Paul.  Can you clarify whether my particular order already sent or if Dec 17 was the first day shipments went out?  I have not received any sort of shipping confirmation email or tracking information.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 19, 2011 11:21 AM

They still haven’t shipped yet on the way here from china

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 20, 2011 4:29 PM

So then delivery to customer doors by December 24th is no longer likely correct?  Do you have an estimated date of when units will arrive in California? Thanks.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 20, 2011 5:11 PM

They are in the USA now in customs so its wither before or after Christmas.

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011, at 9:47 AM

I noticed the updated info on the webpage, and I don’t understand why there is absolutely no benefit given to those like me who have already ordered, and paid their money.  You’ve had my money interest free for nearly two months, yet now ANY new order will get $10 off….meaning I should just cancel my order for 2 controllers, get my money back, then re-order.

My other questions is regarding item compatibility.  Ocean Marketing seems to be involved with the Xtendplay controller holder, so I was wondering if the Avenger N-Controller can be used in conjunction with the Xtendplay (for both Xbox and PS3)?  Thanks

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 26, 2011 10:14 AM

Yes it can be used with xtend play if you remove the stand and no one is allowed to cancel and re order if we catch anyone doing it we will simply just cancel your order all together and you can buy it retail somewhere else.

Things happen in manufacturing if your unhappy you have 7 days from the day your item ships for a refund. You placed a pre order just like any software title the gets a date moved due to the tweaks and bugs not being worked out and GameStop or any other place holds your cash and im sure you don’t complain to activision or epic games so put on your big boy hat and wait it out like everyone else. The benefit is a token of our appreaciation for everyone no one is special including you or any first time buyer . Feel free to cancel we need the units were back ordered 11,000 units so your 2 will be gone fast. Maybe I’ll put them on eBay for 150.00 myself. Have a good day Dan.

At this point Dave is (I think) understandably frustrated. His next email is sent to me as well as Kotaku and a few other news sites.

-Gabe

From: Dave
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 12:11 PM

Then cancel my order if you want to.  I’m making a legitimate complaint about your poor communication and you’re the one stooping to childish levels, a patronizing attitude, and threats.  Hell you can’t even get the spelling of my name right.

And Gamespot pre-orders…wow what a terrible comparison.  Retailers take a couple dollars IF THAT for you to guarantee your game availability on the release date, whatever that is. That’s the understanding and that’s what you get.  Plus, I don’t have to complain to Activision or Epic games about these issues because they’re usually not missing the street dates for their AAA titles.

Now let’s take YOUR situation:
1) You’ve promised a new product based off the design for an existing, working product
2) For the longest time, you’ve stated on your website (your failure to update regularly is another issue) the initial/special/limited batch of your new product by early December, obviously in time for the all-important holiday gift-giving season.  I and thousands of other customers GIVE YOU OUR MONEY, INTEREST FREE on the promises you made online.
3) I reach out to you, on Dec 16 (AFTER you have FAILED TO MEET YOUR ADVERTISED DEADLINE AND FAILED TO COMMUNICATE TO ANYONE WHAT THE SITUATION IS) obviously a little frustrated but more curious about when I and other customers can expect the product we paid for.
4) Your reply to me is a cryptic “Dec 17” with absolutely no explanation of what that means.  In the mean time you having been using funds from pre-paid customers to complete Research & Development, product redesigns, and manufacturing mis-steps.
5) You force me to follow-up with an email asking for clarification about what “Dec 17” means since the day has passed and I have yet to receive any new information about my order.  Now you instead of ANSWERING MY QUESTION OF WHAT THE NEW DELIVERY DATE IS, you tell me the goods have yet to leave China…  Why are you telling me this?  I’m not your employee I’m your goddamn customer!  TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS IN TERMS OF MY TIME AND WHEN I CAN EXPECT MY PRODUCT I PAID FOR.
6) So great…I have to email you AGAIN trying to get a CLEAR answer from you whether a Dec 24th delivery date is possible and if not, what the new date is.  Rinse & repeat: You give me an update of the delivery process (wow, thanks…you haven’t told me anything I don’t know about the order of international shipping procedures) but instead say “…so its wither before or after Christmas.”  WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?  GIVE ME A DATE!?  One that you’re actually going to follow, because I already see “late Nov to early Dec”;  “Dec 17”; and now “CHRISTMAS” in my rear-view mirror.
7) So I guess what’s left for me to do but just wait?  Oh but what’s this, you’ve updated your website…Ok at least you’ve clarified the dates more, I can expect my controller my latest first week of January.  But now as a “token of our appreciation” to all your “loyal customers” (you mean like customers who put up cash for you hold an use?) you’re giving a $10 coupon.  Let me get this straight…so you held my money interest free for 2 months to help bring this product to market, and now some new customer can place an order and pay $10 less than what I paid?  You have financially penalized me in two ways for being a “LOYAL CUSTOMER.”

I’m SURE you’re getting tons of other inquiries and I’m sure you’re not enjoying the fact that your product is not out when you wanted it to be.  I and everyone else understands that “sh*t happens,” but if you want us to be understanding of that, then you need to keep us in the loop.  You’ve already set yourself up for failure by making explicit promises that aren’t even “likely” given that the design and manufacturing are still be refined.  Then you make sure you’re going to fail by actually taking all of our money, Not just a little bit….THE WHOLE F*CKIN BEEFALO.  Why wouldn’t we trust that you’re going to deliver our merchandise on time?  Besides…it’s based off an existing product so how hard can it be?  Well as your youtube video shows, making any consumer device is hard and requires many iterations and improvements.  But I’m not going to apologize for holding your feet to the fire.  You created these expectations by acting like the release was already a done deal and by hiding the fact that it was faaaar from it.

I want my two n-controllers.  I 1) PAID FOR THEM   2) WAITED   3) DEALT WITH YOUR UNHELPFUL ASS.  I also didn’t want to feel like my trust and loyalty as a customer was being abused and then actually punished in comparison to other customers.  But I guess we can’t have it all… so right now I’ll settle for getting my merchandise and hopefully never having to deal with you again.  I’ve spent enough time writing this email which I hope you gain some insight from.  If you actually do want to screw me over by not fulfilling my order, then I assure you be hearing more from me or people representing me.

You show a surprising lack of business polish for someone who’s quite established, AND an lack of awareness of your customer base: Hardcore gamers.  We’re a demanding, vocal customer but the flip side is we’re loyal and eager to spend.  It’s lucky for you that I really want this product because it seems really deliver on making the gaming experience more effective and enjoyable.  Hell, I want to combine the aventer-controller with the xtend play to make the ugliest, most comfortable, most awesome controller ever.  And I’ll still buy the xtend, so let that be a testament to your products, the rise above your poor representation.

-DAVE with a V

p.s. You look really douchy be having one youtube video complaining about the noise of traffic next to your home and then another video showing off your obnoxiously loud rice rocket (which is nice, I gotta hand it ya).

p.p.s. Welcome to the internet, bitch.  That’s how I roll.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Dave
Dec 26, 2011 2:19 PM

LOL Thanks for the Free PR I know the Editor N Chief of Kotaku , IGN , Engadget I’ll be meeting them at CES .The noise complaint was for people high up on the food chain in a corporate world of real estate you have no clue about.  Thanks for the Rice Rocket Compliment too love me some motorcycle . Send that over to Engadget you look like a complete moron swearing and sending your customer service complaints to a magazine as if they will post it or even pay attention do you think you’re the first or the last what are they going to do demand us to tell you were your shipment is or ask for a refund on your behalf … Really … Welcome to the Internet ? Son Im 38 I wwebsite as on the internet when you were a sperm in your daddys balls and before it was the internet, thanks for the welcome to message wurd up.  Grow up you look like a complete child bro. I Don’t have my controller so im gonna cry to the world … Really ?? Hey take that free time and do something more productive. All you had to do was check the like everyone else , people have inquired but you’re the douchiest of them all J

To all our pre-order customers looking for information on the status of their orders after a busy couple of months The PS3 Avengers are on their way from our Manufacturing plant overseas. We are aware that everyone is anticipating having their Avengers under their Christmas Tree and were doing our best to get these orders shipped out as fast as possible. We appreciate you as loyal customers and for supporting our company. Customers will start receiving their products this week before Christmas and After Christmas and into the New Year. As a token of our appreciation we are offering all our pre-order customers and new customers 10$ off your next order with us just enter Avenger1001 at Checkout. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Oh and FYI When a street date gets pushed by a publisher on a video game you pre ordered do you cry to them too ?

You just got told bitch … welcome to the real internet check kotaku in 2 weeks when they are reviewing free PS3 Avengers we send them as well as G4 and all the other majors hell yeah , don’t forget to check Amazon, gamestop.com, play n trade , Myers , Frys and a ton of other local stores coming your way you think you speak for billions son your just a kid you speak for yourself no one cares what you think that’s why were growing and moving 20-50 thousand controllers a month. We do value our customers but sometimes we get children like you we just have to put you in the corner with your im stupid hat on. See you at CES , E3 , Pax East ….? Oh wait you have to ask mom and pa dukes your not an industry professional and you have no money on snap you just got told.

The Pax East comment gets my attention and I decide to engage. I tend to have a calming effect on these sorts of arguments.

-Gabe

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Dave, Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:45 PM

Holy shit this is unbelievable. Dave, if this guy has a booth at Pax east we will cancel it.

From: Dave
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:53 PM

Hey thanks Mike.  It’s truly a shame because I think this device is great for gamers with disabilities and problems.  I think of Child’s Play and if anyone’s gonna need greater accessibility when using complicated gamepads…it’s sick kids!  Shit man, I’m really gonna feel bad if I think that sick children may somewhere down the line have fewer avenger controllers because I got into a pissing match with a sad old man.  Please don’t cancel their booth on my account.  As much as I hate this asshole, I still WANT his product and think it should be out there.  GAH, I wish I was in a position to make a competing product to really stick it to guy.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 8:54 PM

Hey Mikey,

We’re not renting a booth at pax east this year , bigger and better shows to be at we got nothing from the show . Oh so you know this guy has sold over 500 thousand dollars of product in Dec and is my main distribution arm landing us in GameStop , fry’s , Myers , Best buy , Activision , MLG , play N trade and a lot more . Were in 6 countries and you’re not going to take my money for a booth that’s a crock I can guarantee I’ll get a booth if I want one money buys a lot and connections go even further.  He’s a native Bostonian from Little Italy . Who are you again ?

Oh Teh Noes!

-Gabe

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:08 PM

I am mike krahulik, Pax is my show. Feel free to google me=) I can promise you that you will never have space at any future Pax event.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:33 PM

OK Mike whatever you say lol , are you sure hour not in Boston I spoke to the person who ran the show in Boston last year. If you let some little kid influence you over a pre order then we don’t want to be a your show ,Ill be on the floor anyway so come find me , I’m born and raised in Boston I know the people who run the city inside and out watch the way you talk to people you never know who they know it’s a small industry and everyone knows everyone. Your acting like a douchbag not that it matters pax east pax west , e3 , CES , Gamer Con , SSXW ,Comic Con, Germany I’m all over the place. If we want to be there we will be there with industry badges or with a booth you think I can’t team up with turtle beach , Callibur or Koy Christmas , I can’t get Kevin Kelly to pull some strings or G4 , Paul Eibler Ex CEO of take 2 ,  Rich Larocco Konami , Cliff Blizinski Epic who were working with on a gears version , Activision who were working with on a MW3 and Spider man Bundle , The Convention Center Owners themselves , Mayor of Boston come on Bud you run a show that’s all you do and lease a center in Cities you have no pull in its all about who you know not what you do.  I’ll see space where ever I want , with who I want when I want and where I want so many ways around you and so many connections in this industry its silly. Anyway , I have no issue with you Sean Buckley Engadget, Scott Lowe IGN and the list goes on and on. Little kids unhappy with a PRE ORDER starting trouble and you email that to us , he’s a customer unless you’re his boyfriend then you should side with the company not the customer. Be Careful

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:40 PM

I do run Pax, but I also run a website called penny arcade. It’s kinda popular.

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:41 PM

Love penny Arcade !!

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:42 PM

I’m glad you like it! You will be on it tomorrow:)

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:46 PM

Great !! Love PR

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:46 PM

Mike I’m not trying to fight with you I’m really not , you should give me the benefit of the doubt before judging over one person’s bitching . Did I feed into his emails a little bit too much yeah ok . But it’s one person dude for real. No disrespect intended for you , My name is good in this industry and I know a lot of people. I’ll be at CES are you going ?

From: Mike Krahulik
To: Ocean Marketing
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:47 PM

Please remove me from this mailing list

From: Ocean Marketing
To: Mike Krahulik
Dec 26, 2011 at 9:57 PM

Your spamming me you’re not on a mailing list you idiot ! You sent me an email remember . Make sure you stir up a lot of controversy about us the more the better we needed some drama gets good blood flow going about the new product launch .  Your sites amateur at best my son could put together a better site than yours and you run PAX ?? Wow , Ill put my marketing team on a smear campaign of you and your site and your emails , I have about 125 dedicated people to run PR , Blogs , Articles , Videos you have no clue who I am . Thanks again

I can’t wait for the Penny Arcade smear campaign!

Oh and I’ll just leave this here:

-Gabe out

info@avengercontroller.com
Ocean Marketing Paul Christoforo on Twitter – @OceanMarketting
800-492-5455#

Source: Penny Arcade

What's better than a rooster armed to the teeth? A rooster armed to the teeth, with a jetpack, that's what. Ratloop's latest PSN offering provides just that, and for the most part succeeds in making it as fun as it sounds.

It's a side-scrolling platformer with a traditional find object X to proceed mechanic, interspersed with side-scrolling flying sections. The first thing that struck me is the fantastic front-end music and bold graphical style. As I started the game, I thought that was all I was going to get, but the music fades in at appropriate times to add atmosphere as and when needed. The system works well.

The graphics are good as well, as you can see for yourself from the trailer. Big, bold characters, with suitably shiny map tiles and nice mood lighting. Coupled with a fantastic hand-drawn style to the backplates on outside sections. It all adds up to a very pretty game. However, it also has some drawbacks. 

First off, I should point out that this game harks back to the old school days before hardware was powerful enough to scroll levels and had to generate maps screen by screen. Why this decision was taken is anyone's guess as it was a style dictated by capability more than choice.
So the downsides of a flip-screen map are present: namely enemies walking on just as you are walking off. In all fairness though, it's never a source of irritation – just a strange design decision.

Another strange decision is to apply a warping effect on the the map layers that performs some kind of stretch as you move across the screen. Maybe it's attempting to induce a subtle parallax effect, but it just looks odd. It is quite subtle though, so it's possible you won't even notice it. But again, this doesn't detract from gameplay at all.

While the maps look nice, I did feel they also looked quite samey in places (within the same level). I often felt I was walking down the same corridoor with a different arrangement of obstacles/enemies.
This is odd as the levels can take a relatively long time to load. And at times it's not obvious where you can and can't move. For instance in overgrown areas, or where you are required to crawl through ducts.

The single screen design also means that you have to react pretty fast to enemies to avoid damage when entering a new screen. However, the gun play is very satisfying in this game. With a solid feel of connection between bullet and victim, and a juggling mechanic that has the dangerous ability to make you waste more ammo than you need to just to see them bounce.
Because the characters are so big, they need nice animations, and here the developers have delivered. And while the player movement feels animation driven, which is normally a bad thing as far as responsiveness goes, in Rocketbirds, it isn't a problem. So kudos to the developer for getting the best out of both worlds there.

Then finally, the jetpack sections (or more specifically, rocket packs). These are a welcome break from the platforming sections, and the controls are quick to pick up. However, I found the camera panning quite distracting when the game wanted to show me something and was often controlling my character off screen.
There is also a fairly steep learning curve when it suddenly throws homing missiles at you. I still to this date don't know how to avoid them, and largely find myself tanking through them to get the objective done before they kill me. But that is no doubt a fault of mine rather than the game's (assuming there is a technique to avoid them). In Smumary: + Plush graphics + Great music and sound effects + Nice feel to the gunplay and control + Jetpacks! + Interesting gameplay features – Single screen map design – Maps can feel samey within the same level – Fairly redundant stealth mechanic – Some unnecessary cutscenes – Level path can be hard to see at times

The Look:    80% Fantastic looking for the most part, with good atmosphere, can look a bit repetitive at times.
The Sound: 85% Great music, coupled with meaty sound effects.
The Feel:     70% Good feel to controls over all with levels well designed to the games strengths, but with a few issues here and there.

Overall: 76%  

Author: InfiniteStates

ITV is one of those outlets that seems to have a something against gaming. So, I find it a bit strange that ITV recently used footage from ARMA II and passed it off as actual footage of an IRA attack from 1988.

That’s pretty low and even lower once you realise that they used this footage in a documentary. The documentary itself is called ‘Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA’, if you want to go watch it.

Bohemia Interactive’s CEO, Marek Spanel, is as confused as we are.  “Sometimes creativity and realism in our games lead into crazy results and this is one of such example,” he said to PC Gamer.

“I just briefly watched the entire documentary and I still can not believe it as it is overall [a] very serious and lengthy feature.”

Source: PC Gamer

I played anything and everything I could get my hands on, but mostly Command and Conquer Red Alert 1 and 2, racing games, Black Hawk Down ( a truly brilliant FPS), Battlefield 2, and Battlefield 2142.

But it was 2142 that killed PC gaming for me. I loved it you see, I played this game for 12 hours a day where possible, and even quit a job so I could play it even more. My name is Dazbobaby and I am (was) an addict.
I had my own 24 man server running Panama Canal Titan Only, and it would be full or nearly full 24/7.
I had regulars playing, I had clans playing, and one clan even paid me a small fee each month to keep some space reserved for them.

But the game wasn’t without it’s problems, it crashed a lot, and sometimes when it crashed nothing could get it working again, nothing but a complete re-install of windows, drivers, then the game.
It got to the point where I had a backup of my Windows partition, all ready to go for 2142, and I could be up and running again in less than 10 minutes, thanks to a DOS programme called Ghost, you know it as Norton Ghost. Back then it fit on a floppy disk, now it just fits on a CD… bloatware!

So now I had a means of backup and fast restore, I was happy. Eventually one of the clans asked me to join forces with them, and I did.
And things were good, for a while, at some point I had to get another job, and that would really interfere with my gaming, but a job came to me, it involved nights, was short on hours and high on pay. I worked for a driving agency, worked weekends, and got paid upto £50ph – nuff said.

The rest of the week was mine, and things were good again. But it wouldn’t last.
In the end I got fed up with re-installing windows just for this one game, and I ended up getting so frustrated I did the unimaginable… I sold my PC. My high end gaming rig was gone, I had no game console, and no games.

Drastic I know, but I needed to break away from all the problems I’d been having and give myself a rest from gaming.

Amazingly I had no withdrawl pangs at all, infact I enjoyed the lack of stress that gaming enduced in me. No more frustration at dying, no more rage at the game having crashed for the 10th time that day, and no more back stabbing and sniping that comes with playing in a clan.

I worked more and earned more and didn’t look back once! That was nearly 5 years ago.

I did eventually get bored without gaming and took the plunge on a shiny new PS3 in Christmas 2008 (without the emotion engine), but I had some big problems with the controller. I was used to the keyboard and mouse, and this single joypad thingy just wasn’t working for me. It almost broke the deal to be honest, the only reason I stuck with the PS3 was the blu-ray drive, and media playback. This was a boon at the time, no more watching movies on my laptop, I could now watch them on my TV, and DVD upscaling looked awesome – until I bought my first blu-ray… I was hooked, nothing compared to the picture quality, and that sealed the deal… I was a Playstation 3 fanboy. I would just have to get used to the joypad… and I did

Once I clicked with the controller, nothing could stop me, and thanks to a few guys who loved Battlefield Bad Company 1 from the official Sony forums, I started www.dazbobaby.com (dont bother looking it up, it’s now just a holding page), then after a short time, www.mess-hall.co.uk our new permanent home.

The rest is now history, until recently that is.
You see I’ve just bought a new PC (and pissed off a few people because of my video and screenshot uploads – jealousy!), and started by playing Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Mirror’s Edge and Bad Company 2… yeah,yeah,yeah, I’m a walking advertisment for D.I.C.E. games, and lets face it, they do look so much better on the PC in 1080p with the highest level of detail turned on.

BUT… despite the lushness of the images, playing is not without problems, control is one of them, keeping the games working is another.
The mouse maybe a lot more accurate than a joypad, but it’s this sensitivity that making it difficult to control, and so is the keyboard… my finger just aren’t used to the dexterity required anymore.
Factor in that the games either work or they don’t – modern hardware is a blessing and a curse… Need for speed: Carbon just wont work in widescreen or resolutions past 1280×1024. Some games can manage these new graphics cards and processors, some can’t, and this is where games consoles just rule… They will play games that were made at launch, just as well as games made last month.

The joypad also doesn’t require as much finger bending as a keyboard, and while there are people out there who might scream at their monitor calling me a fool, I prefer joypads to keyboards… and for the longest time I thought I would prefer a keyboard and mouse. But by buying a new PC I’ve proven how wrong I am.
I’m getting my ass handed to me on a regular basis in Battlefield games, yet on the PS3 I almost always come top at the end of the round.

So now for some comparison pictures:
First off GRiD PS3 Version – By CodeMasters

GRiD PC Version:



And a nice 1080p video:

Battlefield Bad Company 2 by D.I.C.E.
PS3 Screenshots: (Yes we all know Symonator likes to play with his chopper – A LOT )

Bad Company 2 PC Screenshots

For a Mirror’s Edge PC Gallery clicky here!
For a Mirror’s Edge PS3 Gallery clicky here!

I could go on for even longer, but whats the point, you already know that PC’s rule in the graphics department right?
Yep, but the PS3 rules in the control and compatability department.

So the Pro’s and Con’s.
For PC:
Lovely graphics.
Keyboard and Mouse – but only if thats your thing.
Multimedia
Faster loading times

For the PS3:
Cheap – £250 or less
Joypad
Compatability – you just know your games WILL work no matter what
Works with your TV
Blu-Ray
5.1 upto 7.1 sound – doable with a PC, but it’ll cost more
Multimedia
Friends list
Playstation Move
Console Exclusives: Just try buying InFamous or Bad Company 1, or Battlefield 1943 on the PC!

So there it is, my personal opinion of why I think the PS3 is better than a gaming PC.
And thats just what it is, “My Opinion”, you can argue with me, but you can’t change my mind.
Right now I’ll stick to what I can manage – Racing Games on the PC, everything else PS3 baby yeah!

Thanks for reading.
Steam: dazbobaby
PSN: dazbobaby
Raptr: dazbobaby