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Ustream on PlayStation 4: discovery, one-click sharing and being 'a modern day cable provider'
"We've partnered with some of the biggest and most influential social networks in the world, including Facebook and Ustream, to bring gamers' friends into games like never before," former Gaikai CEO David Perry told attendees of Sony's PlayStation 4 event last week. It was the only mention Ustream got during the show, despite the video streaming service playing a critical role in Sony's next video game console. In-tandem with the PlayStation 4's new DualShock 4 controller and its "Share" button, users will be able to quickly upload saved gameplay video clips or directly stream their game out to the internet. The console's lead system architect, Mark Cerny, expanded on the importance of the Share button and its implications to the PlayStation 4 during last week's presentation. "Social play is so important to PlayStation 4 that we've added in hardware to support it, in the form of dedicated, always-on video compression and decompression systems," he said. We saw a bit of the game sharing / streaming interface during Sony's presentation, but were left wondering about specifics: how will discovery work? and what of other, non-gaming Ustream content? Thankfully, Ustream CEO Brad Hunstable was able to offer up most of our answers in a recent interview. "Our goal is to allow discovery in a very clean user experience, both in discovery on the console itself and on various platforms that the content'll be available on (like Ustream, Twitter, and Facebook)," Hunstable said. He wouldn't speak to the specifics of how that discovery will work, nor would he say if you'll be able to sign-in simply using your PlayStation Network ID or if you'll have to sign up for a separate Ustream account, but he stressed that the decisions being made are, "based on what's easiest and best for the gamer." That same rubric is (thankfully) being applied to functionality. "The goal is to make sure it's very easy -- one click of a button, super simple -- and most importantly make sure it looks really, really good. And is viewable wherever people want to watch it from," Hunstable said.
Gaikai game streaming service on target to launch in December, with all 'major publishers' signed on
The OnLive gaming service may be free now, but that doesn't mean that others aren't gunning for its members. Similarly fee-free competitor Gaikai was announced back in July and was initially said to be launching in September. However, the plan apparently wasn't to launch in September, rather to be done in September, which Dave Perry is insisting they are. The company is now just waiting to finalize some publishing deals before sending out invites to members in 60 days. Those won't be a sort of public beta like OnLive went through, with Perry saying "There will be no 'you're in a beta.' It'll just be 'go ahead and play.'" EA is still the only big fish the company has hooked thus far, but Gaikai officers expect to have "all the major games publishers" onboard by the end of the year. Say what you like, you can't knock their optimism.
PSP 2 is ready and UMD-less, claims Earthworm Jim developer
We've lost count on the number of times we've heard from a friend of a coworker of a cousin whose girlfriend's stepfather happens to work at Sony and they're all but ready to launch a UMD-less PSP in 17 different color options bundled with a portable version of Street Fighter IV. Typically, we remain skeptical, but when it's veteran developer David "I made MDK and Earthworm Jim" Perry, we'll give him the floor to speak. Earlier this week, his Twitter account updated to say he's heard the PSP 2 is done and minus that disc drive. He later reaffirmed that comment to GameDaily, saying he can't reveal his source (naturally), but he feels certain UMD is gone. Is his source bunk? He's certainly a guy who'd know a guy, but we've heard this story far too many times to take a leap of faith now.[Via Joystiq]Read - David Perry's TwitterRead - GameDaily
Dave Perry: Selling Earthworm Jim was the 'dumbest move ever'
Dave Perry has been feeling a twinge of seller's remorse since washing his hands of former platforming icon, Earthworm Jim. More than that, actually, as the Shiny Entertainment founder admits in a recent interview that, in hindsight, selling off the rights to annelid-made-superhero was probably the "dumbest move ever." The outspoken Wii detractor lays the blame for the miscue largely on the industry's transition away from 2D and into the third dimension in the 90s, his animators at the time unwilling to lay down their pencils in favor of the almighty polygon. Of course, the team eventually went on to create the fabulously tongue-in-cheek action epic, MDK. Now, like Perry, we're left to sit and wonder what might have been as we wait for Interplay to push Jim up from the soil once more.
Dave Perry 'stunned' by Marvel MMO cancellation
Dave Perry believes Microsoft may have made the wrong choice in canceling Cryptic Studio's Marvel Universe MMO. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, the Shiny Entertainment founder expresses his surprise at the decision to halt the game's development, saying it was "absolutely stunning."According to Perry, the Marvel license easily eclipses the mass-market popularity of World of Warcraft, and for that reason could be an actual competitor to Blizzard's behemoth. Though he is disappointed by Microsoft's decision, he understands that the cancellation was likely due to financial concerns, as it's difficult for large companies to ascertain whether sizable investments in MMOs will ever see any return.Dave Perry is currently developing free-to-play MMOs at Acclaim, as well as tackling a number of side projects, including the direction of a entirely user-generated racing game. We like your ambition, Mr. Perry, but we do recommend picking a less intense photo for your "about" page (as seen above). It scares us a little.
Dave Perry honored by Queen's University Belfast
Outspoken developer and former Shiny founder Dave Perry has found himself on the receiving end of an honorary degree by the UK's Queen's University Belfast, to be awarded as part of the school's centenary year celebration this July. While the degree would be equally served for recognizing Perry's unceremonious commentary on the Wii's questionable longevity when compared to the competition, the architect behind MDK and others has instead received a diploma in science engineering for distinction in computer game development and design. Perry shares the honorary spotlight with some distinguished company as well, with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Taioseach Bertie Ahern, actors Joanna Lumley and James Ellis and others filling out the university's honorary graduate list, though we doubt any of those can boast having breathed live into a gun-toting earthworm.
Foundation 9 to merge Collective and Shiny
Pour one out today for Shiny, which will soon be merged with another dev team, The Collective. Gamasutra's reporting that the developer collective that controls the two teams, Foundation 9, will be fusing them into one as-of-now-unnamed entity. ... May we suggest Shillective?Spearheaded by Dave Perry, Shiny was once a bastion of creativity in the industry, with titles like MDK, Earthworm Jim and Wild 9. The Collective is no slouch themselves, currently helming Silent Hill V, making them the first American company to develop a game in that series. While Shiny has lost some of its luster in recent years, and this new developer's going to be packing a lot of talent, it's hard for us not to be a little sad at the prospect of the house that Jim built finally being dismantled.
Dave Perry: Gamers ignore Wii's 'sloppy' controls
Much ado has been made of recent comments spat by Shiny founder David Perry regarding the Wii's longterm success and ability to draw players away from the crisp graphics and high-defness of Xbox 360 and PS3. Now the always outspoken development veteran has called out Nintendo fans themselves in an interview, stating that while he is himself a Wii owner, Perry still believes that "there's just many issues with the Wii, and the fans just don't want to hear it."He does offer the Wii kudos for its accomplishments so far, but adds that he finds it "interesting to see how people turn a blind eye to its flaws." What flaws exactly? Perry specifically takes issue with the Wii's 'sloppy' waggle control, and he's "surprised" that players are willing to accept this level of inaccuracy in their games. While we agree that the Wii experience is definitely a mixed bag, it seems unfair to lay the burden of imprecise controls at the console's feet when games like Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime 3 make such strides to validate a full range of motion controls. Still, he does have a sliver of a point when it comes to what players are willing to accept in the face of innovation.[Note: source is in PDF format.]
Dave Perry: PSP Lite a 'head in the sand' move for Sony
Shiny founder Dave Perry has been very vocal about consoles as of late. After estimating Wii's death clock, the Earthworm Jim designer has set his sights on Sony's PSP. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Perry refers to redesign as a "head in the sand" move while saying that Sony should "restart the PSP program" and specifically calls for the removal of UMD in favor of digital download. Perry also suggests that the transition to an UMD-less PSP would be relatively painless, asserting that it would be easy to create software to authenticate and re-download for free titles you already own. While we agree that digital distribution is on the rise, we're not sure if there's financial benefit for the consumer. A 1.0 GB memory stick can cost over $30, and then you still have the buy the titles (which may not drop in price should they go download). If you want to carry more than a few games around, you're going to need multiple memory sticks. If Sony does heed Perry's advice (and we see no evidence as to why they would), maybe they could replace the UMD slot with a decent hard drive, instead.
Acclaim's user-created MMO creates jobs; races beasts
The concept might be a tad ambitious, but Acclaim's Top Secret -- a large-scale competition to build the world's first community-created MMO -- is probably doing more good than evil, with lucrative job positions for the top developers, as well as innumerable job opportunities for all of those involved in the project.The project, which was first announced back in February, challenges coders, designers, writers, and artists to collaboratively develop an MMO racing game. Members of the development project -- which number over 30,000 -- communicate on forums, wikis, and Acclaim's website to create milestones and deliver assets on a regular basis. As incentive, Acclaim is offering lucrative prizes to top competitors: jobs. One development team from the competition will be hired based on their performance to develop the title for Acclaim, and the grand prize will give one individual the title of director on a future Acclaim MMO. And yes, those positions do include royalties.In addition to the official prizes, the forum community for Top Secret is also under close observation by Acclaim, with several of its skilled contributors going to work full-time for the publisher and other companies based on their contributions to the project. Acclaim states that this is an intended effect of the competition, hoping to see a large number of contributors break into the industry via Top Secret.The most recent version of the design document describes Top Secret as a massively multiplayer racing game, where avatars ride beasts of a variety of species, while also engaging in trading, betting, and breeding (of the beasts, not the riders). At first glance, the project seems a bit top-heavy, with a features list that reads more like a "best of" from the industry's greatest franchises. However, game designer Dave Perry, who's overseeing the project as its director, promises to keep a close eye on things, and keep the project on track. Whether the final game will be good or not, the Top Secret project definitely has its heart in the right place. Those interested in future careers in the game industry should definitely check it out.[Via IGN]
Dave Perry: Wii won't last, gamers want prettier games
While the Wii surfs the waves of success, Shiny founder Dave Perry says the party won't last. Why? "Gamers are attracted to beautiful looking games. When a game comes out - a game like a Halo or something, something they haven't seen before - they'll drop everything and they'll drop their Wii controllers when it does.". And while waggle control is a step in the right direction, Perry notes that he doesn't feel it's the "final solution" to user interfaces.We can see Perry's point, but a gorgeous game doesn't need a Cell processor to exist. You can, in fact, create a beautiful game on a weak system, or craft a butt-ugly title on a PS3. The Wii may not dish out the horsepower that makes it easier to push the graphics wagon further, but what makes games gorgeous is the artistic direction, not tech specs.
Earthworm Jim finally coming back? Groovy.
Probably some of the most inventive, off-the-wall crap to come out on the SNES were the Earthworm Jim titles. Nothing could give the sense of high-octane shootin' action as well as some of the most insane humor found in video games of their day. Well, in another interview with former Shiny boss Dave Perry, it seems the worm-in-a-suit will be coming back for more.Perry said the entire team behind the games had reformed: "We reformed the (Earthworm Jim) team and they were all into it. Trust me, all the original Earthworm Jim guys are still very interested in the whole idea; just know that it'll happen eventually." Eventually, indeed. The last one to grace consoles on the N64 was delayed so many times people thought that was actually the game -- waiting. We don't know anything else. No consoles declared, no details... just that it'll happen eventually. Groovy.
PS3's power -- untapped for years?
The former boss of Shiny Entertainment, Dave Perry, has decided to shower the PS3 with praises, calling it "the best piece of hardware, without question" among other things... but says that statement won't become obvious for a few years. He says that so far, he's not seen a single game that properly shows off the power of the PlayStation 3. "I haven't seen anything even close to what the machine's capable of doing. So that's the sad part for Sony - I feel really bad for them that somebody hasn't really stepped up to show us the hardware all singing, all dancing."He cited the common cycle in the console market -- first-gen games to last-gen games on a console. We've done that before, you know what we're talking about. Games initially look like crap when compared to the last games released for the system -- Perry used God of War as his example of how the PS2 created gorgeous games after being around for a few years. But he placed most of the blame on hardware designers, specifically, the fact that software developers should have more say in what's put into a console and less add-on stuff like web browsers. What do you guys think? Is he right? Should software developers get a say in what they'd like to find in a console instead of just dealing with the difficult programming business that comes along later?
What Dave Perry wants from a PSP redesign
Dave Perry, the respected creator of games like Earthworm Jim, recently went on record to SPOnG about what he'd like in a potential PSP redesign. He starts by describing the system as "a great little machine, but the price is a major barrier. The American public like $149 to $99 for handhelds." Lowering the price would be substantial in getting more PSPs out there. Mr. Perry has a lot of ideas, some great, and some not-so-much: He proclaims Sony should "make the PSP with a clamshell design, to protect that lovely screen, and they should have made the screen at least DVD resolution." A screen that's 480p would certainly be far pricier to manufacture than Sony's current screen, no? "I would also kill off the UMD disc, remove it entirely and shrink the device size." But that would get rid of compatibility with old PSP games. Maybe for PSP2? Mr. Perry gets a boner for digital distribution, and for good reason: "Embracing digital distribution... would bring movies and games back to the PSP in a sensible way. Then I can buy movies or games for less (ZERO cost of goods), keeping the library safely stored on my PC, picking the ones I want to watch next, and all I have to do is sync. If they wanted to be forward thinking, they could offer modern features like game demos, trial music from new artists, item sales, vast customization of items, characters and in-game objects from databases too vast to store on the PSP." As seen by the popularity of downloadable demos, it's clear that PSP owners want to download games to boot from Memory Stick. The eventual popularity of PSone game downloads may lead Sony to start thinking about offering full PSP titles digitally, saving gamers from UMD costs, and UMD loading times. Homebrew can actually help Sony, according to Mr. Perry: "Did user-created content hurt YouTube? Why not open the PSP? Welcome indie games, welcome development, get the users promoting the device... I bet Sony tries to tell you it doesn't matter. Well, if you type "Sony PSP hack" into Google, there are now 8.6 MILLION pages dedicated to the subject." I completely agree that Sony should be supporting homebrew developers on the platform. In fact, embracing the development community might've prevented the popularity of illegal emulators and ISO programs. Sony could've kept a watchful eye, instead of dividing the community between those that actually play new games, and those that pirate games. One of the greatest attributes of the PSP is that it can connect to a PC, and you can move files between them both. Digital distribution of more demos and games will be key for all PSP owners, and I hope Sony gets working on it.[Via kikizo]
Dave Perry leaves Shiny to save Shiny
Following the news that Atari is looking to unload their internal development studios, the Orange County Register (reg. req'd... try Bugmenot) is reporting that Dave Perry, head of Atari's Shiny Studios, will step down to help facilitate the impending sale. Perry explains:"Atari can go ahead and sell Shiny, but I think I can help, too, because I'm on the board of a lot of things. I can bring a lot of parties to the table, and I can do that faster if I hit the streets myself... If I'm an employee of Atari, then I'd be stepping all over them. This way, I'm representing a buyer. I can act swiftly and get buyers on the table. I pitched Shiny last time and got $47 million."Dave's not abandoning his baby, he's trying to save it! Sure, Shiny's last couple games (Enter the Matrix anyone?) have been stinkers, but they're currently working on a sequel to the seminal Earthworm Jim. Someone better buy these guys, cause if they cancel Earthworm Jim...[Via Next Generation]
