Not to play the fanboy card here, but I think the PS4 needs to work more towards the Xbox 360 model when it comes to the store. On the 360, the store isn't a separate app - it's part of the dashboard. You find what you want, click "Download now" and it heads right to your download queue. In the meantime, you carry on doing whatever you were doing. And it's quick. REAL quick. That's without the 360's arguably faster network performance in general, where a 1GB download takes half as long as it would on the PS3.

With the PS3, I fire up the store, if there's an update to the store software I have to download that (10 minutes) before I can do anything. Then I browse through the treacle-slow menu system, find what I want, hit the download button, wait for it to start downloading (which can take up to a minute), then press "Download in Background" - wait while the download is "prepared" (again, can take up to a minute) - and only THEN can I carry on browsing. If I want to nip in and grab something that's FREE on my PlayStation Plus account, it can realistically take 15 minutes from booting up the console, to being able to put the controller down and leave the item downloading. If I'm buying something and I need to add funds to my wallet, you can realistically add another 5 minutes to that. That's not how I want to spend my time, frankly.

I don't know what Sony thought they were doing when they initially assumed that users would just want to sit and watch a progress bar run across the screen for - potentially - hours at a time. Like I say, not playing the fanboy card here, but I think this is one area where the 360 got things really right. It always feels to me as if the PlayStation Store is a barrier to purchasing content, rather than the invisible facilitator that it should be.

That was my main issue with the last game, if I'm honest - the dialogue. After loading the game up, I was pressing "X" every few seconds to scroll through waves and waves of absolute drivel. After 15 minutes, I still hadn't actually done anything other than that.

It didn't take long for me to give up on it after that, I have to say.

We will fiiiiiiight!

I think what people are forgetting, is that this is currently ALL hyperbole. Nothing is confirmed. Nothing is fact. The perception is kicking Microsoft in the backside, and that's not a good thing.

Plus, they can all say "We're buying PS4" as much as they want. Fact is, PS4 could very will still be a console that requires an always-on internet connection as well. Again, nothing confirmed. Hyperbole.

I avoided puns for mine...mainly because I couldn't think of any.

"Corn blimey" is the greatest thing I've ever read, though. Kudos.

I just don't see it happening. They'll save all their bullets for E3.

The ironic thing about this, is that this week's MCV (a UK "trade only" magazine) is complaining about the lack of titles on the horizon again and again and again. Their double-page article entitled "New IP Headlines Quiet Q2" goes on to list Defiance, Dead Island: Riptide, Star Trek, Injustice, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3DS, Metro: Last Light, GRID 2, Company of Heroes 2, The Last of Us, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Remember Me, and Lost Planet 3.

Apparently, 11 "must play" games in three months is "quiet" and something to complain about across multiple articles. They haven't even considered the high-quality XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare titles that are launching during that period, or anything that hits Steam that isn't also released at retail, or mobile titles of any fashion. The industry is expecting gamers to spend hundreds of pounds per quarter on gaming, not to mention thousands on hardware, peripherals, and accessories every time we reach the next generation, then wonders why a high percentage of "big-name" titles "flop" at retail.

We're heading for a crash if it goes on like this, in my opinion. We've never had it so good, but the industry can only support so many games before it becomes flooded - much like it did back in 1983.

Bayonetta font. Say no more.

This is pathetic beyond all reason. Unbelievable.

People don't want it, and never really did - so it isn't surprising that it didn't sell.

In this space, it isn't just down to the quality of the product, and I think Sony discounted that fact. Their method seemed to be:-

1. Sign up J.K. Rowling.
2. ????.
3. Profit!

I think consumers were confused. There were three different versions on sale, two of which came with accessories, and it was dealing with the fact that parents who bought uDraw for their kids the year before were still feeling the burn of spending £79.99 on an expansion for their console, that was now for sale at £4.99 everywhere. The product didn't feature any recognisable characters, so Sony didn't have that going for them. On top of that, if you asked a child at random whether they wanted Wonderbook or Skylanders Giants, you have a 1 in 100,000 chance of them opting for Sony's product. Finally, it was being marketed heavily in the UK - but to parents. It was showing up on daytime shows on TV, which is useless as the kids are at school, then! If you're trying to sell a toy to kids at Christmas, you market it to the kids - THEY convince the parents to buy. That's advertising 101, right there. Sony tried to take it down the "lifestyle" route and tried to market it in the same way that Wii Fit was, to an extent. Wrong move.

Too many missed steps, and that horrendous E3 demo didn't help, either.

"PlayStation Vita Sales 'Absolutely Exploded' Over Christmas" - Not according to the retailers I've spoken to, they didn't! And if they did, the charts don't seem to indicate that many games were sold alongside them.

The most common complaint is the lack of any titles that are genuine system-sellers. They need to drop the price, drop the price of the memory cards, and get decent software on the shelves - and quick.

I will buy a PS4 on launch day, and I'm definitely in for Driveclub and Killzone. However, I don't think Sony should be getting credit for fixing the "problems" from the PS3, because those problems should not have existed in the first place. Creating a patching engine where people sometimes have to download entire 900mb texture sets in order to replace a single 20kb graphic was rank idiocy on Sony's part. Especially when the network that supplies those files is so tragically slow. And it isn't like they're new to software development - they could have seen that coming.

As I say, I want a PS4, but for my money, the presentation was poor. Too much talk about things that gamers - the people who will buy it on day one no matter what - don't really care about, and not enough about the things that they do care about. "You can share videos of your games!" shouldn't take 15 minutes to say, unless you're padding the time.

And that Media Molecule demo just made me angry. The whole "look at how we're making this band play with Move" thing was a ludicrous waste of time. If it ends up in a game, it'll either be so complicated that people can't use it, or it simply won't do what the demo suggested it will and be so limited that people WON'T use it.

Don't even get me started on the controller and PS Eye 4. The controller isn't the right shape for Move-style games. The lightbar can be obscured if you turn too far. There's no reason for a touchpad, other than as a gimmick. It has matt and gloss parts which just don't gel properly. It looks ugly. They've left the triggers so that your hands will slip off the back of the pad as they do with the DS3. I could go on.

As a gamer, I'll be there on day one with my preorder in hand. But I don't think Sony have put themselves in the untouchable position that they were hoping for. E3 is going to be interesting this year, that's for sure!

Have a good liveblog, lads and lasses. I'll be here watching with you tonight.

And well deserved, says I. Superb game, and I'm having great fun with it.

I really don't see the need for a touchpad. The current controller layout is more than powerful enough to control any game you could think of, and I think the usefulness of the Vita's touchpad is overblown to say the least. And god only knows I absolutely HATE using the touchpad on my laptop.

Why not just provide a mouse and have done with it, Sony?

The only one I ever bought was for the original BioShock, because it had a cool Big Daddy statue with it.

Generally though, yes, they are a waste of money. The game is the thing. I don't need a book showing me art from a game that I can view perfectly well on my TV screen. Generally, I don't want the soundtrack either.

The only reason Sony are ahead (on shipments, mind you, not sales) is because of Japan and how utterly woeful Xbox 360 sales are over there. In the US, the Xbox 360 has enjoyed 24 - and is currently enjoying what is likely to be its 25th - months as the best-selling console based on 30-day sales. The gap in the UK isn't as big, but Microsoft are well in front here, too.

I'd say that nothing will change, regardless of whether or not the PS3 ever overtakes the 360 in pure sales terms. The audiences are large enough on either console for developers to not worry about which brand is leading.

And to 3Above - it may have been negativity from Adam Sessler and the like, but they weren't exactly wrong at the time. Plus, the negativity helped to drive Sony to make improvements that - in the long run - have ensured the long-term lifespan of the console.

Oh, but I want these so much. In dire need of a new set of headphone. Might have to splash the cash.

That's such a shame. Blur is easily one of my favourite games of the generation. Had that great MS-R feel about it, whilst still being modern, slick, and unerringly fun.

Brilliant!

@hydeks You don't need to be European to know that an entire Conway Twitty song halfway through a show is in no way funny, neither is eight minutes of Peter holding his knee and going "Ooh! Aah!" because he fell over.

The show had a rough couple of seasons, but is on the way back again.

And there's no such thing as "North American Humour", to be honest. Pretty much every comedy series you have over there in the States that hits it big, ends up on our screens anyway. We get it just fine.

"What went wrong with PlayStation All-Stars?" - Simple. They saw Super Smash Bros., figured that they could shoehorn tons of PlayStation-based characters into it in order to raise "brand awareness", then made a game that wasn't as good as Super Smash Bros.

I'm ready for something new. I'm awaiting Kryptos and Orbis announcements prior to or indeed at E3. Without them, next year will be the same old routine. Another AC, another COD, another FIFA, another NFS title maybe, and little-to-no innovation as everyone banks on a sure thing. New consoles = new risks to be taken.

I had a glimpse at the premise of the last game in the series and thought I'd give it a pop. I love me some JRPG goodness, but this was SO underwhelming. After an hour of listening to the characters squeak in a ear-splitting voice at each other, I couldn't go on.

I am more than a little excited for this.

Great work Sammy - really enjoyable read, this.