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PS3 News
by Published on March 4th, 2011 00:21- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
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Twisted Metal creator David Jaffe believes that home consoles are pushing away users through bad, restrictive design choices that delay the game-playing experience.
Checking for new downloadable content, updating software, cut scenes and the time between turning a console on and actually playing the game are just some of the problems that turn customers to more immediate portable experiences and social networks, said the outspoken designer.
"Portable game time is going way up, but why? Those of us in the console space are actually making choices that push our customers away. The time it takes to power on your console and be in the game playing takes too damn long. The gap of time from pressing 'on' to actually beginning to play is getting longer and it's annoying customers," he told an audience at GDC.
"Cut scenes, installs, updates, load times, system boot-up times - a lot of the stuff can be designed around. For me there are times I've wanted to play a new console game but I just don't because I don't want to deal with all the ramp-up time. Maybe that makes me lazy but look at all the other stuff that's competing right now for my leisure time.
"The one thing that they all have in common, the best thing, is that all of these pretty much have instant payoff. Literally seconds after thinking about doing these activities I can be doing this activities. Why would I put up with 3-15 minute wait times when I can be entertained otherwise, instantly?" he said.
These delays were tolerated in the past, said Jaffe, because console gaming was the better experience, but the evolution of portable, mobile and social gaming now rivals a traditional home console.
"If we're talking sheer fun factor, for the first time handheld, mobile phones, internet games, they're just as good, in some cases better - and in all cases cheaper - than the console options," he said.
"If I've got 5-30 minutes to kill and I want to do something it makes total sense that I'm going to reach for instant gratification. The gameplay on my DS, PSP and iPad is just as good as it is on my console."
Jaffe reeled off a list of possible solutions to some barriers, using tech and design choices to avoid annoying the player and turning them off from the experience.
"Can anything be done? What about if you have a disc in the system and there's a save file on the hard-drive for that disc, the instant I power up it shows me a prompt and says 'do I want to go to my latest save?' If I say 'yes' it bypasses everything - hardware logo, dashboard, XMB, game logos - all of it, and I'm in the game much faster.
"Another thing is, why can't - if it's technically possible - I have a sleep mode on my consoles like I do on my Mac and I do on my game devices. All I have to do is hit a switch and within seconds I'm back in the game."
To applause from the crowd he also called for a limit to the number of updates a game should have over the internet, forcing better design and completion of a game before it's released.
"Hardware manufacturers, I feel, should only allow 1-4 updates to the software per game every year. And none of them should come in the first one or two months of the game shipping. When I first started in the business the games we shipped was our last chance off the bat.
"If game developers could make it work then, we can at least make sure games don't have to be updated the same f**king week they hit shelves, thus causing more wait times for the consumer."
Discussing game length, he called for shorter games - not titles that are artificially lengthened to justify a high price point.
"Some of these games on console are just too long. They run out of gas in the first four hours and they should - I want them to. I want to finish stuff and feel a sense of accomplishment. I want to go from start to end of a story in a weekend.
"Ultimately what happens is these console, story-based games putter on for 3-12 hours just because the business model demands it. With portable, most of them focus on the purity of play and not story, it's less of an issue. And a fluid pricing system is acceptable for portable and phone games and story-based games on those platforms are shorter and can be priced accordingly."
And he saved his final criticism for multiplayer gaming on console, that according to Jaffe, has upped the number of players online purely for the sake of it.
"Competition I feel is best when it's one-on-one, and worst case when it's small teams versus small teams. Console multiplayer has lost sight of this just because technically speaking they've been able to. Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do something.
"The spectacle of a massively multiplayer war will never get old, but the experience of the game in such a battle usually just feels like just chaos to the player. But console games rarely stop to think about this. Instead they just throw more virtual bodies at the issue and the result is often mind-numbing and empty.
"I still love console games," he concluded. ...by Published on March 4th, 2011 00:14- Categories:
- PSP News,
- PS3 News,
- PS2 News,
- Nintendo DS News,
- Nintendo 3DS News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
- Xbox 360 News
New 3DS titles have made a significant impact on the Japanese sales charts, but the number one selling game of the week is Sega's Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity for the PSP - a new iteration in the popular Monster Hunter-esque series that sold 206,654 on its debut.
The second highest new entry, at number two, is Namco Bandai's SD Gundam G Generation World on the PSP with 192,981 sales. The Wii version charted at number 12 with 28,119 units sold.
As a result the highest-selling 3DS title was Level-5's Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle at number three, with 119,591 units sales. An impressive figure considering the charts only take into account the first two days that it, and the 3DS itself, went on sale.
The second biggest seller was nintendogs + cats at number five with 64,213 sales, followed by Samurai Warriors: Chronicles at number six, (49,327) Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition at number seven (44,649), Ridge Racer 3D at number eight (38,226), and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D at number 15 (26,345). Pilotwings Resort was not part of the Japanese launch line-up.
With the weekend total for the 3DS hardware put at 374,764 the total of all software sales for the format suggests an overall attach rate of almost exactly 1:1.
It has been a generally busy week by any standard, with Nippon Ichi's Disgea 4 also debuting at number four with 79,425 sales and THE iDOLM@STER 2 on Xbox 360 squeezing into the top 10 with a creditable 34,621 unit sales.
As a result there is only title from the previous week in the top 10 (Monster Hunter Freedom 3 at number nine, and only four overall in the top 20.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...3ds-debut-week ...by Published on March 3rd, 2011 22:56- Categories:
- PS3 News
Sony has lifted the lid on the rumoured PlayStation Move server - a piece of software known as Move.Me, which allows limited use of the motion controller on PC in order to create new games and applications for it.
The software is designed for "hobbyists and academics", claimed Sony senior engineer John McCutchan on the PlayStation Blog, and grants access to "the exact the same data that licensed developers have."
He claimed that "Even before PlayStation Move was publicly available to all of you, we were talking about the device's potential implications for academics and researchers. Move.Me... is an opportunity for PlayStation to inspire new, revolutionary applications in other fields beyond gaming."
Rather than running directly on PC, Move.Me involves running special server software on a PS3, which then communicates Move data to a nearby computer via LAN.
"We hope it will be used to discover new ways of connecting individuals with information, and maybe even discovering a new healthcare application or two."
Move.Me may, of course, also open up the controller to the same kind of inventive hacks as have been seen on Microsoft's rival Kinect. No release date is available as yet.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...o-amateur-devs
...by Published on March 3rd, 2011 22:40- Categories:
- PS3 News
It's tough to get solid numbers out of Sony for hardware sales, usually they're cloaked behind a vague "shipped" figure, but at GDC this week the company gave us one rather impressive number: 41 million. That's the number of PS3 consoles the company says it has sold worldwide, and over 80 percent are sucking down data from ye olde internet. Confirming the moneymaking trend we heard about last month, in 2010 the PlayStation store saw a 60 percent boost in traffic and a 70 percent boost in revenue from a total of 70 million PSN accounts. Let's see... 70 million PSN user accounts, 41 million PS3 consoles, 80 percent of which are online -- that means almost everyone has one account for gaming and a second for griefing. Sounds about right.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/03/s...old-worldwide/ ...by Published on March 3rd, 2011 22:27- Categories:
- PS3 News
UPDATE: The First Strike DLC is available to download from PSN now.
ORIGINAL STORY: Treyarch has issued an update to the PlayStation 3 version of first-person shooter phenomenon Call of Duty: Black Ops ahead of the launch of the First Strike downloadable content later today.
The patch 1.07 notes are below.
New Features:
- Added the in-game store.
- Setting party privacy to "closed" now fully functions as intended.
- Improved connectivity in matches containing multiple online split screen parties.
- Calling in a Chopper Gunner immediately after getting shot down in a Gunship will no longer end the Chopper Gunner run prematurely. Required timing-specific button presses.
- Split screen players are now able to change camera perspectives and cycle through players as a spectator.
- Fixed rare infinite load for clients with slow connections who join on a friend at the end of a match as the final killcam is ending.
- The name of a copied custom class no longer reverts back to the default after changing it.
- Fixed a rare issue where gun sight lenses could appear opaque.
- Addressed an issue where the most recent match played in Zombies could overwrite the best match played on the leaderboard.
- Improved Zombies lobbies to prevent players from erroneously receiving the error "Unable to join game session" under certain circumstances.
- Fixed rare infinite load that could occur in Zombies involving split screen parties accepting an invite into a Private Match.
- Addressed a number of community-discovered Zombies gameplay exploits.
- Additional security feature updates.
- Additional sniper rifle tuning.
The First Strike DLC launched as a 1200 MS Point timed Xbox 360 exclusive in February, and set new platform records with more than 1.4 million downloads in the first 24 hours....
It includes five all new maps: Berlin Wall; Discovery; Kowloon; Stadium; and Ascension, which features zombies.
US developer Certain Affinity designed and built Discovery and Stadium in collaboration with Treyarch.
The First Strike DLC is due out on PC before the end of March.
Eurogamer's Will Porter awarded it 7/10, proclaiming it "a well-balanced collection of different styles of map."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ps3-patch-1-07by Published on March 3rd, 2011 22:11- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- PC News,
- Xbox 360 News
It's official: a Battle: Los Angeles game is on the way to release a month after the motion picture of the same name, confirms publisher Konami.
The Battle: Los Angeles movie - yet another alien invasion plot - hits US cinema screens on March 11, while the game's due to arrive "next month" for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC via Steam and "select distribution channels", confirming rumours last week sparked by leaky rating boards.
You will "assume the role of Corporal Lee Imlay and fight alongside characters from the film and defend the city of Los Angeles from attacks from unknown forces," says the blurb.
Developed by TimeShift developer Saber Interactive, BLA is an first-person shooter with a single-player campaign the follows the events of the film. "Players will battle unique and varied enemies, using an arsenal of weapons throughout the game like an assault rifle, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, frag grenades, and a turret gun as they navigate the streets of Los Angeles avoiding fierce and relentless attacks," says Konami, who's publishing the title.
"Aside from high-caliber fire fighting combat, destructible environments have been included using the Havok Destruction Module, which will allow players to destroy scaffolding structures, vehicles and overpasses to eliminate enemy forces."
No screens yet.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...by Published on March 3rd, 2011 21:52- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- Playstation Vita News
Latest engine iteration to support PS3 and NGP development
Sony has revealed the PhyreEngine 3.0, the latest iteration of its games engine, at the GDC 2011.
The engine comes complete with source code development tools that are available under license to interested developers and publishers.
Sony have touted several new features of the 3.0 iteration and tools, including a new asset pipeline and processing tool, a rewritten level editor, ‘more accessible’ API and support for entities, scripting, and integrated physics and navigation components.
The engine also integrates with middleware tech from several of Sony’s business partners, including Havok, Nvidia and Scaleform.
“We're very happy to see the popularity of PhyreEngine with the global game developer community” said SCEI technology platform SVP Teiji Yutaka.
“It has helped demonstrate our commitment to the game developer community and in particular enable smaller independent developers and publishers to flourish on PS3 and NGP.”
http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...PhyreEngine-30
...by Published on March 2nd, 2011 22:49- Categories:
- PS3 News
Being able to save your Gran Turismo 5 game during an endurance race is a feature "under development" right now, creator Kazunori Yamauchi has revealed....
"I'm sorry," he wrote in a tweet translated on GTPlanet. "Game saves during endurances: they are currently under development."
As it stands, finishing an endurance race in Gran Turismo 5 requires you sit there for four, nine or 24 hours and see it through.
Gran Turismo 5 is a success - particularly in Europe, where more than half of the game's total 6.37 million copies (as of December 2010) have been shipped.
Eurogamer awarded Gran Turismo 5 - a game "that overflows with love" - a massive 9/10.
The best selling Gran Turismo game remains Gran Turismo 3, however, with an enormous 14.89 million sales.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...endurance-raceby Published on March 2nd, 2011 22:36- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- PC News,
- Xbox 360 News,
- Sega Dreamcast News
Legendary game developer Yu Suzuki has said SEGA will "probably" let him create Shenmue 3....
"Probably SEGA will let me make it," he told an audience at the Game Developers Conference. "I think. It's simply a problem of budget."
SEGA put an end to the expensive, revered Shenmue series after a second Dreamcast instalment. Simply, sales didn't justify the investment.
"Well, I want to make it," Suzuki said of a third game in the series, as reported by Gamasutra. "About 200 people will buy it, I think. But funding is an issue."
The first Shemue game, apparently, "only" cost $47 million to make – and that was in 1999. "Well, maybe I shouldn't say only," he joked. "We spent it on development and marketing... actually where did we spend it again?"
Last year Suzuki tantalisingly teased that Shenmue 3 was much more than a fantasy - it existed. "The concept for Shenmue 3 already exists, so..." Suzuki said.
"Shenmue 3 doesn't expand outward, but inward," he said at the time. "A lot of the dialogue is used for the main character and especially dialogue with Shenhua [the girl]. They [Shenhua and Ryo] talk about a lot of different, deeper things.
"This is not actually in the game, but an example to give you an idea of what I mean by deeper dialogue: when Shenhua and Ryo are at home, Shenhua will ask Ryo if he would like to drink tea or coffee and the player will select one or the other. Or, Shenhua will ask Ryo a hypothetical question like: 'There are four animals; a monkey, cat, dog and bird. You are crossing the river but you need to leave one behind. Which one will you leave behind?' And the player has to choose one.
"Shenhua will ask lots and lots of questions like these and the answers will get stored in the game and affect the outcome of the player's relationship with other characters. It's like a personality test. For example, the person who leaves behind the monkey is the type of person who leaves their wife."
Shenmue 2 was released in 2001, and may have been the most anticipated Dreamcast game ever.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...make-shenmue-3by Published on March 2nd, 2011 22:24- Categories:
- PS3 News
Sony may be able to continue shipping PlayStation 3 consoles into Europe, despite the injunction brought against it by LG.
The rival electronics firm has managed to bar European PS3 shipments due to a patent war over Blu-Ray technology - thought to be a response to an earlier legal challenge by Sony regarding LG mobile phones.
However, the Guardian reveals that European patent fragmentation may mean imports can continue were Sony to move its port of entry.
Currently, PS3s arrive primarily via Amsterdam and Rotterdam. LG's injunction applies to the Netherlands, and not to the entirety of Europe - so Sony could continue shipments if an alternative destination is found.
Were Sony to move port, LG retains the option to seek injunctions in other European nations. The PS3 firm may need to keep its new entry-point a temporary secret in order to keep one step ahead of LG. The efficacy of a sustained chase may depend on Sony's willpower in moving around the estimated 100,000 weekly consoles required to keep up with demand, and on whether other EU member states agree with the Dutch ruling.
Prejudgment seizures, which Sony seeks to avoid by steering clear of Dutch ports, are far less common outside of the Netherlands. While LG could achieve the same effect with preliminary injunctions, the PlayStation-maker would have more scope to defend itself against such an order.
Sony currently has around two to three weeks' of stock at European retail, and LG's initial victory only lasts 10 days. However, the option to extend to ban remains. In the event Sony was found guilty of patent infringement, it would be required to pay a fee for every PS3 sold globally to date.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ps3-injunction
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