Sony breaks Getaway PS3 silence

via Computer and Video Games


We've heard nothing on the Getaway since 2006's Game Developer Conference. And two years with no news usually means a canned game, but Sony has broken its silence just in time.

The good news is that it's still very much in development, or so says screenplay writer Katie Ellwood.

The demo shown at GDC '06, featuring a scene in Piccadilly Circus in central London, looked so good (see here) that Sony had to move the camera around in real-time to abolish suspicion that it was all fake.

"The Next Gen of consoles have liberated us in other ways," says Ellwood. "There are wider possibilities to use that processing power and tell a story during the game play," she said, talking of the creativity generally afforded by the more advanced consoles.

"We can stream a wider variety of dialogue and animations to progress the story and characterisation rather than breaking the flow of the game play for a cutscene. If games are about immersion, then we are now about to deepen that immersion," commented Ellwood.

Speaking more specifically about Getaway PS3, she revealed that Sony is "talking to production houses about a movie for the third game in the Getaway series."

Ellwood explains: "The story and game script for this one is very exciting, as is the writer we have on board. I'm afraid I can't give any further information, other than to say: watch this space."

But when will it be out? Elwood gave no hints, but it doesn't seem like it'll hit its 2008 release as originally tipped. Still, that's probably a good thing, what with that little game known as GTA coming out this year...