Once again, Sony opened up its trendy 3Rooms venue in Shoreditch, for a showcase of new and forthcoming PlayStation 3 games. As it filled up with the cream of Europe’s videogames press, we had little trouble finding stuff that had either come on a lot since we saw it at GDC or else was completely new.
For us, perhaps the most significant item of news on show concerned MotorStorm. Sony senior producer Pete Smith tore himself away from his LittleBigPlanet duties to unveil a raft of downloadable content for the barnstorming off-road racing game, due to arrive over the PlayStation network in the next month or so.
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At the recent Sony European press event at the 3Rooms, we were surprised and gratified to get a short but sweet audience with a man who is fast becoming a legend: David Jaffe, the man behind God of War. In this instance, Jaffe had his Calling All Cars hat on – explaining that the experience of creating what, for our money, is the best of the PS3 download games was so happy that he has more such games in the pipeline. This is what he said – over Eye Toy video-link from San Diego.
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Kotaku reports that VH1 is offering a guaranteed one-of-a-kind PS3 for a competition that has you trundling back down memory lane to win, telling a story about the original PlayStation.
The reason the console will be one of a kind is that you (well, probably not you actually), the winner, will decide what you want to go on it, and it will then be laser-printed onto the console. The winner will also get copies of Calling All Cars and flOw.
Oh, there’s one small drawback: it’s only open to US residents, so anyone eligible should head over to the site and enter, and all anyone else gets is a question: what would you have printed on your PS3? I’d suggest not putting your treasured picture of a blackout in a coalmine, as it probably won’t show that well…
By Chris Blenkarn
Much as we love Guitar Hero II, sometimes the effort of trying yet again to complete the game on medium difficulty (!) proves a bit too much, and we want someone or something to take over. So we were, like, totally stoked to find out that the Guitar Heronoid could be the answer to our enthusiastic but completely inadequate skills at the game.
The Android consists of two robot hands attached to a shop dummy torso, as well as a visual recognition system that can detect which frets the robot needs to press, and a brain that marries the two together. We don’t really understand any more than that, but we can see that it’s a pretty interesting idea. The one fly in the ointment would seem to be that it’s actually not very good at playing the instrument yet. We won’t get too smug yet, though, as we plateau’d at GHII a long time ago, and it looks like the robot’s just getting started
One last question: if a machine rocks out using another machine and there’s no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?
By Chris Blenkarn
There’s a couple seemingly in the works and they’re both worth waiting for. There’s the MotorStorm update coming on June 7, which includes the following according to IGN
- New Time Attack game mode
- Fix for 5.1 and 7.1 audio
- Corrections to a ranking system
- Correction to the boost mode in multiplayer
- Autostart with a fixed countdown time in multiplayer lobby
And many other improvements. Click here to find out more.
Also, the firmware 2.00 update is allegedly coming soon. There is unsurprisingly no detail or even confirmation available at this time, but as we like speculation as much as the next man, why not tell us what improvements you’d like to see to the firmware?
There’s already been something of an update to how the Playstation Network is going to develop in the future, as SCEA’s Michael Shorrock speaks to an audience of developers and gives out plenty of hints as to where PSN is going next. There’s nothing concrete as to where, when and how yet, but there’s plenty of hints as to how developers can incorporate Home into games by having their own virtual ‘pavilions’ within the space. Obviously this is all broad brush stuff that we probably won’t see anything of for the next six to 12 months at least, but looks like the kind of thing that could make Home stand out from the crowd. Read the whole piece from Gamasutra here
Following The Simpsons Movie, the latest bit of original titling from 20th Century Fox is The Simpsons Game. Developed by EA Games in partnership with Fox, it aims to parody the likes of EverQuest, Grand Theft Auto and Medal of Honor.
The game’s landscape features all your favourite corners of Springfield, and the voice talents of the TV show are on board, too. Controlling members of the family, you battle to save middle America’s flagship burg from destruction. The 16 levels ape episodes of the series, down to the famous unique opening sequences.
According to Scot Amos, the game’s executive producer, “We’re also especially proud of the game’s warm visual feel, which captures - for the first time ever in a game - the look of the TV show. As Comic Book Guy says, ‘Best. Simpsons Game. Ever!’” The Simpsons Game is due out in the autumn on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP. Oh, that’s a working title btw. Seems a shame not to use it.
As you may have seen floating around on various websites, Sony Japan has announced a new system of payment for the PlayStation Store for those without a credit card, those reluctant to use them online, or those who don’t trust themselves in the face of temptation.
It works basically like phone credit: cards, or ‘Tickets’ come in a range of values, from 1000¥ (about £4) to 10,000¥ (about £40), and can be purchased from 52,000 Post Office ATMs. The cards have a 12 digit code which you enter on the PS Network and away you go. Unfortunately for Europe, Sony UK say there are no plans to introduce the system over here but hopefully that’ll change.
Thanks for the hundreds of requests to get involved with the next stage of the Home beta trial. Those quick enough off the mark will have an email from us sitting in their inbox with confirmation details. Sorry to all those who were unable to make it this time. However, we will keep all of your details and try to make it up to you soon!
We’ve been given ten spaces for Three Speech regulars on the second phase of the Home beta trial, which is due to start later in the summer.
To qualify for a bout of major bragging rights among your mates, you’ll need to be based in the UK and have access to the PSN Store; and we’ll need your email sign-in address. Once the second phase is underway, you’ll be contacted with details of what to do next.
We could ask you to dance, fight, sing etc for the spaces, but nah, there’s not really a fairer way than to say we’ll dish them out on a first come, first served basis. Email us at blog@threespeech.com super quick!
Keep an eye out on the registration site - www.homebetatrial.com/ - as well for more info.
When Ken Kutaragi announced his retirement recently, it seemed the desire for people to score a quick ‘gotcha’ managed to hide the fact that one of the most important men in the history of gaming had laid aside his analogue sticks.
OK, so it’s fair to say he was a tad eccentric at times, but it was his insistence on implementing a big idea that got Sony into gaming in the first place. Of course it helped that Sony only developed their own console after Nintendo betrayed them on their joint SNES-CD project by going with Phillips the night before the Sony-Nintendo collaboration was officially announced, but Kutaragi correctly noticed that cartridge games systems were on their last legs, and that Sony had the knowledge to go it on their own without Nintendo.
Anyone who isn’t a businessman probably won’t care much about that, though, and even the numbers of PlayStations sold is pretty irrelevant as well, though each sale represents a gamer who probably had an incredible experience with their console, if me and my friends’ experience is anything to go by.
In fact, the one thing that makes the PlayStation stand out for me is that I’ve probably wasted more time playing various iterations of the PlayStation than any other console series, and that’s against some pretty stiff competition, from every other major hardware manufacturer. Ken Kutaragi might be the father of the PlayStation, but to me he was the father of a thousand ill-advised late nights, nearly-missed assignment deadlines and supposedly ‘wasted’ time. Would I take any of them back? Not for a second, and for that Three Speech salutes you Kutaragi-san.
By Chris Blenkarn
