Summer Blast Sale hits PSN this week

Steam's Summer Sale is so last week. PSN was just updated and is now hosting their own series of summer sales, and the first wave of sales are up lasting from June 24 to June 30.

This is the first week with the next batch going live possibly next week. In addition to the Summer Blast Sale, the PSN update includes pre-orders to upcoming games, movie sales, price adjustments and more discounts that's PS Plus exclusive. Head on to PSN, this is quite a huge update. Don't like what you see? There are tons of sales happening this month it's crazy. Steam's Summer Sale is currently on its fifth day, and GoG's DRM-Free Summer Sale is now in effect. God help our wallets. [Source: PSN Blog]

PSN North America's Flash Sale brings 30 great titles down to .99 cents for the weekend

Looking for a great game for the ongoing long holy weekend? Sony goes generous and announces a Flash Sale pricing 30 titles for only $0.99. These titles go span from PS3 titles, PS Vita, and even PS1 greats. A pretty amazing list of great and classic games if you ask us.  Crash Bandocoot 1-3 plus team racing, Braid, Tokyo Jungle, Super Stardust are complete steals. Check the full list below.

• Back to the Future: The Game (PS3)
• Blast Factor (PS3)
• Braid (PS3)
• Crash Bandicoot (PSOne Classic)
• Crash Bandicoot 2 (PSOne Classic)
• Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (PSOne Classic)
• Crash Team Racing (PSOne Classic)
• Crash Commando (PS3)
• Echochrome 2 (PS3)
• Everyday Shooter (PS3/PSP)
• Gex: Enter the Gecko (PSOne Classic)
• Gotham City Impostors (PS3)
• Jurassic Park: The Game (PS3)
• Plants vs. Zombies (PS3)
• Red Faction (PS2 Classic)
• Red Faction 2 (PS2 Classic)
• Red Faction: Battlegrounds (PS3)
• Retro/Grade (PS3)
• Retro City Rampage (PS3/PS Vita)
• Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse (PS3)
• Spyro the Dragon (PSOne Classic)
• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PSOne Classic)
• Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PSOne Classic)
• Stuntman: Ignition (PS2 Classic)
• Super Stardust HD (PS3)
• Tales of Monkey Island (PS3)
• Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
• Urban Trial Freestyle (PS3/PS Vita)
• When Vikings Attack! (PS3/PS Vita)
• World Gone Sour (PS3)

[Source: Sony Entertainment Network]

AverMedia Live Gamer Portable

TMG gets yet another upgrade in terms of recording gear. With Arlie's Elgato Game Capture HD and his newly acquired PS4, I also level up with a new capture device. The AverMedia Live Gamer Portable.

This cute little device is about the size of an iPhone and can record footage with or without a computer. When connected to a PC, you can record footage using RECentral (in either TS or mp4 format) or directly use the device on streaming software such as Xsplit or Open Broadcaster Software. When not connected to a PC, it can also record footage by storing it in a class 10 SDHC card (only records in TS format in this mode). Thanks to Den for hooking me up with this new capture device.

The box it came in is hella fancy and contained quite a bit of accessories given it's size. Included with the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable device is a PS3 SCART cable, a component AV adapter, a line in cable, a USB (male) to USB mini (male) cable, a very short HDMI cable, and a zippered carrying pouch, an instruction sheet, and finally a voucher for a 3-month licence for Xsplit.

Here's a screenshot taken using the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable through RECentral.

Here are some test videos I recorded using the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable in both RECentral and in PC-free mode.

PS3 footage recorded with the RECentral software: Settings: Bitrate: 12mbps Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

PS3 footage recorded PC-free on a 16gig SDHC card: PS3 footage recorded PC-free on a 16gig SDHC card: Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4

Recorded using PC-free mode on a 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: raw TS file

Recorded using PC-free mode on a 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 1080p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4 PC screen setup (dual monitors) set to "Extend Displays".

Recorded using PC-free mode on a Class 10 16gig micro SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: raw TS file

Recorded using PC-free mode on a class 10 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4 PC screen setup (single monitor) set to "Duplicate Displays".

RECentral captures Wii and PS2 footage in 4:3 even if the consoles are set to widescreen so I had to change the aspect ration of this video before uploading. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

Like how PSP games are displayed on TVs via the PSP-2000/3000's TV-out, I had to eliminate the black gaps around the edges. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

Had to cut out the black edges on all sides. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

By the way, you can find Arlie streaming live on our Twitch.tv channel so follow us there if you want to catch the streams.

TooMuchGaming's New Let's Play Channel

We've decided to split the let's plays from main channel since let's plays are pretty much an entirety on their own. All the older uploaded let's plays on the main channel (tmgblog) will stay there but newer let's play vids will go to the new channel (toomuchgamingLP). No trailer for the new channel is ready at the moment but there are some videos already live and there are much more to come very soon. Subscribe if you don't wanna miss our zany video game adventures and misadventures.

Check out some of the videos from the new channel below.

Recent Buys: Episode 25 - Absence of Injustice Arrow: Komplete Edition

I haven't done one of these in a while mainly due to personal financials but here we have another episode of Recent Buys. Grabbed myself 2nd hand copies of Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition and Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, both for PS3. Thanks to South Rage Manila for hooking me up with those games. I also mention what game has currently been eating up a lot of my time and that is Super Robot Wars Z2 Hakai-hen (Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Taisen z Hakai-hen) on the PSP.

When I recorded this, I just received my DLC code for the Arrow skin in Injustice: Gods Among Us from the show Arrow. The costume looks cool but I'm a little disappointed that Stephen Amell's voice is only used for the entrance, win and clash quotes while all the grunts are still generic Green Arrow voice clips.