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Sony axing Liverpool game studio, ends Psygnosis' 28-year history
Sony has confirmed that it's shuttering Studio Liverpool, more famously known as Psygnosis. The publisher was founded in 1984 and is responsible for a legion of best-selling titles including Lemmings, Colony Wars, Destruction Derby, Wipeout and the Formula One games. In a statement, the company said that after a review of its "commercially viable" projects, it's focusing on projects in other parts of the business -- after slashing the studio's remit in a cost-cutting exercise in 2010. The facility is also the location of the company's European Quality Assurance team, which will reportedly remain in operation.
WipEout HD in-game ads return, still affect load times
Fans of Sony's blistering anti-grav racer WipEout HD will no doubt recall the game's update to version 2.0 back in August. That's because one of the additions came in the form of advertisements that would play during race loading screens. Having to see ads in a game you've paid full price for is one thing, the fact that they nearly doubled load times is another. Thankfully, Sony responded to an outpouring of ire over the ads by yanking them. Well, as we were warned last month, they're back. The 2.10 update for WipEout HD boldly proclaims that "Changes have been made so that any adverts shown during loading screens will not adversely affect the loading times" upon first launch. OK, ads are back, but at least they don't increase load times -- right? Not so fast. When loading a particular race, we perceived some degree of delay while the ad (in this case for Fat Princess) played. Wanting to make sure it wan't just in our ads-in-our-games-can-leave-now-please heads, we timed it. Lo and behold, the same course loads in 16.9 seconds without the ad and 21.7 with it -- an almost five second difference. The results were more or less the same for every track we tried, with smaller venues loading faster, naturally. So, despite assurances otherwise, load times are being affected by the re-instated ads. We're working to get in touch with Sony and the game's developer, SCEE Studio Liverpool, to find out exactly what gives. [Thanks, Ken!]
'Gravity Ends' in new WipEout HD trailer
The latest (final?) trailer for WipEout HD went flying onto the net just a few hours after we published our hands-on impressions of the finished game. In-between a bunch of jump cuts, you can get a good look at the venues we referred to in our post, along with barrel rolls and, of course, that blistering frame rate.In case you didn't catch it earlier, WipEout HD is going to cost $19.99 when it debuts shortly on the PlayStation Store. Yes, we know the trailer just says "2008" at the end – but race day is actually a lot closer than you think. You can watch the video after the break.
Joystiq hands-on: WipEout HD race-ready at last
click to enlarge All the pre-race checks have been completed, the airfoils trimmed, and the antigrav systems brought online for WipEout's debut on PS3. Following up on our recent PAX '08 hands-on, Sony invited us for one final go at the game before it hits the PlayStation Store for $19.99 "within the next few weeks." Having already made certain you know just how jaw-droppingly gorgeous it is in action, we really wanted to focus this playtest on the gameplay nuances and taking an under-the-hood look at the most interesting bits and bobs of the completed game. So, strap in and continue reading after the break.%Gallery-31749%
